By Bryan High | 9:36 p.m. EDT
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ST. PETERSBURG — The Yankees’ internal plan was to have Harrison Bader start twice at Tropicana Field this weekend, though the outfielder wasn’t too keen on rest after missing the first month of the season. His preparation for the game, he said, began the second he woke up on Saturday morning.
In fact, Bader came off the bench in a big spot that afternoon. Playing in only his fourth game since being activated from the injured list, Bader continued to impress by scoring two hits – including a two-run go-ahead single – as the Yankees advanced to a 3-2 win over the Rays collected .
“I don’t think there’s ever really a day off when you get to the farm,” Bader said. “You might not be on the starting line-up, but at some point I expected that I would get a chance to go out there. You still need to prepare as if you were starting; Keep it short and do something good for the team.”
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Bader’s eighth-inning strike, a 179-foot wedge shot to right field by assist Kevin Kelly, chased home Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu to give New York their first lead of the series. The advantage remained as Clay Holmes finished a goalless eighth and Ian Hamilton worked around a double in ninth to make his first major league save.
“You know how hard it is to play here and against this team as well as they play,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I know we’re in a tough spot right now and we’re fighting, but I know these guys are competitive. I want us to keep telling them that. It’s not easy at the moment and that’s okay, but we’re fighting our butts.”
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Though Boone said the commentary on Holmes’ recent struggles “didn’t [been] indicating how he throws the ball,” he sidestepped the 2022 All-Star in favor of Hamilton, a 27-year-old right-hander with a confusing out pitch (the club refer to him as “Slambio,” a combination of slider and _cambio_, the Spanish word for change).
Hamilton grooved a slambio that Jose Siri strapped to the midfield wall for a long flyout, then settled in to go around Luke Raley’s two-out double.
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“It was kind of unexpected,” said Hamilton, who last completed a game in college at Washington State University. “Every inning you’re just trying to get three outs, so you’re trying to simplify it like that. But having it in the ninth inning was definitely a different feeling. It took me a little longer to calm down.”
Domingo Germán struggled to limit the Rays to two runs over five innings – both hitting at Manuel Margot’s double in the first inning – and the Yankees’ hurlers wriggled out of hairy spots in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, leaving New York behind two runs towards the eighth.
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“The first inning was intense; many pitches [27]’ German said through an interpreter. “I was able to make the adjustments I needed to make on the mound and stay in the game.”
Given their opponent’s early season success, the Yankees’ chances of a comeback seemed slim. Tampa Bay had opened the scoring 22-0 that season, level with the 1884 St. Louis Maroons for the longest such winning streak in the beginning of a season.
Anthony Rizzo poked with a one-out single to chase Jalen Beeks and Torres greeted Kelly with a single before LeMahieu drilled a run-scoring double into the right field corner. After a popout, Bader connected with his second hit of the game after entering the seventh with a pinch-hit single.
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“I teased him and said, ‘There’s no better praise out there,'” Boone said. “It’s a lot of fun to be with him. He loves playing the game; he loves to compete. He was ready to go the whole game. He likes the competition and is happy to be back.”
While stars like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson remain on the injury list, the Yankees missed out on Bader, who sat out the club’s first 30 games of the regular season after suffering a left bias in early March.
Bader hit a game-changing three-run home run in Friday’s series opener, marking his first home run of the regular season in a Yankees uniform. he hit five in the postseason last year.
“We’re fighting and we’re just finding our step,” Bader said. “It’s the beginning of the season. If this is the worst baseball we’re going to play all season, then I think we’re in a really good place. We play confidently and wins like this definitely give momentum for tomorrow.”