MLB Rankings: Greatest Hits in Week-7
Austin Meadows | May 18 | 37%
The Rays-Yankees series has been all about the lead in the AL East. As noted earlier, the Yankees won Friday on Gio Urshella’s walk-off. On Saturday, the Rays mimicked that outcome perfectly.
Austin Meadows performed the heroics. As with Friday’s game, this one was closely fought all the way. Blake Snell and Masahiro Tanaka battled one another through six innings, the Yankees managing to hold a1-0 advantage. But Tampa tied the game when Brandon Lowe greeted reliever Tommy Kahnle with a home run.
From that point, neither team moved a runner beyond first base through the nine regulation innings, or into the 10th inning either.
Then with one out in the 11th, Meadows got his chance and made the most of it. Facing reliever Luis Cessa with a 2-2 count, Meadows lined a home run deep in the right field seats. That improved the visitors’ chances to win from just 44 percent to 81 percent.
The Yankees still had three outs to play with, but Jose Alvarado ensured they did nothing with them. After allowing an inning-opening single, Alvarado struck out Aaron Hicks and got Gary Sanchez to hit into a game-ending double play.