Game 45. Yanks shut out Twins again. Win 5-0.

The mark of a really good team is when you have no fear in throwing your #4 or #5 starter out on the mound because your 4 or 5 starter would be an ace on many other teams.

Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil started the season as the #4 and #5 starters on the Yankees’ staff. Gil was only in the rotation because Gerrit Cole, the Yankees’ ace and last year’s Cy Young Award winner, has started the year on the IL and won’t return until late June.

So, after today, the 45th game of the season, Schmidt is 5-1 with an ERA of 2.49, and Gil is 4-1 with an ERA of 2.51. Some 4 and 5 starters. Throw in Rodon at 4-2, 3.31 and Stroman at 3-2, 3.33. They are doing as expected. Cortes at 1-4, 4.02 brings up the rear.

Who’d have thought?

Schmidt in his last two outings has given the Yanks something he usually hasn’t. Length. Today he pitched eight shutout innings as the Yanks (30-15) defeated the Twins 5-0.

The Yanks got all the runs they needed after only one batter. Anthony Volpe led off the game with his sixth HR of the season. One out later, Aaron Judge walked. Alex Verdugo singled, and once again, the Yankees took advantage of some bad Twins defense. Gleyber Torres hit what should have been a flyout, but it was played into an RBI double scoring Judge, with Verdugo going to third. 2-0. Anthony Rizzo’s groundout scored Verdugo and the Yanks were up 3-0.

In the top of the sixth, Torres doubled with one out, and Austin Wells hit a two-out single to score Torres to make it 4-0.

The Yanks closed out the scoring in the top of the seventh. With one out, Juan Soto walked, and Judge doubled Soto to third. Alex Verdugo’s SF scored Soto to make it 5-0.

Volpe 2 hits, RBI. Solo HR (6).
Judge 2 hits. Both doubles.
Torres 2 hits, both doubles. RBI.

Schmidt (W, 5-1) 8 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 W, 8 K. 1 HBP. 2.49
V. Gonzalez 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.63

Game 43. Yanks tweak Twins. 5-1.

After giving up a HR to the first batter, Carlos Rodon settled in, and the Yankees (28-15) defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-1.

The Yanks came right back after that 1-0 deficit in that first inning, scoring two runs in the top of the second. Anthony Rizzo led off with a single, Gleyber Torres singled, and Austin Wells singled, thus loading the bases with no outs. Oswaldo Cabrera hit a SF to tie the game and move Torres to third, then Anthony Volpe doubled to make it 2-1, Yankees.

In the top of the third, Giancarlo Stanton made it 3-1 with his ninth HR of the season and 411th of his career. He is now one HR behind Alfonso Soriano on the all-time HR list.

In the top of the fourth, with two out, Juan Soto walked, Aaron Judge singled, and Alex Verdugo doubled in Soto and Judge to make it 5-1, completing the scoring for the game.

Volpe 2 hits, RBI.
Verdugo 2 RBI.
Stanton 2 hits, RBI. Solo HR (9) #411 career.
Torres 2 hits.
Cabrera 2 hits, RBI.

Rodon (W, 4-2) 6+ IP, 1 R, 6 H, 0 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.31
Hamilton 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.82
Holmes 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 0.00

Game 42. 5 HR lead Yanks to 10-6 win, but one guy needed it the most.

The Yankees (27-15) slugged five home runs in beating Tampa Bay 10-6 on Sunday, but one home run was needed in so many ways.

The Yanks jumped on the board immediately when Anthony Volpe led off the game with a triple and scored on a SF by Juan Soto.

In the top of the third, they went up 2-0 when Jahmai Jones, getting a rare start, hit his first MLB HR.

In the top of the fourth, Anthony Rizzo singled, and two outs later, Jose Trevino homered (3) to put the Yanks up 4-0. Trevino wasn’t done.

To the top of the fifth. With one out, Soto singled and Aaron Judge homered (10) to put the Yanks up 6-0.

When Gerrit Cole went down and Luis Gil replaced him in the rotation, who knew what Gil would be right now? You could make an argument that as of now, Gil is the ace of the staff with Cole on the IL. And who would have guessed that? Because with six shutout innings today, Gil improved his record to 4-1, 2.51.

But wait, what about that final score? Well, the Yanks’ bullpen, so good all year, was bad today. In fact, they almost blew a 6-0 lead. Caleb Ferguson, who might just be the worst guy in the bullpen all year so far, was bad in the bottom of the seventh, and Nick Burdi, who replaced him, was bad as well, and they almost blew the six-run lead. Ferguson gave up a leadoff single, then got a strikeout. But then a double and walk loaded the bases. Then Ferguson gave up a grand slam. Ouch. Rays back in the game at 6-4. Burdi relieved Ferguson and couldn’t find the plate. Walk. Walk. HBP. Luke Weaver came in and his first batter he faced was a HBP to make it 6-5 before he got the next two outs to get out of the inning with the Yanks maintaining the lead at 6-5.

Then came the home run that was needed in so many ways. First off, for the Yanks to have a cushion to win the game, but secondly, to take a BIG load off the shoulders of the man who hit it.

Gleyber Torres has been struggling mightily all season. He is a free agent at the end of the season, and with the Yankees needing a ton of money to keep Juan Soto, the writing is on the wall, especially with Gleyber struggling so badly, that Gleyber is most likely gone. Yes, the Yanks have a lot of money, but even at that, there is only so much to go around. Well, with one out in the top of the eighth, and with the game tight now at 6-5, Giancarlo Stanton singled and was PR for by Trent Grisham. Rizzo doubled Grisham to third, bringing up Torres. At this point, I’d just have been happy with a SF for an insurance run. Instead we got three insurance runs. Torres hit a 3-run HR, just his second of the season, to give the Yanks a nice cushion, making the score 9-5. What a load that had to lift off of his shoulders. One out later, Jose Trevino hit his fourth HR of the season, and second of the game to make the score 10-5.

In the bottom of the ninth, Ian Hamilton gave up a HR before closing out the game, so the final score was 10-6.

The Yanks are off tomorrow. They are off to Minnesota for a three-game set, Tue-Wed-Thurs.

Judge 2 hits, 2 RBI. 2-run HR (10)
Rizzo 2 hits
Torres 3-run HR (2)
Trevino 2 hits, 3 RBI. Both hits HR (4) (2-run HR and solo HR)
Jones solo HR (1) FIRST MLB HR

Gil (W, 4-1) 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 W, 3 K. 1 WP. 2.51
Ferguson 1/3 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR (Grand Slam) 6.43
Burdi 0 IP, 1 R, 0 H, 2 W, 0 K. 1 HBP. 1.35 Faced 3 batters. 2 walks, 1 HBP.
Weaver (H, 5) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1 HBP. 2.42
Hamilton 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.10

Game 33. Gopher Balls, Silent offense doom Yanks.

Carlos Rodon gave up 3 homers, Gleyber Torres made another of his errors of nonchalance, and the Yankees’ offense was rendered silent by the Orioles again as they were beaten 7-2 by the Orioles Thursday afternoon to drop their record to 20-13. The Yanks only scored six runs in the four games against Baltimore, losing three of the four.

The Yanks got on the board first, when Anthony Volpe doubled leading off the top of the third and two outs later scored on a single by Anthony Rizzo, helped by an offline throw by the left fielder. (Volpe may have been thrown out at the plate with an on-target throw).

Rodon gave up a solo HR that tied the game in the bottom of the third, then gave up two solo HRs in the bottom of the fourth that put Baltimore up 3-1.

The game got away from the Yankees in the bottom of the fifth when the Orioles scored four runs. A double and single to start the inning made it 4-1. Then a ball hit to Anthony Volpe should have been at least a force out if not a DP. But Gleyber Torres barehanded the throw from Volpe instead of fielding it in his glove hand, and a following triple made it 6-1. A SF made it 7-1.

Torres finally hit his first HR of the season, in game #33, in the top of the sixth, to make it 7-2, but that was it for the scoring.

In a recent post of mine, just yesterday, I mentioned that the Yanks should look into trading Gleyber Torres now. Granted they probably would have to eat a lot of the $14MM salary that Gleyber makes this season. But my reasoning is based on several things. For one, his lack of production. In 33 games, .218-1-7. A replacement could, you would hope, do better. Too bad D.J. isn’t available. Hopefully soon. Maybe Jon Berti when he’s recovered (rehabbing now). My suggestion was to bring up Caleb Durbin from AAA. In the future, maybe Jorbit Vivas. Oswaldo Cabrera is needed at 3B because DJ isn’t available. But Gleyber is killing the Yanks right now. Especially since those numbers are being put up while batting 5, 6 or 7. And this defensive play is the fourth I can think of this year that is a mental mistake. Physical errors happen. Errors that are mental or of nonchalance should not happen, and we have seen that too many times over the years from Gleyber.

Another reason. Gleyber is a free agent after the season. The Yankees #1 priority is to sign Juan Soto, who is a free agent after the season. The money won’t be there for Gleyber. Whether he knows that and if it is affecting his play now, who knows. But see what you can get for him now (which may not be much since his current performance is making his stock drop significantly) instead of losing him for nothing later. Something is better than nothing. And that is another thing. Him being a free agent after the season. Is he pressing even more because he is seeing his stock dropping? Who knows. Anyway, for the Yankees to succeed, they can’t have Gleyber like this much longer. Either he improves or they cut the cord. And since they will be cutting the cord at the end of the season anyway, why not now or at the trade deadline? The only reason why not is the money that Hal would have to eat. But otherwise…

Trent Grisham was 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts, and is now hitting .071. Hopefully Jasson “The Martian” Dominguez starts rehab soon and it goes well. If so, Dominguez could replace Grisham. Grisham plays great D, but the bat is lacking.

20-13 is good, but you are always looking to improve. We will see what happens in several weeks when Cole is back, Dominguez is hopefully ready, DJ is hopefully healthy, Berti could be a utility man off the bench. Kahnle could be coming out of the bullpen. If not Dominguez, maybe Oscar Gonzalez. Prepare for changes between now and the end of June.

Soto 2 hits.
Torres solo HR (1)

Rodon (L, 2-2) 4+ IP, 7 R, 6 ER, 0 W, 6 K, 2 HBP. Gave up 3 HR. 3.68
Marinaccio 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 HBP. 1.86
Tonkin 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 3.95 (3 team ERA)

Before the game, Alex Verdugo back from paternity leave, Carlos Narvaez returned to AAA.

A radical suggestion.

One thing we have seen from Brian Cashman and more so from Hal Steinbrenner since Hal is the one who writes the checks, is the tendency to hold onto players too long. Whether it was Miguel Andujar, Clint Frazier, Gary Sanchez, Joey Gallo, Sonny Gray, Aaron Hicks, the list goes on and on. Long after it was apparent that it was past their expiration date and that it wasn’t working out, Hal kept them.

Now let’s face it. None of us likes to admit that we made a mistake. None of us likes losing money or paying for nothing. Some of these guys had a lot of money still owed them or a lot of years left on their deal or both.

Now the Yanks have a couple of players underachieving right now. I believe Aaron Judge will snap out of it. Obviously, Judge isn’t going anywhere. Not with this year and seven more left on his $40MM per year deal. I’m disappointed so far. 31 games. .207 batting average. 38 strikeouts. A MLB-leading 10 GIDP. Well, if we multiply by 5, we get 155 games, and a pace of 190 strikeouts and ugh, 50 GIDP. Righty hitters who hit the ball hard are going to GIDP. The top five players all time for GIDP are Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, Cal Ripken, Jr., Ivan Rodriguez and Henry Aaron. All righty hitters who hit the ball hard. All Hall of Famers. Judge is also on pace for 30 HR, 90 RBI and 115 walks. Those numbers aren’t bad. If he picks it up, he will have good numbers. So even with bad numbers for him, his pace is still decent with the HR, RBI and walks.

Giancarlo Stanton is what he is. Streaky. The .232 is after a .211 and .191. I don’t think we can see .250 out of him again. On a 30 HR 80 RBI pace. The walk to K ratio of 9/34 is not too good and some pitches he swings at are ridiculous. You wonder how the Yanks can make room for Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez, and the best way is to unload Stanton. How, when he makes $32MM this year and next, $29MM in 2026 ($10MM paid for by the Marlins), and $25MM in 2027 ($10 MM paid for by the Marlins). After the 2027 season, Stanton has a $25MM team option, $10MM buyout, $10MM paid for by the Marlins, and you can bet that buyout will be exercised.

Austin Wells finally got his first HR of the season last night. He seems to be coming around. He has hit into a lot of tough luck, as indicated by his walk to K ratio. He has more walks than whiffs this year. Usually when someone has been horrible, they are whiffing a lot (see Gleyber Torres, who I will be getting to in a moment). But Wells has 12 walks to only 9 whiffs. So, he has been making contact. I think he will be ok.

Now we get to Gleyber Torres, who has played in every game. Remember what I mentioned about Hal hanging on to guys too long because they were paid too much, and he didn’t want to eat the money or because they had too many years left on their contract? Well, what about a guy who is a free agent after the season who you are not going to sign after the season is over? Would Hal be willing to eat money if that player is hurting the team and you are not going to bring him back anyway? Granted it would be a lot but put it this way. After this season, Soto and Torres, among others, are free agents. The Yanks #1 priority is Soto. They will need the money to retain him. Torres is almost certainly gone. Since Torres is doing nothing now (I’ll get into his numbers in just a bit), why not dump him NOW? Granted it will cost. But he is killing you NOW. 31 games. .220. NO HOMERS. ONLY FOUR DOUBLES. Only 6 RBI. 11 walks to 33 strikeouts so his walk to K ratio is not good. His OBP is .295. His slugging average is .254. Read that again. HIS SLUGGING AVERAGE IS WORSE THAN HIS OBP. (Granted Wells is too, But I think Wells will be fine. After all, his OPS+ is 84 (100 is average) as opposed to Gleyber’s 60.). Not only that, but I can think of three defensive plays so far this year that Gleyber has really messed up. I don’t know if he’s thinking about free agency or the fact that with these numbers, his stock is dropping as if it were late October of 1929. Crashing. Or thinking about his soon to be ending Yankees’ future. He can deny it all he wants, but his performance says otherwise.

So can the Yanks find a taker for Gleyber? It surely would send ripples in the clubhouse. Maybe good or maybe bad. But the message would be—WE MEAN BUSINESS. Who would take Gleyber? Who knows. How much money would the Yanks have to eat? Who knows. What would the Yanks get back? Probably not much, what with the other team knowing they may only have a rental for the rest of this season.

Who would play second? Well, I would suggest Caleb Durbin. Who? Durbin is 5’6″ (think Jose Altuve-ish.), 185 pounds. Righty hitter, 24 years old at SWB. Currently at SWB he is hitting .294-2-22 with 12 SB in 13 attempts. 22 walks and only 14 strikeouts. He’s only played 74 games above high A, but in those 74 games total at AA/AAA he has hit around .293 with 6 HR and 39 RBI. 33 SB in 41 attempts. Ok, I am not looking for power here. What do I see? I see a contact hitter. I see speed. 34 walks, 23 strikeouts. Gets his bat on the ball. I see 121 games in the minors at second base with only five errors. Meaning no dumb mistakes like we’ve seen from Gleyber.

Ok, I’ve never seen Durbin play. He is not listed as one of the Yankees’ top 30 prospects. But in looking at his stats, I think I see some other things that I don’t need to see the kid play to realize what the kid may have. Grit. Instincts. Fundamentals. Maybe he plays the game right, and not with a nonchalance that wastes his talent like we have seen Gleyber do at times.

Maybe he uses the whole field, will steal a base, lay down a bunt, go the other way, do the little things. Play the game the right way. BE A SPARKPLUG.

If someone has seen Durbin play, by all means, give us a scouting report.

Would I consider moving Gleyber, eating a lot of what is left on his deal and bringing Durbin up? Yes. It would shake things up and send a message through that clubhouse big time. Heck, if Gleyber reads this blog, maybe it will wake him up. Playing with a chip on your shoulder never hurt anyone.

Not everyone will agree with what I wrote, I understand that. But Hal, if you are going to move someone, why not move someone who you aren’t going to keep after this year anyway? Someone who is doing nothing for you right now?

Gleyber can’t be sent down without his permission. What the Yanks could get for him in a deal, who knows. But they can’t keep hitting him sixth. Not with only six RBI, no HR and 4 doubles in 31 games. Too bad Spencer Jones or Jasson Dominguez don’t play second base. Because that would solve everything.

Game 29. Deja Vu. Yanks put up 15 again. Win 15-5.

It appears that Saturday wasn’t a mirage and that some slumping Yankees really are coming out of their slumps. For the second straight game, the Yankees (19-10) put up 15 runs in a 15-5 win over Milwaukee.

Aaron Judge started the scoring off with a solo HR in the first inning as it seems like he is coming out of his funk. His sixth HR of the season put the Yanks up 1-0.

In the top of the fifth, Anthony Rizzo led off the inning with a single, and after a force out by Gleyber Torres, Oswaldo Cabrera singled Torres to second. After Jose Trevino flied out, Anthony Volpe celebrated his 23rd birthday by hitting a 3-run HR (3), putting the Yanks up 4-0.

Marcus Stroman walked a tightrope for four innings. In one of those innings, he gave up a leadoff triple but stranded the runner on third. His luck ran out in the bottom of the fifth. A walk, a single and a double cut the Yanks lead to 4-1, then ex-Yankee Jake Bauers hit a 3-run HR to tie the game and Stroman’s day was done.

The Yanks came right back with seven runs in the top of the sixth, with the help of a controversial call. Judge led off the inning with a walk. Alex Verdugo grounded into what appeared to be a DP, but Judge, in sliding into second, threw his hand up in the air, and that hand had his sliding mitt on it, much like an oven mitt. That, plus the long arms a guy would have that is 6’7″, got right in the path of the throw to first base. The ball hit Judge’s hand. No interference was called. The Yanks caught a break. A force out instead of a DP. For those of us old enough to remember (like myself) it reminded us of Reggie’s hip action in Game 4 of the 1978 World Series. But no DP, just a force out. Giancarlo Stanton popped up for the second out. So it seemed like no harm, no foul. But the Brewers SHOULD have been out of the inning. Oh, well, all they needed was one more out, right? Instead, the floodgates opened up. Rizzo walked. Torres singled in Verdugo. Rizzo to second. Yanks take a 5-4 lead. Cabrera walks to load the bases. Trevino singles in two runs to make it 7-4 and send Cabrera to third. A wild pitch makes it 8-4 and sends Trevino to second. Volpe walks. Juan Soto singles in Trevino to make it 9-4 and sends Volpe to second. Volpe and Soto execute a double steal. Judge then singles them both in. 11-4.

A bases-loaded walk forced in a run in the bottom of the sixth for Milwaukee to cut the Yankees’ lead to 11-5.

In the top of the seventh, Stanton led off the inning with a single, and advanced to third on a double by Rizzo. After a popup, Cabrera singled in Stanton to make it 12-5, Rizzo stopping at third. Trevino hit a SF to make it 13-5.

In the top of the eighth, Judge led off with a single and was PR for by Taylor Trammell. Verdugo singled Trammell to second. After a DP, Rizzo, who had a great day, homered (5) to make it 15-5. The HR was the 300th of Rizzo’s career.

That finished the scoring. Hopefully the bats stay hot, because now the Yanks go to Baltimore for a test. A showdown against last year’s AL champs, who will probably be (they are so far) the Yanks’ main competition for the AL East title this year.

Volpe 2 hits, 3 RBI. 3-run HR (3) on his birthday.
Judge 3 hits, 3 RBI. Solo HR (6). Looks like he is finally coming around.
Rizzo 4 for 4, 2 RBI. 2-run HR (5). 300th career HR.
Torres 2 hits, RBI. Looks like he is starting to come around. Now for that first HR of the season.
Cabrera 2 hits, RBI.
Trevino 2 hits, 3 RBI.

Stroman 4+ IP, 4 R, 6 H, 5 W, 4 K. 1 HBP. Gave up 1 HR. 3.69
Marinaccio (W, 1-0) 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 2.35
Hamilton 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 1 HBP. 2.93
Tonkin 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 4.63
Ferguson 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 4.76
V. Gonzalez 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 2.61

Game 28. Yanks break out in 15-3 rout.

The best part of the Yankees’ (18-10) 15-3 blowout victory tonight was that some guys who were struggling and who desperately needed some hits, and some big hits, got them tonight. Now there are no guarantees about tomorrow, but everything has to start somewhere.

Take Gleyber Torres for example. After 27 games, he had no HR and only 2 RBI. While Gleyber is still looking for his first HR of the season, with one swing tonight he topped the total number of RBI he had coming into tonight’s game. He needed that. Hopefully it finally gets him going.

A lineup change that manager Aaron Boone made paid immediate dividends. He moved the hot Alex Verdugo into the cleanup spot, and in the bottom of the first inning, after Anthony Volpe led off the game by getting HBP, Juan Soto walked and Aaron Judge whiffed, Verdugo hit a 3-run HR (4) and the Yanks were off and running with a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the first, Carlos Rodon gave up a solo HR, but that was the only chink in his armor tonight. Rodon pitched six innings, giving up only that one run.

In the top of the third inning, Judge led off with a walk, and one out later, Giancarlo Stanton walked. Anthony Rizzo got an infield single to load the bases then the struggling Torres finally came through with a double that cleared the bases to put the Yanks up 6-1.

In the top of the fifth, Rizzo got a one-out single, and Torres reached on an error to put runners on first and second. After an out, Oswaldo Cabrera singled in Rizzo to make it 7-1.

In the top of the sixth, Soto walked, and Judge hit a 2-run HR (5) to make it 9-1. Verdugo singled, and one out later Rizzo hit a 2-run HR (4) to up the Yanks’ lead to 11-1.

The Brewers, down by so many runs, used a position player to pitch, and the Yanks, who emptied their bench, tacked on four more runs in the top of the ninth. Volpe led off the inning with a walk, then Taylor Trammell singled Volpe to second. Jahmai Jones singled to load the bases and Verdugo hit a SF to make it 12-1. Stanton then hit a 3-run HR (6, #408 of his career) to make it 15-1.

Up so many runs, the Yankees decided to save their bullpen and let catcher Jose Trevino pitch the bottom of the ninth since they had a fourteen-run lead. He gave up two runs, but at that point who cared.

Taylor Trammell 1 for 1
Judge 2 hits, 2 RBI. 2-run HR (5)
Jahmai Jones 1 for 1
Verdugo 3 hits, 4 RBI. 3-run HR (4)
Stanton 2 hits, 3 RBI. 3-run HR (6) #408 of career. One HR behind Mark Teixeira on all-time HR list.
Rizzo 3 hits, 2 RBI. 2-run HR (4)
Torres 3 hits, 3 RBI. He needed that. Came into game with 2 RBI in first 27 games.
Wells 2 hits. Another guy who needed a multi-hit game.

Rodon (W, 2-1) 6 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 8 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.48
Weaver 2 IP, 0 R 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 3.57
Trevino 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 0 K. 18.00 POSITION PLAYER

The Rodon we need to see. Guys struggling with the bat broke out. A good night.

Game 26. Wasted chances cost Yanks in 3-1 loss.

Eleven hits. Just one run. The Yanks (17-9) had their chances and did not take advantage of them. Then, late in the game, they had to face the A’s Mason Miller, which you don’t want to do. The result? A 3-1 loss.

In the bottom of the first, the Yanks loaded the bases with no one out and didn’t score. Strikeout and GIDP.

Jose Trevino homered (2) in the bottom of the second for the Yanks only run of the game.

Nestor Cortes pitched well but had one bad inning which cost the Yanks the game. In the top of the third, he gave up a one-out HR followed by a single. He then got a strikeout, but that was followed by a 2-run HR for all of Oakland’s runs for the ballgame.

The Yanks had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but the old GIDP struck again.

Once the game got into the late innings, Oakland brought in their closer, Mason Miller, who throws a 103 MPH fastball. He’s nasty, and twice in this four-game series against the Yankees, he struck out Juan Soto. If there is any way the Yanks can trade for him and not give up Spencer Jones or Jasson Dominguez, they should go for it. Miller, 25, is electric. If not, when he becomes a free agent, who knows.

The Yanks just could not get the big hit tonight.

Volpe 2 hits.
Torres 2 hits.
Verdugo 2 hits.
Trevino 2 hits, RBI. Solo HR (2).

Cortes (L, 1-2) 7 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 0 W, 4 K. Gave up 2 HR. 3.50
D. Santana 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 4.63
V. Gonzalez 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.89

Game 21. Yanks get shutout. Lose in 10, 2-0.

When you saw the lineup for today’s game, you had your fears. Aaron Judge DH’d, which meant Giancarlo Stanton was not in the lineup. They only problem is, Judge hasn’t been hitting, and we are 21 games into the season now. And Judge didn’t hit today, taking the golden sombrero, 0 for 4 with 4 strikeouts. 21 games into the season, Judge is at .179-3-11, with 27 strikeouts. You really wonder if it is a slump or if he is playing injured. Maybe he needs to be taken out of the lineup for a few games, review video of what he did in his unbelievable 2022 season and see what adjustments he needs to make. Clear his head. See what he is doing wrong now that he was doing right then. A few days off wouldn’t hurt right now.

Also out of the lineup was Gleyber Torres, who in his first 20 games, had no HR and only two RBI. Jahmai Jones, who has hardly played at all this season, was at 2B instead, and he went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts as he is looking for his first hit of the season.

Trent Grisham was in CF today, and after an 0 for 2, he is looking for his first hit of the season as well. Add into that Austin Wells who caught today (day game after a night game, and a righty starter for Tampa Bay), and Wells, after an 0 for 2 today, is at .091. Put all that together, and our fears of today’s lineup were justified as the Yankees (14-7) were shut out today in losing to Tampa Bay 2-0 in ten innings.

Nestor Cortes was fabulous, pitching seven shutout innings, but it was for naught.

The problem with going extras is that you look into the bullpen and not everyone is available. Which guys were used heavily recently? Who is available? The one guy the Yanks had to go to in the top of the tenth was the one guy who so far, has not adjusted well to the pinstripes—Caleb Ferguson, who so far, has the worst record among the Yankees pitchers. Hopefully he turns it around soon, but he gave up two runs in the top of the tenth and that was enough for the Yanks to lose the game, especially since their offense didn’t put anything on the board.

The Yanks only got four hits in the game, two by guess who? Yup. Juan Soto.

Soto 2 hits.

Cortes 7 IP, 0 R, 6 H, 0 W 9 K. 3.41
Weaver 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 5.40
Holmes 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 0.00
Ferguson (L, 0-3) 1 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. 6.23

Game 14. First game of day/night DH. Oswaldo’s blast leads Yanks past Cleveland, 3-2.

The noontime start was the makeup of last night’s rainout, and the Yankees (11-3) won the day portion of today’s day/night doubleheader, squeaking past Cleveland, 3-2, thanks to a 2-run HR by Oswaldo Cabrera.

The Yanks had a lot of chances in this game, but barely capitalized. They did just enough.

In the top of the second inning, they loaded the bases with none out when Alex Verdugo and Cabrera walked, and Jose Trevino singled. Verdugo scored when Trent Grisham GIDP.

In the top of the sixth, Verdugo led off the inning with a double, and Cabrera followed with his HR (3) to put the Yankees up 3-0.

Clarke Schmidt was doing swell, except for control issues. He wasn’t giving up hits, but the walks were the issues, still, he shouldn’t have given up any runs. In the bottom of the sixth, he did falter, giving up back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. He then was pulled for Caleb Ferguson, who got a strikeout. Ferguson then gave up a walk that loaded the bases. But then a grounder looked like it would be an inning ending DP. Gleyber Torres got the force out, but then threw the ball away for a two-base error, which allowed two runs to score. Ferguson got out of the inning, but Cleveland had cut the lead to 3-2.

Even though both teams had minor threats from then on, neither team scored, and the Yanks held on to win, 3-2.

Judge 2 hits.
Rizzo 2 hits.
Verdugo 2 hits.
Cabrera 2 RBI. 2-run HR (3).
Trevino 2 hits.

Schmidt (W, 1-0) 5+ IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 5 W, 7 K 3.68
Ferguson (H, 3) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K 1.50
Hamilton (H, 4) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K 2.61
Holmes (S, 6) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K 0.00