New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells backed his own actions after the Yankees lost the first game of their ALDS matchup against the Rays on Saturday. Wells logged the Yankees' only hit of the evening, doubling down the line in the eighth inning. He attempted to stretch two bases into three, though, and recorded the final out of the inning after blowing through third base coach Luis Rojas' stop sign.
The Yankees went on to lose the game, 1-0, after a quiet ninth inning. "You have to take risks," Wells said after the game. "In that situation, obviously the risk was wrong. ...
I think I needed to try to make something happen there. Obviously it didn't work out." Wells' knock broke up Rays starter Drew Rasmussen's no-hit bid in the eighth, but denied a huge scoring opportunity for the Yankees. They had only reached base twice up to that point, both coming via free pass.
Bryan Baker came in for the Rays in the ninth inning and shut the Yankees down to give the Rays a 1-0 lead in the series despite only scoring one run. Despite their Game 1 loss, the Yankees have plenty of time to get themselves together before the end of the series. They get a day off Sunday before Game 2 on Monday, and still have their best pitcher yet to appear in the series.
Cam Schlittler, the runaway favorite for the AL Cy Young award this season, didn't pitch in the first game of the series, and will give the Yankees a good chance of taking a game back when he pitches in Game 2. He posted an American League-leading 1.95 ERA and 7.0 bWAR, striking out 239 batters in 193.2 innings pitched as he earned his first All-Star Game selection — though he didn't pitch in the Midsummer Classic. If the Yankees can take a game on the road behind Schlittler, they will be in a great spot before returning to Yankee Stadium for Games 3 and 4.
The second game of the ALDS begins Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.
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