MLB Rewind: Derek Jeter rallies the New York Yankees for a sensational comeback win against Tampa Bay with Tiger Woods in attendance
On the first day of summer, on June 21, 2005, Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees embarked on a baseball comeback for the history books. After going down by eight runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Yankees unleashed a 13-run eighth-inning barrage to beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 20-11.
In attendance was golf superstar Tiger Woods who was keenly watching the action. Woods was scheduled to compete during that weekend's Barclays Classic at the Liberty National Golf Club. Little did the golfer know he'd be a part of the crowd that would witness history.
The Yankees' comeback matched the largest victory after trailing by eight runs in MLB history. The 17-run turnaround dubiously matched that of the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays' loss to the then-Cleveland Indians on May 5,1999. In that game, the Devil Rays led the Indians 10-2 but lost the game 20-11 and echoed the same scoreline as this game.
Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees' mega comeback
The New York Yankees started The Big Unit Randy Johnson on the mound opposite Tampa Bay's Hideo Nomo. Johnson was peppered early on and gave up seven earned runs in three innings of work. It was his worst outing as a Yankees by that point. Nomo, on the other hand, managed to contain the Yankees to two runs before giving up four runs in the fifth inning that led to his departure from the game.
Derek Jeter rallied the troops and engineered the comeback when he hit a homer in the bottom of the sixth. An inning before that, Gary Sheffield hit a three-run homer to at least keep the lead manageable. Tampa Bay scored in the seventh via a fielder's choice to third, wherein Alex Gonzalez scored. This pushed the scoreline to 11-7.
It was in the bottom of the eighth when the Yankees sprayed the Rays' pitching staff with runs. Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter both singled off Tampa Bay's pitcher Franklin Nunez to start the proceedings. Ruben Sierra then grounded out, which drove both Cano and Jeter home.
On this day in 2005, the #Rays played a game where they led 10-2 against the #Yankees, but ultimately lost 20-11 ow.ly/S5qS30qQhCn
On this day in 2005, the #Rays played a game where they led 10-2 against the #Yankees, but ultimately lost 20-11 - @ Baseball Reference
Nunez was then pulled and replaced by Travis Harper. The pitcher gave up nine earned runs through an Alex Rodriguez single that drove in Derek Jeter, a Hideki Matsui double that drove in Gary Sheffield, a Bernie Williams triple that cleared the bases for three runs, a two-run homer to Jorge Posada, a three-run homer to Garry Sheffield, and solo homers to Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui to finish the dismal outing.
In this game, Derek Jeter tied a career-high of five hits while he scored a career-high five runs in the same contest.