It was a fielder's choice play gone horribly wrong, and in the process, it was the turning point play that propelled the New York Yankees to a much-needed victory.
Yankees Defeat Rays 6-4 With Help Of Errors
The New York Yankees took advantage of multiple Tampa Bay Rays defensive mishaps to steal a 6-4 victory and pick up a game in the American League East standings over the Baltimore Orioles.
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Tied 4-4 with the Tampa Bay Rays in the bottom of the seventh inning, Rays second baseman Elliot Johnson made an egregious throwing error to home plate off a Derek Jeter grounder, allowing two runs to score and all but sealing the victory.
Earlier in the fourth inning, Johnson misplayed a pop-up that essentially gave the Yankess an extra out. They used the opportunity to score three runs off Alex Rodriguez and Russell Martin doubles.
Naturally, Rays fans are not happy.
While they weren’t technically quality starts, both the Yankees’ Hiroki Kuroda and the Rays’ Matt Moore pitched well, going six innings and six-and-a-third innings, respectively, while Moore struck out nine.
The Yankees bullpen pitched three scoreless innings, with Rafael Soriano earning his 36th save of the season and allowing Kuroda to pick up his 13th win.
In addition to his fourth-inning, two-run double, Martin tied the game at four with a sixth-inning solo home run.
Even though Wednesday's game may have been more about the Rays losing than the Yankees winning, the victory for the pinstripes allowed them to pick up a much-needed game against the red hot Baltimore Orioles, who lost 6-4 Wednesday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Yankees are now one game up over the Orioles as they head to Camden Yards for a pivotal four-game weekend series.
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