'You're here to hit doubles . . . not triples'
Yankees catcher Austin Wells is tagged out by Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero to end the eighth inning in Game 1 of the ALDS at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Saturday. Credit: Newsday/William Perlman
What was Austin Wells thinking? Here's Jimmy Rollins talking with Pedro Martinez on the TNT Sports postgame after Wells was nailed at third base in the eighth inning of the Yankees’ 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the ALDS:
“You have to understand, ‘I am here to hit doubles.’ Austin, you’re here to hit doubles, you’re here to hit home runs, not triples. Unless the ball absolutely gets stuck in the corner, that rightfielder now has to run an extra 10 feet to pick it up. They’re not even thinking about trying to throw you out at third. In that situation, the ball tells you when to stop. The ball should have stopped him. The ball came off the fence, came back out into play relatively quick. As Pedro said, you hit it hard, you have no chance. I just can’t reiterate the fact [enough] that there was no chance on any planet that he was going to be safe at third.”
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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