Nick Franklin?
You could just imagine the players of the New York Yankees, shaking their heads and saying, “Nick Franklin?”
Franklin, who was hitting only .133 in a sputtering season, cranked a two-run homer in the sixth to give the Tampa Bay Rays a lead. The Rays won, 6-3, to break a three-game losing streak.
It was a while coming. Franklin, expected to contend for a middle-infield role on this team, had only one home run and only three RBI on the season. Franklin had gone 0-for-his-last-12. He was in the game only because Asdrubal Cabrera injured himself coming out of the batter’s box.
The Yankees had taken an early 3-2 on home runs off Jake Odorizzi when Alex Rodriguez hit a solo shot and Greg Bird hit a two-run shot. But Odorizzi gave up only three hits in six innings and evened his record at 8-8.
Mikie Mahtook had three hits for the Rays, while John Jaso and Logan Forsythe each had two.
The last two starts against the Yankees, Odorizzi has given up six hits. Five of them have been home runs.
Brandon Gomes got his first save for the Rays.
Chris Archer starts for the Rays today against Luis Severino.
