Josh Donaldson delivers for New York Yankees with grand slam walk-off in 10th inning

Josh Donaldson knew the ball left the park the second it left his bat. And the New York Yankees needed this one.

Down 7-4 going into the bottom of the 10th inning, they were facing a sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays and their fourth straight loss when Donaldson came to the plate. But as his line-drive grand slam exited the park, Donaldson knew the victory meant more to the Yankees in the bigger picture amid their roughest stretch this season. The 8-7 walk-off win marked only their third win this month, as they have dropped 11 games since the start of August.

“The guys were pumped, and I think as we talked about how the game progressed and how the back-and-forth battle happened there, we came back with our backs against the wall,” Donaldson said. “There was a release of some joy and frustration.”

The Rays took the lead in the 10th inning when Francisco Mejia hit a bases-loaded double with two outs, scoring Roman Quinn, Isaac Paredes and Taylor Walls. Amid the Yankees’ recent struggles with their late-inning relief and with Clay Holmes placed on the injured list earlier Wednesday after his worst stretch of the season, closer Aroldis Chapman seemed to exacerbate those issues, allowing two earned runs on one hit in two-thirds of an inning.

Even as New York’s chances of winning took a major hit—dropping to 9.1% heading into the bottom of the 10th, according to FanGraphs—the Yankees believed they could still pull out the victory.

“We never lose the vibe in the dugout when we were losing,” said third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera, who made his major league debut Wednesday. “That was the key for today.”