Game 119. “Happ”y Days are here again. Yanks win 4-1.

Early returns on Zach Britton have been disappointing, but not so with Lance Lynn or J.A. Happ.

Happ tossed seven one-hit, shutout innings as the Yanks beat Tampa Bay 4-1 Tuesday night to up their record to 75-44.

Boston won again, so the deficit remains at 10.

The Yanks scored in the first on a double by Stanton, error on a pickoff attempt, and bloop single by Hicks.

Austin Romine hit a 2-run HR (8) in the fifth that he sliced just inside the RF foul pole.

Dellin Betances gave up a HR in the top of the eighth that cut the Yanks’ lead to 3-1, but in the bottom of the eighth, with two out, Andujar and Bird hit back-to-back doubles to make it 4-1, PR Shane Robinson scoring.

Andujar was removed for defense, as manager Aaron Boone moved RF Neil Walker to 3B to replace Andujar, and Shane Robinson went to RF, replacing Walker.

Much is being made of Andujar’s defense, and yes there is room for improvement, but by way of comparison, Andujar has made 12 errors. In 1964, rookie 3B Dick Allen of the Phillies made 41. Wow.

Andujar 2 hits, both doubles.
Romine 2-run HR.

Happ (W, 13-6, 3.86) 7 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 4 W, 4 K. 1 HBP. (Tor/NYY; as NYY 3-0, 1.89)
Betances (H, 18) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.32
Chapman (S, 31) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  2.11

Don’t look now, but Oakland is just 1 game behind Houston in the AL West. Can you imagine if the A’s pass them and the one-game wild card game is Houston at the Yankees. (Shuddering).

Infielder John Kennedy, who was with the Yankees in 1967, passed away August 9 at the age of 77. Kennedy happened to be born on the same day, May 29, as President John F. Kennedy, but 24 years later, in a strange coincidence. Kennedy even started his career under JFK’s presidency, and in Washington, D.C. too.

Kennedy played for Washington (1962-1964), the Dodgers (1965-1966), Yankees (1967), Seattle Pilots (1969) , Milwaukee Brewers (1970) and Boston Red Sox (1970-1974). He was on the Dodgers’ 1965 WS Champion and 1966 NL Champion teams.

Mostly used as a defensive specialist, Kennedy played in 104 games for the 1965 Dodgers but only had 104 AB, hitting .171-1-5. He got more AB in 1966, hitting .201-3-24.

With the 1967 Yankees, he hit .196-1-17 in 78 games, 179 AB. He played 3B, SS and 2B in his MLB career, and even one game at 1B.

His 162 game average was .225-6-35, OPS+ 70. Good field/no hit. In the postseason (1965 and 1966 WS) he got into 6 games, going 1 for 6.

 

 

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Game 116. Get Miggy with it. Andujar leads Yanks to 5-3 win.

Miguel Andujar hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the seventh to break a 2-2 tie and lead the Yanks to a 5-3 win over Texas Saturday afternoon.

Despite the win, the 73-43 Yanks lost a 1/2 game in the standings to Boston, dropping 9 1/2 behind Boston because Boston swept a DH from the Bad News Bears (Baltimore Orioles) on Saturday.

With one out in the first, Giancarlo Stanton got the green light on a 3-0 pitch and hit HR #29 to put the Yanks up 1-0. After an out, Miguel Andujar singled and Greg Bird doubled to make it 2-0.

Lance Lynn gave up a run in the third as Texas cut it to 2-1.

In the sixth, Bird doubled and scored on a Neil Walker single.

But in the top of the seventh, with two out, Zack Britton imploded. Single, single, and 2 straight walks made it 3-2. In came Dellin Betances who balked in the tying run before getting out of the inning.

That set the stage for Andujar’s HR (17). You wonder if he may be stealing that ROY award away from Gleyber Torres (or Ohtani).

But in the ninth, Aroldis Chapman couldn’t get the save without some drama. Walk, K, single. Pop up. HBP to load the bases. K.

Stanton 2 hits, Solo HR.
Andujar 2 hits, GW 2-run HR.
Bird 2 doubles, RBI

Lynn 5 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 3 W, 8 K.  4.46 (Min/NYY)
Robertson (H, 16) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.   3.23
Britton (H, 3) 2/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 W, 0 K.  4.50 (Balt/NYY)
Betances (BS, 1; W, 3-3, 2.19) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  Balk
Chapman (S, 30) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 1 HBP.  2.15

The game ended in rain, just in time as it had started to pour.

 

 

Game 111. Lynn masterful as Yanks snap losing streak, 7-0.

Lance Lynn, taking the ineffective Sonny Gray’s place in the rotation, was masterful as the Yanks (69-42) shut out the Chicago White Sox 7-0 Monday night to stop their five-game losing streak.

It’s as if Lynn basically showed Gray, “that’s how it’s done” in pitching 7 1/3 scoreless innings.

The Yanks scored two in the fourth when with one out, Stanton walked and Didi doubled. Hicks singled in one run, Torres singled in another. Bird was robbed of a 3-run HR.

In the fifth, the Yanks upped the lead to 4-0 when with one out, Higashioka singled. Gardner singled Higashioka to third, and a WP moved both runners up, Higashioka scoring. With two out, Didi Gregorius singled in Gardner.

A couple of homers in the eighth finished the scoring. Gleyber Torres hit a solo HR (18) and a few batters later, Neil Walker hit a 2-run HR (4) for the final score of 7-0.

Gregorius 2 hits, RBI
Hicks 2 hits, RBI
Torres 2 hits, HR, 2 RBI
Walker 2 hits, HR, 2 RBI

Lynn (W, 8-8, 4.58) 7 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 9 K. Stats Min/NYY (1-0, 0.00 NYY)
Cole 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K.  4.86  (2-0, 1.69 as NYY)

Game 105. Miggy & Tanaka lead Yanks past O’s, 6-3.

Mashiro Tanaka worked his way through six shutout innings, and Miguel Andujar hit a 3-run HR as the Yanks beat Baltimore 6-3 Tuesday night.

The win, combined with a Boston loss, puts the Yanks 5 back of Boston in the AL East. The Yanks are 68-37.

There were a lot of trades yesterday before the non-waiver trade deadline, but the Yanks weren’t involved in any.

Tanaka’s line looks good, but he really had to work, throwing 105 pitches over six innings. It was harder for him than it looked and he had to escape a couple of jams.

The Yanks got on the board in the first inning when Gardner walked, and with one out, Didi walked. With two out, Gleyber Torres singled Gardner home.

The Yanks made it 2-0 in the third. Gardner singled and stole second. With Stanton up, everyone was safe, Gardner moving up, on an error. Didi Gregorius singled in Gardner.

The Yanks broke it open with four in the fifth. Stanton was HBP, and Didi singled. Hicks walked to load the bases with no one out. After Torres popped up, Bird hit a SF to make it 3-0 and Andujar hit a 3-run HR (13) to make it 6-0.

The Orioles got 3 in the eighth off of A.J. Cole.

Final 6-3.

J.A. Happ was sent home with hand-foot-and mouth disease. The Yanks are still hoping he can start Saturday in Boston. He is the second major leaguer, after the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard, to contract that virus in the last couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, the Yanks may have caught a bit of a break. Chris Sale, who owns the Yanks, was put on the DL by Boston with shoulder inflammation. He won’t be pitching against the Yanks this weekend.

Gardner scored 2 runs.
Didi 2 hits, RBI.
Andujar 3-run HR.

Since May 21, Tanaka has lowered his ERA from 4.95 to 3.84

Tanaka (W, 9-2, 3.84) 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 W, 8 K.
Cole 1 1/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 W, 2 K. 5.13 (Comb. Wash/NYY ERA)
Betances 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.  2.40
Chapman (S, 29) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  1.88

 

Game 104. Oh, “Happ”y Day as Yanks beat KC 6-3.

J.A. Happ pitched six strong innings and won his Yankees’ debut as the Yanks beat KC 6-3 on Sunday afternoon. Monday is an off day.

Before the game the Yanks sent Caleb Frare, who spent most of the year at AA Trenton, to the White Sox for $1.5MM in international bonus $$$. They also received $1MM of that in the Shreve/Gallegos deal with St. Louis.

The Yanks jumped off to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Didi walked and Hicks homered (17) off the foul screen.

In the fourth, Hicks doubled and scored on an Andujar single, 3-0.

To the fifth, and Gardner and Stanton singled to lead off the inning. A groundout by Didi moved both runners up. Hicks walked to load the bases and a groundout by Torres made it 4-0. Bird singled to make it 5-0.

The Yanks gave up 3 HR in the game, but thank goodness, all were solo shots. Happ gave up one to Salvador Perez (he killed the Yanks this weekend) to make it 5-1 Yanks.

The Yanks got one back in the bottom of the sixth. Walker was HBP and Romine doubled. Stanton got the run in with a SF.

Green gave up a HR in the seventh and Robertson (I’m concerned about them, both Green and Robertson, lately) gave up one in the eighth. Final, 6-3 Yanks.

Boston won again so the Yanks couldn’t pick up any ground. Still 5 1/2 out.

Hicks 3 for 3, HR, walk, 2 RBI. Scored 2x.

Happ (W, 11-6, 4.05 [combined Tor/NYY]) 6 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Green 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.  2.74
Robertson 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.  3.61
Chapman (S, 28) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  1.93
 

Games 102 & 103. Yanks come back to salvage DH Split. What’s wrong with Seve? Shreve, Gallegos traded.

After yesterday’s day/night DH split, the Yanks made a move to get the recently acquired J.A. Happ on the roster. With the recent acquisition of Zack Britton, it was a given that Chasen Shreve was gone. Shreve, along with Giovanny Gallegos, was traded to St. Louis for 1B Luke Voit.

Voit, 27, a righty hitter, was 2 for 11 in 8 games with the Cardinals this season. 1 HR, 3 RBI. For his MLB career, he has played in 70 games, 125 at bats, and has hit .240-5-21, OPS+ 93.

Shreve was 2-2, 4.26, 1 save, ERA+ 102 for the Yanks this season, and Gallegos 0-0, 4.50, ERA+ 99. For Gallegos, it was in just four games.

The Yanks had to come from behind to win the second game of a day/night DH to salvage a split of that DH. At 66-37, they are now 5 1/2 behind Boston.

In the first game, a 10-5 loss, you have to be concerned about Luis Severino. After being brilliant against Boston on July 1, he was 13-2, 1.98. In his four starts since then, he is 1-2, 8.84(!) and his ERA has gone from 1.98 to 2.94. What’s wrong?

Seve gave up a two-run double in the third, then in the fifth, gave up a two-run single and 2-run HR. Yanks down 6-0.

They tried to come back. In the bottom of the fifth, Hicks singled and Stanton hit one to the moon (24) to make it 6-2.

In the sixth, singles by Torres, Bird and Walker (who had a big DH) scored one run, and another scored on a GIDP. 6-4.

In the seventh, Didi singled and Torres doubled him home, but Torres was thrown out at third on the play. Ouch. Never make the first or last outs of an inning at third.

But here is where David Robertson let the game get away, as he gave up a 3-run HR in the 8th. The Royals got another run off of Shreve (in his last Yanks’ appearance) in the ninth.

10-5 KC.

Hicks 2 hits, 2 walks
Stanton HR (a bomb) 2 RBI
Torres 2 hits, RBI
Bird 2 hits
Walker 3 hits, RBI

Severino (L, 14-4, 2.94) 4 1/3 IP, 6 R, 8 H, 1 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Warren 2 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  2.70
Robertson 1 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.50
Shreve 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.  4.26   (traded after game 2)

The Yanks scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth for a come-from-behind 5-4 win in Game 2.

The Yanks got two in the first when Gardner and Stanton singled, Didi flied out, moving up both runners. Andujar got an RBI single (Torres was the cleanup hitter in Game 1, Andujar in Game 2—two rookies) and after Bird was HBP (what is it with KC plunking batters this series? Judge fractured wrist, Romine got hit in Game 1, now Bird here) Walker got a SF to make it 2-0.

CC gave up a HR to Salvador Perez in the third, 2-1 Yanks.

Shane Robinson got his first HR of the season to make it 3-1 Yanks in the fourth.

KC got a run off CC in the fifth, when a couple of walks helped to walk a run in, and he had to be pulled before he could qualify for the win. Holder got out of a bases loaded jam.

Holder got into trouble in the sixth, and Chad Green came in but couldn’t get out of the inning without yielding the tying run. 3-3.

Zack Britton got the first two outs in the top of the seventh, then fell apart, giving up a double, infield single, then two walks to force in a run and put KC up 4-3 before finishing the inning.

But in the bottom of the eighth, Greg Bird led off with a HR (9) to tie the game. Walker doubled and Romine, PH for Higashioka, reached on a bunt single. Torres walked to load the bases and Hicks got a SF to put the Yanks up 5-4.

Chapman ran into trouble in the ninth, but escaped.

Bird solo HR
Robinson solo HR
Walker 2 hits, RBI

Sabathia 4 2/3 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 2 W, 8 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.53
Holder 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K.  2.11
Green 1/3 IP, 0 R 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.  2.61
Britton 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 W, 1 K.  3.57 (Balt/NYY comb. ERA)
Betances (W, 2-3, 2.44) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Chapman (S, 27) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K.   1.98

At 66-37, with a .641 winning pct., the Yanks have the second-best record in baseball, and are on course to go 104-58, their best record since 1998, but of course, we know who has the best record in baseball right now (drat!)

HR watch: With 166 HR in 103 games, the Yanks are on pace for 261 HR, which would fall 3 short of the 1997 Seattle Mariners record. The losses of Judge and Sanchez really hurt the Yanks here.

Game 101. Yanks win game, trade for Happ, but lose Judge for 3 weeks.

Because there is so much Yankees news major-league wise, between the game, a trade and a major injury, there will be no minor league report today (no time before I have to leave for work).

Before the game, the Yanks made a trade with Toronto, getting J.A. Happ for Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney.

Happ, 35, made his first All-Star team this year, and is 10-6, 4.18, ERA+ 101 in 20 starts. He hasn’t been that good lately. Through June 13 he was 8-3, 3.48, but he has gone 2-3, 6.03 since. Hopefully he turns it back around for the Yanks. Happ, like the just-acquired Zack Britton, can become a free agent at the end of the season, he and Britton may just be rentals. Happ broke in nicely, and after just a little bit of MLB experience in 2007 and 2008 (he got in 8 games, 4 starts for the 2008 WS Champion Phillies), finished second in ROY in 2009, when he went 12-4, 2.93 in 35 games, 23 starts, for the NL pennant-winning Phils that year. Who knows, if he would have started for the Phils in the WS that year instead of Pedro Martinez (who was at the end of his career and who lost two WS games), maybe the Yanks don’t win that 2009 WS but lose it to the Phillies. Pedro never pitched again after that WS.

Happ then went 38-48, 4.56, ERA+ 86 between 2010-2014, bouncing from the Phils to Houston to Toronto. He upped his game in 2015, going 11-8, 3.61 for Seattle and Pittsburgh. He went back to Toronto in 2016 and was a 20 game winner, finishing sixth in CYA voting. Last year he was 10-11, 3.53. For his career he is 102-82, 3.95, ERA+ 104. 162 g. average 13-11, 3.95.

For Happ, the Yanks gave up Brandon Drury, who was expected to be their starting 3B this year, but migraines put Drury on the DL, and sent him to the minors. Meanwhile, Miguel Andujar took Drury’s job. Drury got into just 18 games with the Yanks, going 9 for 51 (.176) with 1 HR and 7 RBI, OPS+ just 47. In 61 games at SWB, he was .292-6-32. Drury turns 26 in a few weeks.

Also going to Toronto is OF/1B Billy McKinney. McKinney got into just 2 games with the Yanks at the beginning of the season, going 1 for 4. Soon to be 24, McKinney was hitting .228-13-35 for SWB in 63 games this year.

Now for the game. First, Judge’s injury.

Aaron Judge was HBP by a ball in the first inning. He stayed in the game and got an infield single in the third but was removed. An X-Ray, MRI and CT scan were all done and the final showed a a chip fracture of the right wrist (ulnar styloid bone). No surgery is recommended but Judge will miss at least 3 weeks.

Ouch, WAR has Judge as the Yanks’ best player (Severino is second).

The Yanks won the game 7-2 over KC, a bittersweet victory what with the Judge injury, and at 65-36, the Yanks picked up a game on Boston, who lost 2-1 to the Twins. The Yanks are now 4 1/2 back.

In that first inning, with one out, Judge was HBP. Didi doubled Judge to third. Stanton hit a SF which scored Judge and moved Didi to third. After Hicks walked, Torres reached on an error which allowed Didi to score. 2-0 Yanks.

The Yanks got 4 in the fourth. With one out, Walker singled and Romine doubled him in. After an out, Andujar, pinch-hitting for the injured Judge, reached on an error, and Didi Gregorius made KC pay for the error by hitting a 3-run HR (18).

In the fifth, Hicks singled, then Torres singled Hicks to third. Bird drove in the run with a SF. 7-0.

Adam Warren gave up a 2-run HR to Salvador Perez in the sixth, 7-2.

Britton made his Yankees’ debut in the eighth with a 1-2-3 inning.

Judge 1 for 1, HBP, Fractured wrist, Out at least 3 weeks.
Gregorius 2 hits, 3-run HR.
Hicks 2 hits, threw out a runner at the plate to end the game.
Walker 2 hits

Gray (W, 8-7, 5.08) 5 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 W, 5 K.
Warren 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.  2.96
Robertson 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K.  2.98
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.24 (combined Balt/NYY; NYY debut)
Shreve 1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K.  4.14

Vaughn Eshelman, who pitched for Boston 1995-1997, going 15-9, 6.07, ERA+ 81, died at the age of 49.