Game 159. Yanks offense nonexistent (only 1 hit) in 4-0 loss.

The Yankees may have been playing Tampa Bay the last two nights, but their offense wasn’t to be found either night.

Tampa Bay, of course, is still playing for their playoff lives while the Yanks have already clinched the AL East and at least the #2 AL seed.

Right after a 2-1, 12-inning loss on Tuesday night, the Yanks were shutout 4-0 on Wednesday night, and in that shutout they were nearly no-hit. The only hit the Yanks got was a D.J. LeMahieu sixth-inning single.

With the loss, the Yanks’ hopes of having the best record in the AL all but disappeared. At 102-57, they are 2 1/2 games behind Houston with 3 games to play. Houston holds the tiebreaker. In order to gain the #1 seed, the Yanks have to win all three games they have left while Houston has to lose all four they have left.

If the Yanks make it to the WS, at present they are 1/2 game BEHIND the Dodgers. The Yanks do hold the tiebreaker. So these two losses to the Rays do hurt.

It’s official. Domingo German (because of the domestic abuse incident being investigated) is out for the whole postseason as well.

In the home run race, with the Yanks hitting no homeruns last night and the Twins hitting two, the two teams are tied at 299 but the Twins have four games left, the Yankees three.

It is all but certain that the Yanks will play the Twins in the ALDS, with the Yanks holding the home field edge. Games 1 and 2 would be at Yankee Stadium Oct. 4 and 5, Game 5 in Minnesota Oct. 7, Game 4 if necessary Oct. 8 in Minnesota and Game 5 if necessary back in the Bronx on Oct. 10.

As for the game, Jonathan Loaisiga showed why he exasperates you. Great stuff but inconsistent. 2 strikeouts in the first inning, but he also have up 2 runs, inc. a HR to the first batter. 2020 will be a huge year for him. He needs to harness his great stuff and show consistency.

J.A. Happ came out of the bullpen and pitched well. If this was an audition for the postseason, where Happ and CC had to show they could perform well coming out of the bullpen, then both passed the audition.

As mentioned, the offense only had one hit. Aaron Judge was 0 for 3, 3 strikeouts with a walk. Giancarlo Stanton was 0 for 4 with 4 strikeouts.   Kyle Higashioka was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts. The Yanks struck out 16x. Even the pinch-hitters struck out their only time up.

Loaisiga (L, 2-2, 4.70) 1 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Happ 5 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 W, 6 K.  4.91
Kahnle 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K.  3.43
Gearrin 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.  4.22
Tarpley 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.  7.23
Cessa 0 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.  3.73  Faced one batter, threw one pitch, a HR.
Chapman 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  2.25   Needed the work.

The Yanks are off Thursday. They finish with the Rangers with three games in Texas this weekend and these are the final three games in that ballpark. The Rangers move into a new ballpark next year. Hopefully the Yanks get back on the winning side to carry momentum into the playoffs.

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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 127. A’s beat Yanks, 6-2.

The Yanks struck early, but the A’s struck right back as Domingo German had trouble closing out the first and second innings in the Yanks’ (83-44) 6-2 loss in Oakland to the A’s Monday night.

Gary Sanchez homered in the top of the first (28) to give the Yanks a quick 1-0 lead.

But in the bottom of the first, with one out and two out, German gave up a HR to Matt Olson, then gave up another to Mark Canha. The back-to-back HR made it 3-1 A’s.

With two out in the second, a single and double made it 4-1 Oakland. It stayed that way until the sixth.

The A’s got two more in the sixth. A single, double, strikeout, and single plated two runs and drove German from the game.

Aaron Judge homered (13) in the eighth for the game’s final run. 6-2 A’s.

Judge’s blast (467 ft.) was the first homer he pulled to left all year.

The Yanks’ magic # to clinch the division outright (I ain’t getting into tiebreakers) still dropped to 26 because the Rays lost.

Judge HR (13)
Sanchez HR (28)
Urshela 2 hits .338
Gregorius 2 hits
Tauchman 2 hits.

German (L, 16-3, 4.15) 5 1/3 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 8 H, 2 W, 7 K. Gave up 2 HR.
Loaisiga 2 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 2 K.   5.12

The Yanks signed Trevor Rosenthal to a minor league contract. This, along with the Ryan Dull, Tyler Lyons and David Hernandez signings of late, is probably just “taking a flyer”. Rosenthal was St. Louis’ closer, saving 45 games in 2014 and was an All-Star in 2015 when he saved 48, finishing 17th in MVP voting in the process. But he missed all of 2018 with TJ surgery and this year, in 22 games (12 Washington, 10 Detroit) has been brutal. 0-1, 13.50. For his career, Rosenthal is 11-25, 3.46 (ERA+ 114) with 121 saves.

One-time Yankee relief pitcher Octavio Dotel (14 games in 2006), along with 2B Luis Castillo, were implicated in a drug trafficking ring yesterday. Dotel pitched for 13 different teams from 1999-2013 and Castillo was a 2B for 3 teams 1996-2010, including the 2003 Marlins team that beat the Yanks in the WS.

 

 

Game 116. Yanks’ winning streak ends in 8-2 loss.

Before the game, the Yanks made a minor league deal (those are still allowed after the deadline) getting Joe Mantiply from the Reds for cash considerations. Mantiply, 28, LHP, pitched in five games for the Tigers in 2016, going 0-0, 16.88. He actually was in the Yanks’ minor league system in 2017, going 6-5, 2.83 for SWB (6 starts, 29 relief appearances). He was 1-0, 4.15 for the Reds’ AA/AAA teams in 19 relief appearances this year. He’ll be going to AAA.

Good news on Luis Severino. He threw off a mound and felt great. It looks like the Yanks could get him back in September. But would it be for only two or three outings before the postseason? Would that be enough? More on that later after this game report. (Also, in a separate minor league report, good news on Jonathan Loaisiga Friday night).

On Firday, Yanks’ GM Brian Cashman had a scare, being mistaken for a car thief. He was stopped—at gunpoint—by as many as nine officers in CT.

Per ESPN:

Cashman, 52, said in an interview with the New York Post that his white Jeep Wrangler had been stolen and returned to him but that the New York City police had not cleared the vehicle from its stolen-car database.

Luckily, things didn’t escalate or get mistaken into anything tragic.

Now for the game. Good point made by John Flaherty on YES about holding umpires accountable. Players have to face the media after a bad performance and answer questions, not so umpires. Players get suspended and/or fined, umpires should too. Because the umpiring last night was bad.

Brett Gardner got tossed from the game by the home plate umpire who A) didn’t give a warning first, and B) wasn’t even looking in the dugout to see who was getting on him, thus ejecting the wrong person. How do you eject someone without seeing and making sure you are ejecting the right individual? Gardner says he didn’t say anything or do anything to get ejected, and when he came out to vociferously argue, was lied to by that home plate umpire. As a result, Aaron Judge, who was supposed to get the night off, had to play. Of course, after the game there is no media questioning the umpire. HE isn’t held accountable. If Gardner faces a fine or ejection, that would make this even more of a travesty. MLB needs to hold more bad umpires (like Angel Hernandez, even though this time it wasn’t him) accountable by fining or suspending them. They probably won’t though. It’s  a joke how they let some really bad umpiring slide. This wasn’t all. There was a really bad call later in the game.

As far as strike zones, MLB has to tell the umpires off on that. You can’t have “your” strike zone and call it the same way on a 6’7″ player like Aaron Judge the same way you do on a 5’9″ player. How many times do we see strikes called on Judge that are below his knees because he is 6’7″? But the umps don’t adjust to his height as they should. Ridiculous.

Umpires need to face the same criticism and meet the same standards and receive the same penalties as the players. Start cracking down on bad umpiring, MLB.

As for the game, well, those bad decisions didn’t cost the Yanks the game, bad pitching by J.A. Happ did. Unfortunately, Happ, who was so good for the Yanks after the Yanks traded for him last year (until Game 1 of the ALDS), has turned into this season’s “Sonny Gray”. What is worrisome is that he has a contract for next year for another $17MM and a vesting option for 2021 for another $17MM that kicks in with 27 starts or 165 IP in 2020. If Happ, who turns 37 in mid-October, is falling off the cliff per se, then the Yanks have a problem. I don’t know if he has a no-trade clause. But right now, would you trust him on the postseason roster? I wouldn’t. Would you look into dealing him after the season (and probably having to eat a lot of his contract)? I would.

Happ only gave up four hits in 5 IP, but three were HR as he was plagued by the gopher ball again. Those resulted in six runs. We can only hope for improvement, but it looks like a lost season for him. We’ll see if it is the start of the end for his career as well.

He has to improve, that is for sure.

Things got off to a bad start when Happ gave up a 2-run HR in the first and a solo HR in the second. Yanks down 3-0 after two innings, already.

In the top of the fourth, immediately after the fiasco with the umpire that got Gardner ejected, Mike Tauchman homered (12) to cut it to 3-1. Boy, is Tauchman hot.

But Happ gave up a 3-run HR in the bottom of the fourth that made it 6-1 and basically ended the Yanks’ (76-40) chances for a win in this one. Oh well, you can’t win them all and the loss snapped a nine-game winning streak.

Tampa Bay won, so the Yanks’ lead in the AL East was cut to 9 1/2.

Mike Ford homered (3) in the seventh to make it 6-2, but Tommy Kahnle gave up a 2-run HR in the eighth. Final score 8-2 Toronto.

LeMahieu 2 hits,  .340
Maybin 0 for 4, Golden Sombrero 4 strikeouts, should have had a hit. Bad call.
Tauchman 2 hits, solo HR (12)  .301
Ford solo HR (3)

Happ (L, 9-7, 5.48) 5 IP, 6 R, 4 H, 3 W, 4 K.  Gave up 3 HR.
Cortes, Jr.  2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K.  4.18
Kahnle 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K.  3.04   Gave up 1 HR.

You wonder how much of an “opener” the Yanks could use in the postseason. Could Severino AND Loiasiga be used in such a fashion because of just coming off the IL in September? Could German be (because of an innings limit) used as the guy AFTER the “opener” ? There will be very interesting decisions made in a month because, even with the great record the Yanks have right now, you can’t be comfortable with what you are getting from the starters right now, especially Tanaka, Happ and even CC.

Especially if they are going up against Greinke, Verlander and Cole.

Over the next few weeks, here’s hoping the rotation can step it up and alleviate my concerns.

 

 

Game 101. Offense and Bullpen Bail out Happ. Yanks win, 10-7.

Some news before the game report.

Gary Sanchez to the IL. Kyle Higashioka brought up.

Nestor Cortes back up (like he is riding an elevator). Jonathan Holder back down.

Cortes would figure in the game.

Sad news about some former Yankees:

Dwight Gooden was busted twice recently. Once for DUI and coke possession about a month ago, now a DUI in the last week.

According to the NY Post, former Yankees pitcher John Wetteland will return to court in March to face trial for alleged aggravated sexual assault of a child, court records show.

Now to the game.

J.A. Happ had nothing, but the bullpen and the offense bailed him out as the Yanks (66-35) won another slugfest from the Twins, 10-7.

As David Cone said on WPIX, this turn around in the rotation wasn’t good. The starters all were knocked out early.

In the first inning, Happ got the first two hitters out, but then gave up a single and a 2-run HR.

The Yanks came right back with 4 in the top of the second. Edwin Encarnacion and Didi Gregorius hit back-to-back doubles for one run. Gleyber Torres walked. After a fly-out by Gio Urshela that moved both runners up, the red-hot Mike Tauchman tripled in two runs to give the Yanks the lead, 3-2. Austin Romine’s SF scored Tauchman to make it 4-2.

Happ gave a run right back in the bottom of the second, 4-3.

The Yanks got two in the top of the third when Aaron Hicks led off the inning with his 12th HR of the season, and after the next two batters struck out, Gleyber Torres hit his 20th HR of the year. 6-3.

The Yanks got three in the fourth to go up 9-3. Romine singled, and after a forceout by D.J. LeMahieu, Aaron Judge singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Hicks singled to score LeMahieu and send Judge to second. 7-3. After a line-out by Encarnacion, Gregorius tripled in two runs to make it 9-3. He, like Tauchman, is hot lately.

But staked to a 9-3 lead, Happ couldn’t even go five innings to get a decision. He was then knocked out of the game in the bottom of the fourth. A walk and HR made it 9-5. Then two singles and a ground-out put runners at second and third with one out and Happ was then out of the game, replaced by Nestor Cortes, Jr.

Cortes gave up a SF that made it 9-6, then got a strikeout to get out of the inning. He gave up a HR in the fifth to Nelson Cruz, Jr. that made it 9-7. It was Cruz’ 382nd career HR.

The scoring then stopped until the ninth, when Edwin Encarnacion’s 30th HR of the season made it 10-7 Yanks, which was the final score. Encarnacion’s HR was #410 of his career, passing Mark Teixeira on the all-time list.

With Tampa Bay’s win over Boston yesterday, the Yanks lead the Rays by 10 games, and the Red Sox by 11. They lead both by 12 in the loss column. The Yanks now go to Boston, where they could really end any hopes the Red Sox have of winning the division just by splitting the four games. Getting more than a split would be great. Just don’t get swept and let Boston get back in it at 7 back.

Judge 2 hits (.311)
Hicks 2 hits, 2 RBI, HR (12)
Encarnacion 2 hits, HR (30)
Gregorius 3 hits, 3 RBI
Torres HR (20)
Tauchman 2 hits, 2 RBI

Happ 3 1/3 IP, 6 R, 6 H, 2 W, 3 K. Gave up 2 HR.  5.23
Cortes (W, 4-0, 4.20) 3 1/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 2 W, 1 K.  Gave up 1 HR.
Kahnle (H, 19) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  2.66
Chapman (S, 26) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.  2.50

 

Game 84. Yanks beat Mets 5-1 behind G-“FOUR”CES.

Well, you have heard of G-forced, how about G-“FOUR”CES?

The Yanks beat the Mets 5-1 Wednesday night behind key contributions from four “G’s”:

German
Gleyber
Gregorius and
Gleyber

G-FOURCE.

(if you want to add Green to that, go ahead, but G-FIFTH doesn’t read too well… ).

The win puts the Yankees (55-29) 6 1/2 up on the Rays and 11 up on Boston in the AL East.

The Yanks now have a four-game series in Tampa vs. the Rays. It could be huge. All the Yanks really have to do is split, stay 6 1/2 up and take four games off the schedule.

A sweep could help bury the Rays at 10 1/2 out. Just don’t get swept yourself and get them back to 2 1/2 out.

The Yanks struck at the Mets right away, scoring two in the first inning. D.J. LeMahieu led off with a double, and Aaron Judge followed with a double to score D.J. Later in the inning, Gleyber Torres’ single knocked in Judge.

The fact Torres (.298-19-50, basically a .298-37-97 pace more or less–and for a middle infielder, to boot) is not on the AL All-Star team is a travesty.

Domingo German, just off the IL, gave up a HR on his first pitch, and you wondered if he was brought back too soon. But he settled down after that to pitch six great innings for his tenth win of the season.

Gio Urshela looked like Graig Nettles at third base last night. Maybe even better. He put on a defensive show.

Down 2-1 in the fifth, with a man on, Mets’ manager Mickey Callaway made a curious decision. He didn’t PH for pitcher Jason Vargas. Vargas’ did get his bunt down, but the Mets didn’t score.

That decision came back to bite the Mets in the sixth. With one out, Didi Gregorius hit his fourth HR of the season to give the Yanks a 3-1 lead. Callaway then replaced Vargas with Wilmer Font.

If Vargas’ leash was that short, why not PH for him in the fifth? ESPN announcers were arguing about that last night. You are down, need to score runs, don’t PH for the pitcher, but then the next inning he only faces two batters? Makes no sense.

And that is one reason why Callaway’s seat with the underachieving (39-48) Mets is extremely hot.

Font gave up a HR to the first batter he faced, as Gregorius and Urshela went back-to-back. Urshela’s seventh HR of the season made it 4-1.

For a while, it appeared as if Gio was hurt, but he turned out OK. Whew.

LeMahieu led off the seventh with a double, and two outs later, Hicks walked. Torres’ single made it 5-1, which was the final score.

Aaron Hicks robbed Robbie Cano of a possible HR during the game. Definitely a possible double, questionable whether it would have cleared the fence or not.

LeMahieu 2 hits (.342 leads AL)
Torres 2 hits, 2 RBI
Gregorius 2 hits, solo HR (4)
Urshela 2 hits, solo HR (7). A couple of superb defensive plays.

German (W, 10-2, 3.67) 6 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 0 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR (on his first pitch).
Green 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 4 K.  5.64
Cortes, Jr. 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.  5.04

German looked like the German, ace-like, that he was before his last few starts when he struggled with the hip problem.

Yankees’ announcers are now on the IL. John Sterling will not be broadcasting this weekend because of health issues. Sterling, who turns 81 today, the 4th of July, had broadcast 5,060 consecutive games, ever since he had to take two days off for the death of a sister in 1989.

Meanwhile, Michael Kay will miss a month because he needs surgery on one of his vocal cords.

 

Game 64. A sloppy win, 7-6 in 10. Also, news on Lucchesi, Big Papi.

The Yanks (40-24) tried their best to blow this game. Their best relievers failed, and it was up to a rookie, who arrived at 4 AM after a seven-hour or so drive via cab or Uber (don’t know which; UPDATE: Yanks arranged a SUV for the 6 1/2 hour, 375 mile drive), to save the day.

But in the end, they won 7-6 in 10 innings over Cleveland and maintained their first place tie with Tampa Bay.

Before the game, the Yanks had to place Domingo German on the IL (hip) and recall Stephen Tarpley. Tarpley is the one who had to make the trip in the wee small hours of the morning.

Now we know that German didn’t “hit a wall” per se, but that something was physically wrong the past few starts.

Forced to use an opener again (Tanaka’s start pushed back a day due to his wife giving birth), the Yanks got 5 runs in the second inning. With two out, Clint Frazier singled and Brett Gardner homered (9). Gio Urshela walked and Cameron Maybin singled. D.J. LeMahieu singled in a run, 3-0. Then a WP and a walk to Aaron Hicks loaded the bases. Luke Voit doubled in two runs, 5-0. Gary Sanchez walked to reload the bases but Gleyber Torres flied out.

Chad Green, the opener, and Nestor Cortes, Jr.Greg combined to shut out the Indians for five innings, but in the bottom of the sixth, Tommy Kahnle gave up 4 runs on 2 HR and it was 5-4.

In the seventh, Adam Ottavino gave up a HR that tied the game at 5.

In the top of the ninth, with one out, Luke Voit singled and Gary Sanchez doubled. Gleyber Torres was inentionally walked to possibly set up a DP but Clint Frazier hit a SF to put the Yanks up 6-5.

But in the bottom of the ninth, Aroldis Chapman gave up a single, made and error on a pickoff attempt, and then walked the next batter. He rebounded to get two outs and then had two strikes on the next batter. One strike away, and then a ground ball to SS. Didi Gregorius, who didn’t start the game but who was in for defensive purposes, booted it for a two-base error and the tying run scored. Chapman then got out of the inning.

With one out in the tenth, Maybin doubled, and one out later, Hicks doubled to put the Yanks up 7-6.

Tarpley, who made that long trip hours earlier, struck out the side in the bottom of the tenth to earn his first MLB save.

Tarpley, you’ll recall, had a great spring training before getting roughed up earlier in the season, causing him to be sent down to SWB.

LeMahieu 2 hits, RBI (.321)
Hicks GW RBI double
Voit 2 hits, 2 RBI
Frazier 2 hits, RBI
Gardner 2-run HR (9)
Maybin 2 hits

Green 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K.  8.27
Cortes, Jr.  3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  3.86
Kahnle 1 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 0 W, 1 K.  2.84   Gave up 2 HR.
Ottavino (BS, 3) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.  1.53  Gave up 1 HR
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K.  2.86
Chapman (W, 1-1, 1.40; BS, 2) 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K.
Tarpley (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  First MLB save.

The Yanks now play the Mets for two games in Yankee Stadium.

In other baseball news…

Frank Lucchesi died at the age of 92. Lucchesi managed the Phillies (1970-1972), Rangers (1975-1977, taking over for Billy Martin) and Cubs (1987). He was the last manager for the Phillies while they played at old Connie Mack Stadium. He also was the manager that Lenny Randle assaulted in 1977 when Randle took umbrage at how Luchessi was managing him. Luchessi’s managerial record was 316-399, a .442 winning pct., which averages to a 72-90 season.

Ex-Red Sox star David Ortiz (Big Papi) is in stable condition after being shot in the Dominican Republic. From MLB.com:

Retired Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was shot and wounded at an amusement center in his hometown of Santo Domingo on Sunday but was in stable condition and expected to be OK, his agent Fernando Cuza told MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez.

Ortiz’s father, Leo Ortiz, also addressed reporters and said doctors anticipate a full recovery.

…

confirmed that he sustained a gunshot wound to the lower back/abdominal region…..

(FROM ESPN) The team had to remove part of Ortiz’s intestines and colon, as well as his gallbladder. Ortiz suffered liver damage. He was shot at a club in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Authorities say Ortiz was ambushed by a man who got off a motorcycle and shot him in the back at nearly point-blank range.