Already locked in a back-and-forth recreation, momentum seemed to be on the Yankees’ aspect within the ninth inning on Wednesday evening.
Anthony Volpe, mired in a defensive droop, had simply crushed a game-tying, solo homer off Rays nearer Pete Fairbanks, clapping again on the two-run, go-ahead blast that Josh Lowe launched off Devin Williams within the prime of the inning. Austin Wells shortly adopted with a single, placing the successful run on with one out.
Then the Yankees catcher eliminated himself from the bases, forgetting what number of outs there have been after Trent Grisham laid down a bunt. The boneheaded mistake killed the Bombers’ rally, although they in the end prevailed with a 5-4, 10-inning win.
“I think I was just being an idiot,” Wells mentioned, noting that nobody on the Rays tricked him.
Austin Wells will get doubled up as a result of he thought there have been three outs pic.twitter.com/Hisfe05Mil
Wells’ slipup got here seconds after Grisham pushed a bunt towards third. With the Rays shifting away from the road, José Caballero made a stupendous barehanded play to nab Grisham at first for the second out of the inning as Wells made his strategy to second base. However the runner thought Grisham had been bunting with two outs for some cause, and so Wells began strolling off second base.
Requested if it’s frequent for the Yankees to bunt with two outs, Wells replied, “No, that’s why I thought, ‘Oh, ballsy play.’ I liked it. And then when [Grisham] got out and I saw people kind of running towards their dugout, I was like, ‘All right.’”
The Rays instantly realized Wells’ error and received him in a rundown. At that time, there was no escaping the lapse.
“I didn’t know what happened,” Aaron Boone mentioned, as he was checking replay to see if Grisham beat the throw at first. “So when [Wells] got here within the dugout, I mentioned, ‘What happened?’ As a result of I didn’t see the play unfold.
“I mean, what do you say? Can’t happen.”
Boone added that first base coach Travis Chapman relayed what number of outs there have been to Wells earlier than the TOOTBLAN.
If that’s the case, how might that play probably occur?
“I asked the same thing,” Boone mentioned.
Wells, in the meantime, was requested what was going by his thoughts as he returned to the Yankees’ dugout.
“Not good things in my brain,” he mentioned. “Very embarrassed and disappointed, for sure. You let the guys down when you do that. You give away an out like that in a big spot, so that’s disappointing, and definitely no good thoughts going on there.”
Happily for Wells, the Yankees have been capable of overcome his mistake and a Tenth-inning, go-ahead sac fly from Jonathan Aranda.
The backstop has Jasson Domínguez, Cody Bellinger, Tim Hill and Ryan McMahon to thank for that, amongst others, because the quartet performed pivotal elements late within the recreation.
Domínguez made a leaping catch into the wall on Aranda’s bases-loaded sac fly, stopping extra runs from scoring. Bellinger, in the meantime, tied the sport with an RBI triple within the Tenth.
The heavily-used Hill then logged a scoreless eleventh regardless of being penciled in for an off day. That set McMahon up for a walk-off single, ending a chaotic evening of baseball within the Bronx.
“That’s just something that we’ve been needing,” a relieved Wells mentioned. “To come back like that was huge.”
Wells isn’t the primary Yankee to make a careless mistake on the bases this season. Somewhat, it’s been a standard incidence.
The latest instance got here in Atlanta instantly after the All-Star break, as Jorbit Vivas was deeked by Braves third baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr. earlier than getting gunned down from deep proper area by Ronald Acuña Jr.
There was additionally a sequence in Boston again in June that featured a number of baserunning blunders, together with a second that noticed Domínguez lose observe of a rely on Grisham earlier than getting thrown out at third.
The Yankees have insisted they’re a greater baserunning staff this season, as their improved athleticism over the 2024 squad has allowed them to take extra bases. However repeated psychological breakdowns have value them loads of luggage whereas contributing to a -5.4 BsR, Fangraphs’ all-encompassing baserunning stat. That was the fourth-worst mark within the majors getting into Wednesday’s recreation.
The Yankees had baseball’s worst BsR at -17.1 final season, in order that they’ve technically made strides this season. It simply hasn’t at all times appeared that method, and Wednesday was no exception.
Initially Revealed: July 30, 2025 at 11:59 PM EDT
