Plenty of Yankees newcomers have gotten off to slow starts in The Bronx and felt the pressure mount as they struggled with their new team.
It seems as if Josh Donaldson will avoid that.
Donaldson, who was traded to the Yankees last month by the Twins, came through in his debut in pinstripes with a walk-off single in the 11th inning to seal the Yankees’ 6-5, season-opening win over the Red Sox.
“It was great,” Donaldson said. “Obviously, our team put us in great position right there for me to come up there; starting with a runner on second always helps. It was nice for my first game here to be able to help the team win. I couldn’t ask for much more.”
The Yankees rallied in the eighth inning to tie the score, 4-4, and then the teams exchanged runs in the 10th. After the Red Sox failed to score in the top of the 11th, Isiah Kiner-Falefa was the Yankees’ ghost runner on second base. Donaldson took a 1-1 pitch from Boston reliever Kutter Crawford and singled up the middle to drive in the winning run. Donaldson was mobbed by his new teammates on the infield as the Yankees celebrated their 1-0 start to the season.
“I feel like we showed some resiliency today,” Donaldson said. “We got down early on, a couple of big homers, three homers, [Anthony] Rizzo getting the two back right away in the first inning I thought was big. We just kept at it. We kept trying to grind out at-bats and our bullpen kept us in the ballgame.”
Donaldson is the third Yankee since 1920 to record a walk-off RBI in his debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Roy Weatherly did it in 1943 and Chase Headley did it in 2014.
The Yankees are Donaldson’s sixth big league team, so he is familiar with the pressure that comes with joining a new team. That can be even more pronounced with the Yankees, with which expectations are always high.
“There’s another layer thrown in on it, which can be a great thing,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of joining a new team. “Some people handle it really well, some people not as much. But it’s an adjustment. There’s a level of wanting to ingratiate yourself to the new town, new people, new fans, teammates. There’s a level of that. But the way JD is whether he comes through in that spot or doesn’t, I don’t worry about him moving forward. He’s here to beat you.”
Giancarlo Stanton, who knows how it feels to join the Yankees, appreciated what Donaldson was able to do.
“It’s amazing for him to get on the good side of this place right away,” Stanton said.
Donaldson went 2-for-6, but his game-winning single will be the only thing people remember from this one.
“My first two at-bats today I didn’t really feel that great,” Donaldson said. “To keep hanging in there and not let it affect me going into it, keep pushing and I got put in a situation to help our team win and I was able to do that.”
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Josh Donaldson shows he can take heat of being a Yankee - New York Post
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