NEW YORK (AP) — Pinch-hitter J.C. Escarra came through with a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and the New York Yankees, held hitless into the seventh, rallied past the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Cody Bellinger homered with one out in the seventh for New York’s first hit off Padres starter Dylan Cease, who exited moments later with a cramp in his right forearm.
Max Fried tossed seven splendid innings in a pitchers’ duel with Cease before San Diego scored twice against the Yankees’ bullpen to build a 3-1 lead in the eighth.
Pinch-hitter Trent Grisham tied it with a two-run homer in the bottom half after Oswaldo Cabrera drew a leadoff walk from Jason Adam. It was Grisham’s 10th home run, eclipsing last year’s total.
Cabrera led off the 10th with a sacrifice bunt that moved automatic runner Jasson Domínguez to third. Escarra, the backup catcher and former Uber driver, then came off the bench and lofted a long fly into the left-field corner against Jeremiah Estrada (1-2) that allowed Domínguez to score easily for New York’s first walk-off win this season.
In his second game since coming off the injured list, Jackson Merrill hit a solo homer in the fourth and a tiebreaking single in the eighth for the Padres. Xander Bogaerts added a sacrifice fly off Luke Weaver to make it 3-1.
Even as San Diego was taking the lead, a huge roar went up in the Yankee Stadium crowd of 42,302 when the New York Knicks finished off their rally for a 91-90 victory in Boston that gave them a 2-0 lead over the Celtics in their NBA playoff series.
Key moment
With the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th, embattled reliever Devin Williams (1-2) struck out Bogaerts with a full-count changeup. Williams screamed and pumped his fist before hopping off the mound. He ended up with his first win for the Yankees, who took two of three in the series.
Key stat
Fried was drafted seventh overall by the Padres in 2012 before they traded him to Atlanta. He is 6-0 with a 1.05 ERA for New York since signing a $218 million contract as a free agent in December, and the Yankees have won all eight of his starts.
Up next
Padres: Following a day off, RHP Randy Vásquez (1-3, 3.90 ERA) starts Friday night in Colorado.
Yankees: Rookie RHP Will Warren (1-2, 5.65 ERA) pitches Friday at the Athletics.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
