Game 51. Yanks win 9th straight, 6-5 in 12.

The Yanks (30-21) were down 4-0 at one point. They were one out away from losing the game in nine innings, came close to losing it in extras, but pulled out a 6-5, 12-inning win over Boston Friday night.

It was the Yankees’ ninth straight win.

Starter Jordan Montgomery gave up a 3-run HR to Christian Arroyo in the fourth inning and Boston was up 3-0. The Red Sox got another run in the fifth and were up 4-0.

Meanwhile, the Yanks’ bats, so hot in those last three games at home against Toronto, had cooled off in Fenway.

The Yanks finally scored in the seventh when they cut Boston’s lead to 4-2. Giancarlo Stanton walked, and after a strikeout and force out, Aaron Hicks singled Gleyber Torres to second. Gio Urshela walked to load the bases and Gary Sanchez hit a ground rule double to drive in two runs.

With one out in the top of the eighth, Aaron Judge singled and scored on a double by Stanton.

Down to their last out, with two outs in the top of the ninth, Sanchez tied the game with his tenth HR of the season.

So the game went into extra innings, with those rules in which the half-inning starts with a guy on second.

Both teams got the runner over to third in the tenth, but neither could score.

In the top of the eleventh, Mike Tauchman started the inning at second and was singled in by Luke Voit.

But Boston tied it in the bottom of the eleventh. After tying the game, the Red Sox had the bases loaded with one out, but Jonathan Loaisiga got out of it.

In the top of the twelfth, Hicks started the inning at second base. Gio Urshela singled him to third, and after two strikeouts, D.J. LeMahieu doubled in a run to put the Yanks up 6-5.

Boston got the tying run to third in the bottom of the twelfth, but could not score him.

Final 6-5, Yanks.

With nine games left in the regular season, it doesn’t appear the Yanks, 3 1/2 back of Tampa Bay, will catch the Rays. It’s the Yanks own fault for going 2-8 against Tampa Bay this year. But they did move 3 percentage points ahead of the Twins for the 4th seed in the virus-caused expanded playoff race, important because the #5 seed would have to play all three games in the best-of-3 first round at the #4 seed. The Yanks are 30-21, .588 and the Twins are 31-22, .585.

LeMahieu GW RBI
Hicks 2 hits
Sanchez 2 hits, solo HR (10), 3 RBI

Montgomery 4 2/3 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 2 W, 7 K. Gave up 1 HR. 5.12
Cessa 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. 2.45
Ottavino 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 6.46
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.12
Green1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 3.63
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 3.72
Loiasiga (W, 3-0; BS, 2; 2.70) 2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K.

Just a thought. You have defensive replacements for the infielders and outfielders, like subbing Gardner or Tauchman for Frazier, or putting Wade at 2B while moving LeMahieu to 1B to sub for Voit.

Something to think about. If the Yanks are using 3 catchers, why then not sub Higashioka, better defensively than Sanchez, in those extra-inning games where a WP or PB can kill you? Especially in an extra-inning POSTSEASON GAME?

I don’t see Montgomery starting a postseason game. Not when he is sitting with a 5.12 ERA while Cole is at 3.00, Tanaka 3.27, Garcia 3.28 and Happ 3.96.

Albert Pujols passed Willie Mays on the all-time HR list last night with HRS 661 & 662. The top five are now Barry Bonds, 762*; Henry Aaron 755; Babe Ruth 714; Alex Rodriguez 696*; Pujols 662. Mays is next at 660 . Also with 600 or more are Ken Griffey, Jr. at 630, Jim Thome at 612 and Sammy Sosa at 609*. (Asterisks mine).

Game 50. 5 HR within 6 batters! Yanks set records in 10-7 win.

Six consecutive batters. Five HR among those six.

Five HR in the same inning.

First team in MLB history to hit six or more HR in three consecutive games.

There’s mashing, and there is MASHING.

The Yanks (29-21) won their eighth straight game, 10-7 over Toronto Thursday night (and it wasn’t that close. Toronto got 4 in the top of the ninth) and by sweeping the three game series against the Blue Jays, opened up space between them and Toronto. Not only that, the #5 seed (as of now) Yankees are just one game behind the #4 seed (as of now) Twins. That is the difference between having all three games in the first round be at home or on the road.

The scores in this three game bludgeoning of Toronto were 20-6, 13-2 and 10-7. As mentioned, if Jonathan Holder does his job last night instead of being sloppy, that last game would have been 10-3.

The Yankees got two runs in the first inning when D.J. LeMahieu walked, Luke Voit doubled him to third, and Aaron Hicks walked to load the bases. Giancarlo Stanton singled in one run, and the second scored when Gleyber Torres GIDP.

Masahiro Tanaka gave up two runs in the top of the third, one on a solo HR by Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., and the game was tied.

Then, in the bottom of the fourth, came a power show you had to see to believe. You’ve never seen anything like it before.

With one out, Clint Frazier walked. Gary Sanchez doubled to make it 3-2.

Then…

Brett Gardner homered (5). 5-2.
D.J. LeMahieu homered (10). 6-2. Back-to back HR.
Luke Voit made it three HR in a row (MLB leading 20th). 7-2.

Aaron Hicks struck out.

Giancarlo Stanton homered (4) 8-2.
Gleyber Torres homered (3) 9-2. Back-to-back HR.

Six straight batters. 5 HR. Three in a row, then after a strikeout, back-to-back. Wow.

Gurriel hit another HR off of Tanaka in the fifth. 9-3, Yankees.

Sanchez homered (9) in the bottom of the seventh to make it 10-3 and enable the Yanks to set the record of first team with six or more HR in three consecutive games.

As mentioned above, things got sloppy in the top of the ninth. Jonathan Holder couldn’t do his job to close it out and Aroldis Chapman was needed to do so. Final 10-7.

The Yanks now go to Boston to hopefully put a lot of dents into the Green Monster or the seats above it.

LeMahieu (.373) solo HR (10) Leads MLB in BA, OPS+, AL in OBA, OPS
Voit 2 hits, solo HR (20—leads MLB) also leads AL in SA.
Stanton 4 hits, 2 RBI, solo HR (4)
Torres solo HR (3)
Sanchez 2 hits, 2 RBI Solo HR (9)
Gardner 2 hits, 2 RBI. A 2-run HR (5)

Tanaka (W, 3-2, 3.27) 7 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave up 2 HR.
Ottavino 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 6.91
Holder 1/3 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 2 W, 0 K. 4.08
Chapman (S, 3) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 4.15

Game 49. Bombers hit 7 HR (3 by Higashioka) in 13-2 win.

One night after hitting 6 HR in a 20-6 win over Toronto, the Yankees (28-21) kept pouring it on, hitting 7 HR in a 13-2 win over Toronto last (Wednesday) evening.

It was the very first time in franchise history that the Yanks hit six or more HR in consecutive games.

The Yanks have now won seven games in a row.

Backup C Kyle Higashioka hit 3 of those 7 HR. D.J. LeMahieu hit 2.

LeMahieu led off the bottom of the first with a HR (8) to give the Yanks a quick 1-0 lead.

They got two more in the third when Tyler Wade singled and Higashioka hit a 2-run HR (2). 3-0, Yankees.

Clint Frazier led off the bottom of the fourth with a HR (7) to make it 4-0, Gary Sanchez singled, and two outs later, LeMahieu hit his second HR (9) of the game to make it 6-0. Before D.J.’s HR, Higashioka’s out was a long drive. He almost had a four homer game (done just once in Yankees history—by Lou Gehrig).

With Gerrit Cole on the mound, that was more than enough.

Aaron Hicks led off the bottom of the fifth with a single, moved to second on a groundout, and after another out, scored on a single by Frazier. 7-0.

Toronto scored a run in the top of the sixth, when they got their first hit, combined with a WP by Cole, but the Yanks came right back with four runs. With one out, Higashioka hit his second HR (3) of the game to make it 8-1. LeMahieu doubled, and after another out, Hicks walked. Luke Voit then hit a 3-run HR to make it 11-1. Voit’s 19th HR of the season leads the majors.

In the bottom of the seventh, after a walk and a GIDP, Wade walked and Higashioka hit his THIRD HR of the game to make it 13-1.

Nick Nelson gave up a run on a two-out solo HR to Toronto in the top of the ninth. Final 13-2.

Aaron Judge came off the IL, and going down was Thairo Estrada.

LeMahieu 3 hits (.373) 2 HR (9), 3 RBI
Voit 3-run HR (19, leads MLB)
Frazier 2 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (7)
Higashioka 3 hits, all 3 hits HR (4); 5 RBI

Cole (W, 6-3, 3.00) 7 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 2 W, 8 K. 100TH MLB win.
Loaisiga 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 3.00
Nelson 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up 1 HR. 5.52

It’s the third time Cole was paired with Higashioka and third straight good outing. Personal catcher?

UPDATE: James Paxton has been placed on the 45 day I.L., effectively ending his season. Since he is a free agent at the end of the season (and has a flexor tendon issue right now in his pitching forearm), his Yankees tenure could be over.

Game 47. Gleyber’s PH double wins it, 3-1

Gleyber Torres didn’t start the game, but he sure ended it.

The Yanks (26-21) won their fifth straight, and swept the four game weekend series from Baltimore by winning 3-1 on Sunday.

Before the series, Baltimore was creeping up on the Yanks for a playoff spot. Not anymore.

J.A. Happ gave up a HR in the top of the second to Renato Nunez. 1-0, O’s.

Tyler Wade tied it up for the Yanks in the bottom of the third with his second HR of the season.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth. With two out, Aaron Hicks and Clint Frazier both singled. Torres PH for Brett Gardner and doubled in two runs. 3-1 Yanks. Ballgame.

The Yanks are off Monday, 9/14.

Frazier 2 hits
Andujar 2 hits.
Torres 2 RBI
Wade solo HR (2)

Happ 5 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.96
Ottavino 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 7.43
Holder 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.08
Green 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 3.80
Britton (W, 1-2, 2.25) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Chapman (S, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 4.50

Maybe my post of yesterday helped. LOL. Albert Pujols tied Willie Mays on the all-time HR list with #660 on Sunday.

Game 46. Yanks edge O’s in 10, 2-1.

Jordan Montgomery pitched a great game after having had a couple of clunkers lately, and the Yankees’ bullpen completed the job in a 2-1 win in 10 innings over Baltimore on Saturday afternoon.

The win was the Yankees’ (25-21) fourth straight.

The Yanks scored right away in the bottom of the first when D.J. LeMahieu doubled, Luke Voit flied to right, moving D.J. to third, Aaron HIcks walked, and Clint Frazier hit a SF.

We’ll read more about Voit getting the job done again in a couple more paragraphs.

The Yanks would have a couple scoring opportunites in the game, especially when in different innings, Frazier (third inning) and Brett Gardner (eighth) got two-out triples, but they were left stranded.

The O’s tied the game in the sixth due to the Yankees’ fielding miscues. A single, an error by Gardner, then, after an out, and with the Yankees playing the infield in, a pop single that second baseman Thairo Estrada went back for but had glance off his glove. If Estrada was at normal depth he would have had it, but that’s baseball.

In the bottom of the tenth, D.J. LeMahieu started the inning at second base, what with these 2020 extra inning rules. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and Voit did his job, winning the game with a sac fly.

The Yanks got only five hits and made three errors, but still won the game.

Montgomery 5 2/3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 W, 9 K. 4.76
Green 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.98
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.40
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 5.14
Holder (W, 3-0, 2.12) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K

Mark Newman, long time front office exec for the Yankees, died at the age of 71.

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1967 SF CYA McCormick, a one-time Yankee, dies at 81.

Mike McCormick, a lefty who won the NL CYA in 1967, died at the age of 81 from Parkinson’s Disease.

McCormick pitched for the NY and SF Giants (1956-1962), Baltimore Orioles (1963-1964) Washington Senators (1965-1966), back with the Giants (1967-1970), Yankees (1970), and Kansas City Royals (1971).

He led the NL in ERA in 1960 with a 2.70 ERA. In 1962, he was 5-5, 5.38 in 28 games (15 starts) for the NL Champion Giants but did not pitch in the WS against the Yankees.

In the days where there were two All-Star Games a year, McCormick was named to both All-Star Games in 1960 and 1961.

Ironically, he was NOT an All-Star in 1967, but won the CYA that year and also finished 6th in MVP voting. He led the majors with 22 wins in going 22-10, 2.85, ERA+ 118 in 40 games, 35 starts. Also, he, not teammates Juan Marichal or Gaylord Perry, was the first Giant to win the Cy Young Award. (Marichal never won it, and Perry’s two came with the Indians and Padres).

He was briefly a Yankee, finishing the 1970 season as a Yankee after a midseason trade with SF. As a Yankee he went 2-0, 6.10 in 9 games, 4 starts. ERA+ 59. He was released by the Yankees the following spring.

For his career, he was 134-128, ERA 3.73, ERA+ 96 (100 is average). His 162 g. average is 40 games, 28 starts, 11-11, 3.73.

When he made his MLB debut, he was still 26 days away from turning 18.

As a hitter he hit .156 with 7 HR and 39 RBI.

 

 

 

HOF Induction set back a year.

Derek Jeter’s HOF induction ceremony (along with Ted Simmons, Larry Walker and Marvin Miller) will have to wait until 2021, when they could be joined by Curt Schilling, as well as others like Gil Hodges.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony has been postponed. A crowd of 70,000 or so is not exactly social distancing, and the elderly are more susceptible to the virus.

A lot of Hall of Famers come back for the ceremony, and many are over the age of 70 and some are over 80. For example, I was at the ceremony last year for Mariano Rivera. Hank Aaron (now 86) and Sandy Koufax (now 84) were there.

 

Jeter dissenter remains anonymous.

Today was the day that the public ballots for the Hall of Fame vote became public.

315 of the 397 votes cast were public. The other 82 were private.

To no surprise, all of the 315 public votes had Derek Jeter’s name checked off.

So the one voter who didn’t vote for Jeter decided to remain anonymous.

Now that voter may or may not have had a good reason.

Someone may (and they have) been mad that I called that voter a coward.

But hey, when you decide something take a stand, but then hide behind the cloak of anonymity, what else do you call it but cowardice?

You believe in something, stand up for yourself and your beliefs. This person had to know that they may be the only dissenter.

They had to know that people would want to know why that person was the only one of 397 who didn’t vote Jeter for the Hall of Fame.

Maybe that person had a good reason. Fine. Maybe not. Maybe that person is just moronic.

By not standing up for themselves and by hiding behind the cloak of anonymity, we do know what that person is.

A coward.

There. I said it. And I am not taking it back.

And the same goes for the three who remain anonymous who didn’t vote for Ken Griffey, Jr. a few years back.

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Greg Bird finally found a home (or is it nest?) He signed a minor league deal with Texas.

KC wins Super Bowl LIV, 31-20.

The San Francisco 49ers had a 20-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the comeback kids, the Kansas City Chiefs, outscored the 49ers 21-0 in the fourth quarter to win Super Bowl LIV (54 for those of you who hate the roman numerals), 31-20.

The Chiefs overcame 10 point deficits in each of their postseason victories.

It is the second Super Bowl win for the Chiefs, who were playing in their first Super Bowl in 50 years. They lost Super Bowl I 35-10 to Green Bay, and won Super Bowl IV 23-7 over Minnesota.

KC QB Patrick Mahomes was named the Super Bowl MVP. He was OK, 26 for 42, 286 yards, 2 TDs but also 2 picks. I think Damien Williams (17 carries, 104 yards) or Tyreek Hill (9 catches, 105 yards) may have been a better choice, though.

For Andy Reid, a Super Bowl title after 21 years of being a NFL head coach (14 years with the Eagles, 7 with the Chiefs).

Yanks make a minor signing. Thoughts on comparing players.

The Yanks made a minor signing on Wednesday, signing lefty reliever Luis Avilan to a minor league deal.

Avilan, 30, pitched for the Mets in 2019, going 4-0 but with a 5.06 ERA (ERA+ 81). Not so good.

Avilan has pitched for the Braves (2012-2015), Dodgers (2015-2017), White Sox (2018), Phillies (2018) and Mets (2019).

His MLB record is 23-10, 3.28, ERA+ 121 so 2019 was a really off, bad year for him.

His 162 game average is 4-2, 3.28, ERA+ 121. He is a lefty specialist (averaging 68 appearances a year but only 52 IP per year) so how these new rules would affect him would be interesting.

He has pitched in 11 postseason games, going 0-0, 0.00 in 7 2/3 IP. Nice.

Not a bad signing on a minor league deal. Good track record, hoping for a bounce back season.

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Some people comparing Derek Jeter to other greats miss the point. You cannot compare across positions. If you are going to compare Jeter to anyone, it has to be against a Honus Wagner, Cal Ripken, A-Rod (when A-Rod was a SS), Nomar, Ernie Banks (as a SS), Nomar, etc.

You can’t compare Jeter to  Griffey, Mays, Aaron, Musial, Mantle, DiMaggio, etc.

Really. You have to compare him to other SS. You can’t compare a SS to a CF.

Do you really want to compare HOF credentials Rizzuto vs. DiMaggio?

Ozzie Smith vs. Pujols?

Luis Aparicio vs. Mickey Mantle?

Ridiculous.

I wish people would stop saying  “Jeter isn’t Mays or Aaron.”

Of course not. Jeter was a SS.

Stop comparing SS against OF.

Make similar comparisons. Like Jeter vs. Cal Ripken, Miguel Tejada, etc.