Trent Grisham, Stroman & the Bullpen Tag-Team for Win. NY 2 Tampa 1

July 11, 2024 paperbacklou 2024 0
Trent Grisham saves game with tremendous catch of line drive to the gap for last out of 8th with 2 runners on.

Trent Grisham drove in both Yankee runs with an RBI double in the 2nd and a sac fly in the 4th, and made a tremendous catch in centerfield to save the game in the 8th, helping Marcus Stroman and the Yankee bullpen tag-team for a 2-1 win over Tampa on a Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.

The Yankee pitchers did a superb job of passing the baton to each other for the 9 inning, 1 run performance:

  • Stroman, using his beautiful light-blue glove, pitched a shutout into the 5th, before he ran into trouble, allowing 3 singles and a walk to make it a 2-1 game with 2 on and only 1 out.
  • But Stroman passed the baton to Tim Hill, who got the last 2 outs of the 5th.
  • Hill got into trouble in the 6th, allowing 2 singles putting 2 on and only 1 out. But Hill passed the baton to Luke Weaver, who got a double play on the first pitch he threw to get out of the jam.
  • Weaver pitched a shutout 7th and passed the baton to Tommy Kahnle, who bumbled it — allowing 2 baserunners with 2 outs — but he passed the baton to Clay Holmes, who got the last out of the 8th on a tremendous catch by Grisham in center, and pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 9th for the win.

“I felt like I got a jump on it, but I had to run a long way, so I was happy that I hauled it in,” said Grisham afterwards. When asked what they said to him in the dugout when he got back there, Grisham said “That’s a lot faster than you usually move.”

NY improves to 56-38 and move to within 2 of Baltimore, which lost. Tampa falls to 45-47.

1. Grisham the Hitting Star

Trent Grisham hardly played the first few months of the season, after being acquired this winter from San Diego as an almost-forgotten part of the Juan Soto trade. Grisham was San Diego’s starting centerfielder the last 4 years, winning 2 Gold Gloves.

It’s been noted by the Yankee broadcast crew including Suzyn Waldman especially, how well Grisham had been handling the lack of playing time, as he’s been a tremendous personality in the clubhouse.

Giancarlo Stanton‘s hamstring injury opened up playing time for Grisham, who has been playing center with Judge getting rest at DH or playing rightfield.

And Grisham has performed.

The Yanks were up against Zach Eflin in this game, and Eflin was throwing down. Eflin would pitch 7 innings allowing only 4 hits and 1 earned run — but that 1 earned was courtesy Grisham, who, after an Anthony Volpe 1-out single in the 2nd inning, doubled to left to score Volpe a 1-0 Yankee lead.

The Yanks got their unearned run off Eflin in the 4th — Gleyber Torres led off with a single, and went to 3rd when Volpe grounded out to Yandy Diaz at 1st, and Diaz tried throwing Gleyber out at 2nd but threw the ball away.

Grisham then hit a clutch sac fly for a 2-0 Yankee lead. It was an important run because it was the last the Yanks got against Eflin and the Tampa pen.

2. Stroman Good, Sporting Light Blue Glove

And the Yankee pitchers made those 2 runs standup.

Stroman, using his beautiful light-blue glove, pitched his usual pitcher’s pitcher game — using his assortment of pitches to keep Tampa off the ball, and escaping trouble by inducing grounders with his sinker.

Stroman was helped by Jose Trevino in the 2nd when Randy Arozarena led off with a single, but was gunned down by Trevino trying to steal 2nd.

Stroman was helped by serendipity in the 3rd, when shortstop Taylor Walls led off with a single, but was hit by the batted ball by Yandy Diaz — Diaz got a single out of it but Walls was out.

Stroman pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th, but in the 5th yielded single (to Ben Rortvedt), single (to Walls) moving Rortvedt to 3rd, RBI groundout (to Diaz), single (to Brandon Lowe), and walk (to Isaac Paredes) — loading the bases in a 2-1 game.

3. Stroman Passes Baton to Hill

In came sidearm lefty Tim Hill with the bases loaded, 1 out. Hill struck out lefty Josh Lowe looking, and got Randy Arozarena to line out to left. PHEW.

4. Hill Passes Baton to Weaver

Hill got into trouble in the 6th, allowing leadoff singles to Palacios and Siri. He struck out Ben Rortvedt, and then passed the baton to Luke Weaver, who got Walls to hit into a double play on the first pitch he threw to him, to get out of the jam.

5. Weaver Passes Baton to Kahnle

Weaver walked consecutive batters after 1 out in the 7th — but then got Josh Lowe to fly out and struck out Randy Arozarena swinging to end the threat. HUGE moment in the game.

Weaver then passed the baton to Tommy Kahnle, who got the first 2 outs of the 8th, but then allowed a single (to Ben Rortvedt) and a walk (to Walls), putting runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out.

Kahnle passed the baton to Clay Holmes, who came in to attempt the 4-out save.

6. Grisham Tremendous Catch Saves Game

Holmes went 1-1 on Yandy Diaz, then threw an 86-MPH slider that Diaz ripped to right center — it had double in the gap written all over it.

But Grisham was there with a tremendous catch — getting a great jump to make it look almost easy. PHEW!

7. Holmes Takes Baton to Finish Line

Holmes was then Filthy in the 9th, getting groundout, strike out, strike out for the old ballgame, as Emmanuel Berbari on the radio broadcast exclaimed “Cardiac Clay does the job!”

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401569861

 

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