ONE LAST HURRAH
Walk- of f slam by retiring Tex keeps Yanks on life support
Don’t count out the Yankees just yet, and don’t start packing bags for the retiring Mark Teixeira. Tex cranked a walk-off grand slam Wednesday to cap a ninth-inning rally, staving off elimination with a 5-3 win over the Bosox, who clinched the AL East despite the loss.
Mark Teixeira at least will try to hit another homer in the final days of his career. But if he doesn’t, he is more than happy to go out with the one he belted Wednesday night.
His walk-off grand slam not only provided an improbable 5-3 victory over the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium but also kept the Yankees’ faint playoff hopes on life support.
“You don’t want a wallscraper in an 8-0 game to be your last one. You want a walk- off g rand slam against the Red Sox,” said Teixeira, who is retiring after this season. “I’ll be trying to hit one the next four games, but if this [is] my last one, it’ll be pretty special.”
Teixeira’s drive off a Joe Kelly 99-mph fastball down and in kept the Yankees alive in their wildcard fantasy through the power of mathematics — and the five-run ninth. But it did not stop the Red Sox from clinching the AL East, their second division crown in four years. Boston took that honor when Baltimore rallied and beat Toronto. That Orioles win also pushed the Yankees to the edge with a tragic number of one.
“We’ve been watching the scoreboard for the last week or two,” Teixeira said. “We knew our odds were long for a while.”
While the Red Sox did not celebrate on the field — “It’s hard to watch, so it’ s nice ,” manager Joe Girardi said — they did party in the clubhouse afterwards.
“It’ s a great feeling. I’m happy for everybody that’s a part of the organization, I’m happy for all of our fans and for the guys on the team,” Boston president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “It’s fantastic, but it’s one step. There are bigger matters than a division.”
“Obviously, t he goal is to win a World Series, not just the American League East,” said Mookie Betts, who had delivered the game’s biggest hit before Teixeira stepped to the plate with the bases loaded on a misty, winddriven, chilly night. “Can’t let one inning deter our whole season. We’ve had a great season.”
Betts’ two-run double keyed a three-run Boston eighth that saw the first scoring after a terrific duel between Boston’s Clay Buchholz and the Yankees’ Bryan Mitchell. Buchholz exited after six innings in which he surrendered one hit — an in field roller by Brett Gardner — walked two and struck out six. Mitchell, in his longest outing of the season, went seven innings, yielding just two hits. He walked five and struck out two.
That Gardner hit was the only one the Yankees managed until Gardner led off the ninth with his second hit, against Boston cl oser Craig Kimbrel (2-5). Three walks to Jacoby Ellsbury, Gary Sanchez and Brian McCann, the last forcing in a run, followed. Kelly relieved, slipped a third strike past Starlin Castro and got Didi Gregorius on a foul pop.
Then came Teixeira, who had tied Monday’s win in Toronto with a ninth-inning homer and battled the wind here.
“That’s as good as I can hit a ball. I hit it really well and it just got out,” Teixeira said of his blast into the right-center bullpen.
“Unbelievable moment. Baltimore won, and you have to win or you’re eliminated and to come up with f ive runs in the ninth inning off of Kimbrel and Joe Kelly,” Girardi said.
“You never stop playing the game,” the manager added. “You never know. We had one hit through eight innings and it can happen fast.”
With Adam Warren pitching in relief, a Castro error started the Red Sox eighth. Dustin Pedroia followed with a ground-rule double and after Xander Bogaerts lined out, the Yankees intentionally walked nemesis David Ortiz — only to be foiled by Betts’ two-run double. After Ramirez was walked, Tommy Layne entered and a Sanchez passed ball allowed Ortiz to score.
But the Yankees saved their best — their f iverun best — until last, with Teixeira supplying the dramatics.
“He’s playing his last couple games at home and he’s been doing big things these last couple days,” Gregorius said. “As soon as he hit it, everybody had their hands up.”