Victor Gonzalez said he usually lets pitchers overlook him, such as in the ninth inning, and lets the fielders do their jobs.
For some reason he couldn’t identify, but this was different.
“It was a reaction,” the Yankees reliever said through an interpreter.
Gonzalez reached behind him for a soft line drive off the bat of pinch hitter Harold Ramirez.
He couldn’t catch it, but diverted it to the right side of the mound on the way to first base.
Gonzalez sprinted after it, grabbed the ball, flipped it back to Anthony Rizzo for the final out, and dove face down to complete the victory in style.
“Right away I realized I could beat it,” he said after the Yankees beat the Rays 5-4 in the Bronx to clinch the series finale. “As I was trying to get the ball and run as fast as I could, I saw a runner out of the corner of my eye and thought I had plenty of time. It was just a matter of sticking to it. I was able to do that and get the win today. It was done.”
With Clay Holmes and Ian Hamilton unavailable due to recent busy schedules, Gonzalez was called up for the ninth inning.
He had to work his way through the top of the Rays’ pecking order.
After retiring the first two batters, he walked Randy Arozarena, but retired Ramirez.
The southpaw is off to a strong start with the Yankees after spending the first three years of his major league career with the Dodgers.
In 8¹/₃ innings, he allowed just one earned run, only three hits, and three strikeouts.
Early on, he looks like a solid replacement for left-handed Wandy Peralta, who can hit both right-handed and left-handed batters and be used in several different roles.
“I feel safe with Victor in a lot of situations,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I trust him a lot because he’s a slow heart rate type. Usually I like to put him in against left-handed opponents, but [but] We knew it couldn’t happen just where we were. Another great piece of his work. ”
