New York Yankees 1 – Miami Marlins 2
One bad pitch proved to be enough to decide tonight’s close game.
After a scoreless first inning by the Marlins’ Tom Koehler; Masahiro Tanaka was in dangerous waters with two on the corners with two outs before he struck out Justin Bour with a heavy dose of breaking balls. In the second inning, Mark Teixeira missed a home run on one swing but kept it fair to finish the at-bat.
To deep right center field, Mark Teixeira hit his 18th home run of the season to lead off the inning.
After avoiding runs in the first inning, the Marlins got to Tanaka yet again. With one out, Derek Dietrich hit a double to left field. Adeiny Hechavarria followed with a single to left, scoring the tying run.
In the third inning, the first two batters got on base but Giancarlo Stanton grounded into a double play. The score remained this way until the seventh inning.
After retiring six straight following the second error by Mark Teixeira in the last four days, Derek Dietrich took Masahiro Tanaka deep, just inside the right field foul pole, for his first home run and the first lead for the Marlins.
In seven innings, Masahiro Tanaka allowed two runs on nine hits while walking none and striking out six. Keeping the Marlins to two runs despite nine hits is quite the feat.
In the eighth inning, Marlins reliever Carter Capps struck out the side, all swinging from the Yankees against the power pitcher.
In the bottom half of the inning, Jose Ramirez took over for Tanaka. Unfortunately for Ramirez, control was not on his side. After a leadoff single, Ramirez hit Stanton with a changeup that got away. He followed this by walking Bour, not coming close to the strike zone, and loading the bases with no outs. Sergio Santos came in to clean up the huge mess. With the bases loaded and no outs, Santos got J.T. Realmuto and pinch-hitter Marcell Ozuna out on strikes with sharp sliders. Hechavarria flew out to right field and Santos came out of the bases loaded no out situation without a run scoring.
In the ninth inning, against closer A.J. Ramos, Brian McCann worked out a walk despite starting the count behind 0-2. Mark Teixeira and Garrett Jones went down on strikes before Alex Rodriguez came o the plate as a pinch-hitter. Emerging to a standing ovation from the city he grew up in, Rodriugez flew out to right field, ruining his chance at having a signature moment in the opening game in Miami.
Win – Tom Koehler (5-4)
Loss – Masahiro Tanaka (4-2)
Save – A.J. Ramos (9)
Notables
Yankees
*Mark Teixeira – 1 for 4, R, Solo home run (18) in the 2nd, RBI (48)
*Didi Gregorius – 2 for 3, 2B
Marlins
*Derek Dietrich – 2 for 3, 2 R, 2B, Solo home run (1) in the 7th, RBI (1)
*Adeiny Hechavarria – 2 for 4, RBI (26)
Current Yankees Record: 34-29
