ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- There was a perfect game at Tropicana Field on Sunday afternoon, but not the kind it appeared it would be after five innings, and rather than being the victims of it, the New York Yankees wound up being the victors.
Because if there is a blueprint for a perfect 2016 Yankees game in Joe Girardi's ever-present binder, it would look a lot like this one, albeit with a few more hits. This was a rare day in which the Yankees' offense left not a single runner on base, and it did not have a horrible record of performance with runners in scoring position. That's because the Yankees had only two runners on base all day, one of whom was erased by a double play, and they never had a runner in scoring position. It's not often that a team is on the wrong end of a one-hitter and comes away with a win -- in fact, this was the first time in 102 years that the Yankees had done it.
But since that hit was a home run by Starlin Castro, with Brett Gardner aboard, in the seventh inning, and since the Yankees had their three-headed bullpen monster fresh and idling after Saturday's blowout, all ended the way Girardi and his staff would have drawn it up, as they like to say. The Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1.
Castro, who has made the transitions from Chicago to New York and from shortstop to second base look remarkably easy, belted Jake Odorizzi's only mistake of the day, a 91 mph fastball that caught too much plate, over the center-field fence to deliver a one-run lead into the hands of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman for safekeeping.
It was a remarkably rapid reversal of fortune -- the Yankees went from being eight outs away from being no-hit to nine outs away from an almost guaranteed victory -- and a bitter pill for Odorizzi, who retired the first 16 batters he faced and took a no-hitter into the seventh, and the Rays, who blew the series as well as a chance to swap places with the Yankees at the bottom of the American League East.
"I don’t really want to say we stole one,'' Gardner said, "but with the way Odorizzi pitched and the way Eovaldi was pitching, we know somebody’s going to lose the game and not feel good about it.''
Nathan Eovaldi, the Yankees starter, pitched a minor gem of his own, allowing six hits and a run (on an infield hit, a groundout, a wild pitch and a single by Evan Longoria) over six innings. But it was Odorizzi who flirted with immortality, losing the perfect game with one out in the sixth on a Dustin Ackley grounder to deep short that Brad Miller double-clutched. It was ruled an error, and controversy loomed if Odorizzi were able to bring his game home. But Gardner worked out a seven-pitch walk with one out in the seventh, and Odorizzi grooved that 1-0 fastball to Castro, and it was as good as game, set and match.
"I mean, it’s pretty big, especially knowing what you have down there,'' Girardi said, referring first to the home run and second to his bullpen. "Whenever we get a lead after six, that's a pretty good formula for us.''
Betances, Miller and Chapman, all of whom had Saturday off, struck out seven of the nine hitters they faced. Miller was particularly impressive, striking out the side in the eighth. Eovaldi, who won his team-leading sixth game of the season, added seven K's of his own for a total of 14 Yankee strikeouts.
That kind of pitching can overcome a lot of things, but not an offense that couldn't manage anything resembling a solid hit for 6 1/3 innings. Enter Castro, whose seventh home run is second only to Carlos Beltran's 12, and whose .712 OPS is more than 50 points higher than Alex Rodriguez's. With everything else that has happened to the Yankees this season, Castro's story has been easy to overlook, but it's still remarkable.
Acquired in a trade for Adam Warren -- and wouldn't the Yankees love to have him back now that Michael Pineda has lost his way and Luis Severino is on the disabled list? -- Castro has fit into the Yankees' clubhouse, lineup and infield so seamlessly it sometimes feels as if he has been here for years. He has started all but one of the Yankees' 49 games and has batted in six different spots in the lineup.
"He has power and he’s had some really big hits for us,'' Girardi said. "And he’s a guy you can move all over the lineup, so he gives us a lot of flexibility. He has the ability to be really productive, and I think he’s done a really nice job so far.''
On this day, Girardi, who had neither Beltran nor Mark Teixeira available, slotted Castro third in his batting order, an unlikely spot for a player who hit just 11 home runs last year despite playing half of his games at homer-happy Wrigley Field.
“That was awesome. That’s a really good win,'' Castro said. "That guy [Odorizzi] was really good on the mound today. Finally in the seventh inning, I got a really good pitch to hit and I drove the ball. With the kind of bullpen that we got, it was almost game over.”
It was perfect game over, but perfect game won.
One sour note Sunday: Ackley, who has been filling in for Teixeira (neck spasms) at first base, had to leave the game in the seventh inning after injuring his right shoulder diving into the bag on a pickoff attempt at first after reaching on that controversial sixth-inning error. That forced Teixeira into action a day earlier than he had planned; he had one at-bat, flying out to center, and handled one chance in the field. Girardi said Ackley would remain in Tampa for an MRI and that a DL stint for him was "a distinct possibility.''
As a result, Teixeira will return to the lineup Monday night, but the Yankees will be scrambling once again to find a backup. Girardi mentioned backup catcher Austin Romine and third baseman Chase Headley as possibilities. The Yankees also have Chris Parmelee and Nick Swisher on the roster at Triple-A Scranton, so a roster move is possible for Monday.
