The New York Yankees were scuffling hard recently. Their once 15.5 game division lead had been dwindled down to 4.5 games. Thankfully for the Yankees, their patsies came to town at just the right time. New York opened up a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Monday.
The Yankees won the first two games of the series and were staring at a doubleheader Wednesday. In the first game of the doubleheader, New York fell behind early. Aaron Judge once again did his thing, blasting his 55th home run of the season. The game was tied 3-3 entered the 12th inning. The Twins scored in the top half, taking a 4-3 lead. That's when Yankees rookie Oswaldo Garcia played the hero.
Having already tied the game, Cabrera delivered a game-winning walk-off single, scoring Isiah Kiner-Falefa. That gave New York the 5-4 victory. In the process, Cabrera joined Yogi Berra, Joe Pepitone and Melky Cabrera as the only Yankees rookie to have an outfield assist and a walk-off hit.
Oswaldo Cabrera is the 4th Yankees player in the Expansion Era (since 1961) with both an outfield assist and a walk-off hit in extra innings of the same game. He joins:
– Melky Cabrera in 2007
– Joe Pepitone in 1967
– Yogi Berra (playing LF) in 1961 pic.twitter.com/MKr2IBXIPe— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 8, 2022
With the win, the Yankees improved to 82-54 on the season. They are still five games back of the Houston Astros for home field advantage in the American League though. During the night cap, New York has a 3-1 lead late, while the Astros are locked up 3-3 against the Texas Rangers. So, it's possible that lead is cut to just four games by night's end.
The Yankees really needed a set of games like this. An almost historic collapse appeared to be happening. The Tampa Bay Rays nearly swept them last weekend and the division is suddenly not decided. There is a little less than a month left for the Yankees to get their act together. A four-game sweep against the Twins would be a good start.
Follow Us
Subscribe