Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (45-22) won 4-1. CF Hoy Jun Park 2 hits, 3 RBI, 2-run HR. 1B Armando Alvarez solo HR. 3B Cristian Perez 2 hits. Greg Weissert 2 scoreless relief innings, ERA 1.15.

AA: Somerset (42-28) lost 7-1. Ken Waldichuk 5 1/3 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 1 W, 6 K. First loss of season for him.
Waldichuk 3-1, 3.89 at AA this year, 2-0, 0.00 at High A. Overall 5-1, 2.13 in fourteen starts. 110 K in 67 2/3 IP.h A:

High A: Hudson Valley (46-25) lost 8-5. CF Elijah Dunham 2 hits, RBI, HR; 1B Chad Bell 3 hits; RF Pat DeMarco 2 hits, RBI.

Low A: Tampa (47-23) won 2-1. RF Aldenis Sanchez 2 hits, RBI. DH Carlos Narvaez HR.

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (44-22) won 14-5. They hit 6 HR

2B Hoy Jun Park 2 hits
3B Andrew Velazquez 3 hits, 3 RBI. 2 HR, a 2-run shot and a solo Shot.
CF Socrates Brito 2 hits (should have the nickname “The Philosopher”?)
C Donny Sands 2-run HR
1B Aramando Alvarez 2 hits, 4 RBI 3-run HR
RF Frederick Cuevas solo HR
SS Kyle Holder 2 hits, 2 RBI
LF Thomas Milone 2 hits, solo HR

AA: Somerset (42-27) won 7-3. DH Oswald Peraza 2 hits. 1B Dermis Garcia solo HR. C Jason Lopez 2 RBI. RF Isiah Gilliam 2 RBI, solo HR.

High A: Hudson Valley (46-24) lost 3-1. SS Anthony Volpe 2 hits, RBI. 2B Ezequiel Duran 2 hits.

Low A: Tampa (46-23) lost 4-3. OF Aldenis Sanchez 2 hits, RBI. SS Roberto Chirinos solo HR.

Of course, we will have to see if any prospects are used in a trade between now and the trade deadline of July 30. Also, some prospects are untouchable. We’ll have to see which ones are in that category

Game 96. Yanks fall, 6-2.

The Yankees lost to Boston Friday night, 6-2, as Rafael Devers of Boston hit 2 HR and drove in 5 runs.

The loss puts the Yankees (50-46, 3rd in AL East) 9 games back of Boston.

The Yanks scored first when in the second inning, Gary Sanchez (who later left the game with back spasms) led off with a walk, Gleyber Torres singled, and Brett Gardner doubled in Sanchez.

Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez left the game then due to a migraine, and although bad for him, it turned out good for Boston. His reliever, Phillips Valdez, shut the Yankees down. He got a strikeout, hit Ryan LaMarre with a pitch to load the bases, then got two more strikeouts. The Yanks only got one run and wouldn’t score again until the ninth inning.

Gerrit Cole pitched four scoreless innings, but threw a lot of pitches to do so and ran out of gas in the fifth, giving up 3 runs, 2 on a HR by Devers. In five innings, Cole threw 104 pitches.

Devers hit a 3-run HR off of Nestor Cortes, Jr. in the seventh to make it 6-1 Boston.

The Yanks scored in the ninth when with two out, Giancarlo Stanton singled and Rougned Odor doubled him home.

Cole (L, 10-5) 5 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 2 W, 8 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.74
Cortes 2 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 0 W, 3 K Gave 1 HR 1.95
Wilson 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 7.50

Loasiga and Cortes back from Covid IL, and sent down were Kriske and Nelson.

Game 93. Yanks do big (4 HR) and small things in beating Phils, 6-4.

When you look at the Yankees’ win (6-4) over the Phillies last night, it’s easy to look at the four homers that were hit. But to me, most impressive was the little things that Greg Allen and rookie Estevan Florial did in the victory.

Both players are filling in while others are on the IL or Covid-IL.

Florial was brought up earlier in the day when Trey Amburgey (hamstring) had to go on the IL. This was his third MLB game.

The Phillies struck first when Rhys Hoskins hit a HR in the second inning off of Yankees’ starter Domingo German.

The Yanks tied it in the bottom of the third. Allen tripled, and Florial got him in with a groundout to second. Just doing the little things to get the run in.

The Phils got a run in the fourth to go up 2-1. They were helped by a balk by German, and ex-Yankee Ronald Torreyes doubled in the run.

The Yanks went up 3-2 in the fifth. Allen walked and stole second. He moved up to third when Florial flied out (doing the little things). I would have liked to have seen Tyler Wade squeeze home the run there, but he swung away and lined out to SS (to ex-Yankee Didi Gregorius). Gregorius tried to double Allen off of third but made a throwing error that allowed Allen to score. Brett Gardner followed that with a HR (4).

Gary Sanchez homered (17) in the sixth to make it 4-2 Yankees.

In the top of the seventh, Chad Green got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam with a couple of strikeouts, the last one to Didi.

In the bottom of the seventh, Giancarlo Stanton homered (16) to put the Yanks up 5-2.

The Phillies got a run in the top of the eighth to cut it to 5-3, and it was Torreyes who got the inning going for them.

In the bottom of the eighth, Florial hit his first MLB HR to put the Yanks up 6-3.

Aroldis Chapman gave up a HR in the ninth to Andrew McCutchen (another ex-Yankee playing for the Phils, managed by, you guessed it, ex-Yankee Joe Girardi) that made the score 6-4 before closing out the game.

With the win, the Yanks, 49-44, are in a virtual tie for third, 7 games back. After tonight’s game with the Phils, they have four games at Fenway against Boston, followed by three in Tampa Bay. These games are right before the trade deadline.

I won’t write about rumors, but if the Yanks do make deals, I’ll write about the deal and my reaction to it.

Gardner solo HR (4)
Stanton 2 hits, solo HR (16)
Sanchez 2 hits, solo HR (17)
Florial 2 RBI, solo HR (1) FIRST MLB HR


German 4 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 3 W, 5 K. 1 Balk. Gave up 1 HR. 4.71
Cessa (W, 3-1) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 1 K. 2.89
Luetge (H, 3) 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. 1 WP. 3.25
Green (H, 13) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 2.76
Britton (H, 2) 1 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K. 6.00
Chapman (S, 17) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.41

The Yanks are bringing up Asher Wojciechowski for a spot start tonight vs. the Phils.

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB’s game was suspended (rain) in the top of the second inning with no score.

AA: Somerset (40-24) lost 7-3. 3B Max Burt 2 hits, solo HR.

High A: Hudson Valley (42-23) won 6-5. DH Anthony Seigler 3-run HR. 1B Chad Bell solo HR. CF Pablo Olivares 2 hits. LF Pat DeMarco 2 hits, solo HR.

Low A: Tampa (44-20) lost 10-3. 2B Trevor Hauver 2 hits, solo HR. LF Aldenis Sanchez 2 hits.

Game 91. Yanks finally beat Boston, 3-1, in game shortened to 6 innings.

It took eight games, but thanks to a game shortened because of rain (and played in slop), the Yanks finally beat Boston this year. The game started late, was delayed, and was finally called after six innings with the Yanks (47-44, 4th in AL East, 8 back) winning 3-1.

In the process, the Yanks lost another player to the IL. OF Tim Locastro, just acquired, tore his ACL in the first inning making a play. He is done for the season.

Gerrit Cole worked out of a man on third, one out situation in the first inning by getting a couple of strikeouts. He gave up a run in the second on a couple of singles that sandwiched a groundout that moved the runner up.

The Yanks didn’t get a hit until the fifth inning. Greg Allen doubled with two outs for their first hit, and D.J. LeMahieu followed with an RBI single to tie the game.

Cole got a fortuitous call on a check swing to get a strikeout with the bases loaded to end the top of the sixth. Two Red Sox were ejected arguing the call.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Red Sox left the field temporarily when some idiot threw a ball at LF Alex Verdugo and hit him in the neck. Verdugo was understandably incensed. They also left so that the ground crew could work on the field, which was becoming a swamp.

When play resumed, after one out, Gary Sanchez (16) and Gleyber Torres (4) hit back-to-back homers to give the Yanks a 3-1 lead. The Yanks put a couple more runners on, but couldn’t score further. The game was then delayed again, and eventually called.

Sanchez solo HR (16)
Torres solo HR (4)

Cole (W, 10-4) 6 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 2 W, 11 K. 2.63

Minor League Report. The Martian takes one to outer space.

Since the Yanks needed to bring up a lot of guys from SWB because of COVID, it had a residual effect. Guys had to be brought up to SWB, etc.

AAA: SWB (41-21) won 7-2. CF Estevan Florial 2 hits, 2 RBI, both solo HR. C Donny Sands (just brought up) 3 hits, solo HR. DH Matt Pita 2 hits, 3 RBI, a 3-run HR.

AA: Somerset (40-23) lost 6-4. SS Oswald Peraza 2 hits, RBI. CF Brandon Lockridge (just recently promoted) 3 hits, 2 RBI, solo HR. RF Michael Beltre 2 hits, solo HR. 1B Max Burt 2 hits.

High A: Hudson Valley (41-23) won 8-7. Recently promoted SS Anthony Volpe (2019 1st round pick) 4 hits, 2 doubles, RBI. LF Elijah Dunham solo HR. DH Josh Breaux 2 hits, 2 RBI, 2-run HR. RF Jake Sanford (just promoted) 2 hits, 2 RBI, solo HR. 3B James Nelson 2 hits, RBI.

Low A: 18 year old Jasson Dominguez is the Yankees’ top prospect. Nicknamed “The Martian”, the Yanks signed him two years ago for $5.1MM. His skills, power and speed, have drawn comparisons to Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout and Bo Jackson. He played in the Futures Game before ever even joining Low A. Last night he hit his first professional HR as Tampa (44-19) won 13-4.

Dominguez 2 hits, 2 RBI, a 2-run HR. .438 at Low A so far (7 for 16). He was 4 for 20 in the FL Complex League before going to Tampa, so 11 for 36 so far. It will be interesting to see how fast he rises. Remember, just 18.


Also in this game: 2B Trevor Hauver 2 hits, 2 RBI. CF Everson Pereira 2 hits. RF Aldenis Sanchez 4 hits, 3 RBI. 1B Pedro Diaz 2 RBI. LF Evan Alexander 3 hits, 3 RBI. Nelvin Correa 4 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 5 K.

AL wins All-Star Game. Minor League Report. Minor League Promotions.

The AL won the All-Star Game, 5-2 last night. Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., who hit a 468 ft. HR, was named MVP of the game, the youngest All-Star Game MVP ever. It was the 8th win in a row for the AL. The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, who pitched and hit, got the win. Guerrero and his father are the third father/son combo to each HR in an all-star game.

Aaron Judge went 0 for 2 with a walk and scored a run. The other All-Star Yankees, Gerrit Cole and Aroldis Chapman, did not play.

In the minor leagues, the Yankees promoted a lot of players. I’ll name a few but probably won’t name them all.

AAA: Pitcher Glenn Otto was promoted up to here. SWB (38-20) won 5-2. LF Greg Allen 2 hits, RBI. C Rob Brantly 2 RBI.

AA: Somerset (39-21) won 3-2. CF Brandon Lockridge prmoted to here, and he hit a solo HR. LHP Ken Waldichuk with another great game. 6 1/3 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 3 W, 11 K. 3-0, 3.08 at AA. For the season, A/AA 5-0, 1.42 (12 starts). In his minor league career, 22 starts, he is 5-2, 2.19. SS Oswald Peraza 2 hits. RF Michael Beltre 2 hits.

High A: SS Anthony Volpe, and OF’s Pat DeMarco and Jake Sanford promoted to here from Low A. RF Sanford had 2 hits. Hudson Valley (40-20) won 9-4. 2B Ezequiel Duran 2 hits, 2 RBI. 3B James Nelson 2 hits, 2 RBI, a 2-run HR. 1B Chad Bell 2 hits, RBI. CF Pablo Olivares 2 hits. Starter Josh Maciejewski 5 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 W, 7 K, 1 HBP.

Low A: Promoted to here from the Florida Complex League: Top prospect CF Jasson Dominguez, as well as Ryder Green and LF Aldenis Sanchez. Tampa (41-18) won 6-2. Dominguez 2 hits, 2 RBI, double. He was 4 for 20 in the FCL, all singles, so this was his first extra-base hit. He’s only 18. Sanchez had 2 hits, RBI. 3B Andres Chaparro solo HR.

Game 89. Brutal. Yanks blow it in 9th, give up 6 runs, lose 8-7.

This was brutal. Up 7-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees (46-43, Tied for 3rd, 8 back) gave up 6 runs to Houston in the bottom of the 9th, the last three on a walkoff HR by Jose Altuve, and lost 8-7.

With the all-star break now, the Yanks will have that depressing memory to chew on for a while.

The Yanks didn’t have Jonathan Loaisiga (Covid) available. Zack Britton and Darren O’Day are both on the IL. But it speaks volumes that they didn’t even let Aroldis Chapman start the ninth inning with a five-run lead. No trust in him.

And this is the FOURTH really bad loss in a month and a day. THIRD in two weeks. Some bad memories as we revisit.

June 10. Up 5-3 in Minnesota. The game that started Chapman’s skid. He gave up two 2-run HRs, didn’t get an out, in the bottom of the ninth. Yanks give up 4 runs. Yanks lose 7-5.

June 30. Up 8-4, Yanks give up 7 in top of the ninth to Angels and lose 11-8.

July 4. 1st game of DH, 7-inning game. Up 5-4 going into the top of the seventh, give up 6, lose to Mets 10-5.

Now July 11. Up 7-2 in Houston, give up six in the bottom of the ninth. Lose 8-7.

I heard a little bit of WFAN after the game. In those few minutes, they were ripping into Hal Steinbrenner to show some emotion. To show he cares. To get ticked off about these losses. To show that he, like us, is a LITTLE bit like a fan, and that isn’t only a business that he only cares about on the business end but is impassive on the wins and losses end. Or if he doesn’t care, then sell the team to someone who does. They were really on him.

The Yanks scored in the top of the third when Gary Sanchez walked with one out. On a strikeout, Sanchez moved up on a WP. Luke Voit walked, and Sanchez scored on a error on a ball hit by Gleyber Torres.

Yankees’ starter Jameson Taillon gave up a HR in the bottom of the third that allowed Houston to tie the game.

Tim Locastro hit his first Yankees’ HR (second of the year for him) to put the Yanks up 2-1.

The Yankees went up 3-1 in the fifth. Giancarlo Stanton singled, Voit walked, and Torres singled in Stanton.

Jameson, who pitched well, gave up another HR in the sixth, and it was 3-2.

In the seventh, the Yanks made it 4-2 when with two out, Torres walked, stole second, and scored on a single by Gio Urshela.

Sanchez hit a 3-run HR (15) in the eighth to make it 7-2.

Then the roof fell in in the bottom of the ninth. As mentioned, Chapman not trusted with a five-run lead (Yikes!). Domingo German comes out for his third inning of relief. Single. Double.

In comes Chad Green. Double to make it 7-4. Another double makes it 7-5. Bloop single. Runners on first and third. Line out. Then the 3-run HR by Altuve to win it for Houston. Yikes.

The Yankees could have crushed the Astros in this game. They walked 14 times to go with their 8 hits. But they were 3 for 16 w/RISP.

Sanchez 3-run HR (15)
Stanton 2 hits.
Urshela 2 hits, RBI
Locastro solo HR (2)


Taillon 6 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 2 W, 4 K. 1 HBP. 2 of 3 hits given up HR. 4.90 (nice job, has lowered ERA by a run, was almost 6)
German (H, 2) 2 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 2 K
Green (L, 3-5) 1/3 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up walkoff HR. 2.89

Game 79. Yanks outslug Angels, Ohtani, 11-5.

The Yankees (41-38, 4th in AL East, 7 1/2 out) set a season high in runs scored, 11, in banging out 11 hits, including 3 HR, and drawing 9 walks in defeating the L.A. Angels, 11-5 on Tuesday night.

The 11 runs were a nice surprise for a team that has scored 3 or less runs in over half its games this season. The Yanks needed to score to keep up with Angels’ star Shohei Ohtani, who hit 2 more HR to lead the majors with 28. Ohtani, doing things not seen since Babe Ruth over 100 years ago, is the Angels’ starting pitcher tonight.

With the win, the Yanks snapped a four-game losing streak.

Gary Sanchez started things off with a solo HR in the first inning (14).

Yankees’ starter Jameson Taillon gave up a 2-run HR to Jose Iglesias in the top of the second, as the Angels took a 2-1 lead. Taillon got the win, but didn’t really pitch well, giving up 5 runs (3 HR, two to Ohtani) in 5 1/3 IP. He needed the run support.

The Yanks came back with four runs in the bottom of the second and weren’t headed off the rest of the game. With one out, Gio Urshela walked and Miguel Andujar singled Urshela to third. Brett Gardner hit a SF tying up the game, and Andujar moved up on the SF as well. D.J. LeMahieu singled in Andujar to make it 3-2, then Aaron Judge homered (18) to make it 5-2.

Ohtani hit the first of his two homers in the top of the third to make it 5-3.

The Yanks broke the game open with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. Andujar led off the inning with a HR (6). Gardner walked. Two outs later, Sanchez doubled in Gardner to make it 7-3. Giancarlo Stanton walked, then Luke Voit doubled in a run to make it 8-3. Gleyber Torres, in the midst of a terrible slump, singled in Stanton and Voit to make it 10-3.

Ohtani hit his second HR of the game, a 2-run shot, in the top of the fifth to cut the Yanks’ lead to 10-5.

The final run of the game came in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Torres singled, and Urshela singled. Torres stole third on what was supposed to be a double steal, but Urshela slipped and had to stay at first. Andujar doubled in Torres.

Before the game, Darren O’Day was activated off of rehab. Brooks Kriske was sent down. The Yankees did not activate Justin Wilson yet off of rehab, and why should they? Both Nestor Cortes, Jr. and Albert Abreu are doing well (see below).

Judge 2-run HR (18)
Sanchez 2 hits, 2 RBI, solo HR (14)
Torres 2 hits, 2 RBI
Andujar 3 hits, 2 RBI, solo HR (6)

Taillon (W, 3-4) 5 1/3 IP, 5 R, 9 H, 1 W, 4 K. Gave up 3 HR. 1 WP. 5.43
Cortes 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 1.02
Abreu 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 1 HBP. 2.13

UPDATE: The Yanks have sent Abreu back and will be activating Wilson today. I don’t know about that move. Hopefully Wilson (no options as opposed to Abreu) does better than the 6.08 ERA he had earlier. Abreu at 2.13 has been far better.