Montgomery, Bullpen Lead Yanks To Game 4 Win

The Yankees fought off elimination last night thanks to excellent pitching. Starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery went four innings allowing just one run on three hits. He struck out four batters and walked three. Montgomery hadn’t pitched since September 24 against the Blue Jays.

Aaron Boone then used his bullpen for the next five innings. Chad Green entered in the fifth and pitched two scoreless innings while striking out two batters. Zack Britton took over in the seventh and went 1.2 scoreless with three strikeouts. Closer Arolidis Chapman came in with two out in the eighth and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, striking out two and walking one.

New York got on the board in the second with a solo home run from AL MVP candidate Luke Voit. It was his first home run of the post-season. DJ LeMahieu drove in another run in the inning on a sacrifice fly, giving the Yanks the early 2-0 lead.

The Rays’ only run came in the top of the third. With the bases loaded and one out, Brandon Lowe hit into a force out scoring Willy Adames from third. Montgomery then got the red-hot Randy Arozarena, hitting .600 this post-season, to ground out and get out of the jam. The Yankees held Arozarena off base for the first time this series.

Gleyber Torres added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run bomb to left field, giving the Yanks a 4-1 lead. Kyle Higashioka, making his third start this series, drove in another run on a single in the eighth to make it 5-1.

The deciding game five will be tonight (Friday) as the Yankees will send ace Gerrit Cole to the mound against the Rays’ Tyler Glasnow. Cole went six innings allowing three runs and recording eight strikeouts in the Yankees’ game one win. Glasnow allowed four runs in five innings with 10 strikeouts in the Rays’ game two win.

(Photo: Gregory Bull/Associated Press)