David Lennon: Yankees' Austin Wells takes the heat despite getting team's only hit

The lasting image of the Rays’ Junior Caminero, ball-in-glove extended, camped out as the sliding Austin Wells arrived comically late at third base, is going to haunt the Yankees as they wait an extra 24 hours to play Game 2 of the Division Series on Monday.

Wells screwed up in violating one of baseball’s cardinal rules: Never make the third out at third base. Multiply that times 10 when talking about a playoff game and maybe 100 when being dominated by an ace in Drew Rasmussen, who didn’t come close to allowing a hit until Wells scorched a 107.8-mph double that kicked up chalk down the rightfield line in the eighth.

But the Rays, as they tend to do, again forced an opponent into committing the costly error, or in this case, the mental blunder. It’s in their DNA. They squeeze and squeeze and squeeze until someone cracks.

Saturday night’s Game 1 was Rasmussen’s show, and the Yankees can’t beat themselves up too much after their 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay’s No. 1 buzzsaw. Before Wells’ laser beam punctured the no-hit bid, their only fleeting hopes consisted of two warning-track fly balls smacked by George Lombard Jr. and Luis Garcia Jr.’s bloop that speedy leftfielder Chandler Simpson corralled with a sliding grab.

In the eighth, Wells got his first-pitch cutter overturned on his third successful challenge of the night, then hammered a sinker that got too much of the plate. With the play developing in front of him, he could see the baseball ride the foul line before kicking around the rightfield corner, planting the idea in his head that reaching third base was possible.

Never mind that third-base coach Luis Rojas also could see the events unfolding and had both arms thrust high in the air, giving him the stop sign as Wells dashed around second. But it was too late. Wells had decided otherwise.

“Trying to make something happen, be aggressive, with not much going on in the game,” he said. “After I was passing second base, I saw his hands up. Was already committed.”

Again, it’s never a smart move when you’re thrown out by feet, not inches, and the Rays executed a textbook 9-6-5 relay to cut Wells down easily. If this were the malfunctioning Red Sox in the wild-card round, perhaps it would have been a different story. But not the Rays, and definitely not at the quirky Trop, with its hypnotic roof and booby-trap angles.

“He’s usually a little more risk-averse on the bases,” Aaron Boone said. “But obviously, it’s a mistake and it does happen.”

Then again, can you really blame Wells? Rasmussen had retired 15 straight after a third-inning walk to Ben Rice, striking out seven in that span, and there wasn’t much reason to believe that the Yankees behind him would do much better if Wells had been standing at second rather than third.

With Ryan McMahon up next, Boone had Giancarlo Stanton ready to bat, but odds are that would’ve turned out much as it did in the ninth. Stanton, in his first real plate appearance since April 24 and first-ever as a playoff pinch hitter, whiffed on five pitches against Bryan Baker.

As for Wells’ rationale, he obviously thought the extra 90 feet could make a difference on the long-shot chance the Yankees actually would make meaningful contact, which they accomplished only a handful of times all night in racking up a grand total of one hit.

“The field plays fast here,” Wells said. “Guaranteed to score on a single there at third versus maybe not so much from second base. That was really the only benefit.”

As for the uncharacteristic gamble taken by the usually “risk-averse” Wells, the Rays were just the wrong team to test. “Anything can happen — it’s baseball,” he said. “Takes one bobble there and I’m safe. A little offline target there and I’m safe. They made two good throws right on the money and got me.”

Wells had been one of the Yankees’ playoff MVPs to that point. He had four RBIs during the two-game sweep of the Red Sox and their only hit Saturday, and he also has shepherded a pitching staff with a 1.04 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 26 innings.

In the rubble of Rasmussen’s dominance, Wells makes for a high-profile goat, but there’s plenty more Division Series left to play. And now that Wells is starting to hit again, the plodding catcher just has to remember he’s not going to win any games with his feet.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.