Sanchez ends 0-for-19 skid with a big hit
This wasn’t a hit Gary Sanchez will necessarily cherish. He admitted it was more about good fortune than skill, the ball finding the right spot.
“I just threw the bat at it. I got lucky there,” Sanchez said of his opposite-field, go-ahead, two-run single in the Yankees’ 5-3 win over the Astros Wednesday night in The Bronx.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning, the Astros went into a shift, leaving a canyon-size space open on the right side of the infield. So Sanchez sent a 1-2 Dallas Keuchel fastball in that exact spot, turning a one-run deficit into a one-run lead.
“To me, it was just putting the ball in play,” he said. “That’s what I was trying to do. It’s obvious I don’t hit a lot of ground balls to second base.”
It worked, and Sanchez snapped an 0for-19 in the process, producing the big hit that had eluded him of late. The two RBIs were his first since May 19, a span of eight games, the second-longest stretch of his career.
“Any time you get a hit, you’re going to feel good,” he said. “But the important thing there was I got that hit and I was able to put the team ahead. That’s the most important thing there, getting ahead, contributing, helping the team.”
Indeed, the Yankees never trailed again, going on to take their second series of the year from the defending World Series champion Astros to remain two games behind the Red Sox in the AL East.
It was significant that Sanchez delivered the go-ahead hit. Though his power numbers are solid — 12 home runs, 35 RBIs and a .485 slugging percentage — his .799 OPS is underwhelming. So is his .211 batting average. That the Yankees still lead baseball in runs per game despite Sanchez not being at his best speaks to the depth of their lineup. And they don’t seem concerned about their catcher.
“In the long run, he’s not going to hit down there [average-wise],” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’ll get it going and take off at some point. He just hasn’t had that long streak where he’s getting multiple hits all the time. Those streaks will come for him.”
Maybe this was the start of one.