– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
NEW YORK — No matter what lineup card you gaze at in preparation for a baseball game, the No. 3 hitter will draw the attention of many observers, and all eyes were on New York Yankees rookie Spencer Jones, who occupied that spot on Wednesday night as other mainstays at that spot for the team remain out and on the mend. And with everyone looking to see if the neophyte would deliver when it counted, Jones left no doubt.
Jones hit two run-scoring doubles in leading the New York Yankees from a 3-0 deficit during their 10-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners inside Yankee Stadium. Trent Grisham also had a couple of base extra-base hits, two home runs, as New York won its second straight in the series and four of its last five overall.
In truth, Yankees manager Aaron Boone admitted after tonight’s win that he had the later innings in mind when putting Jones in the glamour position in the order, anticipating the Mariners’ tough left-handed relievers on the mound in the later innings and, therefore, allowing the skipper to use some of his right-handed bats off the bench to counteract that. But before that materialized, the Mariners jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Yankees came up to bat and were up 4-1 when Jones came up in the fourth inning against Seattle starter Bryce Miller with two on and two outs.
On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Jones scorched a double the opposite way that hit off the left field wall, scoring both Austin Wells and Ben Rice to cut the Yankees’ deficit to one.
In his next at-bat, Jones once again came up with a runner in scoring position and two outs, and again he came through with a double, this time off the right-center field wall that scored Rice to tie the game at 5-5. Earlier in the inning, Grisham homered for the first time — a solo blast — that cut Seattle’s lead to one.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
