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 All the energy the Rays had in the aftermath of a 10-5, 14-inning
win over the New York Yankees would be expelled finding their hotel
room pillows.
"We need some sleep," winning pitcher Heath Bell said with a laugh
after the Rays scored five runs in the top of the 14th to outlast
the New York Yankees 10-5 at Yankee Stadium. "As you can see,
everybody's busting out of here."
The Rays wasted no time heading back to their midtown hotel, but
they boarded the buses as exhilarated as they were exhausted after
winning their third game in two cities in a matter of 36 hours.
While the Rays' doubleheader sweep of the Red Sox in Boston on
Thursday was eventful -- because of a little-known provision in the
collective bargaining agreement, the Red Sox were able to schedule
the doubleheader, which was necessitated by a Wednesday rainout,
without the Rays' permission -- it was a mere warm-up act compared
with the zaniness that unfolded during the final half of a surreal
five-hour, 49-minute marathon.
Tampa Bay left-hander David Price left with a 4-2 lead, which
evaporated in a span of three pitches in the eighth after
right-hander Joel Peralta surrendered back-to-back solo homers to
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira and left fielder Alfonso
Soriano.
Tampa Bay took the lead in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by
Evan Longoria, but the Yankees forced extra innings on a two-out RBI
single by center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who was promptly picked
off first base. Ellsbury was originally ruled safe but called out
upon instant replay.
The Yankees left runners at second and third in the 12th, when
Ellsbury was thrown out at home to end a rundown-filled double play
that went 4-3-6-3-4-3-4-5-2.
The Rays had three singles in the top of the 13th but did not score
thanks to a double play in which designated hitter Matt Joyce was
originally called safe at first. But Yankees manager Joe Girardi
requested a review and Joyce was called out. Maddon was then ejected
for arguing the overturn.
The Yankees had runners at second and third with one out in the 13th
after a botched rundown allowed second baseman Brian Roberts to take
second. But pinch-hitter Brett Gardner grounded out -- the putout
went 3-9 -- and two batters later, shortstop Derek Jeter capped the
first 0-for-7 night of his career by grounding out.
In the 14th, the Rays -- who had stranded two baserunners in five of
the previous 10 innings -- batted around and scored on RBI hits by
Myers, first baseman Sean Rodriguez, left fielder Brandon Guyer,
shortstop Yunel Escobar and catcher Ryan Hanigan. Guyer and Hanigan
did not enter the game until extra innings and Rodriguez played the
first 12 innings in left field.
"It's crazy," Myers said. "It's awesome. Awesome. Awesome."
Maddon said the win -- and the five-run 14th in particular --
reminded him of the Rays' 8-3, 13-inning victory over Toronto on May
8, 2008, when a grand slam by catcher Dioner Navarro fueled a
five-run inning.
That win lifted the Rays to 18-16 and was viewed as one of the
defining moments in a season in which Tampa Bay -- which had lost at
least 91 games in each of the franchise's first 10 seasons -- made a
stunning run to the World Series.
"I had visions of 'Navy' dancing through my head right there,"
Maddon said. "That's what I was glomming on because there were so
many unlikely things that occurred (during) that game that we were
able to work through."
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Bell, the Rays' fifth pitcher, worked 2 1/3 eventful innings. He was
preceded by right-hander Brandon Gomes, who pitched two innings.
It was only the second time Bell has pitched more than two innings
in 508 games dating to the start of the 2007 season and only the
12th two-inning stint for Gomes in 95 career appearances.
Maddon needed multiple innings out of both pitchers because closer
Grant Balfour and set-up man Jake McGee were not available after
pitching in both ends of Thursday's doubleheader.
Myers, Longoria, Escobar, Rodriguez and first baseman James Loney
all had three hits apiece for the Rays (14-16), who walked off the
field winners after Rodriguez caught a pop-up by Yankees catcher
Brian McCann at 12:57 AM, barely more than 12 hours before
Saturday's scheduled first pitch.
"Really hard-fought game -- played, what, how many innings was that,
14 innings, til 1 o'clock in the morning," Maddon said. "I am so
impressed with our guys and their ability to stay motivated."
Ellsbury had four hits and a stolen base, the 250th of his career,
for the Yankees (15-13), who have lost three in a row and fell a
half-game behind first-place Baltimore.
McCann -- who began the game at designated hitter but ended it at
catcher -- hit a two-run homer in the second while Soriano and
Roberts each finished with three hits.
The Yankees ended up stranding 13 runners, including seven between
the 11th and 13th.
"There's going to be days like this, and there's going to be times
when your offense struggles," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who
managed his 1,000th game in New York. "You've got to try to find a
way to scratch some runs and win a game."
Right-hander Chris Leroux, the Yankees' eighth pitcher, allowed all
five runs in the 14th to take the loss.
NOTES: The two teams used a combined 39 players and combined for 38
hits. ... Joe Girardi became the sixth Yankees skipper to manage at
least 1,000 games for the club, after Joe McCarthy (2,348 games),
Joe Torre (1,942), Casey Stengel (1,851), Miller Huggins (1,796) and
Ralph Houk (1,757). ... Yankees SS Brendan Ryan, who has been out
all season with a cervical spine nerve injury, had his rehab
transferred to Double-A Trenton on Friday. The Yankees hope he can
return during next week's road trip. ... The second-inning double by
Rays OF Sean Rodriguez gave him four extra-base hits in his last
five at-bats dating to the second game of Thursday's doubleheader.
He had just five hits -- four for extra bases -- in his first 30
at-bats of the season.
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