Usually, I start at the highest level and work my way down. Not today.
AA Somerset won the third and deciding game of the Eastern League Finals in commanding and historic fashion, scoring 9 runs in the bottom of the first inning on way to a 15-0 blowout victory.
In doing so, they threw a combined no-hitter. What a way to win the Eastern League title.
Somerset starter Randy Vasquez (I thought they’d go with Clayton Beeter, but they went with Vasquez) retired the first 19 batters he faced before giving up a walk. Vasquez pitched 8 innings, and Carson Coleman finished up for the combined no-hitter.
Jasson Dominguez (“the Martian”), the Yankees 19-year-old #2 prospect, hit 2 HR, one from each side of the plate, and drove in 6 runs in the victory.
AAA SWB lost the completion of a suspended game, and that coupled with a win by Durham, dropped SWB’s tragic # for being eliminated to 1. SWB did win the regularly scheduled game.
But SWB (82-66) is now 2 games out with 2 games left in the season.
COMPLETION OF SUSPENDED GAME--Lost 5-4 in ten innings. Was suspended at 1-1 in the sixth inning on August 7.
Since then, Peraza and Cabrera now with Yankees, Andujar now with Pirates.
PR/SS Tyler Wade solo HR (2) C Josh Breaux 2-run HR (5) #22 prospect Overall .219-19-50
Spence 5 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.79 Rich Rodriguez 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 8.31 Mujica 2 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gaveup 2 HR. 4.37 Shreve (BS, 1) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 9.00 Bard (L, 0-1) 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 4.68
REGULAR GAME–Won 8-7 in 11 innings. SS Anthony Volpe 2 hits, solo HR (3) #1 prospect Overall .248-21-65, 49 SB DH Ryan LaMarre 2 for 2, 3 walks. 1B Ron Guzman 2 RBI. 2-run HR (16) 3B Armando Alvarez 3 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (18)
Spence 4 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 2 W, 6 K. gave up 1 HR. 1 HBP 3.86 (remember game listed above he started Aug 7) Albert Abreu2/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.86 REHAB M. Gomez (BS, 1) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.92 Deivi Garcia (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 7.96 #26 prospect. Overall: 4-5, 6.89 Barnes (H, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 2.70 Cordero (BS, 1) 1 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.15 Bristo (W, 3-3) 2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K. 4.56
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.
Fatherhood must agree with Josh Donaldson, who came back from paternity leave (it was a girl) to help lead the Yankees to a 10-3 win over Tampa Bay Saturday afternoon.
Ron Guzman was DFA’d so that Donaldson could return.
Donaldson had one of seven straight singles to start the game off for the Yankees, then he homered later on.
The win put the Yanks (84-56) 4 1/2 up on Tampa Bay. The magic # for clinching the division is 20 (could be 19 if Yanks have won the tiebreaker over the Rays) and is 12 for getting into the playoffs (the Yanks HAVE won that tiebreaker over Baltimore).
The Yanks batted around in the first inning, scoring six runs. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton opened the bottom of the first with singles. Gleyber Torres singled in Judge, Stanton to second. Donaldson just missed a HR, hitting the top of the wall with a single that loaded the bases. Oswaldo Cabrera singled in two runs, Donaldson going to third, to make it 3-0. Miguel Andujar singled to make it 4-0. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (IKF) singled to re-load the bases. Still there was no one out. An RBI force out by Kyle Higashioka made it 5-0. After a popup by Marwin Gonzalez, Judge singled in a run. 6-0. Stanton grounded out rto end the inning.
In the second inning, Donaldson cleared the wall with a HR (13) to make it 7-0.
The Rays got a run in the third off of Yankees’ starter James Taillon to cut the score to 7-1.
In the bottom of the seventh, with one out, Donaldson was HBP. One out later, Andujar singled Donaldson to third, Andujar going to second on the throw. A WP scored Donaldson and moved Andujar to third. IKF then singled to make it 9-1.
Tampa Bay got two runs on a two-run single in the top of the eighth to make it 9-3. Oswaldo Cabrera almost had another outfield assist, just missing nabbing the second runner at the plate.
Tampa Bay used a position player to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Giancarlo Stanton took advantage of that, hitting his 25th HR of the season to close out the scoring. 10-3, Yanks.
Sorry, my original draft got erased and I had to re-write a lot. UGH.
A load of baseball yesterday, and at first it didn’t look good. Due to injuries, the Yankees’ lineups looked worse than a spring training lineup. In the first game of the DH yesterday, the Yanks (83-54) started three rookies, plus another guy who, although he had MLB experience and wasn’t a rookie, hadn’t played in the majors all season.
The Yanks put Josh Donaldson on the paternity list. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (IKF) played 3B. IKF had won a GG at 3B for Texas in 2020. Bard DFA’d, Deivi Garcia up. Miguel Andujar up as 29th man for the doubleheader. Rizzo to IL, Ron Guzman up.
But at the end of the day, the Yankees had won both games off of their perennial whipping boys, the Twins, by scores of 5-4 (in 12 innings) and 7-1.
With the wins, the Yanks are 5 up on the Rays in the AL East. The magic # for winning the division is 22, and the magic # for a playoff berth is 15. The wins ensured the Yankees a winning season. They haven’t had a losing season since 1992.
Game 1: Domingo German had a rough start but settled in. A double, strikeout, and HR, and Minnesota was up 2-0 just three batters into the game. With two out in the fourth, three straight singles made it 3-0 Twins and with the weakened Yankees’ lineup, it didn’t appear good.
The Yanks got a run in the bottom of the fourth of Aaron Judge’s 55th HR of the season. The home run meant that Judge now has hit more HR in a season than any other righty hitter in Yankees’ history. Only Ruth (60 in 1927) and Maris (61 in ’61) have hit more. Judge was walked 5x yesterday, 3x intentionally. Another reason to hate the ghost runner. If Judge is the first guy up, even with the ghost runner on second, first base is open, and Judge is walked to set up a DP. You take the bat out of the hands of the most dangerous hitter in baseball.
Gleyber Torres tied the game with a 2-run HR in the sixth. (19).
Both teams wasted chances. Oswaldo Cabrera, an infielder brought up to the Yanks a few weeks ago, got his fifth OF assist of the season in the top of the tenth. Ron Guzman, up for Rizzo, struck out 4x and then with the bases loaded and no out in extra innings, hit into a 3-2-3 DP.
The Twins got a run in the top of the 12th off of Ron Marinaccio, but with the bases loaded and one out, Greg Weissert avoided further damage.
In the bottom of the 12th, Marwin Gonzalez was the ghost runner and IKF singled to tie the game. With one out, IKF stole second. Jose Trevino singled, IKF was held up and Trevino took second on the throw. With two out, Cabrera singled to win the game.
Judge solo HR (55) Torres 2-run HR (19) Kiner-Falefa (IKF) 2 hits, RBI Peraza 3 hits FIRST 3 HITS OF MLB CAREER.
German 6 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 1 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.27 Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.58 Loaisiga 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 4.66 Holmes 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.29 Marinaccio 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 W, 3 K. 1.73 Weissert (W, 3-0) 2/3 I, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 7.36
Game 2: With the long game in game 1, and several bullpen members used, the Yanks needed length from Gerrit Cole. He went 6 2/3 IP, striking out 14.
Cole leads MLB with 218 strikeouts and is 30 away from Ron Guidry’s Yankee team single season record of 248, set in 1978. Cole has four, maybe five starts left in the season.
Cole gave up a HR to his ex-teammate, Carolos Correa, in the top of the third.
IKF hit a grand slam, just his third HR of the season, in the bottom of the fourth. He didn’t get his first HR until mid-August.
In the bottom of the eighth, Aaron Hicks hit a bases-loaded double for three runs to make it 7-1.
Not much baseball news yesterday, so everything is combined into this one thread. We will start with the majors. The Yankees were rained out. They will have a single admission, old-school doubleheader starting at 3 PM today.
The Yankees had to put Anthony Rizzo on the 10-day IL, backdated. He is suffering migraines after receiving an epidural for his back issues. They called up Ronald Guzman, Lefty bat, 6’5″, 235. 27 years old. Guzman was hitting .260-12-39 in 90 games for SWB. In 243 MLB games, all with Texas from 2018-2021, he has hit .227 with 31 HR, 104 RBI, OPS+ 86. His 162 G average is .227-21-69, OPS+ 86. (Average OPS+ is 100).
A baseball passing. Mark Littell has passed away at the age of 69. The reliever pitched for Kansas City (1973, 1975-1977), and St. Louis (1978-1982). He was a member of the 1976 and 1977 AL West Division Champ Royals and the WS Champion Cardinals of 1982. For his career, Littell was 32-31, 3.32, ERA+ 114 (average ERA+ is 100) with 56 saves. His 162-game average was 6-6, 3.32, 11 saves, ERA+ 114. He went 8-4, 2.08 with 16 saves for the Royals in 1976, finishing 24th in MVP voting. He was 8-4, 3.61 with 12 saves for them in 1977. After two good seasons with St. Louis in 1978 (4-8, 2.79, 11 saves) and 1979 (9-4, 2.19 13 saves), he started to fade. His last game was in June of 1982, so he wasn’t on the Cardinals’ postseason roster that year.
Littell went 0-1, 2.35 in five postseason games for the Royals in 1976 and 1977 against the Yankees. It is that one loss for which he will be remembered. He is the pitcher who gave up the HR to Chris Chambliss in the bottom of the ninth of ALCS Game 5 in 1976, enabling the Yankees to win the 1976 pennant.
Minor League Action from last night:
AAA: SWB off.
AA: Somerset ppd.
High A: Hudson Valley (69-57) lost 5-3. C Anthony Seigler 3 hits, RBI 1B TJ Rumfield Solo HR (4) (High A stat only)
Castano (L, 5-8) 5 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR. 1 HBP 3.49 Alvarez 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 4 K. 1 WP 2.96 Diaz 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 4.35
Low A: Tampa (61-64) split two games.
Game 1: Completion of game suspended on July 17. Lost 5-0. Got only four hits. Stats backdated to that date.
Fitts 4 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 4.78 O. Rodriguez (L, 0-1) 1 2/3 IP, 5 R, 5 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 1 WP 27.00 Bustamonte 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 0.00
Game 2: Regularly scheduled game. Won 7-6. C Antonio Gomez 2 hits, RBI. Solo HR (8) #18 prospect. .248-8-47 RF Madison Santos 2 RBI SS Luis Santos 2 RBI
Yulie 3 1/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 4 W, 2 K. 1 WP. 1 Balk 4.97 Watson 2 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 3 W, 2 K. 2 WP. 1 HBP 4.06 Anderson (W, 3-7; BS, 3) 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 1 HBP 4.47
AA: Somerset (76-48) lost 5-4 in 10 innings. DH Austin Wells 3 hits, RBI. #4 prospect. Overall .285-18-58, 12 SB 3B Andres Chaparro 2 hits, RBI
Will Warren 3 2/3 IP, 4 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 W, 5 K. 3.34 #8 prospect. Overall 9-7, 3.41. Semple 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 0.00 (AA stats only) Cowart 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 0 K. 1 WP 4.50 McGarrity 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 2.70 Minnick (L, 4-3) 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 1.94
High A: Hudson Valley (69-56) lost 6-1. DH Tyler Hardman 2 hits.
Carela (L, 1-3) 4 2/3 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 4 W, 5 K. 7.50 Dees 1 1/3 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K. 4.91 Holloway 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1 WP 2.70 Neely 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 0.00 (HIgh A ERA only).
Low A: Tampa Bay (60-63) lost both games of a DH. Game 1: Lost 7-3. 1B Anthony Garcia 2 hits, RBI. Solo HR (14). 2B Brett Barrera 2 hits, 2 RBI
Messinger (L, 1-8) 4 2/3 IP, 5 R, 7 H, 2 W, 5 K. 4.46 Paciorek 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up 1 HR. 29.45 Reyzelman 2/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 2 K. 13.50 Bow 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 1 Balk. 0.00
Game 2: Lost 5-4 in 8 innings. SS Alexander Vargas 2 hits, RBI. #27 prospect. .207-8-33, 27 SB C Antonio Gomez 2 RBI. #18 prospect. ..244-7-46 RF Raimfer Salinas 3 for 3
Calderon 5 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 0 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR. 1 WP 2.84 O. Rodriguez (H, 1) 1 IP, 0R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 0.00 Stevens (BS, 1) 2/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. 5.40 McNeely (L, 0-1) 1 1/3 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 0.00
High A: Hudson Valley (69-55) won 13-2. DH Jasson “The Martian” Dominguez 2 hits, RBI. #2 prospect. Overall .277-12-52, 35 SB C Anthony Seigler 2 RBI 1B T.J. Rumfield 2 RBI CF Grant Richardson 2 hits, 3 RBI RF Aaron Palensky 2 hits, RBI 2B Benjamin Cowles 2 hits, RBI
Abeyta 4 2/3 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 4 W, 2 K. 4.28 C. Gomez (W, 2-3) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 1 HBP 3.47 Diaz 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 1 K. 1 HBP 4.58 Santana 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 3 K. 0.00 (high A stat only)
Low A: Tampa (60-61) completed a game from September 1 that was suspended TWICE. Luis Severino and Zack Britton on rehab. They won 3-1. The game was finally called in the top of the sixth.
DH Spencer Jones solo HR (3). #7 prospect. This year’s #1 draft pick. Overall .378-4-11, 12 SB. 20 games.
Yulie 1 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.95 Luis Severino (W, 1-0) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 0.00 REHAB Zack Britton (H, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 3.86 REHAB Y. Castro (S, 1) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.28
The regularly scheduled game was ppd.
STANDINGS
AAA: SWB 68-59 4th in IL East, 3 1/2 GB
AA: Somerset 76-47. Won 1st half Eastern League Northeast title with 44-25 record. 2nd Half: 2nd place, 32-22, 2 GB
High A: Hudson Valley 69-55. First Half: 3rd in SAL North, 34-32, 9 GB 2nd half: 35-23, FIRST by 1/2 a game.
Low A: Tampa (60-61) last IN FIRST HALF (Fla. St. League, West) at 27-39, 15 GB 2nd Half: 33-22, 2nd, 1/2 GB
5 2/3 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 0 W, 6 K. Gave up 2 HR. #16 prospect 
The Sommer Frieze 
