Anthony Rizzo's walk-off HR sends Yankees to sweep of Rays
Anthony Rizzo #48 of the Yankees celebrates his ninth inning game winning home run against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, June 16, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Clarke Schmidt had to put on a clean shirt.
It wasn’t because the one he was wearing in the postgame clubhouse was soiled or sweaty, but because it had an expletive printed on the front of it. It was the type of thing that might slip by the censors on any other night in the Bronx, a barely noticeable word on a tee worn by a barely noticeable player.
But Thursday night saw Schmidt become the latest Yankee to step into the spotlight of a remarkable season, playing a role on the field which he had no clue he would be taking up when he woke in the morning, then capping his day with a stint in front of the cameras gathered to hear from the game’s stars that was equally unexpected. For such an appearance a more family friendly dress code was required and Schmidt quickly donned the closest bland gray pullover he could find.
“I’m in such a good spot right now mentally,” Schmidt said after the Yankees' 2-1 win, Anthony Rizzo's walk-off home run in the ninth inning completing the sweep of the Rays. “I feel like anytime my name is called I’m just very comfortable.”
These are the 2022 Yankees, a squad full of such overflowing confidence. Players such as Schmidt who was pressed into spot service as the starting pitcher when Luis Severino, the day’s scheduled starter, was placed on COVID IL prior to the game (Severino ultimately tested negative after suffering a fever and chills the previous night). Players such as Ryan Weber, the right-hander who was called up to replace Severino on the 26-man roster, made the trip from Scranton without even knowing whether he would be activated until he saw his name on the lineup card, and wound up following Schmidt on the mound as well as in the postgame interviews where he was still giddily shaking from his first welcoming Yankee Stadium appearance (as a former Red Sox pitcher he said he was not used to being cheered here).
Together the two Severino stand-ins combined to give the Yankees 6 2/3 strong innings, allowing three hits and one run. After that it was just a matter of waiting for Mount Pinstripe to erupt as it usually does, this time Rizzo popping a one-out pitch into the stands in right center for the Yankees' eighth walk-off win of the season.
"That's a good one there with Sevy getting sick, wondering how we would do it," Boone said of the seventh straight win. "A lot of really good efforts tonight."
The “sinces” for this team are starting to get silly as they now head to Toronto for a three-game series. Thursday’s victory improved them to 47-16, making them just the fourth team since 1956 to win at least 47 of their first 63 games and the sixth team to do so since 1930. Their 14 straight home wins are the most since they ripped off 15 straight in 1961. They have won seven straight, 14 of the last 15, 18 of the last 21, and 28 of the last 36.
That they scrambled to put this latest one together made it all the more satisfying. All the more amazing. All the more… routine?
“We’re winning games in a lot of different ways, which is really good,” Rizzo said. “Every day our confidence grows.”
The one bad pitch thrown by the Yankees was a 1-1 fastball by Weber which Francisco Mejia cranked off the facing of the second deck in right field in the fifth to give the Rays a 1-0 lead. The Yankees were held hitless through the first four innings by a conglomerate of Rays pitchers – this after all is the team that practically invented the concept of the opener and a planned bullpen game – but tied the score in the sixth when Rizzo hammered an RBI single to right after back-to-back two out walks to DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge.
It remained 1-1 until Rizzo’s spot in the lineup came around again in the bottom of the ninth. After Judge flew out to right for the first out Rizzo ripped a fastball from Shawn Armstrong into the bleachers for his fifth career walk-off homer.
After the game the Yankees reactivated Severino and designated Weber for assignment. Schmidt returns to the bullpen waiting for his next opportunity to pitch.
And, perhaps, his next opportunity to have to put on a clean shirt for the cameras.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
