Yankees Game 16: Brett Gardner plays hero in walk-off win

Tie it, win it. Brett Gardner does it all in today's walk-off Yankees victory.

Tampa Bay Rays 2 – New York Yankees 3

Looking to build on last night's win, the Yankees continued the three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays.

In the first inning against the debuting Blake Snell, overthrowing was evident as he walked Carlos Beltran and gave up a single to Mark Teixeira to put runners on the corners. A wild pitch by Snell put the Yankees ahead by one when Beltran crossed home. Snell settled after the first inning but Masahiro Tanaka pitched well through the first three, allowing one base runner but facing the minimum when Kevin Kiermaier was caught stealing in the third inning.

The second time through the order for Tanaka proved more difficult. After a lineout, Logan Morrison hit a double and advanced to third on a deep fly out by Evan Longoria. Corey Dickerson tied the game at one when he hit a double of his own. After a two-out walk, Tanaka minimized the damage by striking out Brad Miller. His journey through the order a second time hurt one more time when Kevin Kiermaier went deep, off the right field foul pole, to give the Rays a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning.

After five innings of one-run baseball by Blake Snell, reliever Enny Romero added 1 1/3 innings scoreless but the Yankees rallied in the seventh inning.

After a leadoff walk, Romero got one more out before another lefty, Xavier Cedeno, took over for the Rays. Cedeno started his day by walking Chase Headley before getting Didi Gregorius to chase for a strikeout. Common for Jacoby Ellsbury, made contact with the catcher's glove for catcher's interference to reach first base. With the bases loaded, Brett Gardner came through, hitting a liner off the glove of Cedeno and reaching first base with a game-tying infield single. Carlos Beltran spoiled the chance at giving the Yankees the lead when he chased out of the zone. But with the game tied, Tanaka was off the hook for the loss in his very good start.

In seven innings, Masahiro Tanaka allowed two runs on five hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

With the game tied, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller pitched a scoreless inning each to keep the game tied in the bottom of the ninth inning.

After getting the first two outs in the ninth inning, Erasmo fell behind to Brett Gardner who jumped on a fastball that missed location and put it into the seats in right field for a walk-off solo home run to give the Yankees two wins in a row.

Win – Andrew Miller (1-0)

Loss – Erasmo Ramirez (4-1)

Notables

Rays

*Kevin Kiermaier – 2 for 3, R, Solo home run (2) in the 5th, RBI (4)

*Corey Dickerson – 3 for 4, 2B, RBI (7)

Yankees

*Brett Gardner – 3 for 5, R, Walk-off, solo home run (2) in the 9th, 2 RBI (4)

*Brian McCann – 1 for 3, R, BB

Current Yankees Record: 7-9