Forget about depreciation upon leaving the lot, Anthony Rizzo’s value is skyrocketing upon his arrival with the Yankees.
Trailing 1-0 in the eighth inning, Rizzo provided the game-tying single to spark a late Yankees comeback in a 3-1 victory that helped complete a sweep over the Marlins in Miami on Sunday afternoon.
It was Rizzo’s third RBI in as many games with the Yankees after he provided a pair of solo home runs in his first two games with the club after being acquired from the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
One batter after Rizzo’s game-tying single, Aaron Judge put the Yankees ahead for good with an RBI single of his own, scoring Giancarlo Stanton.
In the ninth inning, Brett Gardner doubled the Yankees’ lead thanks to a throwing error by Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm, which scored Gleyber Torres.
Miami jumped on Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery early after a lead-off double by Miguel Rojas and a single by Chisholm. Rojas was driven home on an RBI groundout by Brian Anderson, which was all Montgomery would yield on the afternoon.
The Yankees’ southpaw went five innings, allowing just three hits with five strikeouts. However, New York couldn’t touch developing Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, who went seven innings of scoreless ball while allowing just two hits with 10 strikeouts and a walk to lower his season ERA to 3.12.
It all came undone for the Marlins upon Alcantara’s exit as reliever Anthony Bass relinquished his side’s lead; though he can’t shoulder all of the blame. With one out and Gardner on first base, Stanton hit a tailor-made double-play ball to Anderson, who threw it away and gave the Yankees new life.
Rizzo immediately made them pay with the game-tying single before the Yankees took the lead for good.
A series against the worst team in the National League East turned out to be just what the Bronx Bombers needed. It’s the first time since June 15-17 against the Toronto Blue Jays that the Yankees swept a series and just the second time since then that they’ve won three games or more in succession.
The sweep moved them to within 6.5 games of first place in the American League East prior to the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays’ series finale on Sunday night.
