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Try it freeAmed Rosario is the ultimate hype man, always the first Yankee out of the dugout when a teammate delivers a big hit.
Except on the biggest swing of the night Tuesday, his teammates had to take his place, because Rosario was the one in the batter’s box.
The reserve infielder came through in the clutch on a frigid night in The Bronx, crushing a three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth — his second home run of the game — to lift the Yankees past the Athletics 5-3.
“Lot of emotions there,” Rosario said through an interpreter. “Just looking for a pitch that I could do some damage [on], and I got it.”
The Yankees (8-2) brought Rosario back this season to be a lefty killer off the bench, but Tuesday he was starting at third base against righty Aaron Civale for the struggling Ryan McMahon and made the most of it.
He homered on the first pitch he saw against Civale in the bottom of the second and then had an even bigger swing against former Yankee Mark Leiter Jr. in the bottom of the eighth to cap a four-run rally against the A’s (3-7).
“He’s the energy in the dugout, so we were excited for him to come through in those big moments,” José Caballero said. “It’s great to have someone like him on the team. He never has a bad day. He’s always high-energy. It’s good for the clubhouse, good for him and good for everyone.”
The Yankees saw enough innings like the eighth out of Leiter during his season and a half in The Bronx, but they were finally able to enjoy it Tuesday.
They had mustered just four hits entering the bottom of the eighth and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position before stringing together three straight hits to start the frame.
Cody Bellinger drilled a single up the middle, Ben Rice blooped a broken-bat single to right field and Giancarlo Stanton sliced a single with some crazy spin past shortstop Jacob Wilson to pull the Yankees within 3-2.
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“G hit a weird G ball,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I don’t know what that was. Feels like the 24-degree ball — something, somehow landed out there.”
One out later, Rosario — starting just his third game of the season — clobbered a 414-foot blast, immediately dropping the bat, pounding his chest and yelling to pump up the dugout as the ball sailed into the night.
“We brought Rosie back because not only is he a really good player, but he’s a tremendous teammate and sets an amazing example for everyone,” Boone said. “He’s become beloved in that room in short order. I think they all get thrilled by his successes, too.”
David Bednar then closed out the win in the top of the ninth, throwing the last of four scoreless innings by the bullpen in relief of Cam Schlittler, who gave up his first runs of the season — three runs over five solid innings while striking out seven.
Schlittler came into the night having thrown 11 ²/₃ scoreless innings to start the year, allowing just three hits and no walks in his first two starts, against the Giants and Mariners.
But the Athletics surpassed that hit total in the third inning alone to jump out to a 3-1 lead.
Still, the right-hander felt that if he could just keep the Yankees within striking distance, good things would happen by the end of the night.
“I was pretty confident we were going to come back and win that game,” Schlittler said. “We have great hitters in the lineup, so not too worried about the early results, but I think we look great and hopefully things keep rolling after this.”
