ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Luis Rojas raised his arms straight up to form the universal sign for “stop.” Stop signs are irrelevant, though, if they are not seen.
And it did not seem as if Austin Wells ever picked up his third-base coach, which turned the best moment of the Yankees’ night into the worst within seconds.
Wells broke up Drew Rasmussen’s no-hitter with two outs in the eighth, only to get thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple in the type of mistake the Yankees simply cannot make in October, which helped lead to a 1-0 loss to the Rays in Game 1 of the ALDS at Tropicana Field.
Entering the at-bat, Rasmussen had retired 23 Yankees and only let two reach base on walks. A one-run deficit, on the strength of a Jonathan Aranda home run off Gerrit Cole, felt insurmountable. Rasmussen had not been touched until Wells, finally, made some hard contact.
The Yankees catcher blistered a rare miss, a sinker that cut across the middle of the plate, 107.8 mph down the right field line and kept it fair by maybe a foot. The ball pinballed from a wall in foul territory to another facing of the wall in fair territory, a few caroms that apparently told Wells that he would have enough time to take an extra base against a team known for taking extra bases.
But he may have underestimated the arm of Victor Mesa Jr., who has one of the most potent cannons in the majors. The right fielder threw a strike to cutoff man Taylor Walls, who did not even have to rush a throw to third: He threw, but did not fire, to third baseman Junior Caminero, who had plenty of time to tag Wells on the head.
Wells remained on the dirt for a few seconds, and it would have been understandable if he dug a hole and remained there for the rest of a game in which the Yankees would not record a second hit.
