Making a Good First Impression

The Yankees had been struggling; Rougned Odor had been struggling. At least for one day, Sunday, it was a perfect match, as the longtime Rangers infielder made his Yankee debut -- and drove in the go-ahead run in an 8-4 10 inning victory that prevented a Rays weekend sweep.

Still just 27, this two-time 30 home run hitter was designated for assignment by Texas last month after four consecutive declining seasons. But the Yankees, who have turned reclamation projects Gio Urshela and Aaron Hicks into vital cogs in their offense, saw something convincing them Odor had something left in the tank.

It was just one early-season game, but Odor took advantage of a scoring chance -- on a club whose clutch hitting had been awful for the past 10 days. We'll see how much Sunday's GWRBI translates into playing time, especially for a player with a suspect glove. But on a club where so many had trouble delivering in crunch time, Odor was a welcome addition.
 

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