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Gio Urshela cranks grand slam and uncorks epic bat flip to give NYY the lead

ByThomas Carannante|
Aug 31, 2020; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela (29) points to the sky as he approaches home plate after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 31, 2020; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela (29) points to the sky as he approaches home plate after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees rallied to take the lead over the Indians after trailing by four runs.

Game 2 of the AL Wild Card series between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. First, Major League Baseball delayed the game 42 minutes due to “incoming rain,” which didn’t come until five minutes after the new start time. Then came another delay.

Four Indians runs later and fans were fuming. This is not what anyone had in mind for Masahiro Tanaka’s potential last start in pinstripes.

Silly us, though. Did we forget the Yankees lineup is awake? It’s fully awake. It’s actually about 12 cups of espresso deep, too. After Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo home run in the second inning to get the Bombers on the board, the rest of the lineup finally got to Carlos Carrasco in the fourth.

They loaded the bases with no outs and the Tribe went to the bullpen. Then Gio Urshela did this:

GRAND. SLAM. And how about this savage bat flip?

It’s now a 5-4 Yankees lead and they’re still causing trouble in the fourth. Poor James Karinchak. What a terrible situation to be put in as a second-year pitcher. He had little chance to escape a bases-loaded no-out jam.

And here’s Stanton’s opposite-field blast:

You can’t keep the Yankees down for long, especially after a 12-run barrage against Shane Bieber on Tuesday night. With all due respect to Carrasco, did the Indians really think they wouldn’t be in for a battle even with a cushion to start the game?

This lineup has Gleyber Torres batting seventh. Every single at-bat is a journey for the opposing pitcher. Even Cleveland, who owned the league’s second-best ERA during the regular season, is learning the hard way in the AL Wild Card series.

Now it’s up to Tanaka and the bullpen to keep the Tribe at bay.

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