NEW YORK -- Jacoby Ellsbury may have provided the spark that the Yankees have been seeking for their languishing offense, pulling off a straight steal of home plate in the fifth inning against the Rays on Friday at Yankee Stadium.
Tampa Bay left-hander Matt Moore balked Ellsbury and Didi Gregorius to third and second, respectively, with two outs, and with a 3-2 count on Gardner, Ellsbury took off and glided past catcher Curt Casali with a headfirst slide.
A straight steal of home?! @JacobyEllsbury can FLY. #StealAHomehttps://t.co/8oW6VR23Jq
— MLB (@MLB) April 23, 2016
Moore's pitch was a ball, crediting a walk to Gardner, as Ellsbury scored the tying run to make it a 3-3 game. It was Ellsbury's fifth steal of the season. He entered the game in the fifth inning as an injury replacement for center fielder Aaron Hicks.
The play was reminiscent of Ellsbury's daring steal of home plate as a member of the Red Sox at Fenway Park against the Yankees on April 26, 2009, when Ellsbury took advantage of Andy Pettitte as the left-hander worked from a full windup.
The last Yankees player to record a straight steal of home was Derek Jeter against the Orioles on May 5, 2001. The last steal of home of any kind by a Yankee was achieved by Chris Young on Sept. 13, 2014, at Baltimore, as part of a double steal.
Bryan Hoch has covered the Yankees for MLB.com since 2007. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch, on Facebook and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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