Game 70. Up 5-1, Yanks’ miscues lead to 10-5 loss.

Since I am leaving early Saturday morning for vacation, and will be trying for sleep tomorrow night before my early morning flight, this will be my last post for a while.

Before the game, Refsnyder down, Tyler Webb, lefty reliever, up.

Ouch. Up 5-1, Yankees’ miscues contributed to a 10-5 loss.

Cameron Maybin  homered on the second pitch of the game from Luis Severino to put the Angels up 1-0.

In the bottom of the first, with two out, Judge and Holliday both walked and Castro blooped a single to tie it.

In the second, Carter doubled, Torreyes singled him to third, and Gardner drove him in on a forceout. Hicks singled and Judge hit a 3-run HR (25) to make it 5-1.

After that, it was all downhill.

Severino gave up 2 in the third.

He still had the 5-3 lead entering the seventh.

In the seventh, a leadoff single by the Angels. Then, the play that changed the game. A play that Castro needs to make. Instead of a DP, 1st and 3rd for the Angels, no out. This play was the turning point in the game.

If the Yanks ever make a move, I can see it here, like Torres taking over for Castro and Castro moving to third. There have been a few plays this week alone that Castro needs to make and he hasn’t, costing the Yanks some games. The bat has been great, but he has cost them two games this week because of the glove.

After the crucial Castro error, Betances came in. I was a bit concerned because Betances came in with a 0.40 ERA. A long baseball season is like the stock market. There are “corrections”. A pitcher with that low of an ERA is due for  a bad outing and that is what happened to Betances.

Betances wasn’t helped by an error on Sanchez. Then again, Betances threw a WP.

Domingo German, the rookie, didn’t help himself in the eighth with a WP and an error on a pickoff attempt.

Judge HR, (25) 3 RBI.  Carter had 2 hits.

Severino (L, 5-3, 3.30) 6 +IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 8 H, 2 W, 5 K, Gave up 1 HR.
Shreve (BS,1 ) 1 Ip, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 1.80. Should have been out there longer.
Betances 2/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 2 K. 1.16. Was due for a bad outing.
German 2 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K. 1.04

 

Game 67. Road trip from hell ends with 6-game losing streak. Yanks fall, 4-3.

Ugh. The Road trip from hell ends with the Yanks going 1-6, losing six in a row, four by one run, two in extra innings.

It is not for me to figure out how the 40 man roster works, who gets  put on and off, but I kind of wish Chance Adams and Dustin Fowler, both not on the 40 man who would have had to be put on at the expense of others, were brought up instead of Mason Williams and Luis Cessa. Just my opinion b/c I think Adams and Fowler were and are doing better at AAA and deserved it more.

Cessa gave up four runs in one inning and it was enough to doom the Yanks, 4-3. The loss drops the Yanks to 38-29 and into a virtual tie for first with 39-30 Boston.

The Yanks are off today. Travel day back home.

The Yanks went up 1-0 in the second on Matt Holliday’s 14th HR of the year. They got another run in the third when Brett Gardner doubled and Aaron Judge singled him in.

Then Cessa gave up 4 runs in the bottom of the third.

Didi Gregorius homered (7) in the fourth to cut it to 4-3 but that was it.

The Yanks got the tying run to second (2-base error) in the ninth but Headley and Carter couldn’t get him in.

Gardner 2 hits. Gregorius 2 hits, inc. HR. Holliday HR.

Chapman came off the DL and got an inning of work.

Cessa (L, 0-1, 7.36) 4 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 1 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Green 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.45
Clippard 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 2.22
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.29

Game 66. Odd Tanaka line in Yanks’ fifth straight loss.

10 K in 4 IP. But 3 HR given up and 5 runs. Those are Masahiro Tanaka’s numbers in yesterday’s 5-2 loss to Oakland.

The loss, the Yanks’ fifth in a row, drops them to 38-28. Boston lost, so the Yanks do retain their one-game AL East lead.

If there is a silver lining, maybe the Yanks have found something in Domingo German.

The Yanks struck out 16 A’s, but struck out 12x themselves.

The first pitch Tanaka threw was hit for a HR.

The Yankees got their two runs in the second. With one out, Ronald Torreyes and Mason Williams singled. Austin Romine singled in one run and Brett Gardner hit a SF.

Tanaka gave up another solo HR in the second that tied the game, then three runs, including another solo HR, in the fourth.

The Yanks managed just five hits, two by Torreyes. Didi Gregorius’ 17-game hitting streak ended.

Tanaka (L, 5-7, 6.34) 4 IP, 5 R, 8 H, 1 W, 10 K. Gave up 3 HR.
German 4 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 3 W, 6 K. 0.00. Second MLB game.

Game 64. Road trip from hell continues as Yankees lose in 10, 8-7, more players hurt.

Before the game, the Yankees made moves, sending down Ron Herrera and putting CC Sabathia on the DL. They brought back Ben Heller  Domingo German (my mistake) and called up Luis Cessa.

After the game, an 8-7 Yankees’ loss in 10 innings, the Yanks may have to make more moves, like maybe bringing up Dustin Fowler, Kyle Higashioka and a reliever.

The road trip from hell continued with not only a Yankees’ loss,  their third in a row, but now more players may be headed to the DL.

In the minors, the Yankees have shut down Greg Bird, who now has a knee injury on top of trying to get over the ankle injury. Poor guy appears to be like Nick Johnson. So much potential, but injuries keep eating him up.

We don’t know when Ellsbury is coming back from that concussion. That’s important because last night Aaron Hicks had to be taken out of the game because of an Achilles injury.

Gary Sanchez had to be taken out because of an abductor muscle injury. Adam Warren wasn’t available because of a sore trap muscle in his pitching arm.

We’ll see if these injuries are day to day or if they require DL stints. But geez…

The loss puts the Yanks at 38-26, and they maintain a 2-game lead in the AL East. It was a tough loss, because the Yanks came back in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth and took the lead in the tenth.

In the tenth, Giovanny Gallegos got the first two outs, then gave up two hits and an intentional walk before a blooper just extended past Starlin Castro’s reach, tipped off his glove, found grass, and gave the A’s their 8-7 walkoff win.

The Yanks left the bases loaded in the first, not scoring. They left two on in the fourth.

Jordan Montgomery gave up a solo HR in the first to Jed Lowrie and a 2-run double in the second to put the Yanks in a 3-0 hole.

The Yanks tied it in the sixth when with one out, Castro singled, Sanchez walked and Didi (17 g. hitting streak) singled to load the bases. Headley singled in two runs, Carter tied the game with a single.

The A’s got a run in the bottom of the sixth to go up 4-3 on a Yonder Alonso HR. The Yanks tied it in the seventh. With two out, Castro singled, stole second, and scored on a Gary Sanchez double.

The A’s scored in the bottom of the seventh, going up 5-4. The Yanks came back again to tie it in the eighth on a Chris Carter HR (7).

Once again, the Yanks couldn’t hold the A’s, as the A’s got a run in the bottom of the eighth. The Yanks tied the game at six in the top of the ninth when Castro doubled with one out and Sanchez singled him home. Sanchez was having a big game when he got hurt.

In the tenth, with one out, Gardner and Refsnyder (in for the injured Hicks) each singled. Judge walked to load the bases and Castro hit a SF.

Then came the bottom of the tenth when Gallegos got the first two batters but couldn’t salt the game away.

Gardner 2 hits.
Castro 3 for 5, scored 3, 1 RBI. (.328)
Sanchez 3 for 3, 2 walks, scored 1, 2 RBI. He raised his average to .297 before the injury.
Headley 2 hits, 2 RBI
Carter 2 hits, 2 RBI, HR
Montgomery 5 2/3 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 1 W, 5 K. 3.78. Gave up 2 HR
Green 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.70
Clippard 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 2.30
Betances 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 3 K. 0.42
Gallegos (BS, 1; L, 0-1; 7.15) 2/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K.

 

Game 63. Herrera’s MLB debut results in 7-5 Yanks’ loss.

That first game in the majors has to be exciting. Unfortunately for Ronald Herrera, it resulted in a loss.

Herrera was called up from AA Trenton earlier in the day when Ben Heller was sent back to the minors.  The Yanks needed a fresh arm. He gave up a late 2-run HR that doomed the Yanks as they lost 7-5 to the Angels Wednesday night. The loss cuts the Yanks’ (38-25) AL East lead to two games since Boston beat the lowly Phillies.

It started out good. In the first, Gardner singled, and with one out, Judge singled. Judge stole second and Matt Holliday just missed a 3-run HR as he hit a SF. After Castro was HBP, Sanchez hit a 3-run HR (11) to make it 4-0.

But Michael Pineda didn’t have much tonight, giving up a run in the first, two in the second and two more in the third. He did gut out six innings.

That run in the first that Pineda gave up could have been more. Aaron Hicks took a grand slam away from Luis Valbuena. It went as a SF instead.

In the second, the Yanks wasted a one-out triple by Rob Refsnyder. I would have loved to have had Gardner squeeze in a run, but as readers of this blog know, the one criticism I have of Girardi is that he never squeezes home a run. This, and other things, contributed to the loss. Instead, Refsnyder was left stranded.

Didi Gregorius (.337) extended his hitting streak to 16 games, but was hit by a batted ball on a single by Chase Headley in the fourth when the Yanks got three hits but no runs.

In the fifth, with two out, Judge reached on an error and Holliday and Castro both singled. Judge was thrown out at the plate however, on a bad send by 3B coach Joe Espada. Judge hadn’t even reached third when the LF fielded the ball and Judge was out easily.

The Yanks did tie the game in the sixth when Sanchez singled and went to second on an error. After Didi struck out, Headley singled to tie the game at five.

In the seventh, Hicks laid down a beautiful bunt for a hit. I wish Gardner had done that with Refsnyder on third in the second.

After Pineda went six innings, Girardi brought in Herrera. I was a little surprised at that because of the flight to CA (figure you’d give a guy a chance to rest a day after the flight before bringing him in… flight could take something out of you, esp. cross-country, and esp. after a 3:30 AM wakeup call to tell you you’ve been promoted) and also that Herrera was doing great as a STARTER at AA Trenton. You don’t know how he would do as a reliever. That’s a different area. Herrera gave up a 2-run HR to Andrelton Simmons in the seventh which decided the game.

It seems as if Girardi was looking long term (at least, according to a NY Post article) and willing to sacrifice one game for the long term benefit of his bullpen, which he described as “fried.”

The Yanks got a break in the ninth, when with two out, Hicks’ long drive seemed to be caught against the wall by the RF. The call was overturned and Hicks was given a double, meaning Judge was up as the tying run. Although he hit the ball hard, Judge grounded out to third to end the game.

Gardner 2 for 5. Hicks 2 for 5 (.314). Sanchez 3 for 4, scored 2 runs, 3 RBI, HR. Headley 2 hits, RBI.

Pineda 6 IP, 5 R, 10 H, 1 W, 2 K. 3.71. Gave up 1 HR.
Herrera (L, 0-1, 9.00) 2 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.

CC was diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. Still no word on how long he’ll be on the DL. CC says he feels good and hopes to miss just one start, but this could put him out until mid-August.

Aroldis Chapman is expected to return to the Yanks on Sunday after a couple of rehab stints.

 

 

 

Game 62. CC hurt as Yanks give one away, 3-2 in 11.

CC Sabathia strained his hamstring (how bad, how long a DL stint and who’ll replace him we don’t know yet) in a 3-2 11-innings Yankees’ loss to the Angels Tuesday night.

The loss cut the Yankees’ (38-24) AL East lead to three games, because the Red Sox are taking advantage of the fact that they are playing the worst team in the majors right now in the 21-42 Phillies.

The Angels scored first, With two out, Chris Carter made a 2-base fielding error and the next batter singled in a run.

The Yanks tied it in the fifth on a Headley double and Gardner single.

Headley homered in the seventh (4) to put the Yanks up 2-1.

I’ll never understand why managers feel the need to pull a guy who just pitched a scoreless inning just to put in their “eighth inning guy”. After pitching a scoreless seventh, Adam Warren was pulled for Tyler Clippard. Clippard gave up a game-tying HR to the first batter he faced. When will managers stop going by the book and go by what they see and what is in their gut? Guy is doing well, leave him in! Getting too fine and cute costs you. I hate this mix and match. If the guy had a good inning, leave him in there.

In the top of the eleventh, with one out, Sanchez walked, Gregorius doubled to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, and Headley was intentionally walked. But Carter and Gardner both popped up.

In the bottom of the eleventh, a walk, SB after an out, another out that moved up the runner, a walk and a single won the game for the Angels.

Headley 3 for 4, HR.

Sabathia 4 IP, 1 R, UNEARNED, 3 H, 1 W, 4 K. 3.46. Headed to DL.
Gallegos 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 5.91
Warren (H, 6) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.23
Clippard (BS, 4) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.00 Gave up 1 HR.
Holder 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.96
Shreve (L, 1-1, 1.47) 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 W, 1 K.
Heller 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 0.00

 

 

 

Game 58. Hicks (2) and Castro HRs power Yankees, 8-2.

The surprising surge of Aaron Hicks continues. Hicks, who struggled last year to a .217-8-31 mark, already has more HR and RBI than last year, and is hitting 100 points higher.

His two homers, combined with one by Starlin Castro, helped power the Yanks to an 8-2 win over Baltimore Friday night to put the Yanks at 35-23 on the season and maintain their 3-game lead in the AL East.

Baltimore got their only two runs in the game in the top of the second on a 2-run HR by Jonathan Schoop off Yanks’ starter and winner Jordan Montgomery. Schoop is a Yankee-killer. He always seems to kill the Yanks.

Montgomery was great, going seven innings and only making that one mistake.

The Yanks tied the game right away in the bottom of the second when Castro homered (10), Sanchez doubled, and two fly balls moved Sanchez up and in, SF by Headley.

Hicks hit a solo HR in the sixth to break the tie.

In the seventh, he hit his second HR of the game, and tenth of the season, a 2-run shot, to make it 5-2. Judge then walked and scored on a double by Holliday.

In the eighth, Sanchez and Gregorius singled, and Headley walked to load the bases. Austin Romine’s 2-run single accounted for the final score of 8-2.

Gardner 2 hits.
Hicks 2 HR, 3 RBI
Holliday 2 hits, rbi.
Castro HR
Sanchez 2 hits
Romine 2 RBI

I listed most of the lineup in highlights, which you love to see. Also nice, a starter going deep into the game.

Montgomery (W, 4-4, 3.55) 7 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 1 w, 8 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Clippard 1 IP, 0 r, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 1.80
Holder 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.24