Yankees Game 79: West coast rally falls short in Yankees loss

Despite ninth inning rally, Yankees lose as Nathan Eovaldi continues to struggle.

New York Yankees 6 – San Diego Padres 7

After another walk-off victory, the Yankees took to the West coast for interleague action with the San Diego Padres.

In the first inning against Colin Rea, the Yankees looked to be strong. Jacoby Ellsbury led off by reaching on his seventh catcher's interference of the season. With one out, Mark Teixeira reached with a bloop single that put runners on the corners. Then with two outs, Starlin Castro walked but a ground out by Chase Headley deflated a potential strong inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, Nathan Eovaldi sandwiched a walk between two outs but the Padres made the most of the inning. Former Yankee Yangervis Solarte hit a single and Melvin Upton hit a run-scoring single to bring home the first run of the game. Derek Norris added a double to left field that scored two, putting the Padres ahead by three early.

The Yankees got a run in the second inning but Padres second baseman Ryan Schimpf hit his first major league home run to return the Padres to a three-run lead.

Eovaldi managed to work through the third and fourth inning but the Padres got to him in the fifth inning. After a lead off single by Travis Jankowski was followed with a Wil Myers home run. The two-run home run put the Padres ahead 6-1 after five innings.

In 4 1/3 innings, Nathan Eovaldi allowed six runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts. His struggles lately continue.

Conor Mullee followed Eovaldi and got the last two outs of the fifth inning before getting one more out in the sixth. A walk was followed by a medical visit and Mullee was removed because his fingers did not feel right.

The Yankees added a run in the sixth inning when Brian McCann went deep just shy of center field.

In the seventh inning, the Padres managed to score their seventh run of the game. Wil Myers reached base with a single and stole second. On the successful steal, Brian McCann's throw went into center field, allowing Myers to advance to third. With two outs, a passed ball off of McCann's glove allowed Myers to score.

In a 7-2 game, the Myers run seemed insignificant but the Yankees made the ninth inning exciting.

Against former Yankee Matt Thornton, Brian McCann led off with a walk and Starlin Castro fought to get on and was hit by a pitch for his troubles. Pinch-hitter Alex Rodriguez hit a single to right field for a run. Padres closer Brandon Maurer came in but gave up a double to right field from Didi Gregorius that scored a run. Aaron Hicks recorded the first out of the inning on a ground out but the Yankees scored a run on the play. Pinch-hitter Carlos Beltran came up with a runner on third but a wild pitch allowed Gregorius to score and bring the Yankees within one. Carlos Beltran managed to hit a deep fly ball to left field for a double, running with his bad hamstring. With the tying run on second base, Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to put Beltran on third but Brett Gardner ended the rally short when he grounded out to shorstop, ending the game.

Win – Colin Rea (5-3)

Loss – Nathan Eovaldi (6-6)

Save – Brandon Maurer (1)

Notables

Yankees

*Brian McCann – 1 for 3, 2 R, BB, Solo home run (13) in the 6th, RBI (35)

*Didi Gregorius – 2 for 4, 2 R, 2B, RBI (37)

Padres

*Wil Myers – 2 for 3, 2 R, BB, Two-run home run (19) in the 5th, 2 RBI (57)

*Yangervis Solarte – 2 for 2, 2 R, 2 BB, 2B

Current Yankees Record: 39-40