ALCS Game 3. Yanks fall 4-1, trail in Series 2 games to 1. Nats win NL.

Since May 22, Gerrit Cole has been unbeatable, going 19-0 in 25 starts with a 1.59 ERA. Incredible.

He was vulnerable against the Yankees, giving up 5 walks and 4 hits in his seven innings of work, but no runs.

Luis Severino was OK, but gave up a HR in the first to Jose Altuve (Altuve kills the Yankees) and another in the second to Josh Reddick and that is all Cole needed. Houston wins Game 3 of the ALCS, 4-1, and is up two games to one in the series.

The Yanks have a couple of problems. For one, manager Aaron Boone has to wonder if he should bench Gary Sanchez and start Austin Romine instead. Sanchez is 1 for 13 in this series with six strikeouts. For the whole postseason, he is 2 for 21 with 10 strikeouts. He also couldn’t block a WP that enabled Houston to score a run.

In a post-game interview, Boone said no when asked about going to Romine. I think he may be making a mistake.

Another is Adam Ottavino, who came into Game 3 with the score 2-0 in the top of the seventh. Ottavino isn’t getting anyone out and gave up a walk and a single before being pulled. Both runners later scored. Boone said he’ll continue to use him…. what else is he going to say?

Ottavino’s numbers this postseason: 2 1/3 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 3 W, 3 K.  1 HR given up. He’s faced 16 batters and 9 have reached base. You just can’t trust him in tight games anymore. At least not now.

There is no time in the postseason to hope. It’s do or die. It’s why Joe Torre once benched Wade Boggs, Tino Martinez AND Paul O’Neill for the same game (replacing them in the lineup with Charlie Hayes, Cecil Fielder and Darryl Strawberry).

Cleanup hitter Edwin Encarnacion is also slumping. 1 for 12 with 6 strikeouts in this series. Maybe he needs to be dropped in the lineup.

The one constant is Gleyber Torres. The only Yankees’ run came on a HR by Torres in the eighth inning. He is 10 for 24 this postseason with 3 HR and 10 RBI. Maybe Boone should just keep him in the 3 spot. He batted fifth in Game 3, probably to try to protect Encarnacion and hopefully get Edwin going.

But that meant Brett Gardner hit third. Now the Yanks did get singles from D.J. LeMahieu and Aaron Judge to lead off the bottom of the first, but Gardner flied out. The Yanks didn’t score. Maybe Gardner should have bunted the runners over there. I know you are thinking big inning, but this is Cole on the mound, and Gardner is not your prototypical #3 hitter (like a Ruth, DiMaggio, Maris or Mantle), and who knows, maybe Gardner beats it out. Just saying.  Gardner is 2 for 13 in this series with five strikeouts.

Didi Gregorius JUST MISSED putting the Yanks up 3-2 with a two-out drive with two on in the fifth that was caught at the wall. Tough break. Didi is 1 for 12 in this series.

The forecast is for rain. There is a very strong chance Game 4 gets rained out tonight. If so, I believe the Yanks HAVE to come back with Tanaka then for Game 4 on regular rest (and in his six innings on Saturday, he only threw 68 pitches in Game 1) to try to even the series and avoid going down three games to one.

The Yanks only had five hits in the game. In their last 20 innings, they’ve scored just three runs.

LeMahieu 2 hits
Torres HR, 2 walks
Aaron Hicks, starting his first game in over 2 months, walked twice.

Severino (LOSS) 4 1/3 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 3 W, 6 K.  Gave up 2 HR
Green 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Kahnle 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Ottavino 0 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K.  1 WP that scored a run.
Cessa 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K.

Who’d have thought Cessa would be out-pitching Ottavino this postseason?

Hopefully some of these Yankees’ bats heat up.

Also, hopefully Boone makes some right, and maybe necessary, tough decisions to shake the Yanks up.

---

Washington won the NLCS by beating St. Louis 7-4 last night, scoring all seven runs in the bottom of the first. With the four game sweep, the Nationals go to their first WS in franchise history, going back to 1969 when they were the Montreal Expos 1969-2004 before moving to Washington.

For D.C., it’ll host their first WS games since 1933 when the old Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins) won the AL pennant but lost the WS to the NY (now SF) Giants.

Howie Kendrick was named the NLCS MVP.

So whoever wins the ALCS knows they’ll have to face Washington with its trio of Scherzer, Strasburg and Corbin (not to mention Anibal Sanchez).

 

 

Advertisements

Game 160. Yanks blast 6 HR in 14-7 win. Overtake Twins. Will play Twins in ALDS.

With a nickname like the Bronx Bombers, you would expect the Yankees to be proud of the team HR record they had for years (240 in 1961 stood a long time) and regained last year with 267. You would expect they would want to keep it in house.

It appears they came out pretty mad after two games of offensive ineptitude against the Rays, where they scored just one HR (a Maybin HR) in 21 innings.

Last night the Yankees (103-57) hit 6 HR in a 14-7 win over Texas, and in this season where the ball seems like an oversized golf ball, overtook the Twins 305-303 in the race to see who sets the new record.

The Yanks also found out that with Houston beating the Angels last night, that they are locked into the #2 seed in the AL and will be facing those Twins in the ALDS. Houston will be the #1 seed. The Yanks will have Games 1 and 2 at Yankee Stadium next Friday and Saturday. Game 3 will be in Minnesota Monday. Game 4, if necessary, in Minnesota on Tuesday and Game 5, if necessary, will be back in the Bronx on Thursday, Oct. 10.

With two games left in the season, if the Yanks do make the WS, the Yanks are one game behind the Dodgers (the NL’s best team). The Yanks do hold the tiebreaker if both teams finish in a tie.

Giancarlo Stanton got things started with a HR (3) in the top of the first. It was the Yankees’ 300th HR of the season.

James Paxton gave up a two-run HR in the bottom of the first and left after one inning with a tight left glute. He says he could have continued but that he was pulled for precautionary reasons. Hopefully he is OK, since his next start will most likely be Game 1 or 2 of the ALDS.

The Yanks came right back in the second when Cameron Maybin tied it with his 11th HR of the season.

The Yanks got three in the fourth and didn’t look back. Brett Gardner led off the inning with his 28th HR of the season. Gio Urshela doubled and was forced at second by Maybin. Mike Ford then forced Maybin at second. D.J. LeMahieu doubled Ford to third and both runners scored on a single by Stanton. 5-2 Yanks.

The Yanks got three in the sixth when Urshela led off the inning with his 21st HR of the year. After a walk to Maybin, Ford hit his 12th HR. 8-2 Yankees.

They scored three more in the seventh to make it 11-2. With one out, Gardner singled. After Urshela struck out for the second out, Maybin singled Gardner to third, the Ford walked to load the bases. LeMahieu cleared the bases with a double and was thrown out trying for three. The three RBI put LeMahieu over 100 RBI for the season, at 102.

Gary Sanchez came off the IL, played, didn’t do too well at the plate, but said he felt fine. Edwin Encarnacion was on the bench, but didn’t play. He probably will today.

Update: Encarnacion probably not back until the postseason.

Texas got an unearned run in the eighth off of Mike King, who was making his MLB debut to make it 11-3.

The Yanks got three more runs in the top of the ninth. Austin Romine led off the inning with his 8th HR of the season. Clint Frazier walked and was forced at second by Urshela. Maybin singled. Ford doubled in both runs. 14-3.

Chance Adams continued to disappoint, giving up two HR and four runs in the bottom of the ninth to make it 14-7.

LeMahieu 3 hits, 3 RBI. Now at .331-26-102.
Stanton 3 for 3, 2 walks. Solo HR (3).
Torres 2 hits.
Voit 0 for 5, 3 strikeouts. SEE BELOW.
Sanchez 0 for 3, 3 strikeouts in return from IL.
Romine solo HR (8)
Gardner 2 hits, solo HR (28)
Urshela 2 hits, solo HR (21)  .316-21-74
Maybin 3 hits, solo HR (11)
Ford 2 hits, 4 RBI HR (12)

Voit is 1 for his last 30 and in danger of losing a postseason roster spot to Ford.

Paxton 1 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.82
Heller 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  1.42
Tarpley (W, 1-0, 6.93) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Loaisiga (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.  4.55
Gearrin (H, 14) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  4.14
Lyons 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  6.75
King 2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.  0.00   MLB DEBUT
Adams 1/3 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 2 HR.  8.53
Cortes, Jr.  2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.  5.45

Win #103 matches the 2009 squad. To find a year where the Yanks had more, you have to go back to 1998 (114).

NOTE: I WILL NOT HAVE A RECAP OF SATURDAY’S GAME #161. I WILL BE OUT OF TOWN ATTENDING A NIECE’S WEDDING AND STAYING IN A HOTEL OVERNIGHT, AND WON’T BE BACK IN TOWN UNTIL LATER SUNDAY AND THEN HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL REUNION TO ATTEND SUNDAY. BUSY WEEKEND.

Game 154. Yanks hit 4 HR, clinch AL East title with 9-1 win. Shocking News about German is not good.

Masahiro Tanaka was spot on, and the Yankees hit 4 HR to beat the Angels 9-1 to clinch the AL East title Thursday night.

It’s their 100th win of the season, and manager Aaron Boone is the first manager ever to win 100 in each of his first two managerial seasons.

D.J. LeMahieu got things going with a 3-run HR (25) in the second inning.

Tanaka only mistake was in giving up a gopher ball in the top of the fourth that cut the lead to 3-1.

Brett Gardner hit a solo HR in the bottom of the fourth (26) to make it 4-1 Yankees.

In the bottom of the sixth, Didi Gregorius singled and stole second. Gio Urshela walked. A groundout moved both runners up and Gardner then doubled in two runs to make it 6-1.

In the bottom of the eighth, with two out, Cameron Maybin homered (9) to make it 7-1, and after Gardner walked, Clint Frazier hit a 2-run HR (12) to make it 9-1, which turned out to be the final score.

The Yanks are 1/2 game behind Houston for best record in baseball (Astros have tiebreaker) and lead the NL best Dodgers by 1 1/2 games.

LeMahieu 3-run HR (25) .329
Gregorius 2 hits
Maybin solo HR (9)
Gardner 2 hits, solo HR (26), 3 RBI
Frazier 2-run HR (12)

Tanaka (W 11-8, 4.47) 7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 0 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Gearrin 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.  4.10
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.   2.28

Tanaka was moved to tonight with Happ going tomorrow. Just a note: This moves sets up Tanaka to start Game 1 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium on regular rest.

Domingo German was put on administrative leave due to a domestic violence incident which is being investigated by the Commissioner’s office. Michael King was added to take his place on the roster.

Update: In the race for the new team HR record, the Twins 293, Yanks 292. The Twins have played in one less game than the Yanks, and the AL Central teams they play to end the season with are weak (KC 98 losses as of now and Detroit with 107), so the Yanks are the underdogs here. It appears that the Twins will beat out the Yanks, esp. since the Yanks do have two games left with 90-win Tampa Bay.

 

Minor League Report: Trenton wins Eastern League Championship, 3 games to 1, with a 5-2 win.

The Yankees’ AA affiliate, the Trenton Thunder, won the Eastern League Championship over Bowie with a 5-2 win. The win clinches the finals, three games to one for Trenton. Rony Garcia pitched five no-hit innings. Dellin Betances got in rehab work.

1B Chris Gittens 3 hits, RBI. Solo HR.
C Kellin Deglan Solo HR. (Series MVP)
SS Kyle Holder 2 hits.

Rony Garcia (Winner) 5 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 6 K.
Dellin Betances 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Greg Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Trevor Lane 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Daniel Alvarez 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up 1 HR.

 

 

Games 147 and 148. Yanks sweep DH but injury bug bites again and hard. Magic #5.

First the good news. The Yanks swept a DH from the Tigers on Thursday. The magic # for just getting into the playoffs, and also for winning the division outright, is down to 5.

Houston lost, so the Yanks lead Houston by two games for best record in the AL. The Yanks also lead the Dodgers by two games in the race for best record in the majors, which the Yanks currently own.

The lead in the AL East is 10 over Tampa Bay with 14 games to go.

More good news. Jordan Montgomery comes off the IL and will start Sunday. Luis Severino comes off the IL and starts Tuesday.

More news. Stephen Tarpley off the IL. He was activated before yesterday’s games. Also Ben Heller was brought up.

With 4 HR in the DH, the Yanks have more HR than the Twins (280 to 279) but the Twins have played two less games, in the race for who winds up with the new record for most HR in a season.

Now the bad news. We hope it isn’t worse. Tests will prove how bad. The injury bug has hit again, and at the worst possible time, with the end of the regular season just over two weeks away. J.A. Happ has been pitching with tendonitis in his left (pitching arm) biceps. Edwin Encarnacion had to leave Game 1 early with an oblique strain. Gary Sanchez had to leave Game 2 with tightness in his left groin. Losing Happ may be mitigated by the arrivals of Montgomery and Severino, but the lineup would take a huge hit if they lose the parrot and the Kraken.

As for Sanchez, what was he doing trying to steal? And in a game played in less than optimum conditions? And with the Yanks up 3-0? He’s a catcher. He’s slow. He NEVER tries to steal. SMH. That could really come back to bite them if he has to miss time—including PLAYOFF time.

Game 1: Yanks win 10-4. Luke Voit hit a 2-run HR (20) in the top of the first to put the Yanks up 2-0.

In the third, Encarnacion hit a 2-run HR (34) to put them up 4-0. He left later in this game with the oblique problem.

Detroit got a 2-run HR in the fifth off of MayHapp, who pitched well despite the biceps tendonitis. After giving up the HR, Happ gave up a single and then was pulled after 99 pitches, one out short of qualifying for the win. Understandable. The Yanks didn’t want to take any more chances.

In the seventh, Aaron Judge walked, and one out later, Luke Voit doubled. Didi Gregorius was intentionally walked to load the bases as the Tigers were hoping for an inning-ending DP. Instead a WP moved all runners up and put the Yanks up 5-2. After Gio Urshela struck out, Cameron Maybin doubled to put the Yanks up 7-2.

The Tigers scored in the bottom of the seventh to cut it to 7-3.

The Yanks put the game away with three in the top of the eighth. Austin Romine singled and one out later, Aaron Judge singled. With two out, Voit singled in one run and Didi Gregorius tripled in two and it was 10-3 Yanks.

Heller, who is just coming back from missing 2018 and most of this season recovering from TJ surgery, gave up a HR in the bottom of the eighth. 10-4, the final score.

Judge 3 walks, scored 4 runs.
Encarnacion 2-run HR (34)
Voit 3 hits, 3 RBI. 2-run HR (20). Scored 3 runs.
Gregorius 2 RBI
Maybin 2 RBI
Romine 3 hits.

Happ 4 2/3 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 3 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR.  5.07
Green (W, 4-4, 4.57) 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Heller 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K.  Gave up 1 HR.  9.00
Gearrin 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.  4.32
Lyons 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  7.04

Game 2: Yanks win 6-4. CC, despite giving up 2 runs, looked good. German was great in relief getting his MLB=leading 18th win.

Aaron Judge hit a 2-run HR in the first inning (22) to give the Yanks a quick 2-0 lead.

In the second, Mike Ford singled and scored on a double by D.J. LeMahieu. 3-0.

CC lost it a bit in the fourth, when he gave up two runs, but German was in shutdown mode. 3-2 Yanks after four.

The Yanks got one run back in the top of the fifth when Tyler Wade doubled to lead off the inning and scored two outs later on a single by Didi. Didi went to third (two-base error) on the play but was left stranded. 4-2.

Gio Urshela hit a 2-run PH HR (20) in the top of the ninth to put the Yanks up 6-2, and they needed those runs because Detroit scored two in the bottom of the ninth to close it to 6-4 before the Yanks closed out the game.

LeMahieu 3 hits, RBI. .325
Judge 2-run HR (22)
Gardner the Golden Sombrero. 0 for 4, 4 strikeouts.
Urshela 2-run PH HR (20)  .328
Wade 2 hits

Sabathia 3 1/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 W, 5 K.  4.95
German (W, 18-4, 4.09) 4 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 5 K.
Kahnle (H, 26) 1 IP, 2 H, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K.  3.36
Chapman (S, 37) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  2.32

It doesn’t look as if CC will pass Bob Gibson on the all-time win list (both with 251) because CC isn’t going the five for the win, but CC did pass John Smoltz on the strikeout list last night. The next one up is too far ahead to reach before CC retires at the end of the season.

Game 144. Yanks beat Boston 10-5 behind HRs by Gleyber and Judge. Tauchman also HRs, but gets hurt.

Before the game, the Yanks activated Gio Urshela off the IL and brought up Thairo Estrada (who was on rehab), Kyle Higashioka and Breyvic Valera.

The Yanks then beat Boston 10-5 behind Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres and Mike Tauchman, but Tauchman got hurt during the game.

With the win, the 94-50 Yankees maintain an 8 1/2 game lead over Tampa Bay with 18 games to go. The magic # to reach the playoffs is 8 and the magic # to clinch the division is 10.

They remain tied with Houston for the best record in baseball but Houston has the tiebreaker. Both teams are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers.

In the second inning, Torres gave the Yanks a 2-0 lead with his 35th HR of the season after Edwin Encarnacion singled in front of him.

In the third, Tauchman singled, and D.J. LeMahieu reached on an infield single. Judge singled in a run, sending LeMahieu to third. After Didi Gregorius popped out, Gary Sanchez’ RBI groundout made it 4-0.

Staked to a four-run lead, Masahiro Tanaka couldn’t go five innings for the win. He gave up a two-run HR to Jackie Bradley in the bottom of the third that cut the Yanks’ lead to 4-2.

In the top of the fourth, Torres singled and scored two outs later on a 2-run HR by Tauchman (13) who had to leave the game later with a calf injury. He’ll be getting an MRI. Ugh. 6-2, Yanks.

With two out in the fourth, Tanaka gave up a single and two doubles and that cut the lead to 6-4. Tanaka didn’t come out for the fifth, so couldn’t get the win.

Chad Green was superb in his three innings of scoreless relief and did pick up the W. His ERA of 4.60 doesn’t look good because of those horrendous first three weeks of the season where his ERA was 16.43 and he had to be sent to the minors. Since returning, the ERA is 2.89.

In the fifth, Judge led off the inning with a HR (21) to make it 7-4, then Didi reached on an error. After a walk, Encarnacion singled Didi to third, and Didi scored on an RBI forceout by Torres. 8-4.

Judge’s HR was the Yanks’ 268th of the season, topping the mark set last year when they set a MLB record. They are eight behind the Twins (who set a new record) this season. Could they (or the Twins) hit 300?

Mookie Betts homered in the bottom of the eighth to make it 8-5.

The Yanks scored two in the ninth when Didi walked, and Rafael Devers made two errors on the same play (one fielding, one throwing) to put runners on second and third. Devers had three errors in the game and was saved from a couple others. Encarnacion singled in one run, then Torres doubled in another to make it 10-5, the final score.

Judge 2 hits, 2 RBI, solo HR (21)
Encarnacion 3 hits, RBI
Torres 3 hits, 4 RBI, 2-run HR (35)
Tauchman 2 hits, 2 RBI. 2-run HR (13). Injured, left game.

Tanaka 4 IP, 4 R, 8 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.  4.53
Green (W, 3-4, 4.60) 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 5 K.
Ottavino 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up 1 HR.   1.76
Loaisiga 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  4.63

In the minors, Trenton (AA) will face Bowie for the Eastern League Championship. The best-of-five series begins in Trenton on Tuesday.

OF/1B Chris Duncan, ex-Cardinal and brother of one-time Yankee Shelley Duncan and son of former MLB catcher and pitching coach Dave Duncan, died of brain cancer
September 6 at the age of 38. He hit 22 HR as a part-time player for the 2006 WS Champion Cardinals and 21 the following year. In 389 MLB games, he hit .257 with 55 HR and an OPS+ of 109. He played for the Cardinals 2005-2009.

Tom Phoebus, RHP, died Sept. 5, age 77. Born in Baltimore, he pitched for his hometown Orioles 1966-1970, and was a part of two WS Champs (1966, 1970) and one AL Pennant winner (1969). He won 14, 15 and 14 games from 1967-1969. His only postseason appearance was in one game during the 1970 WS, where he got the win in Game 2. He pitched for the Padres (1971-1972) and Cubs (1972). His career MLB record was 56-52, 3.33, ERA+ 100.

A DYK: Aaron Boone now has 194 wins (and counting) in his first two seasons as Yankees’ manager. The record? Ralph Houk with 205 (1961 and 1962).

Lastly, a tip of the cap to Brian Cashman’s longevity with the Yankees. Not even a year after winning the World Series, the Red Sox fire Dave Dombrowski.

 

Game 140. Yanks dominate Rangers behind Paxton and 5 HR.

So what do you do when you get shut out for the first time after 220 games?

If you are the Yankees, you hit 5 HR in the next game and get a dominating performance from your starter to win 10-1.

With the win, the Yankees (91-49) reduced their magic # for clinching the division outright to 13. The lead over Tampa Bay is 9 1/2.

Gary Sanchez got the Yanks on the board with a 2-run HR in the first inning. HR #33 tied his record from two years ago for most HR in a season by a Yankees’ catcher. He’d break that later.

James Paxton was dealing, not giving up a hit until the fifth (the only hit he WOULD give up) and striking out 12 over seven innings.

The Yanks broke it open with six runs in the sixth, including three home runs. After D.J. LeMahieu and Aaron Judge both singled, Didi Gregorius hit a 3-run HR (14) to make it 5-0. Gary Sanchez made it back-to-back HR with #34, setting a new record for HR in a season by a Yankees’ catcher, to make it 6-0. Edwin Encarnacion, just off the IL, singled, and Brett Gardner hit a 2-run HR (20) to make it 8-0.

Encarnacion hit a 2-run HR in the seventh (31) to make it 10-0.

Jonathan Loaisiga gave up a HR in the ninth, so no shutout. 10-1 Yanks.

Gregorius 3-run HR (14)
Sanchez 2 HR (34), 3 RBI
Encarnacion 2 hits, 2-run HR (31, 10th as NYY)
Gardner 2-run HR (20)
Wade 2 hits

Paxton (W, 12-6, 4.16) 7 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 12 K.
Loaisiga 2 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.   4.84

One baseball passing. Hal Naragon, backup C for the 1954 Cleveland Indians pennant-winners, died at the age 90. He was on the Indians 1951, 1954-1959 (missed all of 1952 and 1953 to service during the Korean conflict), and Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins 1959-1962.