ST. PETERSBURG — Yandy Díaz is baseball’s greatest hitter when a recreation advances into the later, most vital innings.
“It seems like moments of tension is when I kind of relax and focus a little bit more,” Díaz stated through crew interpreter Manny Navarro.
Díaz got here off the bench Saturday afternoon to ship twice when the sport’s pressure degree was as excessive because the roof at Tropicana Field. He gave Tampa Bay a quick lead with a pinch-hit RBI double within the seventh, then lined a walk-off two-run homer over the wall in proper within the ninth to offer the Rays a 7-5 win over the Mariners.
With the victory, the Rays have taken two of the primary three video games of this sequence vs. Seattle, the crew they’d face in a best-of-three AL Wild Card Series at Tropicana Field if the postseason started right this moment. The triumph additionally represented the Rays’ twelfth comeback win over the previous month — probably the most in MLB — and their second in as many nights.
“We say the game isn’t over until that 27th out is made,” Díaz stated. “And for us, we went out there to just try and battle, and we came out on top.”
For many of the afternoon, Díaz was not out on the sphere, however as a substitute biding his time within the dugout or the house clubhouse. He was out of the beginning lineup for the second time this week as supervisor Kevin Cash simply needed to get the membership’s prime offensive performer off his ft slightly bit.
“But I mean, I can go back in there and change [the lineup],” Cash joked previous to the sport.
He would write Díaz’s title on the lineup card within the seventh after Taylor Walls tied the sport at 4-4 with a one-out RBI single. Díaz started preparing for his second by taking a number of swings within the batting cage in the course of the sixth inning.
Pinch-hitting for Brandon Lowe, Díaz greeted Mariners reliever Gabe Speier with a double as he pulled a low-and-away slider into the left-center hole, plating Walls.
“That’s Yandy,” Walls stated. “He’s one of the best hitters I’ve been around, myself personally, throughout my entire career.”
The Rays’ lead was short-lived, as Robert Stephenson’s first pitch with two outs within the prime of the eighth bounced away from catcher René Pinto, permitting Eugenio Suárez to sprint house.
With the stress degree peaking once more within the ninth, Díaz stepped to house plate following a Walls stroll with two outs.
Tayler Saucedo’s 1-2 changeup barely nicked the skin nook, however Díaz lashed it at 104.5 mph and watched because the ball landed simply past the right-field wall for his nineteenth homer of the season and his first profession walk-off dinger.
As he rounded first base, Tampa Bay’s triumphant first baseman flexed his highly effective arms.
“He’s just such a complete hitter with the power that he’s added this year,” Cash stated. “The ability, the bat path just stays in the zone so long. He handles good pitching.”
Díaz has dealt with a number of the greatest stuff from a number of the league’s nastiest relievers as he’s piled up massive hit after massive hit. He is now batting an MLB-best .376 (47-for-125) with 12 extra-base hits, 4 homers and a 1.020 OPS within the seventh inning or later.
“I didn’t know about those stats. I’m not the one that really looks over my stats. … But it’s good to know that those stats are good out there,” Díaz stated.
While the day’s hero could also be unaware of his knack for hitting within the clutch, his supervisor and his teammates know what he’s able to when a recreation is on the road, particularly in a sequence that has felt like postseason baseball.
“I feel like he’s just one of those guys that you just know you can count on,” Walls stated.
“He certainly has done MVP things for us,” Cash added.
The Rays will look to clinch this four-game sequence with a win Sunday earlier than heading out on an enormous seven-game highway journey. It will first take them to AL Central-leading Minnesota for 3 video games and finish with a four-game sequence in Baltimore that might resolve the AL East.
There are destined to be many extra high-drama, tension-packed moments for the Rays on the highway forward. And in these moments, the crew hopes Díaz will as soon as once more have an opportunity to resolve the end result.
“We probably want him up as much as anybody,” Cash stated.
Content Source: www.mlb.com