NEW YORK — The tweak was minor. The impact was major.
With Mike Yastrzemski surging and LaMonte Wade Jr. struggling, manager Bob Melvin decided to flip their spots in the lineup. Yastrzemski would bat leadoff; Wade would bat sixth.
The result? Yastrzemski, Wade and Jung Hoo Lee headlined a five-run first inning, one where Yankees starter Marcus Stroman recorded two outs before being pulled. Yastrzemski reached base twice and scored twice while Wade reached base three times and drove in three runs. On a frigid, wet night in the Bronx that lasted just six innings due to weather, San Francisco kicked off its gauntlet of a road trip with a 9-1 win over New York.
Yastrzemski, fresh off hitting a walk-off home run on Wednesday, began the night by ripping a leadoff double on Stroman’s first pitch. After Willy Adames walked, Lee smashed a line drive that kept carrying and cleared the right-center field fence for his first homer of the year, one that gave the Giants a 3-0 lead.
Like the rain, San Francisco’s offense kept pouring on.
Matt Chapman and Heliot Ramos drew back-to-back walks that set the stage for Wade, who pulled a double into the right-field corner. Chapman and Ramos scored, and San Francisco extended its lead to 5-0. The Giants wouldn’t pile on further in the inning but they succeeded in chasing Stroman, who was pulled with two outs after allowing a single to Tyler Fitzgerald. As the sky showered Stroman with rain, the relentless crowd showered him with boos.
With a healthy lead established, the game became something of a race against the rain.
Weather forecasts estimated that the precipitation would really pick up around 9:00 p.m. local time, but the game’s start time was curiously pushed back from 7:05 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Regardless, the Giants needed to only complete the minimum five innings to secure the win. The wet and cold environment resulted in a slog of a ballgame, one in which strikes were at a premium. The Giants and Yankees needed a little over two hours to complete five innings, but they dragged themselves across that finish line around 9:45 p.m. Just in time, too.
In the top of the sixth, the environment was no longer tenable for baseball — not that it ever really was.
Yankees reliever Yoendrys Gómez nearly hit Adames with an errant sweeper, resulting in a mound visit from pitching coach Matt Blake. Gómez followed up by walking Lee and nearly plunking him on the final pitch, forcing the grounds crew to slather the mound with dry dirt. But after Wade drew a bases-loaded walk, the grounds crew rolled the tarp onto the field at 10:04 p.m. EST and the game entered a rain delay. Melvin appeared to plead with the umpires to call the game right there in that moment, but to no avail.
Finally, at 10:34 p.m., the game was called.
Robbie Ray turned in a fine outing given the circumstances, allowing one earned run over four innings with seven strikeouts despite walking four batters. His hat constantly drenched, Ray needed 98 pitches to complete those four innings and threw just 56 strikes. Ray didn’t finish five innings, but got credited with the win due to the shortened nature of the game.
