Game #61. Volpe HR ensures Yanks’ 4-1 win.

I have family in CA, outside of LA, and my sister, a Yankees’ fan like me, has the bragging rights in the household for now since the Yankees took the weekend series from the Dodgers with a 4-1 win Sunday night.

The Dodgers won 8-4 Friday night, but the Yankees (36-25) won 6-3 Saturday night then the 4-1 win tonight.

My family members in CA were supposed to go to the Friday night game but had to sell their tickets when something else came up.

The Yanks played the game without Aaron Judge, whose toe was sore after banging it against the fence in making his great catch Saturday night. Hopefully with an off-day Monday, he will be ready to go on Tuesday and not require an IL stint again.

Going to the IL, however, will be Nestor Cortes with a shoulder issue. Hopefully it’s only a start or two.

In the game, Domingo German was excellent, pitching into the seventh. It was a tight pitcher’s duel throughout.

The Yanks struck first, scoring a run in the top of the seventh when Jake Bauers got a one-out single. Isiah Kiner-Falefa bunted, and not only reached but both runners moved up a base on a throwing error by the pitcher. Kyle Higashioka got an RBI broken bat groundout to bring the run in.

With two out and an 0-2 count on J.D. Martinez in the bottom of the seventh, German made his only mistake, and Martinez hit a HR to tie the game.

With one out in the top of the eighth, Anthony Rizzo walked and was doubled to third by Giancarlo Stanton. Oswaldo Cabrera got an RBI groundout to put the Yanks up 2-1.

Neither Higashioka’s nor Cabrera’s groundouts were hit hard, but that may have been a good thing. The slowness of their nubbers enabled the runner to score. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Anthony Volpe ensured the Yankees’ win with a 2-run HR (9) in the top of the ninth.

There were only nine hits total in the game.

Volpe 2 hits, 2-run HR (9)

German 6 2/3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.69
Holmes (W, 4-2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 2.84
Peralta (S, 4) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 2.84

Game #57. Volpe, IKF lead Yanks to 10-2 win. Judge HRs again (18).

While Aaron Judge homered again, it was the bats of Anthony Volpe and Isiah Kiner-Falefa that were the big stars in the Yankees’ (34-23) 10-2 win over Seattle Tuesday night.

Volpe hit a 3-run HR and IKF went 4 for 5 with 4 RBI.

Before the game, Jose Trevino was activated off of the IL, and Ben Rortvedt was sent down. Also, Harrison Bader was put on the 10-day IL, and Franchy Cordero called up from SWB.

Anthony Rizzo was still out with a stiff neck, and as a result, IKF was in the unfamiliar position of #5 in the lineup.

The Yanks struck right away with three runs in the top of the first inning. With one out and the bases loaded, IKF hit a 2-run single. Jake Bauers followed with a SF.

In the top of the third, Volpe hit a 3-run HR (8) to make it 6-0.

Greg Allen homered (1) for the Yanks in the top of the fourth to make it 7-0.

Nestor Cortes, for whatever reason, has had the fifth-inning blues this season. He’s fine for the first four innings, then hits a wall when the fifth inning or third time around the order happens. It happened again last night as he gave up two runs in the bottom of the fifth. By that time, he’d thrown 101 pitches and was done.

Judge homered (18) in the top of the seventh to make it 8-2.

In the top of the ninth, IKF singled in two runs to make it 10-2, which wound up being the final score.

Torres 2 hits.
Judge solo HR (AL leading 18; leads MLB in SA, OPS, OPS+)
Calhoun 2 hits.
Kiner-Falefa 4 hits, 4 RBI
Volpe 3-run HR (8).
Allen solo HR (1).

Cortes (W, 5-2) 5 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 3 W, 6 K. 5.16
King 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 3 K. 1.76
Weber 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.92

I do wonder why, with a big lead, Matt Krook wasn’t used. He could have made his MLB debut and gotten his feet wet. Oh, well.

The Yanks are still in third place in the AL East, but have now closed the gap to 5 behind Tampa Bay and 2 behind Baltimore.

Game #51. Orioles’ big 7th inning dooms Yanks to 9-6 defeat.

Nestor Cortes, Jr. has had a problem this year. For the first four innings, he’s been the Nasty Nestor of the past two years. But this year, in the fifth inning or in the third time around the order, he has been imploding. It’s a Jekyll and Hyde thing. Great for four, but after that ….

It appeared last night would be different. Except for one blip, Nestor was good through six innings. Once he got through the fifth and sixth, you thought that he had figured it out for this evening.

Then came the seventh, and things fell apart quickly. Not only for Nestor, but also for Jimmy Cordero, who relieved him. The Yanks saw a 5-1 lead disappear as the Orioles scored eight runs in the top of the seventh on their way to defeating the Yankees by a 9-6 score. The loss snapped the Yankees (30-21) five-game winning streak.

The Yanks had struck first in the bottom of the third. Isiah Kiner-Falefa tripled, and Gleyber Torres hit his first of two home runs for the night to give the Yanks a 2-0 lead.

Cortes gave up a HR in the top of the fourth and it was 2-1. But for six innings, that was the only run Cortes gave up.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Kiner-Falefa, not known for power at all, hit a 2-run homer (3) to make the score 4-1. Torres immediately followed with his second HR of the game (9) to make the score 5-1.

But then in the top of the seventh, Cortes walked the leadoff man, gave up a single, then gave up a 3-run HR that hit the RF foul pole and it was 5-4. Cordero relieved him. Single, single, double and Baltimore now had a 6-5 lead. An out, passed ball and walk put runners at first and third with one out. Albert Abreu replaced Cordero. A SF made it 7-5. A single and error made it 8-5. Another single and it was 9-5. Ouch.

Anthony Rizzo got an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, and after that single, the Yanks still had the bases loaded with just one out, but they couldn’t add on.

Final 9-6, Baltimore. The Yanks struck out 13x.

Torres 2 hits, both HR (9) (2-run and a solo HR) 3 RBI.
Judge 3 walks.
Kiner-Falefa 2 hits. Triple and HR (3). 2 RBI.

Cortes 6+ IP, 4 R, 5 H, 2 W, 5 K. Gave up 2 HR. 5.30 Last year 2.44 ERA. Yanks need to get him right.
J. Cordero (L, 3-2) (BS, 1) 1/3 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.80
Abreu 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 4.01
N. Ramirez 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.08

Game #46. Nasty Nestor gets backing from the Captain and the Kid. Yanks win 4-2.

Nestor Cortes wasn’t the Nasty Nestor we’ve known during the past few starts. One concerning thing was that his ERA for the first 4 innings was great at 1.97, but it was over 16 from the fifth inning on.

Cortes rectified that tonight in the Yankees (26-20) 4-2 win over Toronto, going six strong innings.

The Yanks bullpen was shorthanded due to overwork, but Ryan Weber, Albert Abreu and Ron Marinaccio combined to do the job.

Cortes got backing from the Captain and the Kid.

Gleyber Torres led off the game with a single, and Aaron Judge homered (12) to make it 2-0 right away. Judge just killed the Blue Jays in this four-game series with four HR.

Cortes gave up a HR to Bo Bichette in the bottom of the first, and the score was 2-1.

It stayed 2-1 until the seventh. In the top of the seventh, Oswaldo Cabrera doubled, and Aaron Hicks got an RBI single to make it 3-1.

Cortes left after a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, and Ryan Weber gave up a single and a walk. Things didn’t look good as Toronto had the bases loaded with one out. But Weber got a flyout with no advance. PH Vlad Guerrero, Jr., always scary, was held to a SF to make the score 3-2 but Weber got a flyout for the third out to preserve the Yankees’ lead.

In the top of the ninth, Anthony Volpe homered (7) off the foul screen to give the Yanks an insurance run. 4-2 final.

Volpe, just 22, is only hitting .215, but he does has 7 HR and 13 SB in 46 games. Imagine what he could do if he can raise that average 50 points.

Besides his HR, Judge also had a double that just missed being a second HR of the night by about a foot.

Torres 2 hits.
Judge 2 hits, 2 RBI. 2-run HR (12).
Volpe solo HR (7).
Hicks 3 hits, RBI.

Cortes (W, 4-2) 6+ IP, 2 R, 5 H, 1 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 5.21
Weber (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 4.26
Abreu (H, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K 4.71
Marinaccio (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.50

Josh Donaldson had a setback, slicing a thumb in a home accident. Jose Trevino to the 10-day IL with a strained hamstring. Ben Rortvedt called up. Ian Hamilton will be out 4-6 weeks.

Game #41. Captain, O Captain! Judge’s 2 HR spark Yanks’ comeback victory.

Aaron Judge was due. Even taking into account the recent stint on the injured list, he hadn’t homered since April 19.

Judge homered twice in a thrilling Yankees’ (23-18) comeback win over the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday. The Yanks, trailing 6-0 after 4 1/2 innings, won 9-8.

A big concern is Nestor Cortes. With Rodon, Severino and Montas on the IL, Cortes has to resemble the All-Star and CYA candidate of last year. Nestor’s ERA is 5.53. You didn’t expect a repeat of last year’s 2.44 but were hoping for 3.44. The big problem is his third time through the batting order. In his first four innings of work this year, he has been Nasty Nestor, with an ERA of 1.97. However, from the fifth inning on, it is an atrocious 16.55.

Nestor gave up a run in the second inning, and was OK through four, giving up just that one run.

But in the fifth, he gave up a grand slam to Yandy Diaz, and after a double followed, was pulled from the game. The runner later scored, and the Yanks were in a 6-0 hole.

But in the bottom of the fifth, Kyle Higashioka hit a 2-run HR (3) and Judge later followed with a 2-run HR (7) to cut the Rays’ lead to 6-4.

The Yanks then scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead. It all started with a bunt. Anthony Volpe got a “Volpe run” with the bunt single, two stolen bases, and then he scored on a WP. Volpe became the first Yankee to be successful in all of his first 13 stolen base attempts. After a walk, Judge hit his second HR of the game (8), a 2-run shot, to give the Yanks a 7-6 lead. Anthony Rizzo then laid down a bunt single (!) and then a couple of walks loaded the bases. Oswaldo Cabrera’s 2-run single made it 9-6.

But the Rays stormed back, getting two runs in the top of the seventh to cut it to 9-8. The Yanks’ bullpen held it from there for the thrilling victory.

Judge 2 hits, both of them 2-run HR (8), 4 RBI
Rizzo 3 hits.
Cabrera 2 RBI.
Volpe 2 SB (13). 13 for 13 in SB this season. First Yankee to be successful in all of his first 13 SB attempts.
Higashioka 2-run HR (3).

Cortes 4 1/3 IP, 6 R, 7 H, 2 W, 3 K. Gave up a grand slam. 5.53
J. Cordero (W, 3-1) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.81
Marinaccio (H, 4) 1/3 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 1 HBP 3.71
Holmes (H, 2) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 W, 3 K. 1 WP 4.11
Peralta (S, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 1.76

Game #36. 4 Yanks’ HR blast A’s 7-2.

The Yankees (19-17) blasted 4 HR in beating ex-Yankee J.P. Sears and the Oakland A’s 7-2 Monday night.

Oswaldo Cabrera started the scoring with a 2-run HR (2) in the bottom of the fifth. This followed a Harrison Bader triple. Up to that point, Isiah Kiner-Falefa made two great defensive plays at 3B.

The A’s came right back in the top of the sixth and tied the game up.

The Yanks went ahead to stay in the bottom of the sixth. A HR by Gleyber Torres (5), single by Anthony Rizzo and HR by D.J. LeMahieu (4) put the Yanks up 5-2.

Aaron Hicks’ first HR of the season, a 2-run shot in the bottom of the seventh, closed out the scoring. 7-2 Yankees.

Aaron Judge returns to the lineup tomorrow.

Torres 2 hits, solo HR (5).
Rizzo 2 hits.
LeMahieu 2-run HR (4).
Cabrera 2-run HR (2).
Hicks 2-run HR (1).

Cortes 5+ IP, 2 R, 6 H, 2 W, 4 K. 4.74
Marinaccio (BS, 2; W, 2-1) 1+ IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 W, 1 K. 1.65
Hamilton (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1.35
Nick Ramirez 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. 2.84

Game #32. Trevino wins it for Yanks in 10th, 4-3.

The Yankees (17-15) saved manager Aaron Boone’s bacon last night with a 4-3, 10-inning win over Cleveland.

Two nights after Boone made a controversial move that cost the Yanks the game, Boone, instead of learning from it, dug in his heels and made the same move. It almost cost the Yankees again.

That move was taking a pitcher who was rolling out, and in bringing in Clay Holmes. Two nights ago, Domingo German was removed with one out in the ninth and a 2-0 lead even though he was pitching a 2-hit shutout. Holmes, whose ERA since last year’s all-star break is over 5.25, came in and blew the game.

Last night, Ron Marinaccio had retired five men in a row, and with two out and no one on in the top of the ninth in a tie game, Boone inexplicably went to Holmes again. Fans understandably were upset and were more so after Holmes gave up a double and single to enable Cleveland to take a 3-2 lead. Granted both balls could have been caught. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, playing LF for the first time in his MLB career, misplayed the double, and on the single, IKF collided with Harrison Bader (forcing Bader to leave the game). But still, Marinaccio was doing well, no one was on base, there were two out….

Which is one reason why Boone isn’t in the good graces of Yankee fans right now, even with last night’s win. He didn’t learn from before. No good reason for the move, no matter how many times in the postgame press conference he tried to defend it.

Cleveland had scored two unearned runs off starter Clarke Schmidt in the first inning due to an error by Anthony Rizzo.

The Yanks had tied it up in the fifth on HR by Willie Calhoun (2) and Jake Bauers (1).

The Yanks tied the game up and saved Boone’s bacon in the bottom of the ninth when Rizzo singled and was PR for by Oswald Peraza. Peraza stole second but got injured on the play. Aaron Hicks PR for Peraza and moved to third on a groundout. Calhoun then singled to tie the game.

In the bottom of the tenth, Oswaldo Cabrera was the ghost runner. Bauers walked, and IKF bunted both runners over. Jose Trevino PH for Kyle Higashioka and singled to win the game.

But sheesh, Boone. Let the pitcher continue if he is dealing. Stop making moves just to make moves. Too many cooks spoil the pot.

The Yanks are off today. They go to Tampa. They are in last place in the division, 8 1/2 games out, and play the first place Rays 7 of the next 10 days. A chance to get in it or fall so far back that their season could be in danger. These next couple of weeks will be important.

Nestor Cortes, battling strep throat (which could explain his last outing, a poor one) has been pushed back in the rotation because of the illness. He’ll pitch against the A’s instead of against the Rays.

Rizzo 2 hits.
Calhoun 2 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (2).
Bauers solo HR (1). First Yankee HR.
Trevino walk-off RBI single.

Schmidt 4 1/3 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 6 H, 2 W, 4 K. 5.83
Hamilton 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1.56
J. Cordero 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.38
Marinaccio 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1.93
Holmes 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K 4.50
Abreu (W, 1-0) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 5.02

Game #29. Yanks get ambushed by Rangers, 15-2.

The less said about this one the better. The only thing Nasty wasn’t Nestor Cortes, but the final score. Texas clobbered the Yankees (15-14) 15-2. Nestor wasn’t on, and neither were his relievers.

Kiner-Falefa 2 hits,
Hicks 2 hits.

Cortes (L, 3-2) 4 2/3 IP, 7 R, 5 H, 4 W, 7 K. Gave up 3 HR. 4.91
Abreu 1 IP, 6 R, 2 H, 4 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 5.40
Nick Ramirez 2 1/3 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 0 W, 2 K. 4.15

Franchy Cordero rejoined the team to replace Jake Bauers, who had to go on the IL.

Game #24. Slumping Yankees fall to Twins, 6-2.

Before the game, Nick Ramirez brought up, Greg Weissert sent down.

Pirates OF Bryan Reynolds, rumored to be a Yankees trade target, signed an 8-yr. extension with Pittsburgh. Doesn’t look like he’d be coming to the Bronx. Maybe, but things got much more complicated and difficult if that were to happen.

For the first time since 2001, the Yankees have lost a season series to the Twins. The bats stayed dormant, and Nestor Cortes was off a bit as the Yanks lost 6-2 to the Twins last night. It was their third loss in a row and they have lost seven of their last eleven games.

The Yanks got a run in the first when with two out, Aaron Judge singled, went to second on a WP and scored on a D.J. LeMahieu single.

The Twins got two in the bottom of the third. In that inning, rookie SS Anthony Volpe made an error for his third straight game.

The Yanks tied it in the top of the fifth thanks to a Twins’ error.

The Twins put the game away in the sixth. A double and HR chased Cortes, then reliever Ron Marinaccio later gave up another two-run HR that inning.

Volpe 2 hits, but third straight game with an error.
LeMahieu RBI
Calhoun 2 hits.

Cortes (L, 3-1) 5+ IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.49
Marinaccio 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.53
Ramirez 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 1 K. Season debut. 0.00

Today is an afternoon game, Domingo German starting for the 13-11 Yankees.

Great note by MLB’s Bryan Hoch. 12 players on the Yankees’ injured list right now add up to almost $118MM in salary, which is more than the 26-man salary of 13 MLB teams. The Yanks need to tread water until guys get healthy. That is a lot of expensive and good talent on the injured list.

Game #19. IKF, Rizzo, Trevino and Peraza back Cortes in Yanks’ 9-3 win.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa didn’t play the outfield before getting a few games there in spring training, but he looked like a Gold Glover out there today, making two spectacular plays in the Yankees’ (12-7) 9-3 win over the Angels.

Kiner-Falefa also drove in two runs, as did Oswald Peraza who made a nifty defensive play of his own.

The Yanks got five runs in the first inning on a single by Anthony Rizzo, a bases-loaded walk to Peraza and a 3-run bases-clearing double by Jose Trevino.

The Angels got back in the game nicking Nasty Nestor Cortes for a few runs and going into the bottom of the seventh, it was 5-3.

The Yanks put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. D.J. LeMahieu had an RBI double, and IKF singled in two.

The Yanks got their final run in the eighth on an RBI single by Peraza.

Rizzo 3 for 3 and also walked twice. 1 RBI.
Peraza 2 RBI, nice defensive play
Trevino 3 RBI
IKF 2 RBI, 2 defensive gems.

Cortes (W, 3-0) 6+IP, 3 R, 4 H, 2 W, 7 K. 1 HBP. 3.09
Marinaccio (H, 3) 2/3 IP, 0 R 1 H, 0 W 1 K. 1.04
Peralta (H, 3) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 1.23
Hamilton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 1.69
Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.00

The Yanks signed Kole Calhoun to a minor league deal. Calhoun, 35, has mostly played RF so it is a depth move, what with Judge in RF once Bader returns soon. Calhoun’s career highlights include a Gold Glove Award in 2015, when he hit 26 HR and drove in 83 runs. In 2019 he hit 33 HR. He has played with the Angels (2012-2019), Arizona (2020-2021) and Texas (2022). Last year he hit .196-12-49, OPS+ 67. His 162-game average is .243-23-75. OPS+ 102. Lefty bat, lefty thrower. With Judge in RF (the position Calhoun has mostly played) I don’t know if the Yanks are looking at him for LF or possible DH. I guess they want to see if there is anything left in the tank.