Game 117. CC and Didi spark Yanks to 7-2 win.

CC Sabathia and Didi Gregorius sparked the Yankees  (74-43) to a 7-2 win Sunday afternoon. It keeps the Yanks 9 1/2 games back in the AL East  .

The Yanks got a run in the first when Stanton homered. #30 put the Yanks up, 1-0.

With the fifth, with one out, Romine singled & Gardner doubled. Hicks singled in two runs. Stanton singled Hicks to third. Andujar drove in a run on a force out, and Didi hit HR #21 to make it 6-0.

In the sixth, Voit and Walker singled and Romine’s groundout moved the runners up. Gardner singled to make it 7-0.

CC pitched six innings of one-hit, shutout ball. Win #244 of his career passed Juan Marichal on the all-time wins list.

Sonny Gray gave up 2 runs in the seventh.

The Yanks play the Mets on Monday night in a makeup game. The game will be on ESPN. Severino vs. DeGrom.

Hicks 2 hits, 2 RBI
Stanton 2 hits, solo HR.
Gregorius, 2 hits, 2-run HR, Some fine defensive plays.
Romine 2 hits,
Gardner 2 hits, RBI.

Sabathia (W, 7-4, 3.32) 6 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 W, 7 K.
Gray 1+ IP, 2 R, 5 H, 0 W, 0 K.   5.52
Holder 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 4 K.  3.35

 

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Game 115. Texas trounces Tanaka, Yanks, 12-7.

Ronald Guzman hit 3 HR for Texas, and Adrian Beltre added another as Texas beat the Yankees, 12-7, Friday night.

Masahiro Tanaka’s troubles in giving up the gopher ball continued, as he gave up 3 HR.

In the fourth, Beltre hit a 2-run HR (#469 of his career, passing Chipper Jones on the all-time list). Beltre, an all-time great, also is up to 3134 hits in his career. Later that inning, Guzman hit the first of his three HR for the night, and Texas was up 3-0.

Texas got two in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead.

Brett Gardner got the Yanks on the board in the bottom of the fifth with his 10th HR of the season.

Guzman led off the sixth with his second HR of the game to make it 6-1 Texas. A.J. Cole relieved Tanaka then, and three more runs scored that inning to make it 9-1.

The Yanks came back with three in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Stanton walked. With two out, Gregorius singled. Andujar hit a ground-rule double to knock in one run, and Luke Voit singled in two.

Guzman hit his third HR of the game in the top of the seventh to make it 10-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, Austin Romine hit his 7th HR of the season to cut it to 10-5.

Texas got two in the eighth, 12-5.

In the bottom of the eighth, Didi and Andujar singled, and both moved up on a wild pitch. Romine drove in both with a single. 12-7, the final score.

An area of concern. Gleyber Torres went 0 for 5, and is hitting just .227 since June 9. His average has dropped from .308 to .269 since then.

Another…. Chad Green has been slumping lately, too.

Didi Gregorius 3 hits
Andujar 2 hits, RBI
Voit 2 RBI
Gardner solo HR
Romine 3 hits, HR, 3 RBI

Tanaka (L, 9-3, 4.08) 5+ IP, 6 R, 6 H, 3 W, 2 K. 3 of the 6 hits given up were HR.
Cole 2 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 W, 2 K.  5.08 (Wash/NYY)
Green 1 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K.  2.98
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K.  3.80 (Balt/NYY)\

Boston beat the Bad News Bears (sorry, Baltimore Orioles) 19-12. The Orioles once had an 8- 3 lead in that game. So the Yanks are 9 back.

 

Game 114. 5 Yanks’ HRs power team to 7-3 win.

The Yankees (72-42) hit 5 HR to defeat Texas 7-3 tonight.

With Boston’s loss, they cut the deficit to 8 games.

Aaron Hicks got the first of the HR, a 2-run HR (20) in the first inning.

J.A. Happ gave up a HR in the 4th, 2-1.

The Yanks came right back in the bottom of the fourth, when Miguel Andujar (16) and Neil Walker (5) hit back-to-back HR, Andujar’s a 2-run shot, to make it 5-1 Yanks.

Happ gave up 2 runs in the top of the fifth, 5-3.

Once again the Yanks came right back. Giancarlo Stanton’s 28th HR, a 449 ft. laser shot, made it 6-3.

Neil Walker’s 2nd HR of the game (6) made it 7-3 in the sixth and that was the final score.

Gardner 2 hits.
Stanton HR
Hicks 2-run HR.
Andujar 2 hits, 2-run HR
Walker 2 solo HRS

Happ (W, 12-6, 4.07 combined Tor/NYY) 6 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 1 W, 9 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2 HBP
Robertson 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K.  3.29
Betances 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  2.25
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 2 K.  2.20

Yankees pitchers struck out 13.

Game 110. Yanks blow it in 9th, lose it in 10th. Lost Weekend. Swept in Boston.

THE WORST LOSS OF THE YEAR.

Up 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth, three walks by Aroldis Chapman and an error by Miguel Andujar let Boston tie the game.

Then in the tenth, in came Jonathan Holder. The same Jonathan Holder who gave up seven runs and got no one out on Thursday night against these same Red Sox. The Red Sox scored off of him. Ballgame over, 5-4 Boston, and the Yanks are now 9 1/2 behind Boston after getting swept up there this weekend.

With the four-game sweep by Boston, and the loss to lowly Baltimore Wednesday, the 68-42 Yanks have lost five in a row.

Some struggles of youth. The 4-5 hitters last night for the Yanks were Torres and Andujar. Two rookies, one 21, and the other 23 years old. While each has been great this year, their inexperience has been showing the past few days.

MVP candidate Mookie Betts homered for Boston in the fifth. 1-0 Red Sox.

The Yanks, who only got one run Friday and only one Saturday (They really miss Aaron Judge, and to a lesser extent, Gary Sanchez (even with Sanchez’ .188 batting average.)St I mean, Luke Voit and Shane Robinson are in the lineup in this big series. No offense to those two, but really?) got all four of their runs in the seventh.

Gardner singled, Romine walked. Robinson walked to load the bases. Hicks reached on an error, two runs scoring, Robinson to third. Stanton singled to make it 3-1. Both runners moved up on a WP. After Didi struck out, Torres hit a SF. 4-1.

To the bottom of the ninth, and the wild Chapman we saw recently in a game vs. the Mets resurfaced. A strikeout, then two walks, another strikeout, another walk. Free passes. Ugh. A two-run lined single that Torres jumped for and just missed. 4-3. The error (second of the game) by Andujar that allowed Boston to tie the game (Greg Bird tried to scoop it and just couldn’t). Strikeout. (Update: Should Walker have replaced Andujar that inning for defensive purposes?)

Then the tenth, and when Holder came in, you just had a bad feeling after his outing the other night. He did get the first two outs. Then a single. WP. Intentional walk. Single by Benintendi to end the game.

A KILLER LOSS.

Now to try to rebound.

Stanton 2 hits, RBI
Gardner 2 hits

Tanaka 4 2/3 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 1 W, 9 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.76
Robertson 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  3.42
Britton (H, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.  3.26 (Balt/NYY)
Betances (H, 17) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  2.35
Chapman (BS, 2) 1 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 H, 3 W, 3 K.  2.25
Holder (L, 1-3, 3.65) 2/3 IP,  1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K.

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 93. Yanks fall, 6-5.

So far this year, I think Aaron Boone has done a fine job, but this past week leads to some second guessings.

You don’t want to burn out your bullpen too early in the year, but in the past week, we’ve seen CC, Tanaka, and tonight German, be left in perhaps one inning too long.

That isn’t all on Boone, but it does accentuate the need for the Yanks to get another starter. It is becoming more and more apparent how much losing Jordan Montgomery (35 MLB starts, 11-7, 3.84, ERA+ 117—-17% ABOVE league average) hurt. 

The Yanks won’t be able to catch Boston with 2/5 of the rotation being Sonny Gray (6-7, 5.46, ERA+ 78) and Domingo German (2-5, 5.49, ERA+ around 77). 100 ERA+ means league average. Gray and German are over 20 percent worse than league average. The two combined are 8-12, ERA about 5.47. That won’t get it done.

They need to find another starter.

German, for whatever reason, struggles in the first inning. He gave up 1 run in the first and 3 more runs in the second.

The Yanks got 3 in the fifth on a double by Bird, walk to Andujar and double by Walker that plated one run. A second run scored on a WP. Later in the inning, Gardner’s SF plated a third run.

But right after the Yanks got back into the game by cutting it from 4-0 to 4-3 in the top of the fifth, German gave two runs right back.

The Yanks got a run in the eighth, but Boone made a bad decision this inning that could have cost the Yanks the game and opened himself up to a lot of second-guessing. Wade doubled, went to third on a PB and scored on a groundout. 6-4 Indians. Judge was HBP. But with Judge on first and one out, Hicks struck out and Judge was caught stealing. A strike him out, throw him out DP—with Stanton on deck.

Even if Judge makes it, Cleveland probably walks Stanton intentionally to set up a force at any base and pitches to Bird instead.

Now I am aggressive as anyone, but there, I keep Judge at first, don’t send him, and that way I keep Stanton as the tying run, in case he hits a HR… which he later did.

Of course, he did it with a different pitcher on the mound, and in a different situation. But Stanton homered (23) to lead off the ninth to make it 6-5. But that’s where it ended.

Boston FINALLY lost, so the Yanks (61-32) stay 3 1/2 back.

Gardner 2 rbi.
Stanton HR #23
Bird 2 hits
Wade 2 hits.

Wade has had a 2-hit and 3-hit game in the past week. Maybe the Yanks (until Torres returns) should play him more than Walker?

Walker seems to be this year’s version of Chris Carter. A guy the Yanks are holding on to far too long, far after it is apparent he isn’t doing anything for you, but a guy the Yanks don’t want to admit they made a mistake on.

So at 61-32, the Yanks are 45-18 with Torres, 16-14 without. Now Torres, although probably the favorite for Rookie of the Year so far (Ohtani and Andujar would be in the mix), won’t win the MVP, he should draw some MVP consideration based on those numbers.

German (L, 2-5, 5.49) 4 + IP, 6 R, 5 H, 4 W, 6 K.
Holder 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K.  1.85
Shreve 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 3 K.  4.54.

German looks like he has good stuff. He can’t channel it or be consistent with it. He’s had chances. He hasn’t taken advantage of them. You wonder how many more chances he will have. He could have taken the bull by the horns. He hasn’t.

David Hale signed with a Korea team.

Aroldis Chapman will rest his aching knee and not pitch in the All Star Game.

 

Game 92. Bullpen comes through. Yanks 7, Indians 4.

What was supposed to be a pitching duel between Cy Young candidates Luis Severino and Corey Kluber turned into a bit of a slugfest, as neither pitcher had his best stuff. The Yanks (61-31) rallied late to win 7-4 and stay 3 1/2 back of Boston, who won their 10th straight.

Severino struggled right off the bat, giving up a double, groundout and single for a run, and after a caught stealing, gave up a HR. The Yanks were down 2-0.

In the third, Brett Gardner hit the first of his two HR for the game, a 2-run shot that tied it up.

Severino gave the lead right back to Cleveland, giving up a run in the bottom of the third to make it 3-2.

Didi Gregorius, who homered off Kluber twice in Game 5 of last year’s ALDS, tied the game with a HR (16) in the fourth, and later in that inning Stanton singled, advanced to third on an error on Hicks’ sacrifice bunt. Bird, heating up, doubled to make it 4-3. The Yanks loaded the bases with no one out but could not tack on more runs.

Severino gave up a HR in the fifth that tied the game.

In the eighth, Gregorius walked, and with one out, Hicks doubled him in. Hicks stole third and scored on a SF by Bird that make it 6-4.

Gardner hit his second HR (9) of the game in the ninth for the final score of 7-4.

Not a good game for Austin Romine, who got the golden sombrero (0 for 4, 4 strikeouts).

Gardner 2 HR, 3 RBI
Didi solo HR
Bird 2 RBI
Andujar 2 hits

Great job by the bullpen. 4 IP, no runs, no hits.

Severino 5 IP, 4 R, 9 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 2 HR.  2.31
Warren 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  1.85
Robertson (W, 6-3, 3.19) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Betances (H, 14) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.  2.68
Chapman (S, 25) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  1.38

Other notes. Hopefully MLB is wrong. They give Boston a 62 percent chance of winning the division, the Yanks, 38 percent.

The Yanks are 16-13 without Gleyber Torres, 45-18 with him.

Ex-White Sox backup INF Sammy Esposito (member of 1959 AL Champs) has passed away at age 86.

As for Manny Machado wanting to play SS? He’s a great hitter, but if he comes to the Yankees, the Yankees already have Didi. The defensive runs saved above average stat has Manny at -20, Didi -1. Big difference defensively.

Albert Pujols tied Ken Griffey, Jr. on the all-time HR list with #630 last night. The only players with more are Barry Bonds 762*, Aaron 755, Ruth 714, A-Rod 696* and Mays 660.

Football player LeSean McCoy is in trouble, apparently beating the heck out of his girlfriend. We’ll see what kind of punishment the law and the NFL enforce.