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Ever-ready Ellsbury sparks Yanks as sub
- Updated: September 14, 2016
NEW YORK — Jacoby Ellsbury was left out of the starting lineup in another big game. This time he ended up as a difference-maker in a 3-0 victory Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.
With every game critical in the Yankees’ bid for a postseason berth, Tuesday night’s tilt with the Dodgers became even bigger when New York lost the night before. When the lineup was posted, Ellsbury was not in it. Manager Joe Girardi had chosen this moment to give him a routine day off.
Girardi said it was coincidence. But Ellsbury didn’t start last season’s Wild Card Game against Houston. And he also didn’t start Sept. 4 in Baltimore when Girardi called it the most important game of the year. The Yankees faced left-handers in all three contests.
Ellsbury came into the game in the fifth when Aaron Judge was forced out by an oblique injury. His first at-bat was a nine-pitch battle with Dodgers reliever Ross Stripling that ended with Ellsbury hitting a full-count curveball into the second …
