Game 6. A most welcome return. Monty leads Yanks past Boston, 5-1.

Jordan Montgomery, who has the nickname “Gumby”, could have stood on the mound last night and used the old Eddie Murphy line, “I’m Gumby, dammit!”.

As if anyone forgot.

Montgomery, who I nickname “the General” after the famous WWII British general Bernard Montgomery, had a very good rookie season in 2017, going 9-7, 3.88, ERA+ 116, when he finished 6th in ROY voting.

Then came 2018. He was doing well, 2-0, 3.62 in six starts when he needed Tommy John surgery. He missed the rest of 2018, some 80% of the season or so.

He missed all of 2019, except for one start and one relief appearance at the end of the year. Just four innings, three runs, no decisions.

He was doing great in spring training this year and then the virus hit. So his first start of 2020 wasn’t until last night, July 31.

He went 5 2/3 innings, gave up just one run, and got his first MLB win since April 21, 2018. That’s a long time to wait.Two years, three months, ten days.

It also reminded you that he’s good. Welcome back, Monty.

The Yanks (5-1) hit three homers to support him in the 5-1 win over Boston.

Montgomery gave up a HR in the third inning to Michael Chavis, and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, caused by his own making by hitting a batter and later committing an error on what should have been a DP comebacker.

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the third, the Yanks took the lead when D.J. LeMahieu singled and Aaron Judge followed with a two-run HR (3). It was the third straight game in which Judge homered.

Gio Urshela made it 3-1 in the fourth with a solo HR.

Finally, Brett Gardner got his first hit of the season, a 2-run HR in the eighth to give the Yanks a 5-1 cushion, which wound up to be the final score.

LeMahieu 3 hits. The “Machine” is hitting .455. Picking up where he left off in 2019.
Judge 2-run HR. (3) Homers in three straight games.
Torres 2 hits. Guess we didn’t need to worry about that bruised elbow.
Urshela 2 hits, Solo HR.
Gardner 2-run HR. Finally, his first hit of the season. Now to get the Kraken going.

Montgomery (W, 1-0, 1.59) 5 2/3 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 1 W, 4 K. 1 HBP. Gave up 1 HR, made an error.
Green (H, 1) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 4 K.  0.00   Looked great
Ottavino (H, 1) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.   0.00
Holder 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.   0.00

Doubleheaders will be seven inning games this year to try to get the games over with because of the virus and health reasons. The “man starts on second” rule for extra innings applies to these games in the eighth inning. Hopefully both rules, shortened games for DHs and also the”man starts on second base” rule are for this season only because of the virus situation.

Also, good and bad news on the injury/virus front. Aroldis Chapman is over the virus and will be back soon. But the Yanks have lost Tommy Kahnle for the rest of the season. UCL, and faces Tommy John surgery.

Suzyn Waldman, Yankee radio announcer, kept a promise to Gerrit Cole and sang the national anthem before the Yanks’ home opener last night. A few years ago, knowing Cole grew up a Yankees’ fan, that the Yanks had originally drafted him (he went to UCLA instead) and was about to hit the free market soon, Waldman told him that “he’d make a great Yankee.” Cole replied, “If I sign (with the Yankees), you have to sing the national anthem at the home opener then.” Cole remembered that Waldman had done the national anthem at games before and once starred on Broadway. Last night, Waldman kept her promise. Nice touch.

The Yanks are wearing HGS patches on their uniforms to honor Hank Steinbrenner, who passed away a few months ago.

 

 

 

Game 5. Judge to the rescue! Yanks win 8-6.

The Yanks scored 5 in the first and went on to top the Orioles for the 18th straight time. Easy, right?

Not so fast.

Aaron Judge had to hit a 3-run HR in the top of the ninth to give the Yanks (4-1) an 8-6 win.

The Yanks got five in the top of the first. With one out, both Judge and Gleyber Torres were HBP. Torres later had to leave the game. Thankfully, x-rays on his elbow were negative. Bad bruise.

Giancarlo Stanton singled in a run, and Aaron Hicks walked to load the bases. Luke Voit then hit a grand slam—his second HR of the season—and the Yanks were up 5-0.

But J.A. Happ, who had troubles last year and who gave up a ton of HR last year, did it again last night. He gave up a 2-run HR in the bottom of the first, another 2-run HR in the bottom of the second, and now it’s 5-4 Yankees.

In the middle of the sixth, there was a rain delay of 1:34.

In the bottom of the eighth, Jonathan Loaisiga gave up a 2-run HR and the Orioles were up 6-5.

But in the top of the ninth, Gio Urshela walked, and after an out, D.J. LeMahieu singled. Judge then hit his game-deciding 3-run HR, his second HR of the season.

Highlights:

Judge 3-run HR
Stanton 3 hits, RBI
Voit 2 hits, grand slam

Concerns:
Torres’ elbow
Sanchez 0 for 15 for the season with 10 strikeouts.

and from ESPN

Boone said after the game that reliever Tommy Kahnle was not available. When asked why he opted to use pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga in a spot usually reserved for the 30-year-old right-hander, Boone answered with a cryptic, “We’ll have something on that tomorrow.”

Pitching line:

Happ 4 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 2 W, 2 K. Gave up 2 HR.  9.00
Ottavino 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.   0.00
Loaisiga (W, 1-0, BS, 1; 4.50) 3 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 2 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR
Britton (S, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 0.00

 

Game 3. Gleyber leads Yanks past Nats, 3-2.

Gleyber Torres had 3 of the Yankees’ 5 hits, including a HR and 2 RBI as the Yanks (2-1) nipped the Nationals, 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.

I think Michael King was supposed to start this one, but he had to be used in relief in Game 2 when James Paxton got knocked out in the second inning.

Jonathan Loaisiga started and went three innings, giving up a HR to Trea Turner in the third. 1-0 Washington.

David Hale gave up a run in the fourth. 2-0 Washington.

Meanwhile, Patrick Corbin, who grew up a Yankees’ fan but who chose Washington over the Yankees when he was a free agent after the 2018 season, was putting the Yanks down quite easily.

When Torres hit his first HR of the year to make it 2-1 in the seventh, it was just the Yankees’ second hit of the game. Corbin then was taken out, and a few batters later, Luke Voit homered to tie the game.

In the eighth, Aaron Hicks, PH for Kyle Higashioka, walked. After PH Gary Sanchez struck out, D.J. LeMahieu singled. Aaron Judge lined out but Torres singled to make it 3-2 Yankees. After a balk moved the runners up, Giancarlo Stanton was intentionally walked but Luke Voit struck out to leave the bases loaded. It almost cost the Yanks.

With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Turner reached on an error by Torres, and Adam Eaton doubled. Tommy Kahnle struck out the next hitter, intentionally walked the one after that and then got out of the inning with another strikeout.

Zach Britton had to escape trouble in the bottom of the ninth. A leadoff single, then a SB. Britton walked the next batter but the runner on second tried to steal third and was thrown out. Britton then retired the next two hitters to end the game.

Torres 3 hits, HR, 2 RBI.
Voit solo HR

Loaisiga 3 IP, 1 R,  2 H, 1 W, 3 K.  Gave up 1 HR.  3.00
Hale 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K.  6.75
Ottavino 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 0.00
Green (W, 1-0, 0.00) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K.
Kahnle (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K.  0.00
Britton (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.  0.00

Because of the pitchers used in Game 2, before this game, Ben Heller and Clint Frazier sent down, Brooks Kriske and Nick Nelson brought up.

You feel bad for Frazier, who may be on the trading block. Great talent, no room for him.

Exhibition Game 20: Yanks beat Mets, 9-3

MLB.com goes back to spring training when the Yanks were 11-8 in posting their boxscore. Hence the “Exhibition Game 20” headline above, and spring training (summer camp?) in my categories. In any case, the Yanks improved to 12-8 with a 9-3 win over the Mets at Citi Field.

Clint Frazier hit a 2-run HR. Mike Tauchman had 3 hits and an RBI. Gleyber Torres had two hits and an RBI. Miguel Andujar had two hits and an RBI. Erik Kratz, who just turned 40 last month, drove in two runs.

The pitching line:

Michael King (Winner) 4 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 W, 3 K.
Britton 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Green 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Kahnle 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Ottavino 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Heller 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.

The Mets featured ex-Yankees Robbie Cano, Melky Cabrera, Eduardo Nunez and Dellin Betances. Betances made one of the Mets’ four errors.

They’ll play another exhibition game tonight, this time at Yankee Stadium.

In other news, Domingo German took back some words he said the other day that made it seem like he was walking away from baseball. Still, don’t expect him until 2021, what with his suspension.

Ex MLB umpire Rick Reed passed away at the age of 70.

S.T Games 16 & 17. A win and a tie.

The Yanks split the squad today (Sunday) and won one game and tied another. They are 10-5-2 in Spring Training.

First, the 1-0 win over the Braves, in which Yankees’ pitchers combined for a two-hit shutout.

Clint Frazier had 2 hits. Chris Iannetta with the RBI.

Concerns: Mike Tauchman .056; Tyler Wade .080

Tanaka 3 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 4 K.  2.08
Kriske 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.  3.38
Ottavino 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  0.00
Britton (W, 2-0) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  0.00
Kahnle (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  0.00
Green (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  2.25
Acevedo (S, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  0.00

Now the tie, 5-5 against the Orioles.

Tommy Milone 3 for 3, 3 RBI, a 2-run HR.

Schmidt 2 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 W, 2 K.  2.57
Abreu 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.  4.50
Medina (H, 2) 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 W, 1 K.  2.25
Lane (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.  10.80
Gil (H, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 2.25
Vizcaino (BS, 1) 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K.  9.00
Rosa 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.  6.00

Recent cuts: C Kellin Deglan and Wynston Sawyer (minor league camp), P Nick Nelson (AAA) and Miguel Yajure (to AA).

 

S.T. Game 14. Yanks fall, 5-1.

The Yanks (8-5-1) fell to Baltimore, 5-1 in their S.T. game Friday night.

D.J. LeMahieu had 2 hits. Luke Voit homered for the only Yankees’ run.

Concerns: Gleyber Torres made his 4th error of the spring. Gary Sanchez is hitting .059. Tyler Wade .091. I know, just spring training.

Some sloppiness. Deivi Garcia threw a WP. David Hale threw 2 WP. Sanchez had a PB.

Pitching Line:

Garcia (L, 0-1) 2 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K.  6.75   The WP
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  0.00
Hale  2 IP,  2 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 W, 5 K.  10.38 The 2 WP
Ottavino 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  0.00
Kahnle 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.00
Green 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K.  3.00
Avilan 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K.  3.86′

Three of the five runs given up were unearned. Combined for 14K

 

S.T. Games 8 and 9. Yanks win both Split Squad Games. Gleyber homers. Concerns over Judge?

The Yankees improved to 6-2-1 in Spring Training by winning both split squad games today. Both Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery pitched well.

First, the home game, an 8-2 win over the Tigers. Gerrit Cole started this game. Good job. Same goes for the bullpen.

SS Gleyber Torres hit a 3-run HR. DH Chris Iannetta 2 hits. RF Trey Amburgey 2 for 2 w/an RBI. CF Zack Granite 2 RBI.

Pitching line:

Cole 2 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K   0.00
Cessa 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  0.00
Ottavino (W, 1-0) 1 iP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 0.00
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.   0.00
Kahnle 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 W, 0 K.  0.00
Green 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.   4.50
Holder 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  0.00

Most of the pitchers you would normally see. Maybe Holder is battling Avelin for the last spot in the bullpen along with maybe Ben Heller. If carrying 8 relievers,

Chapman, Britton, Cessa, Green, Ottavino, Kahnle … that is six.

Holder and Avilan make 8. That leaves out Heller, or anyone who loses the #5 rotation slot like Tropeano, Schmidt, Garcia or King. Or even a Kriske, Acevedo, Abreu, etc.

In the away game, the Yanks beat Boston 5-2 and Jordan Montgomery looked good again.

C Erik Kratz had 2 hits and an RBI. RF Clint Frazier had a double and an RBI.

Montgomery 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 4 K.  0.00
Tropeano 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K.  5.79  Hurt his cause, here.
Alvarez (W, 1-0; BS, 1) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.  0.00
Medina (H, 1) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 k.  0.00
Gil (H, 1) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 3 K.  3.00
Acevedo (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 R, 3 W, 1 K.   0.00

Acevedo walked the bases loaded with no one out in the ninth but got out of it.

More concerns about Aaron Judge and that shoulder. Could the Yanks start the season w/out German, Severino, Judge, Stanton and Hicks?

Thank goodness for depth.

 

 

S.T. Game 5. Yanks win rain-shortened game but now Stanton is hurt.

The Yanks won a game called in the fifth, 8-2 over the defending champion Nationals to even their S.T. record at 2-2-1, but got some more bad injury news.

Giancarlo Stanton, who only played in 18 games in 2019, will probably miss Opening Day this year due to a Grade 1 calf strain.

When will this end? Just like last year, injury upon injury upon injury.

The game only went 4 1/2 innings.

The Yanks got six in the third, thanks to the champs playing like chumps.

A single, a walk. A WP to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. DH Erik Kratz reaches on a throwing error that lets two runs score. D.J. LeMahieu doubled in Kratz. A walk, and a HBP load the bases. Gary Sanchez hits a SF to bring in one run, and the other runners move up two bases (one scoring) on a throwing error by the CF. A WP to bring in another run.

We’ll take it, but that was one ugly inning by Washington.

Pitching Line:

Tanaka 2 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up a 2-run HR  9.00
Britton (W, 1-0) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  0.00
Green 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.  0.00
Kahnle 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K.  0.00

If Stanton isn’t available Opening Day, it opens up DH for Miguel Andujar, who started in LF today.

 

Yanks settle with all arbitration eligible players.

From MLBTR.com:

The Yankees have worked out deals with all of their eligible players. The team has a hefty $8.5MM pact with Aaron Judge, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Backstop Gary Sanchez settled for $5MM, per Feinsand (via Twitter). The New York org will pay righty Luis Cessa $895K and Jonathan Holder $750K, Murray reports (Twitter links). Fellow reliever Tommy Kahnle will earn $2.65MM, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). And star lefty James Paxton has settled at $12.5MM, Heyman adds via Twitter. Chad Green and Jordan Montgomery have also agreed to terms, but the prices aren’t known.

ALCS Game 6. Altuve’s walkoff HR in bottom of 9th ends Yanks’ season, WS is Houston/Washington.

I’ll get into some mistakes I think the Yanks made in this ALCS in another post. For now, just a game post.

Jose Altuve (ALCS MVP) hit a walkoff HR in the bottom of the ninth to give Houston a 6-4 win and send the Astros to the WS where they’ll meet the Washington Nationals. It’s the second pennant for the Astros in three years. Houston won the 2017 WS.

For the Yankees, it’s the first decade since the 1910s where they haven’t made a WS appearance. They did lose four ALCS’s in the 2010s.

2010: Lost in 6 to Texas.
2012: Swept by Detroit in the series where Derek Jeter broke his ankle in Game 1.
2017: Lost in 7 to Houston.
2019: Lost in 6 to Houston.

The use of an opener didn’t work well for the Yanks, because Chad Green gave up a 3-run HR in the first inning to Yuri Gurriel with two out. The HR came right after a mound visit. That sure didn’t work well.

The Yanks got one run back in the second when slumping players Didi Gregorius doubled and Gary Sanchez singled him in. Later, with two out and two on, Brett Gardner struck out on a questionable call. It was the first of many breaks that did not go the Yankees’ way last night.

The Yanks loaded the bases in the third, but Didi Gregorius grounded out to end the inning. Why he swung at the first pitch, who knows. Down 3-1, needing to get back in the game, and a new pitcher just in the game, make him throw strikes. Check his nerves out. Instead, it appeared Didi succumbed to the nerves and pressure. He should have taken one. That, I couldn’t understand. Big mistake by Didi there, I thought, and think.

Gio Urshela homered in the fourth to make it 3-2 and the Yanks then didn’t catch another break. Gardner, up next, hit a long drive to right that looked as if it would tie up the game but it went just foul. He wound up singling but the Yanks couldn’t get him in.

With two out and one on in the top of the sixth, Gardner lined one to right but Josh Reddick made a diving catch on it.

Altuve, who had doubled and scored in the first, walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth for Houston. He went to third on a single by Michael Brantley and scored on a forceout. 4-2 Houston.

In the top of the seventh, another bad break for the Yanks. With Aaron Judge on first and one out, Aaron Hicks lined one to left. Brantley made a diving catch and doubled Judge off of first.

With one out and one on in the top of the eighth, Houston turned a nifty DP to get out of the inning. All breaks were going against the Yanks. The Yanks escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth and went into the ninth down 4-2.

In the top of the ninth, it appeared that maybe the baseball gods would finally smile on the Yankees. Gio Urshela singled. Brett Gardner struck out after almost being HBP. D.J. LeMahieu then tied the game with a HR that barely cleared the wall and the leap of George Springer, now playing RF. 4-4.

Aroldis Chapman started the bottom of the ninth ok with a strikeout and pop up, but then walked Springer. Altuve then hit his pennant-winning HR.

LeMahieu 2-run Game tying HR in top of 9th.
Encarnacion 0 for 3, walk, 3 strikeouts. He killed the Yanks this series.
Gregorius 2 hits, but that first pitch groundout with the bases loaded in the third hurt.
Urshela 3 for 3, HR.

Green 1 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up HR
Happ 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K.  Maybe should have started, given more length?
Cessa 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Kahnle 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K.
Ottavino 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 0 K.
Chapman (LOSS) 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 H,  1 W, 1 K.  Gave up GW HR.

In retrospect, maybe the Yanks should have just started Happ and asked for four or five from him. There are a lot of things they could and/or should have done differently this series. That is for the next post, coming later today.