Josh Donaldson caps New York Yankees debut with a walk-off single in the 11th inning vs. Boston Red Sox
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Yankees’ third baseman Josh Donaldson felt the pressure of coming into a brand new marketplace and making a robust first impact.
“Everybody feels that,” Donaldson stated. “You gotta agree with your technique and how you pass about your business.”
The second for Donaldson to virtually accept as true with his technique got here inside the bottom of the eleventh inning against the rival Boston Red Sox on Opening Day with Isiah Kiner-Falefa on 2nd base to start the inning. Donaldson, 36, needed to accept as true with the technique that carried him to 251 professional homers and an MVP award before he arrived in New York this offseason via trade from the Minnesota Twins.
And on a ninety.1 mph cutter from Red Sox reliever Kutter Crawford, that procedure how Donaldson has gone approximately his commercial enterprise for the eleven years he has been within the large leagues — came thru Friday, as he hit a single up the center past Red Sox infielders Xander Bogaerts and Trevor Story, knocking in the winning run in a 6-five victory and permitting the Yankee Stadium DJ to cue up “New York, New York” via Frank Sinatra for the first time this season.
In the process, Donaldson became the 0.33 Yankees player considering the fact that RBIs have become a professional stat in 1920 to file a walk-off RBI in his Yankees debut, becoming a member of Roy Weatherly in 1943 and Chase Headley in 2014, consistent with Elias Sports Bureau research.
“The walk-off might be gonna stick out, however, I assume the crew win, the group resiliency — it’s going to lead to accurate matters in the destiny,” said Donaldson, who completed the day 2-for-6.
Friday marked Donaldson’s access into the Red Sox-Yankees contention.
“It’s a great feeling to be in surroundings wherein there may be an expectation to win,” Donaldson said. “Especially if each facet are predicted to win, so it is constantly fun playing in these types of video games.”
Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone said that even supposing Donaldson’s at-bat inside the 11th ended up stepping into a unique course, he might not have been involved approximately Donaldson’s capability to modify to playing below the intense lighting fixtures of New York.
“There’s a level of wanting to ingratiate yourself to the brand new metropolis, new humans, fans, teammates,” Boone said. “But the way JD is, whether he comes via or now not, I do not worry approximately him going forward.”
