AAA: SWB (82-67) lost 8-1 in the next-to-last day of the season to be eliminated from the playoffs. Even had they won last night, Durham’s win would have eliminated them anyway.
SS Anthony Volpe 2 hits. #1 prospect .250-21-65, 49 SB
Banda (L, 0-3) 2 1/3 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 1 W, 2 K. 1 HBP. 6.14 Zach Greene 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 1 balk. 3.42 Miguel Castro 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 0.00 REHAB Duffey 1 2/3 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 0 W, 4 K. 10.50 Brito 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.31 Rich Rodriguez 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 HBP 3.86 Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1.69
The Yanks picked up guys like Banda, Duffey and Barnes because of depth and prior MLB experience. None impressed while with SWB.
AA: Somerset evened up their Eastern League finals series with a 9-2 win. The third and deciding game will be tonight for the Eastern League Championship.
Yoendrys Gomez (WIN) 5 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. #12 prospect. Loseke 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 4 K. Ramirez 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. Espinal 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Although not announced, my guess is that Somerset’s starter for the deciding game tonight will be Clayton Beeter, the Yanks’ #9 prospect, who they got in the Gallo trade.
First off apologies. The milb.com site had that the Eastern League (AA) Finals were to start tonight, and that is what I previously reported. But with both semi-finals ending in 2-game sweeps, Game 1 of the Finals was moved up and began last night. Sorry. The remaining games are as previously reported. Game 2 will be Tuesday, with Somerset needing to win to stay alive.
AAA: SWB lost 1-0 to Lehigh Valley. A tough loss, because it dropped SWB 1 1/2 GB with only a few games left in the season.
SWB only got one hit.
Chi Chi Gonzalez 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 0 W, 4 K. 4.03 M. Gomez 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 5.03 Banda (L, 0-2) 2/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.60 Barnes 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.92
AA: Somerset lost Game 1 of the Eastern League Finals (best-of-3) to Erie, 6-5.
CF Jasson Dominguez “The Martian” 2 hits #2 prospect See below. C Austin Wells 2 hits, 2 RBI #4 prospect 3B Tyler Hardman 2 RBI
Will Warren 4 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 1 W, 7 K. Gave up 2 HR. #8 prospect. Semple 1 2/3 IP 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. Minnick (BS) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. McGarity (L) 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 W, 4 K. Coleman 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Dominguez made a fielding error which enabled the winning run to score.
AAA: SWB (77-62) won 7-5. SS Chris Owings 2 RBI 1B Ron Guzman 3 hits, RBI. Solo HR (14) DH Rob Brantly 2 hits, RBI RF Michael Beltre 2 hits, RBI.
Boyle 6 1/3 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 0 W, 3 K. Gave up 3 HR. 4.34 Banda 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 W, 0 K. 2.25 Cordero (W, 1-1) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1.87
AA: Somerset (82-53, 1st half division winner) lost 8-2, getting just four hits. CF Harrison Bader 0 for 2, Walk, Strikeout. REHAB 2B Jesus Bastidas 2 hits.
Will Warren (L, 7-6) 5 1/3 IP, 6 R, 4 ER, 8 H, 0 W, 8 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.02 #8 prospect. Minnick 2/3 IP, 0 R,1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.81 Stephen Ridings 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 0.00 REHAB. FIRST GAME THIS YEAR. Ernst 2/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K. 4.37 Coleman 1 1/3 IP, 0 r, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 HBP. 2.86
STANDINGS
AAA: SWB 77-62 2nd place, just 1/2 game out in International League East.
AA: Somerset won the first half division title by one game with a 44-25 record. They are currently second in the Eastern League Northeast Division at 38-28, 6 GB. As far as the second half is concerned, they have been eliminated. The regular season ends today.
Somerset will play Portland at Portland Tuesday in Game 1 of the best of three semifinal Eastern League division series.
Chi Chi Gonzalez 3 1/3 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 2 W, 3 K. 1 WP 4.54 Chasen Shreve 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.00 Mujica 2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR 4.17 Banda 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.00 Barnes (W, 1-1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K 2.79 Cordero (S, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.97
AA: #2 prospect Jasson Dominguez was promoted to AA. Dominguez is still only 19 years old. Overall this year, 3 levels: .277-15-58 with 36 SB
Somerset (81-50; won 1st half division title) lost in 11 innings, 10-9. DH Dominguez 0 for 5, R, struck out 2x CF Harrison Bader 0 for 3, R, struck out 2x REHAB LF Oliver Dunn 2 for 2, RBI C Austin Wells solo HR (11) #4 prospect. Overall .280-19-62, 15 SB C of future? SS Trey Sweeney 2 hits. #6 prospect .243-15-54, 30 SB. Just promoted to AA. SS? Needs new position? With Volpe and Peraza, and also Sweeney, some need to find a new position. All can’t play SS. 1B Andres Chaparro 2 hits, 4 RBI. 2 HR (Solo & 3-run HRs) (18) LF/CF Brandon Lockridge Solo HR (14) #28 prospect .227-14-49, 16 SB
Yoendrys Gomez 3 2/3 IP, 5 R, 8 H, 2 W, 4 K. 4.50 Gave up 1 HR #12 prospect, Overall: 1-0, 2.53 Minnick 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.86 Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 0.00 REHAB Jennings (BS, 2) 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 0 W, 2 K. 4.25 McGarrity 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.63 Coleman 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.95 Myatt (L, 3-2) 2 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 W, 0 K. 4.39
High A Hudson Valley and Low A Tampa seasons are over. Neither made the playoffs.
AAA: SWB (71-60) won 7-2. SS Anthony Volpe 2 hits, 2 RBI. Both hits solo HR. (2). #1 prospect. Overall .262-20-64, 46 SB. 2B Chris Owings 4 Hits C Ben Rortvedt 2 hits, RBI RF Ryan LaMarre 2 hits, 2 RBI. 2-run HR (3) 3B Armando Alvarez 2 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (15)
You don’t know what to write anymore. A 15 1/2 game lead is now down to 5. Tom Petty’s song “Free Fallin'” keeps playing in your head. From 61-23 to 79-53. 18-30 in their last 48 games, and as much as you want it to stop, it isn’t.
Anthony Rizzo had an epidural for his back. He’s out for this whole Tampa Bay series. During the game, an embarrassing 9-0 loss, Andrew Benintendi hurt his wrist, saying he “felt something pop.” X-rays were negative, but an MRI is forthcoming. Don’t be surprised if he is out a while, maybe for the season.
Meanwhile you can’t win if you can’t score, and the Yankees’ offense right now looks like I’ve been transported back to the Horace Clarke/Gene Michael/Jake Gibbs days. Ugly. The Yankees got just five hits last night.
It’s hard to pitch when you have no margin for error.
For six innings, Domingo German was really good. The Rays got a run in the fourth because Josh Donaldson made two errors on back-to-back plays. The Rays would have had another run except that Oswaldo Cabrera (who replaced the injured Benintendi) threw out a runner at the plate.
It stayed 1-0 into the seventh. In the seventh, German made his only mistake, giving up a 2-run HR. 3-0, and you knew it was over then. The way this offense has collapsed, you knew they were not coming back.
Then the Rays got six runs in the eighth off of Greg Weissert and Anthony Banda (you are forgiven for saying “Who?”). Who’d have thought, on September 2, in the middle of a pennant race, that Weissert and Banda would be on the mound for you. That says a lot of where the Yanks are right now.
Then the ultimate ignominy last night. Marwin Gonzalez on the mound to get the last out in the eighth.
Embarrassing. And I’m trying to be nice about it.
Let’s face it. No matter what happens from here on in, heads should roll. Hal Steinbrenner has been far too quiet. Show a little anger at what is happening Hal! Instead, he’s been too busy buying an Italian soccer team.
Yankees’ fans on the Internet made themselves known yesterday. If you went on websites, blogs, Twitter, etc. they were all wondering why rookies Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza were not in the lineup. Bring them up only to sit? Keep guys like Hicks in the lineup? Yankees Universe was NOT happy when that lineup came out.
For the sake of integrity for this blog, some numbers that Michael Kay alluded to on last night’s broadcast. You can’t ignore this. We have been seeing this every day.
LeMahieu (toe problem) 10 for 69 since Aug. 8. .145. NO extra base hits. Stanton by month: April .269; May .301; June .176, July .156, August .130. 0 for 3 last night, 3 strikeouts. Since June 1, Stanton is hitting .159. That is Gallo-like bad. Achilles problem. Torres .186 since July 13. 6 walks. 50 strikeouts. Hicks starting with 2nd game of a DH on July 21. .155, NO extra base hits. Donaldson has pretty much been in the .220s all year. Higashioka is at .191. Even Rizzo, despite 30 HR, is only at .225. Marwin Gonzalez doesn’t play much. But he’s 0 for his last 29.
If a team hits, you can carry someone like Isiah Kiner-Falefa. This team is hitting .239. That makes IKF’s lack of power stand out more despite his .261 batting average.
Those numbers are one reason the fans were upset at the lineup last night. Granted Cabrera went 0 for 3, and Peraza, in his MLB debut, struck out, but give the kids a chance. They can’t do much worse than what has been going on.
I don’t know. Whatever the hitting coaches are telling these guys, it isn’t working, or some guys are stubborn and aren’t listening. Maybe some guys are hurt more than what is being let on.
One last thing before the recap. The MVP thing. When was the last time Ohtani played a meaningful game? One that had pennant race implications for his team? The Angels were out of the race by the end of June. Take Ohtani off the Angels and they are still a crappy fourth place team.
Since the All-Star Game, Aaron Judge is hitting .321 with 18 HR. Of course, other teams are and have been pitching around him based on what the rest of the lineup has NOT been doing. While the ship is sinking, the one lifeboat in the Yankees lineup has been Judge. The award is for the most VALUABLE player. Not Player of the Year, Decade or Century. Ohtani is great. Granted. But look at the numbers. Who right now is more VALUABLE?
Ok, enough.
Recap. The Yanks were shut out on five hits. They struck out 13x.
German (L, 2-3) 6 2/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 W, 1 K. 3.12 Weissert 1 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 0 W, 2 K. 10.13 Banda 0 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 3 W, 0 K. 1 HBP. 6.75 Marwin Gonzalez 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 0.00 POSITION PLAYER.
After a 13-run, 20-hit barrage on Thursday, the rest of the weekend was very disappointing for the Yankees’ offense, and that is even with Friday’s win.
If not for a 3-run HR by Aaron Judge on Friday, the Yanks would have been shutout out that night. Instead, Judge’s HR gave the Yanks a 3-2 win.
On Saturday, the Yanks only got one hit in a 3-2, 11-inning loss.
Yesterday, the Yanks only got four hits in a 4-1 loss. This all against the worst team in the league. Very disappointing.
The loss drops the Yanks (78-50) lead to 7 1/2 games on Tampa Bay. The magic # for clinching the division is 28. They are 3 1/2 games behind Houston for the best record in the AL.
The bullpen amazingly did well yesterday. I say amazingly because that bullpen was Anthony Banda (just signed to take the injured Chapman’s spot), Greg Weissert (in his second MLB game) and Luke Bard (in his first game as a Yankee). You are forgiven for saying “Who?”
Banda was signed after Chapman went on the IL. He is 29, a LHP. 7-6, 5.40 in his MLB career for Arizona (2017), Tampa Bay (2018-2020), the Mets (2021), Pirates (2021-2022), Blue Jays (2022) and now the Yankees. Including yesterday, Banda is 1-1, 5.74 this year.
The Yanks also signed one-time Yankee Chasen Shreve to a minor league deal. Shreve, 32, also a LHP was previously with the Yanks 2015-2018. He’s 21-12, 3.87 in his MLB career and was 1-1, 6.49 this year for the Mets.
With the trade deadline over, these are the kind of reinforcements you will get (unless you call up a minor leaguer) when half your bullpen is on the IL (Castro, King, Green, Holmes, Chapman, Effross … did I miss anyone?).
Holmes should come off the IL today.
Clarke Schmidt had to be moved from the bullpen to the rotation to start yesterday because of Nestor Cortes going to the IL. With two out in the first, he gave up three straight hits and two runs. The third out was after the second run-scoring hit when the hitter tried to take an extra base.
Schmidt gave up two more runs in the third.
The only Yankees’ run came in the top of the fifth. With two out, Aaron Hicks singled, went to second on a WP and scored on a single by Kyle Higashioka.
The Yanks are first in the AL in R, HR, Walks, OBP, and OPS (OPS+ 114) but are 9th in batting average at .241. Three major guys in the lineup (Rizzo, Stanton and Donaldson) have to pick it up. All are hitting under .230. Throw in the struggles of Hicks, Gonzalez and Higashioka and well … they have to pick it up. Judge can’t do it himself (and he struggled yesterday, going 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts).
The Sommer Frieze 
