Game 162. Yanks lose 6-1, look to ALDS vs. Twins.

There was no Game 161 recap since I was attending my niece’s wedding.

Briefly: The Yanks lost that game 9-4. There were no homers hit, Didi Gregorius drove in 3 runs, and the losing pitcher was starter Luis Severino (L, 1-1, 1.50), who gave up two runs in 3 IP. David Hale came off the IL. Luis Cessa and Nestor Cortes (who gave up a grand slam) pitched poorly. Yankees’ pitchers walked 11.

As for the last regular season game, the Yanks lost 6-1, getting just three hits, and striking out 13x. Aaron Judge hit a HR (27) for the Yanks’ only run. The Yanks wound up with 306 HR on the season, but the new team HR record goes to the Twins with 307.

The Yanks wound up 103-59, with the third best record in baseball. They won the AL East by 7 games.

A great season, but I am disappointed by how they finished it, losing four of the last five games and in those losses, were shutout in one of them and scored only one run in two others. They sure weren’t “savages” lately. With the ALDS starting Friday against the Twins, this is no time to go into any slumps.

We will see what the postseason roster looks like.

The ALDS will start Friday in the Bronx for the Yankees. Time TBA.

A few teams are looking for new managers. Besides SD letting Andy Green go, and going with interim Rod Barajas to close the year out, SF manager Bruce Bochy retired, KC’s Ned Yost retired, Clint Hurdle was fired by Pittsburgh, and Joe Maddon and the Cubs are parting ways.

We’ll see about other teams and their managers. For example, if the Phillies decide to switch managers, they may go after Maddon, who was born in Hazleton, PA and who attended Lafayette College in Easton, PA.

Maybe the Mets make a move. You have to wonder if one of these teams lures ex-Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi back to managing.

Game 162 recap:

Judge HR (27).

Green 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K.  4.17
Tanaka (L, 11-9, 4.45) 3 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 W, 2 K.
Kahnle 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 0 K.  3.67
Ottavino 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.  1.90
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  1.91
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.   2.21

P.S.: I wasn’t pleased with the way Texas ran against the Yankees this past weekend. The Yanks have to hold runners on better.

 

 

 

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.

 

Game 153. No celebration yet. Magic Number still 1 as Yanks lose, 3-2.

The Yankees (99-54) lost to the Angels 3-2 Wednesday night in what most likely will be CC Sabathia’s last start at Yankee Stadium (unless he starts a postseason game).

With the loss, and the victories by both Tampa Bay and Cleveland, the Yankees’ magic # to get into the playoffs and also to clinch the AL East title both remain at 1. The Yanks have a 9 game lead over Tampa Bay in the AL East with 9 games to go.

Houston won, so the Yanks are a game behind the Astros for best record in the AL, and worse yet, the Astros own the tiebreaker. The Yanks have a  1 game lead over the Dodgers if that WS matchup occurs, and the Yanks own the tiebreaker.

Before the game, Giancarlo Stanton was activated. He doubled his first time up.

CC pitched well for the first two innings, striking out the side in the second, but as has been the case lately, once he got past that, he faltered, giving up two runs in the third inning.

Aaron Judge tied the game in the bottom of the third with a two-run HR, his 24th of the season.

In the sixth, Adam Ottavino gave up the game-deciding run, making a costly error in the process.

Outside of Judge’s HR, the Yanks’ bats were pretty quiet.

Judge 2-run HR (24)
Gardner 2 hits

Sabathia 2 2/3 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 2 W, 4 K.  4.99
German 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 2 K.  4.03
Ottavino (L, 6-5, 1.84) 1/3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Kahnle 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  3.26
Green 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K.  4.43
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  1.97
Cessa 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  3.66

The Twins lead the Yanks 289-288 for the new team HR record. The Twins have played one less game.

Notable Passings: Alex Grammas. 93. Infielder for St. Louis (1954-1956), Cincinnati (1956-1958), St. Louis again (1959-1962) and the Cubs (1962-1963). 162 game average .247-2-29, OPS+ 68. Long time coach.  Managed the Pirates for the last five games of the 1969 season (4-1) and managed the Brewers in 1976 and 1977, winning just 66 and 67 games in those two seasons.

Also Jim Greengrass, 91, OF for the Reds (1952-1955) and Phillies (1955-1956). He hit .285-20-100 in 1953, finishing 6th in ROY voting and then hit .280-27-95 the following season. Hit .269 in 504 games. 69 career HR. His 162 game average .269-22-91, OPS+ 103.  His career was shortened because of problems with phlebitis.

 

Game 152. Successful Seve return as Yanks shutout Angels, 8-0. Betances tears Achilles, done for season. Torres hits #38; Magic # 1.

Good and bad news healthwise. Stanton to be activated today or Thursday. Encarnacion feels like he’ll be back. Now, no news yet on Sanchez, but

tonight, Luis Severino finally came back off of injury and in his season debut pitched four scoreless innings as the Yanks (99-53) beat the Angels, 8-0.

We’ll see how he feels tomorrow and how he comes through this. But very encouraging.

The magic # is 1 to make the playoffs, and also is 1 to win the AL East. Houston won so the Yanks remain tied with Houston for best record in the AL (Houston has the tiebreaker). The Dodgers are one game behind both the Yanks and Houston (Yanks hold tiebreaker over LA). The Yanks have a 10 game lead over Tampa Bay in the AL East with 10 games to go.

The bad news is that Dellin Betances is done for the year with a partially torn Achilles tendon.  He is a free agent after the season, and a bad year to miss the whole year. We’ll see what happens in the wintertime.

The Yanks got two runs in the second inning when Gleyber Torres singled and Luke Voit walked. One out later, Gio Urshela singled in one run and then Cameron Maybin doubled in another to put the Yanks up 2-0.

They broke the game open with six runs in the fourth. With one out, Urshela singled. Cameron Maybin singled, then after another out, all six runs scored with one out. D.J. LeMahieu singled in a run to make it 3-0. Aaron Judge walked to load the bases. Didi Gregorius doubled in two runs to make it 5-0. Torres then hit a 3-run HR (38) to cap things off at 8-0.

LeMahieu 2 hits, RBI  .329
Gregorius 2 RBI
Torres 2 hits, 3 RBI; 3-run HR (38)
Urshela 2 hits, RBI.  .328
Maybin 2 hits, RBI

Severino 4 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 W, 4 K.  0.00
Loaisiga (W, 2-1, 4.23) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K
Tarpley 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 W, 4 K.  7.71
Gearrin 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.  4.18
Adams 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K.  7.20

In the race for the new team MLB record, the Twins have 289, the Yankees 287. The Twins have played one less game.

UPDATE: Breyvic Valera was DFA’d.

UPDATE 2: From the NY Post.

The Yankees have let go of five minor league staff members.

According to minor league head Kevin Reese, the team didn’t renew the contracts of hitting coordinator Edwar Gonzalez, field coordinator Jody Reed, pitching coordinator Scott Aldred, Trenton hitting coach Ty Hawkins and Charleston hitting coach Greg Colbrunn.

Aldred’s departure follows the departure of fellow pitching coordinator Danny Burrell, who left to take the pitching coach job at Georgia Tech.

Hate seeing Aldred go.

Game 150. Yanks hit 5 HR (2 by Gardy) in 13-3 win.

I remember seeing Brett Gardner over 10 years ago when he played in AAA, before coming up to the majors. Speedy. If you would have told me then that he’d make the majors and lead the league in SB with 49, I certainly would have believed you.

If you would have told me that he’d have a season where he’d hit 25 HR, I wouldn’t have. I didn’t think at that time he’d have a season where he’d hit 10. When I saw Gardner then, I was thinking he was another Brett Butler (who never hit more than 9 HR in a season in his career).

Things have certainly changed. Gardner hit 2 HR yesterday, giving him 25 for the season–at age 36—as the Yankees (98-52) hit five HR in a 13-3 win over Toronto.

With the win, the Yanks stay 9 up on Tampa Bay with 12 games to go. The magic # to win the division outright (no tiebreakers) is 4.

The magic # just to make it into the playoffs is 2.

They remain one game ahead of Houston for the AL’s best record (Houston has the tiebreaker) and two games ahead of the Dodgers (Yanks have tiebreaker).

They have 285 HR this season, two more than the Twins in the race for the new MLB record, but the Twins have played two less games.

The Yanks got a run in the second inning when Luke Voit walked, Gio Urshela singled, and Gardner doubled home Voit.

In the third, D.J. LeMahieu and Aaron Judge both singled, and after a fielder’s choice in which LeMahieu was out in a rundown, Voit doubled in a run to make it 2-0.

In the fourth, Gardner hit the first of his two HR for the game (24) to make it 3-0.

His three-run HR in the fifth (25) made it 6-0.

In the bottom of the fifth, he made a great catch up against the fence. Toronto did get a run that inning to make it 6-1.

In the top of the sixth, Gleyber Torres (37) and Luke Voit (21) went back-to-back with homers to put the Yanks up 9-1. Torres’ HR being a 2=run blow.

The Yanks got four runs in the top of the ninth. Kyle Higashioka led off the inning with a double. Thairo Estrada singled him home to make it 10-1. After an out, Clint Frazier doubled Estrada to third. Tyler Wade had an RBI groundout to move the runners up, scoring Estrada, to make it 11-1. Mike Ford then hit a PH HR (11) to make it 13-1.

Toronto got two runs off of Ryan Dull in the bottom of the ninth for the final score of 13-3.

LeMahieu 4 hits (.329).
Torres 2-run HR (37)
Voit 2 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (21)
Ford 2-run PH HR (11)
Urshela 2 hits (.326)
Gardner 3 hits, 2 HR (25) 5 RBI
Estrada 2 hits, RBI

Paxton (W, 14-6, 3.88) 5 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 2 W, 3 K.
Gearrin 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.  4.24
Loaisiga 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.  4.56
Dull 1 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 W, 3 K.  13.50

Jordan Montgomery and Dellin Betances come off of rehab and join the team on Sunday.

 

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 146. Yanks pitching disappoints. They hit 6 HR, but lose a 12-11 slugfest to Tigers.

Well, we know which pitchers should NOT be on the postseason roster. If this was an audition to see who makes it, a lot failed.

Despite holding a 6-0 lead over the team with the worst record in baseball (yes, worse than Baltimore), the pitchers used could not hold it, and the Yanks (95-61) lost to the Tigers, 12-11, despite hitting SIX homers.

The six HR put the Yanks in a tie with the Twins at 276, which is the most in a season by a team. We’ll see who comes out on top.

They remain in a tie with the Astros (Houston has the tiebreaker) for the best record in baseball, one game ahead of the Dodgers (the Yanks own the tiebreaker over the Dodgers). The AL East lead is 8 over Tampa Bay. The magic # to clinch the East remains 9. The magic # to just make the playoffs remains at 7.

Ugly. Terrible pitching. The fielding left something to be desired also. Errors, missing cutoff men…. The LF tonight was Frazier, the RF Wade.

The Yanks got a run in the first when Brett Gardner hit a HR (22), giving him a new season high.

Second inning: Yanks score five runs, go up 6-0 on the worst team in baseball, and you think this game is over. Didn’t turn out that way.

Gio Urshela led off with a double and Luke Voit singled him home. 2-0. Clint Frazier singled. Tyler Wade tripled home two runs, 4-0. Gardner homered AGAIN (23) and it was 6-0.

Nestor Cortes, who had pitched two scoreless innings to start the game, lost it in the third as Detroit tied the game with six runs, four of them unearned because of an error by Gleyber Torres.

Torres homered in the fourth (36) to put the Yanks up 7-6.

Fifth inning. Didi Gregorius homers (15) and Yanks go up 8-6.

Detroit gets a HR in the bottom of the fifth to cut it to 8-7.

Detroit gets three in the sixth. They take a 10-8 lead. Yanks did not hold a lead, again, to the worst team in baseball.

With two out in the seventh, Gary Sanchez singles and Edwin Encarnacion hits a HR (33) to tie the game. Edwin and Didi go back-to-back as Didi hits his second HR of the game (16) to put the Yanks up 11-10.

Once again, they could not hold a lead to the worst team in baseball. I hate to drum that home, but facts are facts. This was an ugly loss. Remember that if the Yanks lose home field advantage to Houston and/or the Dodgers. You can’t lose these types of games if you want home field advantage.

With two out in the bottom of the seventh and a man on, a passed ball and a single enable Detroit to tie the game.

Tommy Kahnle wasn’t available (wrist tendonitis). Chance Adams was in there for the ninth. I would have preferred John Quincy Adams. Chance Adams loses the game.

Torres solo HR (36)
Gardner 2 hits, both HR (23) 3 RBI
Encarnacion 2-run (33)
Gregorius 2 hits, both Solo HR (16)
Wade 2 RBI

Cortes, Jr. 2 1/3 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 W, 2 K.  5.23
Cessa 2 2/3 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.81
Gearrin (H, 13) 1/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K.  4.35
Loaisiga (BS, 1) 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 W, 0 K.  4.94
Dull 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.   13.06
Ottavino (BS, 6) 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K.  1.73
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.   2.04
Adams (L, 1-1, 7.50) 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.

We can only assume that Cortes, Cessa(???), Gearrin, Loaisiga, Dull and Adams will all NOT be on the postseason roster. I mean, if you do that poorly, and can’t hold a lead  against the worst team in baseball, why should you be on a POSTSEASON roster?

If healthy, and if you are taking 13 pitchers, you most likely will see:

Paxton
Tanaka
Happ (surprisingly)
Severino
Green
German
CC
Kahnle
Ottavino
Britton
Chapman
Update: Betances

That is 12. (Had 11 before, forgot Betances).

The question is will there be another? Will the Yanks go with 12 or 13 pitchers? It’s too bad Hale is out. He pitched well for the Yanks this year (3-0, 2.89). Could Montgomery sneak in here?  How about Ben Heller (see below). I still am not sold on Cessa, but he may still make it.

I really wonder if the Yanks would chance Deivi Garcia.

The Yanks DFA’d Adonis Rosa to bring up Ben Heller.

Sigh. If the Yanks lose home field by a game and have to play a deciding game in Houston or LA, this is the loss I’ll remember and regret.