Gregorius warms NY fans
NEW YORK — Didi Gregorius hit a pair of threerun homers and drove in a career-high eight runs, and the Yankees overcame five strikeouts by Giancarlo Stanton in his first game in pinstripes to beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 11-4, yesterday in Aaron Boone’s chilly first home opener as manager.
Starting his fourth season as Derek Jeter’s successor as the Yankees shortstop, Gregorius had four hits and walked, setting a major league record for RBI by a player in a home opener. He also set a Yankees record for RBI by a shortstop.
He doubled and scored in the second, and his first homer put the Yankees ahead 4-1 in the third against Chris Archer. After New York’s bullpen wasted a three-run lead for the second straight game, Gregorius drove an 0-2 pitch from Austin Pruitt (1-1) into the second deck in the seventh. He blooped an oppositefield two-run single to left in the eighth.
When the Yankees agreed to acquire Stanton from Miami on Dec. 9, Gregorius tweeted: “Hey Skip am i still batting 4th ???”
That’s exactly where he was, following Aaron Judge and Stanton in the batting order.
Fans rewarded Gregorius with a curtain call — he said it was his first in New York — after his second career multihomer game, and his teammates pranked him at the start of the eighth by failing to follow him onto the field. Gregorius turned and stuck out his gloved arm, surprised, when he realized no one was behind him.
Stanton was booed in the eighth inning after the first five-strikeout game of his big league career.
New York improved to 3-2 under Boone, who took over when Joe Girardi was fired after a decade in charge. Tampa Bay has lost four straight since beating the Red Sox in its opener.
A day after New York’s home opener was postponed because of 51⁄2 inches of snow, the game started slightly late at 4:19 p.m. in a light, steady rain and with a 40-degree temperature. The stands were half-full despite an announced crowd of 46,776, and the Yankees called off the pregame introductions that Boone had been looking forward to.