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
Jake Bauers hit two two-run homers, but it was Aaron Judge who stole the show in the Yankees’ (35-25) 6-3 win over the Dodgers last night.
The Yanks made a few moves before the game. Minor league C Jose Godoy was traded to Baltimore. P Ryan Weber and OF Greg Allen were placed on the IL, and Nick Ramirez and Oswaldo Cabrera flew cross-country to join the Yanks in LA. Cabrera would later HR in the game.
Both Weber and Allen will have MRIs. Weber’s injury is the most concerning. It’s his pitching forearm and you hope it doesn’t mean TJ surgery.
The Yanks got on the board in the top of the second when D.J. Lemahieu hit what appeared to be a single, but the Dodger CF misplayed it into a triple. Bauers followed with the first of his two HR on the evening to put the Yanks up 2-0.
The Dodgers came right back with a run in the bottom of the second when with two out, Yankees’ starter Gerrit Cole hit a batter then the next batter hit one down the LF line that found grass near the foul line despite three Yankees surrounding it.
Bauers hit his second two-run HR (5) of the game in the top of the fourth to put the Yanks up 4-1.
In the top of the sixth, Judge homered (19) to put the Yanks up 5-1.
After six innings, Cole was removed from the game. At first, I was wondering what was going on, since Cole was only at 80 pitches, and was texting friends and asking what manager Aaron Boone was doing. I didn’t see Cole hurt or anything. Here I found out later that Cole was suffering from leg cramps, thus the removal. But it sure seemed scary and confusing at the time because normally you wouldn’t pull an ace who was cruising (1 run, 4 hits) after just 80 pitches over six innings.
It looked worse when Cole’s replacement, Wandy Peralta, had nothing. A single to start the inning, then a ball misplayed in the corner by Cabrera, who had just replaced Bauers in LF for defense. Instead of a double, a run-scoring triple. 5-2. After a walk, Michael King came in for Peralta. King gave up a single that made it 5-3, and the Dodgers had men on first and second, no one out and you were wondering why the pitching change away from Cole (as I mentioned, didn’t know why until later). But King got two lineouts and a strikeout to get out of the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, King got a strikeout to start the inning, but the batter reached on a passed ball by Jose Trevino. Judge then made a play that may have saved the game. J.D. Martinez lined one to RF and Judge made the catch while crashing into the fence, saving a double and possibly a run. The bullpen gate broke open upon Judge colliding with it, and the runner was given second because of Judge leaving the field of play (although it wasn’t his fault). Anyway, a tremendous play that probably saved a run and possibly the ballgame. Hopefully Judge is OK for tonight’s game. He said he felt discomfort in a toe (the base of the fence had a couple inches of concrete) and it sure made your heart flutter when he crashed into that fence. The Yanks are just getting back Stanton and Donaldson, have lost Allen and Bader for a while, and don’t need to lose their best player.
In the top of the ninth, Cabrera homered (4) to give the Yanks a 6-3 lead, which was the final score.
The Yanks only had six hits in the game, but four were HR.
Judge solo HR (19) and incredible catch. Bauers two two-run HR (5), 4 RBI. Cabrera solo HR (4)
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.
Aaron Judge hit 2 homers and almost a third (a double off the wall) and robbed a Mariner of a HR in the Yanks’ (33-23) 10-4 win late last night in Seattle.
During the game, Harrison Bader had to be removed due to right hamstring tightness. He will have an MRI today and the IL is a possibility.
The Yanks struck first in the top of the second when Bader singled, stole second, went to third on an error and scored on a double by Jake Bauers.
Yanks’ starter Domingo German gave up a run in the bottom of the second and the game was tied at one.
Judge’s first HR of the game, a 2-run shot, made it 3-1 in the top of the third. Soon after that, Bader tweaked his hammy in beating out an infield hit.
Bauers hit a solo HR (3) in the top of the fourth to put the Yanks up 4-1. German gave up a run via a HR by Julio Rodriguez in the bottom of the inning and it was 4-2.
The Yanks made it 8-2 with four runs in the top of the fifth. Gleyber Torres led off the inning with a single and Judge doubled off the wall, sending Torres to third. Willie Calhoun doubled in two runs to make it 6-2. After an out, Greg Allen (in for Bader) was HBP. After another out, Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled in both runners to make it 8-2.
German struggled with J-Rod again in the bottom of the fifth, as he singled in two runs for Seattle to make it 8-4.
In the top of the sixth, Judge hit his second HR of the game (AL Leading 17th) to make it 9-4.
Ron Marinaccio came in for German in the seventh and got two straight strikeouts with runners on second and third to get out of a jam.
In the bottom of the eighth, Judge went high above the fence and robbed Teoscar Hernandez of a HR.
Kyle Higashioka got an RBI single in the top of the ninth to make the score 10-4, and it ended that way.
Giancarlo Stanton will begin rehab today (Tuesday) with Somerset, joining Josh Donaldson and Tommy Kahnle there.
Torres 2 hits. Judge 3 hits, double and 2 HR (2-run and solo) (17), 3 RBI and he robbed a Mariner of a HR. Calhoun 2 hits, 2 RBI Bader 2 for 2, removed from game with right hamstring tightness. Bauers 3 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (3). Kiner-Falefa 2 hits, 2 RBI. Higashioka 2 hits, RBI.
German (W, 3-3) 6 1/3 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 3 W, 4 K. 1 HBP. Gave up 1 HR. 3.98 Marinaccio 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1 WP. 4.00 Abreu 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 3.58
Gerrit Cole didn’t have his “A” game, but the Yankees’ (32-23) offense picked him up to have Cole improve his record to 6-0 on the season. A seven-run third inning proved to be decisive in a 10-7 win over the Padres.
Cole gave up a HR to the second batter he faced, and San Diego had a quick 1-0 lead.
Aaron Judge tied the game in the bottom of the first inning with his 15th HR of the season. With that HR, he took over the AL lead in HR, even though he missed ten games by being on the IL. Pete Alonso of the Mets leads the majors with 20 HR.
In the top of the third, the Yanks got sloppy. With two out and a man on second, Jose Azocar singled to make it 2-1, Padres. However, errors by Harrison Bader and Kyle Higashioka let Azocar come all the way around on the play and it was 3-1 Padres.
Then, in the bottom of the third, the Yanks exploded for seven runs to take an 8-3 lead. Higashioka led off the inning with a double and scored on an Anthony Volpe single. Volpe took second on the throw home. Gleyber Torres singled Volpe to third, and then Judge singled to tie the game at three, with Torres stopping at second. A single by Anthony Rizzo gave the Yanks a 4-3 lead. Now the Yanks had Judge on second and Rizzo on first. D.J. LeMahieu was robbed of a 3-run HR, but the long flyout enabled Judge to tag up and go to third. Bader grounded into a force out that scored Judge to make it 5-3. Bader’s hustle down the line avoided the inning-ending DP and enabled the inning to continue. The “Gas House Gorillas” procession continued with a double by Willie Calhoun to make it 6-3. A single by Isiah Kiner-Falefa made it 7-3, and Higashioka’s second double of the inning made it 8-3.
Ex-Yankee Rougned Odor hit a 2-run HR in the top of the seventh to cut the Yanks’ lead to 8-5, and after a single, Cole was relieved by Jimmy Cordero, who promptly gave up a double. Second and third, no out, tying run at the plate. Cordero gave up an RBI fielder’s choice, but then got two strikeouts to get out of the inning. 8-6, Yankees.
The Yanks got two runs in the bottom of the eighth to make it 10-6. With one out, Bader homered (6). Calhoun singled, and after a force out, IKF stole second and went to third on an error. Higashioka singled to make it 10-6.
The Padres pushed across a run in the top of the ninth, but the Yanks held on for the 10-7 win.
The next four games will have late starts, since the Yanks are now on the west coast. 9:40 PM Eastern Mon-Wed in Seattle, then after an off day on Thursday, Friday night’s game against the Dodgers has a 10:10 PM Eastern Time start. Saturday is 7:15 PM eastern for Fox, and Sunday night is 7:08 pm Eastern for ESPN. June 5th is an off-day, and the Yanks next play at home on Tuesday, June 6.
Tonight’s game (Monday, Memorial Day) will have Domingo German on the mound, as he returns from his 10-day suspension for too much sticky stuff on his pitching hand. He needs to be careful. The next time, it will be a 50-game suspension.
Judge 2 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (15). Took over AL HR lead. Bader 2 RBI. Solo HR (6) Calhoun 2 hits, RBI. Higashioka 3 hits, 2 RBI.
Cole (W, 6-0) 6+ IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 H, 3 W, 9 K. Gave up 2 HR. 2.93 J. Cordero (H, 4) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 3.47 Marinaccio (H, 5) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 HBP 4.10 Holmes 1 IP, 1 R, 0 H, 2 W, 0 K. 3.27
After Friday night’s game, Randy Vasquez was sent back to SWB and Matt Krook, a lefty reliever, was called up.
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
Aaron Judge homered to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, and rookie SS and #1 prospect Anthony Volpe hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the tenth to give the Yankees (30-20) a 6-5 come from behind victory over Baltimore Tuesday night. It was the Yankees’ fifth straight win.
Gerrit Cole got his 2,000th career strikeout, but otherwise wasn’t sharp last night. With two out in the top of the first inning, Cole walked two straight batters, then gave up a two-run double and the Yanks were down 2-0.
He gave up solo homers in the third and fourth to put the Yanks into a 4-0 hole.
Harrison Bader homered (5) in the bottom of the fourth for the Yanks to cut the lead to 4-1, then the Yanks scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game.
Oswaldo Cabrera led off with a single and went to second on a single by Gleyber Torres. After Judge lined out, Anthony Rizzo doubled in one run. A single by D.J. LeMahieu brought home Torres, and Rizzo scored on a Bader SF.
Cole probably should have been pulled at that point, but he started the top of the sixth and gave up two singles to start the inning. Ron Marinaccio relieved him, and things got hairy. One run did score to give the Orioles a 5-4 lead, and the final out was Cedric Mullins (who homered earlier) just missing a grand slam, as he flied out deep to Judge in right.
In the bottom of the seventh, with one out and runners at the corners, D.J. LeMahieu twice tried to bunt the runner home. Instead, Torres was out at home. Manager Aaron Boone said D.J. was doing that on this own. There is a time for that, but that didn’t seem to be the time. Try it first, ok (he fouled that one off) but not a second time. That was a real head-scratcher.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Judge tied the game up with his fourteenth HR of the season.
Michael King stopped Baltimore and its ghost runner in the top of the tenth, leaving the runner at second. In the bottom of the tenth, Isiah Kiner-Falefa was the ghost runner for the Yankees, as he PR for LeMahieu. Bader grounded out, and that moved IKF to third. Willie Calhoun was intentionally walked as the Orioles hoped for a DP to get out of the inning, but Volpe flied to CF for a game-winning sac fly.
Torres 2 hits. Judge solo HR (14). HR tied game in bottom of 9th. Rizzo 3 hits, RBI. Bader 2 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (5) Volpe GW SF
Cole 5+ IP, 5 R, 6 H, 3 W, 2 K. Gave up 2 HR. 2.53 2000th Career K. Marinaccio 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 3.75 Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.83 King (W, 1-1) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 1.95
Off night for Cole, but five scoreless IP by the bullpen.
In my post regarding Game #47, I mentioned how the Yanks traded for Greg Allen. Allen was added to the major league team right away and in order to make room for him, the Yanks DFA’d Aaron Hicks, eating the rest of his contract.
It may have been a surprise move to some, that the Yanks would eat that much money remaining on the contract (I’d guess about $28MM and the rest of this year plus two more years?) but it was a long time coming. Hicks was hitting just .188-1-5 this year with an OPS+ of only 46 (100 is average). Since his best year of 2018 (.248-27-79, OPS+ 127 and 22nd in MVP voting), Hicks only hit .218 with an OPS+ of 92 whiles being frequently injured. His defense also has suffered, and the former CF was moved to LF what with Harrison Bader taking over the CF job. From 2017-2020, Hicks’ OPS+ was 120, but injuries hurt his 2017 and 2019 seasons, and Covid shortened the 2020 season to 60 games. The big drop-off in Hicks’ production started in 2021 when more injuries limited him to 32 games. He hasn’t been the same since.
Allen doesn’t have the power Hicks does, but does have more speed and unlike Hicks, who has been a starter, has been a bench player for his whole career, so he doesn’t have to adapt to the role like Hicks has had to this year. Like Hicks, Allen is a switch-hitter.
As for the game, the Yanks rode Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo to a 7-4, 10-inning win. Catcher Ben Rortvedt made his Yankees’ debut and got hits in his first two plate appearances.
Jhony Brito struggled and was sent down to AAA after the game to make room for today’s starter, Luis Severino, who will be coming off the IL and will be making his season debut today. It will be a strange starting time today (Sunday) of 11:35 AM.
The Reds struck first in yesterday’s game, getting a run in the bottom of the first. Brito hurt himself with a walk and a balk before giving up an RBI single.
The Yanks came right back in the top of the third to tie the game. Rortvedt doubled in his first ever Yankee at bat and was brought home on a single by Judge.
The Reds took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third. Once again, Brito hurt himself. After getting the first two hitters out, he walked the next three batters then gave up an infield single.
In the bottom of the fourth, Brito once again couldn’t close things out with two out. He got the first two hitters, then gave up a single and a 2-run HR and the Yanks were in a 4-1 hole.
They came right back to tie the game at four each with three runs in the top of the fifth. Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a solo HR (2) with one out in the inning. Rortvedt and Gleyber Torres followed with singles. Judge doubled in a run to make it 4-3. Rizzo singled to tie the game, but Judge was thrown out at the plate on a bad send by third base coach Luis Rojas. It hurt at the time because D.J. LeMahieu singled right afterward. You think, hey, Judge would have then scored, but then you have the fallacy of the predetermined outcome. Oh, well.
The game stayed tied and went into the tenth inning. Allen, who arrived in the middle of the game, pinch-ran for Rortvedt as the ghost runner in the top of the tenth. He was moved to third on a flyout by Torres, and you thought that Cincinnati would then walk Judge to try to get out of the inning by making Rizzo GIDP. Instead, they pitched to Judge, and Judge broke the tie with an RBI single—his fourth hit of the day—to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead. But it didn’t matter if the Reds would have walked Judge, for (but once again, the fallacy of the predetermined outcome) Rizzo homered (11) to give the Yanks a cushion with a 7-4 lead, and that is the way the game ended.
The Yankees are 28-20 (3rd in AL East, 6 1/2 out), and even with some guys still out (most notably Stanton, Donaldson, Rodon, Montas, Loaisiga, Hamilton, and I won’t list guys who won’t even be back at all this year like Trivino and Effross) are 13-6 this month.
The AL East is one tough division. Toronto is 25-21, which isn’t a bad record, but they are in LAST place in the division.
Torres 2 hits. Judge 4 for 4 with a walk, 3 RBI. Rizzo 2 hits, 3 RBI. 2-run HR (11). Kiner-Falefa solo HR (2). Rortvedt 2 hits. (First two at bats as a Yankee, two hits. Yankee debut).
Brito 4 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 4 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 1 balk. 5.58 Sent to AAA after game. Marinaccio 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 4.09 King 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 2.10 Holmes (W, 2-2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.44 Weber (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K 3.68
The Yankee bullpen tossed six shutout innings, giving up just one hit.
Kyle Higashioka was 0 for 3 with three strikeouts in the game at that point in the top of the ninth inning. In the top of the seventh, with men on second and third and just one out, he had struck out instead of helping the Yanks add on to a 3-2 lead. He had pounded the bat into the bat rack in frustration at that point.
It was time to redeem himself, and he did, hitting a two-run double to ensure the Yankees’ win. The Yanks (3rd in AL East, 27-20, 6 1/2 out) beat Cincinnati 6-2 Friday night.
Aaron Judge, hot as all heck, gave the Yanks an early lead with a solo HR (13) in the first inning, and Anthony Rizzo upped that lead to 3-0 with a 2-run HR (10) in the top of the sixth.
In the middle of the game, the Yanks got a scare. Already playing one man short because of the suspension of Domingo German, Clarke Schmidt caused a controversy by being checked out by the umpires. It turned out he was ok with the amount of rosin on his hand, but that the fuzz from inside of his glove was sticking to and making a black mark on this non-pitching hand. He was told to wash it off, and he complied. All good. But Cincy manager David Bell thought that Schmidt deserved the German treatment (which REALLY would have screwed up the Yankees), argued too long about it, and got ejected.
Anyway, Schmidt then ran into trouble in the sixth, giving up a single and double. Jimmy Cordero came in for Schmidt and gave up a two-run double to make the score 3-2. He walked the next batter while there was an SB. So first and third, 3-2 game but Cordero escaped without any more runs scoring.
Then came the ninth and Higgy’s redemption. Gleyber Torres walked, and two outs later, Oswaldo Cabrera walked. Higgy then doubled both runners home to give the Yanks a 5-2 cushion. After a walk to D.J. LeMahieu, Harrison Bader gave the Yanks more insurance with an RBI single. 6-2.
After the game, it was announced that the Yanks traded a minor league pitcher to Boston for OF Greg Allen and cash considerations. Allen, 30, was previously with the Yanks for 15 games in 2021. He has played for Cleveland (2017-2020), San Diego (2020), the Yankees (2021) and the Pirates (2022). He hasn’t played in the majors this season yet, but is expected to join the team in Cincy. We will see what the corresponding moves will be. The switch-hitter can play all three OF positions. He is just a .232 career hitter with an OPS+ of just 71 and I don’t like his BB/K ratio, but he is best for his speed (45 of 53 in his career in SB) and defense.
In return for Allen, the Yanks gave up minor league P Diego Hernandez, who is just 18 and who was 4-2, 2.10 in the Dominican Summer League last year in 12 games, five of them starts.
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.
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.
The Sommer Frieze 
