Josh Donaldson ended the game with a grand slam in the 10th inning just at midnight, and the downtrodden New York Yankees cruised to an electrifying 8-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday to avoid a sweep in the series of three games.
Gleyber Torres singled early in the inning off Jalen Beeks (2-2) and Anthony Rizzo walked before Donaldson found a 97 mph fastball with a strike.
The ball flew into the short gantry behind right field. Donaldson swung his bat in the air and raised his arms as soon as he made contact with the ball.
Cuban Aroldis Chapman (2-3) gave up three runs in the top of the 10th for New York, which came into the match after losing three in a row and 12 of the last 15.
The Yankees finally got some help from their hitting, which hadn’t scored more than three runs since Aug. 8. New York had a grand total of one run in its previous three games.
This lasted 3 hours and 48 minutes. And that’s not counting the more than an hour stoppage in the seventh inning due to rain.
But the wait was worth it for the Yankees.
For the Rays, Cubans Yandy Díaz 6-2 with three RBIs, Randy Arozarena 3-0. The Venezuelan David Peralta 5-1.
Colombian Harold Ramírez 5-1 with a run scored and an RBI. The Mexican Isaac Paredes without an official turn but with one scored. The Dominicans José Siri 4-1 with two runs scored, Francisco Mejía 5-2 with a run scored and three RBIs.
For the Yankees, the Venezuelans Torres 5-2 with two runs scored and two RBIs, Oswaldo Cabrera 4-0, Marwin González 1-0. The Venezuelan Estevan Florial 2-0.