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.

 

 

ALCS Game 5. ALIVE! Yanks force a Game 6 behind Paxton gem.

Before the game, it was announced that (surprise!) Giancarlo Stanton was good enough to play, and he replaced Edwin Encarnacion in the lineup as the DH. Didn’t make any difference, though.

CC was taken off the roster, and his career is officially over. Ben Heller replaced him.

The Yanks only got five hits in the game, but four came in the first inning, two of them homers, and it was enough was James Paxton threw a gem and the Yanks forced a Game 6 tonight in Houston with a 4-1 victory.

The top of the first was sloppy. An infield single that looked as if it should have been fielded by Paxton. A PB to move the runner up. A groundout to move him to third. A walk, a WP that allowed the runner to score and move the other to second. With Justin Verlander pitching for Houston, you wondered if one or two runs would be enough for him to close out the series.

Two lineouts to the outfield ended the inning.

D.J. LeMahieu tied up the game right away by hitting Verlander’s second pitch of the game for a HR. Aaron Judge walked and Gleyber Torres doubled Judge to third. Stanton struck out, and the fear was that the Yanks were on their way to wasting a big chance.

But Aaron Hicks lined one off of the right field foul pole for a three-run HR and the Yanks were up 4-1.

Both starters settled down after that, but because of Hicks’ shot, the Yanks had the upper hand.

With two out in the bottom of the sixth, Robinson Chirinos hit one deep to left that, for a moment, looked like it would cut the Yankees’ lead to 4-3. But just like with Didi Gregorius’ drive for the Yankees the other night, it died just short of the fence.

Tommy Kahnle got into a little trouble in the top of the seventh, but Zack Britton cleaned up the mess and he and Aroldis Chapman closed it out.

No starters have been announced for Game 6 yet, as it appears both teams will be using “openers” in a battle of the bullpens. It appears as if Chad Green may start, but after him (only one inning?) the Yanks may turn to the likes of Happ, Cessa, Loaisiga, even Heller to piece it to Britton and Chapman. Both teams would be holding back their aces for a potential Game 7—Gerrit Cole for Houston, Luis Severino for the Yankees.

Gary Sanchez may want to get away from the Bronx cheers. Sanchez, slumping badly,  was 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts. He is 2 for 20 with 11 strikeouts in the series.

LeMahieu HR
Hicks 3-run HR

Paxton (WIN) 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 4 W, 9 K.
Kahnle (HOLD) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.
Britton (HOLD) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Chapman (SAVE) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.

So each team has won a blowout, each team has won a 4-1 game. That 3-2, 11 inning loss by the Yanks to Houston in Game 2 is the one thing separating the two teams right now.   The Yanks have scored 17 runs in the five games and are hitting .199. Houston has scored 16 runs and is hitting .178.

Just a thought. With Houston not having any lefties at all on their staff for this round, maybe the Yanks should have or could have found a way to get Mike Ford on the roster? I understand, you weren’t taking him over Edwin Encarnacion, but Edwin’s 1 for 15 with 8 strikeouts in the series. As they say, hindsight is always 100%.

 

 

ALCS Game 4. Yanks pushed to the brink after 8-3 loss. CC ends career by getting hurt.

It can’t be looking worse. An 8-3 loss to the Astros puts the Yanks down three games to one in the ALCS, and the Yanks are looking at Justin Verlander tonight, and if the series continues, Gerrit Cole later, and the Astros can afford to save Cole for a possible Game 7.

Besides giving up the eight runs, the Yanks’ bats were quiet for the most part again, as they blew a couple of chances. Twice they loaded the bases, only to come away with one run total.

In the bottom of the first, D.J. LeMahieu walked, was forced at second by Aaron Judge, but then Aaron Hicks blooped a single and after Gleyber Torres popped out, and a double steal was executed, both Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Gardner walked, Gardner’s walk forcing in a run. But the struggling Gary Sanchez struck out.

The Yanks really could have dropped the hammer there. They let the Astros off the hook.

Masahiro Tanaka gave up a 3-run HR to George Springer in the third inning, giving the Astros a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The fifth inning was a killer, as the Yanks loaded the bases with one out. You thought here’s where they get back in the game, but Gleyber Torres and the slumping Edwin Encarnacion both struck out.  Torres has carried the team, but this was one occasion where he couldn’t do it.

Things unraveled in the sixth. Normally sure-handed Gold Glover D.J. LeMahieu made an error, the first of four (2 by LeMahieu, 2 by Torres) by the Yanks on the night. That ended Tanaka’s night and brought in Chad Green. An out later, a single, then a 3-run HR by Carlos Correa made it 6-1 Houston and the game, for all intensive purposes, was over.

Gary Sanchez finally woke up, hitting a 2-run HR in the bottom of the sixth to cut it to 6-3. LeMahieu later doubled with two out, but Aaron Judge struck out to end the inning, so the Yanks could not get closer.

I’ve disagreed with Boone’s decisions to keep going back to the struggling Sanchez and also Adam Ottavino. As Joe Torre said, he was advised by Don Zimmer that you can’t have patience in the offseason. Time is too short. Boone, in this series, basically has chosen to sink or swim with those guys (Encarnacion, too, and I’ll get to that in a bit) and it looks like the answer is sink. Ottavino came in for the eighth, and gave up a double right away. Then things got sloppy. LeMahieu, so good with the glove, made his second error of the game to put runners on first and third with one out. In came CC.

Torres then made an error, making it 7-3. A lineout and HBP loaded the bases. CC got another lineout, runners holding, but then had to leave the game with a sore shoulder. Even if the Yanks can come back in this series, win it, and go to the World Series, CC’s career is over. He’ll be replaced on the roster, perhaps by Stephen Tarpley or Jordan Montgomery. Jonathan Loaisiga got a strikeout to get out of the inning.

More sloppiness in the ninth. Torres made his second error of the night, a 2-base error, then a WP and a single made it 8-3 Astros. There was another WP and a walk, but no further damage.

The “savages” have turned tame. The Yanks only had five hits in the game.

The Yanks (.204) are actually out-hitting Houston (.182) in the series, but Houston is getting key hits and the Yanks are not.

Correa is 3 for 17 with 7 strikeouts, but had the GW HR in Game 2 and a 3-run shot last nght. Springer is just 2 for 17 with seven strikeouts but both are homers, the game-tying HR in Game 2 and a 3-run HR last night.

Meanwhile the Yanks were 0 for 7 w/RISP last night.

The late Bill Gallo of the NY Daily News used to draw cartoons, and in big series like this, had the hero with a halo over his head, and the goat with the goat horns.

Encarnacion, 1 for 15 in this series. It could be his last games as a Yankee, as I expect the Yanks not to p/u the $20MM option but buy him out at $5MM instead.

Brett Gardner is 2 for 15. Didi Gregorius 2 for 16. Gary Sanchez 2 for 17. Gio Urshela 2 for 15.

If Stanton can’t play, and he hasn’t, then I do have to question the Yanks’ decision to keep him on the roster and not replace him. If, as Boone states, he can PH, then why can’t he DH instead of the slumping Encarnacion? If he can’t do that, then why is he on the roster? Replacing Stanton with say, Luke Voit or Mike Ford would enable the Yanks to bench the slumping Encarnacion, and get someone off the roster who can’t play anyway.

Also, the decision to stick with Sanchez and not give Romine a game (he couldn’t be worse than Sanchez’ 2 for 17) may come back to haunt them.

There are some decisions made in this series, like the ones I mentioned above and in the last few days) (Stanton/Encarnacion/Ottavino/Sanchez) that it appears the Yanks will rue all offseason.

One thing also appears evident. The Yanks starters are decent, but not elite. That’s the difference between them and say, Houston or Washington.

As good of a bullpen as the Yanks have, consider this. Your best pitchers generally either start or are your closer. The last pitchers on your team are generally the middle relief guys. John Smoltz made a good point in the telecast. You really would like to have your starter go a long way and just hand the ball to the closer. No middleman. Maybe one. But not a bunch of them. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Of all the teams in the playoffs, Washington is in the WS, and had two guys with 200 IP this year. Houston has three starters who went 200 IP or more.

The Yanks haven’t had a starter give 200 IP in a season since 2013 (CC, who had a bad year that year with a 4.78 ERA, and Kuroda, who pitched well that year but had tough luck and no run support).

The Yanks need their starters to give more length, and especially in the postseason. They could really use an ace. An “A” pitcher to go along with a lot of “B” starters they currently have. That would help put them over the top instead of doing what they have the past few years—win 100 or more but come up short to a team that won 106 or more.

Of course, Domingo German, and what he did, didn’t help the Yanks, but that’s another story.

More clutch hitting would also help. The Yanks had 5 hits, and 7 walks, but …  the Yanks struck out 13x.

LeMahieu 2 hits (of the Yanks’ 5). Of course. But uncharacteristically, 2 errors.
Torres 0 for 5, 2 strikeouts, 2 errors. After carrying them so far, a bad game.

Tanaka (LOSS) 5 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Green 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Kahnle 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Ottavino 0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 W, 0 K. Once again, couldn’t get an out. An error hurt.
Sabathia 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 1 HBP.  Last outing of his career.
Loaisiga 2/3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K.
Lyons 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.

The Yanks aren’t done, but they are close, unfortunately. If they can come back from 3-1 down, and in doing so, beat Verlander and Cole, it’ll be one of the great comebacks ever, and maybe it will wash away some of that bad taste still left from 2004.

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Passings: One -time Yankee (briefly, 20 games) Bobby Del Greco. 86. OF. Pittsburgh (1952, 1956), Cardinals (1956), Cubs 1957,  Yankees 1957-1958, Phillies 1960-1961, KC A’s 1961-1963 and Phillies again 1965. Hit .229, 42 career HR, OPS+ 85. 162 game average .229-9-37.

Jackie Hernandez, 79. Platooned at SS for the 1971 WS Champion Pirates. Angels 1965-1966. Twins 1967-1968. KC Royals 1969-1970. Pittsburgh Pirates 1971-1973. Hit .206-3-26 for 1971 Pirates (WS Champs), and .188-1-14 for 1972 Pirates (NL East champs). 162 game average .208=3-32, OPS+ 49. 7 for 31, 2 RBI in 11 postseason games.

 

 

 

 

ALCS Game 3. Yanks fall 4-1, trail in Series 2 games to 1. Nats win NL.

Since May 22, Gerrit Cole has been unbeatable, going 19-0 in 25 starts with a 1.59 ERA. Incredible.

He was vulnerable against the Yankees, giving up 5 walks and 4 hits in his seven innings of work, but no runs.

Luis Severino was OK, but gave up a HR in the first to Jose Altuve (Altuve kills the Yankees) and another in the second to Josh Reddick and that is all Cole needed. Houston wins Game 3 of the ALCS, 4-1, and is up two games to one in the series.

The Yanks have a couple of problems. For one, manager Aaron Boone has to wonder if he should bench Gary Sanchez and start Austin Romine instead. Sanchez is 1 for 13 in this series with six strikeouts. For the whole postseason, he is 2 for 21 with 10 strikeouts. He also couldn’t block a WP that enabled Houston to score a run.

In a post-game interview, Boone said no when asked about going to Romine. I think he may be making a mistake.

Another is Adam Ottavino, who came into Game 3 with the score 2-0 in the top of the seventh. Ottavino isn’t getting anyone out and gave up a walk and a single before being pulled. Both runners later scored. Boone said he’ll continue to use him…. what else is he going to say?

Ottavino’s numbers this postseason: 2 1/3 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 3 W, 3 K.  1 HR given up. He’s faced 16 batters and 9 have reached base. You just can’t trust him in tight games anymore. At least not now.

There is no time in the postseason to hope. It’s do or die. It’s why Joe Torre once benched Wade Boggs, Tino Martinez AND Paul O’Neill for the same game (replacing them in the lineup with Charlie Hayes, Cecil Fielder and Darryl Strawberry).

Cleanup hitter Edwin Encarnacion is also slumping. 1 for 12 with 6 strikeouts in this series. Maybe he needs to be dropped in the lineup.

The one constant is Gleyber Torres. The only Yankees’ run came on a HR by Torres in the eighth inning. He is 10 for 24 this postseason with 3 HR and 10 RBI. Maybe Boone should just keep him in the 3 spot. He batted fifth in Game 3, probably to try to protect Encarnacion and hopefully get Edwin going.

But that meant Brett Gardner hit third. Now the Yanks did get singles from D.J. LeMahieu and Aaron Judge to lead off the bottom of the first, but Gardner flied out. The Yanks didn’t score. Maybe Gardner should have bunted the runners over there. I know you are thinking big inning, but this is Cole on the mound, and Gardner is not your prototypical #3 hitter (like a Ruth, DiMaggio, Maris or Mantle), and who knows, maybe Gardner beats it out. Just saying.  Gardner is 2 for 13 in this series with five strikeouts.

Didi Gregorius JUST MISSED putting the Yanks up 3-2 with a two-out drive with two on in the fifth that was caught at the wall. Tough break. Didi is 1 for 12 in this series.

The forecast is for rain. There is a very strong chance Game 4 gets rained out tonight. If so, I believe the Yanks HAVE to come back with Tanaka then for Game 4 on regular rest (and in his six innings on Saturday, he only threw 68 pitches in Game 1) to try to even the series and avoid going down three games to one.

The Yanks only had five hits in the game. In their last 20 innings, they’ve scored just three runs.

LeMahieu 2 hits
Torres HR, 2 walks
Aaron Hicks, starting his first game in over 2 months, walked twice.

Severino (LOSS) 4 1/3 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 3 W, 6 K.  Gave up 2 HR
Green 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Kahnle 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Ottavino 0 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K.  1 WP that scored a run.
Cessa 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K.

Who’d have thought Cessa would be out-pitching Ottavino this postseason?

Hopefully some of these Yankees’ bats heat up.

Also, hopefully Boone makes some right, and maybe necessary, tough decisions to shake the Yanks up.

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Washington won the NLCS by beating St. Louis 7-4 last night, scoring all seven runs in the bottom of the first. With the four game sweep, the Nationals go to their first WS in franchise history, going back to 1969 when they were the Montreal Expos 1969-2004 before moving to Washington.

For D.C., it’ll host their first WS games since 1933 when the old Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins) won the AL pennant but lost the WS to the NY (now SF) Giants.

Howie Kendrick was named the NLCS MVP.

So whoever wins the ALCS knows they’ll have to face Washington with its trio of Scherzer, Strasburg and Corbin (not to mention Anibal Sanchez).

 

 

ALCS Game 2. Houston evens up the series with a walkoff HR in the 11th, wins 3-2.

Justin Verlander was as tough as we thought he’d be. But the Yanks still had a chance to go up 2-0 in the series. Instead, they lost to Houston 3-2 in 11 innings and head home with the ALCS tied at a game apiece.

The problem is, certain guys not having good postseasons so far continued not to produce, and that hurt the Yanks in Game 2. See below.

James Paxton didn’t last long, giving up a run in the second, and getting knocked out in the third inning.

Aaron Judge hit a 2-run HR in the fourth for the Yanks’ only two runs of the game.

Chad Green did a great job in relief of Paxton, but Adam Ottavino, in relief of Green, gave up a HR on his very first pitch in the bottom of the fifth and the game was tied at two.

In the bottom of the eleventh, J.A. Happ gave up a HR to Carlos Correa on his first pitch of the inning, and the game was over. A tough, extra-inning loss, where a win would have put Houston’s backs against the wall what with the next three games in the Bronx.

Before the game, it was announced that Giancarlo Stanton had a quad strain, is day to day and was out of the Game 2 lineup. Cameron Maybin, who had a hit and a walk, replaced him. Aaron Hicks replaced Maybin later in the game.

Ottavino hasn’t had a good postseason so far. In 2 1/3 IP, he’s only given up 1 R, but on 5 H, 2 walks.

Gary Sanchez is 2 for 17 this postseason.

Edwin Encarnacion had a decent series against the Twins, but is 0 for 8 with 6 strikeouts against Houston.

Hopefully the off-day today (The NLCS will play Game 3 tonight) will give those players time to regroup and get right.

Game 3 features Severino vs. Cole. With tight games like this, not only do you need great pitching, which the Yanks so far have gotten for the most part (3 runs given up in 19+ innings) but you also have to play littleball, knowing you probably aren’t going to score many runs off of Houston.

Judge 2-run HR
Encarnacion 0 for 4, 3 strikeouts.
Sanchez 0 for 5, 3 strikeouts.
Paxton 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 W, 3 K.
Green 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Ottavino (BS) 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K.  Gave up 1 HR.
Kahnle 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K.
Sabathia 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Loaisiga 0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 0 K.
Happ (LOSS) 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up walkoff HR.

Hard-fought game. Tough loss.

To get to the WS, the Yanks have to beat Verlander and Cole. They had a chance last night to win a game Verlander started. They didn’t do it, although they came close. That hurts.

Now to try to get one against Cole.