NEW YORK - The Yankees spent five innings looking flat, out of answers and staring at a 4-0 deficit. Then Tampa Bay’s bullpen took over, and the whole night turned.
New York rallied past the Rays 6-4 on Thursday at Yankee Stadium, scoring all six of its runs after Ian Seymour had held the Yankees to one hit through five scoreless innings. Once Seymour was gone, Tampa Bay’s relief corps couldn’t keep the door shut, and the Yankees made them pay.
Rookie George Lombard Jr. was at the center of it. The 21-year-old doubled home a run during a three-run seventh, then scored on a wild pitch in a play that had to be seen to be believed. One inning later, he ended the game with a two-run homer to the second deck in left off Steven Matz.
“I think that’s my first time ever doing that one in a game,” Lombard said. “I was in trouble, had to figure something out, and it just kind of happened.”
Aaron Boone had a clear view of the chaos and the finish.
“My first thought on the ricochet was, ‘Oh, no,'” Boone said. “Then it was just a really good athletic play by the old soccer player.”
Seymour gave Tampa Bay exactly what it wanted from the start. The left-hander allowed one hit, walked none and struck out three over five scoreless innings on 58 pitches.
But after he left, the Rays’ night unraveled fast. Jake Woodford was charged with three runs, Brody Hopkins gave up more damage in the seventh, and Matz took the loss in the eighth.
The Rays dropped to 96-63, still the No. 1 seed in the American League, but the finish showed the weakness lurking behind their top arms. New York, meanwhile, improved to 92-67 and looked like a club that could keep fighting even without Aaron Judge in the lineup because of a calf strain.
Austin Wells homered for the Yankees, and Paul Goldschmidt delivered the tying single in the seventh before Lombard took over. That gave New York a different look from the usual Judge-driven script, and it helped the Yankees improve to 11-8 when tied through seven innings.
That doesn’t erase the bigger picture: New York lost seven of 13 meetings with Tampa Bay this season. But Thursday offered a clean blueprint if these teams meet again in October - work the starter, get into the bullpen, and attack.
Lombard’s night also put him in rare Yankee company. At 21 years and 114 days, he became the second-youngest player in franchise history to hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning or later, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The only younger Yankee to do it was Mickey Mantle, who hit a go-ahead grand slam on July 29, 1952, at 20 years and 283 days.
Lombard has been locked in at the right time, hitting .310/.326/.643 since Sept. 14. Boone didn’t miss the moment.
“He’s got power. He’s a strong kid,” Boone said.
“The ball he hit to left field was absolutely scalded, and then a no-doubter on the home run. It’s really good to see that.”
The Yankees also continued lining things up for October. Cam Schlittler, the likely AL Cy Young Award winner, threw three innings and 70 pitches while allowing two runs. Left-hander Luis Gil was optioned and won’t be on the wild-card roster despite two innings of one-unearned-run relief.
The club has already clinched a home wild-card series that will likely open Tuesday against the Red Sox, who had not yet officially secured the fifth seed. Anthony Volpe started at second and went 0-for-3 with a walk, and New York is still sorting out its third-base plan against Boston’s lefty-heavy pitching staff.
For one night, though, the Yankees didn’t need all the answers. They just needed a rookie with some confidence, a bullpen that cracked, and a swing that changed everything.
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