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%.