Back-to-back HRS give N.Y. another walk-off
Ford wins it with pinch-hit shot after Gardner ties it
Through Little League and high school, three years in the Ivy League and six more in the minors, Mike Ford held onto his childhood dream.
The local kid, a lifelong Yankee fan, hitting a winning homer in the Bronx. Seemed too good to be true.
“I don’t think it’s set in yet,” he said. Ford followed Brett Gardner’s tying homer with New York’s second straight walk-off, and the Yankees rallied from four runs down to beat the Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Sunday.
Gardner led off the ninth with a homer to right off All-star closer Liam Hendriks (4-2), and Ford followed with a pinch-hit blast.
“I didn’t hear anything, which is crazy,” Ford said. “Just a whole rush of emotion.”
Ford is from New Jersey and was undrafted out of Princeton in 2013. The 27-year-old played 572 minor league games before his first big league call-up this year, and he’s hit 10 homers in 36 games as an injury fill-in for the AL East-leading Yankees.
“A guy that just has professional atbats,” Gardner said.
New York has won six of seven and salvaged a series win against the A’s.
The Yankees have won eight straight rubber matches and improved to 90-48, the first team this year to reach 90 victories.
A’s left-hander Sean Manaea pitched one-hit ball over five innings in his first start since shoulder surgery last September, and Oakland led 4-0 after 71/2 innings.
The Yankees loaded the bases in the eighth, got a sacrifice f ly from Gleyber Torres and a tworun single by Didi Gregorius to make it 4-3.
Sheldon Neuse lined a tiebreaking, two-run double for his first major league hit in the seventh for Oakland, and Matt Olson made a stellar play at first before hitting his 28th homer.
Yankees left-hander J.A. Happ countered Manaea with six scoreless innings of one-hit ball, walking four and striking out five. Adam Ottavino (6-4) pitched a scoreless inning to win.
Oakland trails Cleveland by a half-game for the second AL wild card and is a full game behind Tampa Bay for the first spot.
Manaea walked three and struck out five with 82 pitches in a stellar return.
The 27-year-old walked three in the fifth inning but left the bases loaded when Olson dived to stop Mike Tauchman’s grounder and threw from his back to Manaea at the bag.
Olson, last year’s AL Gold Glove Award winner at first, also made an over-the-shoulder, basket catch on the warning track on Gary Sanchez’s pop foul in the eighth.
September Call-ups
The Yankees recalled outfielder Clint Frazier. He had a walk and two hard-hit outs. New York also recalled right-handers Ryan Dull and Chance Adams, signed left-hander Tyler Lyons to a major league deal and transferred right-hander David Hale to the 60-day injured list.
Trainer’s room
Yankees: RHP Luis Severino (lat muscle injury) pitched oneplus inning at Triple-a, his first appearance of 2019. He allowed a home run and struck out two.