'We're Back': Josh Donaldson Sparks Struggling Yankees With Walk-Off Grand Slam
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NEW YORK — Back on Opening Day, Josh Donaldson was the hero in his Yankees debut, delivering a walk-off single to beat the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
That base hit up the middle, igniting bedlam in the Bronx, was the beginning of New York's historic first half, a hint of the dominance and resiliency on the horizon for those in pinstripes.
Four months later, the Yankees have been free falling, raising questions over what this group is capable of as they revert to the tendencies that doomed them a year ago.
With an 8-17 record since the All-Star break, New York's pursuit of a spark—something to flush this stretch of putridity—had reached new depths of desperation. Sure, the Yankees still had a comfortable lead in their division, but urgency trumped any inkling of complacency. It's as if this team needed to start their entire season anew, getting back to what they do best.
Late Wednesday night, Donaldson delivered once again, driving a walk-off grand slam over the short porch in the bottom of the 10th inning to clinch an improbable comeback victory over the Rays. The historic homer off left-hander Jalen Beeks came just minutes after Tampa Bay sucked the life out of Yankee Stadium, taking a three-run lead on a bases-clearing double from Francisco Mejía off Aroldis Chapman—a gut punch after New York battled back over the final few frames in regulation.
"Just a great fight all night," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the 8-7 victory. "It's not been easy for us and to get behind there four runs and just chip away, come out of the rain delay and keep chipping away. Just a lot of people doing good things."
New York's win on Wednesday was the type of performance the baseball world had grown accustomed to seeing from the Yankees throughout the first half. This team was simply never out of a game, consistently battling back regardless of the size of any deficit that they faced. There's a reason why the Yankees lead the American League in comeback wins (with 31 this year). When they weren't blowing opposing teams out, they were racking up victories with timely hits and late-inning magic on the mound.
With this recent skid in mind, however, Wednesday's win means more. As Donaldson's game-winning blast left his bat—lumber that was quickly flung high in the air up the third-base line—New York's roster (and frankly, the fan base as well), was able to explode in a mix of jubilation and relief.
"It was a great victory, no question," Boone added when asked if this is the spark his club has been looking for. "Against a really good team that's tough to score against, especially when you're behind like we were. Look, we know we're a really good team. We're struggling right now and going through it, but at the core, it's a confident group and we know we've just got to keep our head down, focus, grind through this. That was a special one that hopefully we can look back on fondly."
Donaldson's decisive blow wouldn't have been possible without a slew of quality at-bats over the final few innings.
In the sixth, down 4-0, second baseman Gleyber Torres brought some life to the ballpark with a towering two-run home run to left field. After New York cut Tampa Bay's lead to one the following frame, first baseman Anthony Rizzo tied the contest with a solo homer to right.
Rizzo entered that spot in the eighth with two hits in his previous 31 at-bats. It was his first home run in more than two weeks.
Even after Chapman's rocky top of the 10th, featuring two walks and a back-breaking blow with Mejía's two-out, two-strike double down the right-field line, this team didn't quit. Torres began the bottom of the inning with a ringing single to right, pushing Aaron Judge (the automatic runner who began the frame on second base) over to third. Rizzo came up next and spit on four straight balls, loading the bases for Donaldson.
Speaking of players that had been struggling, Donaldson was 3-for-28 in eight games since his four-hit outburst out in Seattle on August 8.
Donaldson stepped up to the plate with a plan, sticking to it even after an ugly swing on the first pitch he saw when he tried unsuccessfully to hold back on a fastball at the top of the zone. The veteran recalled his at-bat against Beeks in Game 1 of this series against the Rays on Monday when the southpaw worked as an opener for Tampa Bay. Donaldson looked lost in that at-bat, swinging through three changeups in a row to end the bottom of the first with a strikeout.
"He threw me three pretty wicked changeups and they were all down," Donaldson explained. "So my focus was trying to see something up there. He threw a first-pitch heater, which I wasn't looking for, so I kind of tried to stop and ended up going with a swing. I was like, 'alright, maybe he goes heater now.' I'm still looking for it up. Really not trying to do too much, just trying to hit a line drive the other way and I was able to hit it out."
The fateful offering from Beeks was in nearly the identical spot as his first pitch of the at-bat, a 96.6-mph fastball up at the letters.
Donaldson didn't miss it.
"That's the team we've been for the most part of this year," Rizzo said after the win. "Whatever happens, you just move on from it. I think Gleyber coming up and getting that base hit the other way was a little jolt for us and then we're one swing away from tying it. I get on and JD wins it."
Television cameras picked up a moment between Donaldson and Torres as the Yankees returned to their dugout after celebrating at home plate. Before digging his face into Torres' embrace, Donaldson appeared to say the words "we're back."
Whether Donaldson's game-winner inspires better baseball for the Yankees moving forward remains to be seen. The 36-year-old reminded reporters after the game that Thursday brings a blank scorecard, a new day with all numbers flipping back to zero. But now that New York has recaptured that old form, feeling for the first time in a while what it's like to get the job done, the Yankees are in a much better position to take one win and run with it.
"I don't think the last two weeks is who we are, I think that's more of a blip than anything," Donaldson said. "For us to be ourselves and go out there and compete to the last final out and pick each other up, that's what we do."
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