While Aaron Judge homered again, it was the bats of Anthony Volpe and Isiah Kiner-Falefa that were the big stars in the Yankees’ (34-23) 10-2 win over Seattle Tuesday night.
Volpe hit a 3-run HR and IKF went 4 for 5 with 4 RBI.
Before the game, Jose Trevino was activated off of the IL, and Ben Rortvedt was sent down. Also, Harrison Bader was put on the 10-day IL, and Franchy Cordero called up from SWB.
Anthony Rizzo was still out with a stiff neck, and as a result, IKF was in the unfamiliar position of #5 in the lineup.
The Yanks struck right away with three runs in the top of the first inning. With one out and the bases loaded, IKF hit a 2-run single. Jake Bauers followed with a SF.
In the top of the third, Volpe hit a 3-run HR (8) to make it 6-0.
Greg Allen homered (1) for the Yanks in the top of the fourth to make it 7-0.
Nestor Cortes, for whatever reason, has had the fifth-inning blues this season. He’s fine for the first four innings, then hits a wall when the fifth inning or third time around the order happens. It happened again last night as he gave up two runs in the bottom of the fifth. By that time, he’d thrown 101 pitches and was done.
Judge homered (18) in the top of the seventh to make it 8-2.
In the top of the ninth, IKF singled in two runs to make it 10-2, which wound up being the final score.
Torres 2 hits. Judge solo HR (AL leading 18; leads MLB in SA, OPS, OPS+) Calhoun 2 hits. Kiner-Falefa 4 hits, 4 RBI Volpe 3-run HR (8). Allen solo HR (1).
Cortes (W, 5-2) 5 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 3 W, 6 K. 5.16 King 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 3 K. 1.76 Weber 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.92
I do wonder why, with a big lead, Matt Krook wasn’t used. He could have made his MLB debut and gotten his feet wet. Oh, well.
The Yanks are still in third place in the AL East, but have now closed the gap to 5 behind Tampa Bay and 2 behind Baltimore.
Aaron Judge hit 2 homers and almost a third (a double off the wall) and robbed a Mariner of a HR in the Yanks’ (33-23) 10-4 win late last night in Seattle.
During the game, Harrison Bader had to be removed due to right hamstring tightness. He will have an MRI today and the IL is a possibility.
The Yanks struck first in the top of the second when Bader singled, stole second, went to third on an error and scored on a double by Jake Bauers.
Yanks’ starter Domingo German gave up a run in the bottom of the second and the game was tied at one.
Judge’s first HR of the game, a 2-run shot, made it 3-1 in the top of the third. Soon after that, Bader tweaked his hammy in beating out an infield hit.
Bauers hit a solo HR (3) in the top of the fourth to put the Yanks up 4-1. German gave up a run via a HR by Julio Rodriguez in the bottom of the inning and it was 4-2.
The Yanks made it 8-2 with four runs in the top of the fifth. Gleyber Torres led off the inning with a single and Judge doubled off the wall, sending Torres to third. Willie Calhoun doubled in two runs to make it 6-2. After an out, Greg Allen (in for Bader) was HBP. After another out, Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled in both runners to make it 8-2.
German struggled with J-Rod again in the bottom of the fifth, as he singled in two runs for Seattle to make it 8-4.
In the top of the sixth, Judge hit his second HR of the game (AL Leading 17th) to make it 9-4.
Ron Marinaccio came in for German in the seventh and got two straight strikeouts with runners on second and third to get out of a jam.
In the bottom of the eighth, Judge went high above the fence and robbed Teoscar Hernandez of a HR.
Kyle Higashioka got an RBI single in the top of the ninth to make the score 10-4, and it ended that way.
Giancarlo Stanton will begin rehab today (Tuesday) with Somerset, joining Josh Donaldson and Tommy Kahnle there.
Torres 2 hits. Judge 3 hits, double and 2 HR (2-run and solo) (17), 3 RBI and he robbed a Mariner of a HR. Calhoun 2 hits, 2 RBI Bader 2 for 2, removed from game with right hamstring tightness. Bauers 3 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (3). Kiner-Falefa 2 hits, 2 RBI. Higashioka 2 hits, RBI.
German (W, 3-3) 6 1/3 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 3 W, 4 K. 1 HBP. Gave up 1 HR. 3.98 Marinaccio 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1 WP. 4.00 Abreu 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 3.58
Nestor Cortes, Jr. has had a problem this year. For the first four innings, he’s been the Nasty Nestor of the past two years. But this year, in the fifth inning or in the third time around the order, he has been imploding. It’s a Jekyll and Hyde thing. Great for four, but after that ….
It appeared last night would be different. Except for one blip, Nestor was good through six innings. Once he got through the fifth and sixth, you thought that he had figured it out for this evening.
Then came the seventh, and things fell apart quickly. Not only for Nestor, but also for Jimmy Cordero, who relieved him. The Yanks saw a 5-1 lead disappear as the Orioles scored eight runs in the top of the seventh on their way to defeating the Yankees by a 9-6 score. The loss snapped the Yankees (30-21) five-game winning streak.
The Yanks had struck first in the bottom of the third. Isiah Kiner-Falefa tripled, and Gleyber Torres hit his first of two home runs for the night to give the Yanks a 2-0 lead.
Cortes gave up a HR in the top of the fourth and it was 2-1. But for six innings, that was the only run Cortes gave up.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Kiner-Falefa, not known for power at all, hit a 2-run homer (3) to make the score 4-1. Torres immediately followed with his second HR of the game (9) to make the score 5-1.
But then in the top of the seventh, Cortes walked the leadoff man, gave up a single, then gave up a 3-run HR that hit the RF foul pole and it was 5-4. Cordero relieved him. Single, single, double and Baltimore now had a 6-5 lead. An out, passed ball and walk put runners at first and third with one out. Albert Abreu replaced Cordero. A SF made it 7-5. A single and error made it 8-5. Another single and it was 9-5. Ouch.
Anthony Rizzo got an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, and after that single, the Yanks still had the bases loaded with just one out, but they couldn’t add on.
Final 9-6, Baltimore. The Yanks struck out 13x.
Torres 2 hits, both HR (9) (2-run and a solo HR) 3 RBI. Judge 3 walks. Kiner-Falefa 2 hits. Triple and HR (3). 2 RBI.
Cortes 6+ IP, 4 R, 5 H, 2 W, 5 K. Gave up 2 HR. 5.30 Last year 2.44 ERA. Yanks need to get him right. J. Cordero (L, 3-2) (BS, 1) 1/3 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.80 Abreu 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 4.01 N. Ramirez 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.08
Aaron Judge homered to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, and rookie SS and #1 prospect Anthony Volpe hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the tenth to give the Yankees (30-20) a 6-5 come from behind victory over Baltimore Tuesday night. It was the Yankees’ fifth straight win.
Gerrit Cole got his 2,000th career strikeout, but otherwise wasn’t sharp last night. With two out in the top of the first inning, Cole walked two straight batters, then gave up a two-run double and the Yanks were down 2-0.
He gave up solo homers in the third and fourth to put the Yanks into a 4-0 hole.
Harrison Bader homered (5) in the bottom of the fourth for the Yanks to cut the lead to 4-1, then the Yanks scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game.
Oswaldo Cabrera led off with a single and went to second on a single by Gleyber Torres. After Judge lined out, Anthony Rizzo doubled in one run. A single by D.J. LeMahieu brought home Torres, and Rizzo scored on a Bader SF.
Cole probably should have been pulled at that point, but he started the top of the sixth and gave up two singles to start the inning. Ron Marinaccio relieved him, and things got hairy. One run did score to give the Orioles a 5-4 lead, and the final out was Cedric Mullins (who homered earlier) just missing a grand slam, as he flied out deep to Judge in right.
In the bottom of the seventh, with one out and runners at the corners, D.J. LeMahieu twice tried to bunt the runner home. Instead, Torres was out at home. Manager Aaron Boone said D.J. was doing that on this own. There is a time for that, but that didn’t seem to be the time. Try it first, ok (he fouled that one off) but not a second time. That was a real head-scratcher.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Judge tied the game up with his fourteenth HR of the season.
Michael King stopped Baltimore and its ghost runner in the top of the tenth, leaving the runner at second. In the bottom of the tenth, Isiah Kiner-Falefa was the ghost runner for the Yankees, as he PR for LeMahieu. Bader grounded out, and that moved IKF to third. Willie Calhoun was intentionally walked as the Orioles hoped for a DP to get out of the inning, but Volpe flied to CF for a game-winning sac fly.
Torres 2 hits. Judge solo HR (14). HR tied game in bottom of 9th. Rizzo 3 hits, RBI. Bader 2 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (5) Volpe GW SF
Cole 5+ IP, 5 R, 6 H, 3 W, 2 K. Gave up 2 HR. 2.53 2000th Career K. Marinaccio 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 3.75 Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.83 King (W, 1-1) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 1.95
Off night for Cole, but five scoreless IP by the bullpen.
Luis Severino pitched 4 2/3 innings, giving up only one disputed run in coming off the IL. It was Sevy’s first start of the season. Now we continue to wait on Rodon’s return.
The Yanks beat the Reds, 4-1, Sunday in a game that started at 11:35 AM Eastern Time. With the win, the Yanks swept the three-game series from Cincinnati. Tomorrow (Monday) is an off day for the Yanks. It was the fourth win in a row for New York, sixth in the last seven games and 11th in the last 14 games. After ending April at 15-14, the 29-20 Yanks have gone 14-6 so far this month.
Aaron Judge was given the day off so that with the off day on Monday, he’d have two days off before the Yanks take on Baltimore and San Diego in the upcoming days.
Severino gave up his only run in the bottom of the first inning. A leadoff walk, then two outs, but then a fly ball down the RF line was originally ruled foul but then overturned to fair. The umpires ruled the runner to score and placed the batter on second. Manager Aaron Boone argued against the run scoring and was ejected. (Reds’ manager David Bell would be ejected later in the game). The runner was going on the pitch with two out, so he probably WOULD have scored, but once the ball was incorrectly called foul, everyone stopped. I think Boone’s argument was that if they were going to overrule the call with the correct call and give a double and two bases, then the runner should not be given the run but be stopped at third.
The umps must have had a tough time waking up for the early start. Sevy picked off a runner only after the original call was overturned, and Anthony Volpe was called out on strikes on a pitch a replay clearly showed was high for a ball.
The 1-0 score stood until the top of the fifth, when Harrison Bader hit a 2-run HR (4) to give the Yanks the lead. That trade of Montgomery for Bader doesn’t look too bad now. Monty is doing OK with the Cardinals, 4.21 ERA but only a 2-6 record to show for it. Since the deal he is 8-9, 3.60. Looks like he isn’t getting much help over there. It’d be nice to have Monty but boy, can Bader go get them in CF and he is showing more power than we thought (5 HR in last year’s postseason and 4 already this year). Bader is bringing a great deal of energy.
Gleyber Torres upped the lead to 3-1 in the top of the sixth with his seventh HR of the season.
In the top of the seventh, Jake Bauers walked with two out, and newly acquired Greg Allen ran for him. Allen stole second and went to third on a WP. Anthony Volpe doubled home Allen to make the score 4-1.
Clay Holmes gave us a scare in the bottom of the ninth by loading the bases before closing out the game.
Because Sevy was coming off the IL and had a pitch limit, he was pulled one out away from earning the victory.
In my post regarding Game #47, I mentioned how the Yanks traded for Greg Allen. Allen was added to the major league team right away and in order to make room for him, the Yanks DFA’d Aaron Hicks, eating the rest of his contract.
It may have been a surprise move to some, that the Yanks would eat that much money remaining on the contract (I’d guess about $28MM and the rest of this year plus two more years?) but it was a long time coming. Hicks was hitting just .188-1-5 this year with an OPS+ of only 46 (100 is average). Since his best year of 2018 (.248-27-79, OPS+ 127 and 22nd in MVP voting), Hicks only hit .218 with an OPS+ of 92 whiles being frequently injured. His defense also has suffered, and the former CF was moved to LF what with Harrison Bader taking over the CF job. From 2017-2020, Hicks’ OPS+ was 120, but injuries hurt his 2017 and 2019 seasons, and Covid shortened the 2020 season to 60 games. The big drop-off in Hicks’ production started in 2021 when more injuries limited him to 32 games. He hasn’t been the same since.
Allen doesn’t have the power Hicks does, but does have more speed and unlike Hicks, who has been a starter, has been a bench player for his whole career, so he doesn’t have to adapt to the role like Hicks has had to this year. Like Hicks, Allen is a switch-hitter.
As for the game, the Yanks rode Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo to a 7-4, 10-inning win. Catcher Ben Rortvedt made his Yankees’ debut and got hits in his first two plate appearances.
Jhony Brito struggled and was sent down to AAA after the game to make room for today’s starter, Luis Severino, who will be coming off the IL and will be making his season debut today. It will be a strange starting time today (Sunday) of 11:35 AM.
The Reds struck first in yesterday’s game, getting a run in the bottom of the first. Brito hurt himself with a walk and a balk before giving up an RBI single.
The Yanks came right back in the top of the third to tie the game. Rortvedt doubled in his first ever Yankee at bat and was brought home on a single by Judge.
The Reds took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third. Once again, Brito hurt himself. After getting the first two hitters out, he walked the next three batters then gave up an infield single.
In the bottom of the fourth, Brito once again couldn’t close things out with two out. He got the first two hitters, then gave up a single and a 2-run HR and the Yanks were in a 4-1 hole.
They came right back to tie the game at four each with three runs in the top of the fifth. Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a solo HR (2) with one out in the inning. Rortvedt and Gleyber Torres followed with singles. Judge doubled in a run to make it 4-3. Rizzo singled to tie the game, but Judge was thrown out at the plate on a bad send by third base coach Luis Rojas. It hurt at the time because D.J. LeMahieu singled right afterward. You think, hey, Judge would have then scored, but then you have the fallacy of the predetermined outcome. Oh, well.
The game stayed tied and went into the tenth inning. Allen, who arrived in the middle of the game, pinch-ran for Rortvedt as the ghost runner in the top of the tenth. He was moved to third on a flyout by Torres, and you thought that Cincinnati would then walk Judge to try to get out of the inning by making Rizzo GIDP. Instead, they pitched to Judge, and Judge broke the tie with an RBI single—his fourth hit of the day—to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead. But it didn’t matter if the Reds would have walked Judge, for (but once again, the fallacy of the predetermined outcome) Rizzo homered (11) to give the Yanks a cushion with a 7-4 lead, and that is the way the game ended.
The Yankees are 28-20 (3rd in AL East, 6 1/2 out), and even with some guys still out (most notably Stanton, Donaldson, Rodon, Montas, Loaisiga, Hamilton, and I won’t list guys who won’t even be back at all this year like Trivino and Effross) are 13-6 this month.
The AL East is one tough division. Toronto is 25-21, which isn’t a bad record, but they are in LAST place in the division.
Torres 2 hits. Judge 4 for 4 with a walk, 3 RBI. Rizzo 2 hits, 3 RBI. 2-run HR (11). Kiner-Falefa solo HR (2). Rortvedt 2 hits. (First two at bats as a Yankee, two hits. Yankee debut).
Brito 4 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 4 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 1 balk. 5.58 Sent to AAA after game. Marinaccio 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 4.09 King 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 2.10 Holmes (W, 2-2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.44 Weber (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K 3.68
The Yankee bullpen tossed six shutout innings, giving up just one hit.
Nestor Cortes wasn’t the Nasty Nestor we’ve known during the past few starts. One concerning thing was that his ERA for the first 4 innings was great at 1.97, but it was over 16 from the fifth inning on.
Cortes rectified that tonight in the Yankees (26-20) 4-2 win over Toronto, going six strong innings.
The Yanks bullpen was shorthanded due to overwork, but Ryan Weber, Albert Abreu and Ron Marinaccio combined to do the job.
Cortes got backing from the Captain and the Kid.
Gleyber Torres led off the game with a single, and Aaron Judge homered (12) to make it 2-0 right away. Judge just killed the Blue Jays in this four-game series with four HR.
Cortes gave up a HR to Bo Bichette in the bottom of the first, and the score was 2-1.
It stayed 2-1 until the seventh. In the top of the seventh, Oswaldo Cabrera doubled, and Aaron Hicks got an RBI single to make it 3-1.
Cortes left after a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, and Ryan Weber gave up a single and a walk. Things didn’t look good as Toronto had the bases loaded with one out. But Weber got a flyout with no advance. PH Vlad Guerrero, Jr., always scary, was held to a SF to make the score 3-2 but Weber got a flyout for the third out to preserve the Yankees’ lead.
In the top of the ninth, Anthony Volpe homered (7) off the foul screen to give the Yanks an insurance run. 4-2 final.
Volpe, just 22, is only hitting .215, but he does has 7 HR and 13 SB in 46 games. Imagine what he could do if he can raise that average 50 points.
Besides his HR, Judge also had a double that just missed being a second HR of the night by about a foot.
Cortes (W, 4-2) 6+ IP, 2 R, 5 H, 1 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 5.21 Weber (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 4.26 Abreu (H, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K 4.71 Marinaccio (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.50
Josh Donaldson had a setback, slicing a thumb in a home accident. Jose Trevino to the 10-day IL with a strained hamstring. Ben Rortvedt called up. Ian Hamilton will be out 4-6 weeks.
Wandy Peralta gave up a three-run HR in the bottom of the tenth inning and the Yankees (25-20) lost to Toronto 3-0 Wednesday night.
The Yanks had their best chances to score in the eighth and tenth innings. In the eighth, with two out, the Yanks drew three straight walks, but PH Anthony Volpe struck out to end the inning.
In the top of the tenth, PR Isiah Kiner-Falefa (the ghost runner) was on third with one out but Gleyber Torres struck out. After Aaron Judge was intentionally walked, Anthony Rizzo struck out.
It was a great pitcher’s duel until the unfortunate ending.
The Yankees only got three hits in the game and made three errors.
Judge 1 for 3, 2 walks. Calhoun 1 for 3, walk. Cabrera 0 for 4, 3 strikeouts. Torres 0 for 5, 2 strikeouts.
Cole 6 IP, 0 R, 7 H, 2 W, 6 K. 2.01 Holmes 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.63 J. Cordero 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 0 K. 2.37 King 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 0 K. 2.28 Peralta (L, 2-1) 1/3 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up GW 3-run walk-off HR. 2.16
Luis Severino will come off the IL and start on Sunday for the Yankees. No corresponding move yet.
Nick Ramirez was brought up to replace Ian Hamilton, who went on the IL.
There has been a lot of B.S. in Toronto the last few games. In hitting his second HR of the game on Monday night, Aaron Judge was caught glancing into the dugout shortly before hitting the HR. People accused him of picking up a sign and cheating. Judge, as well as manager Aaron Boone, explained that Judge was looking over to see who was still chirping at the umpire after Boone had gotten ejected for arguing a bad call on Judge—a strike that once again, was too low for Judge. Judge wanted to also give a signal that “hey, shut up now, I am hitting here.”
Of course, not everyone bought that explanation, and instead wanted to state that Judge, one of the most loved and respected players in the game—a decent player who doesn’t show up anyone—was cheating.
Judge answered those people with a 2-run HR that broke open a tie game and was the winning blow in a 6-3 Yankees (25-19) win over Toronto last night. This time his eyes didn’t move off the pitcher. Take that!
The game wasn’t above other controversy though. And besides controversy, other problems for the Yanks. Both teams sniped at each other for where their base coaches were standing. It was so petty. One thing is for sure. If I were a third base coach and Judge was at bat, I would not be in the coaches’ box but as far back as legally possible. A foul liner off of Judge’s bat, if it hit me in the head, could kill me. The B.S. about where the coaches were standing was juvenile.
The scoring started when the Yanks scored two runs in the top of the third. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (IKF), who had a huge night, walked to start off the inning. Jose Trevino, who also had a big night, singled IKF to third. Gleyber Torres singled in a run. After Judge struck out, Harrison Bader hit a grounder that turned into a DP (Torres’ baserunning last night left something to be desired) but Trevino scored before the out on Torres at third so the Yanks were up 2-0.
Yankees’ starter Domingo German retired each of the first nine batters he faced but was ejected before the bottom of the fourth inning due to having too much stickiness on his hand. This is similar to the situation Max Scherzer of the Mets had last month, and Scherzer got a 10-game suspension out of it along with the ejection. We can expect the same for German. German had trouble with this same umpiring crew regarding rosin last month. Now it happened again. German claimed it was rosin on his hand. The umpires claimed it was something else that was stickier than rosin. One thing is for sure, and that is that German crossed the line, but MLB needs to define better what the line is as far as rosin is concerned. David Cone, a former pitcher, had a good video recently showing that in trying to wipe off rosin, that alcohol with water (I may be wrong here as far as what all it was) made the rosin even stickier in trying to get rid of the rosin. There is something going on, and MLB has to be better at defining what the line is, and in having something to remove rosin without making things worse.
Anyway, no German for a while. While the Yanks will be getting Luis Severino back shortly (see my minor league report for how Sevy did last night), the Yanks were shorthanded in the rotation to begin with, and a German suspension doesn’t help. You can’t call up someone from the minors just because of a suspension. Expect a couple of bullpen games while German is out.
To make matters worse, the pitcher who replaced German in the game was Ian Hamilton, who had to be pulled a bit later because of right groin tightness, and he is bound for the IL. I’d expect Greg Weissert to be recalled. If not him, then maybe Matt Krook or Nick Ramirez.
Back to the game. In the top of the fifth, IKF, not one for power, hit his first HR of the season to give the Yanks a 3-0 lead. But Ron Marinaccio gave up the lead as the Blue Jays scored three times in the bottom of the fifth.
That led to Judge answering the critics with his 2-run HR (11) in the eighth. The Yanks added another run in the ninth on a double by IKF, who came around on a couple of flyouts, with Torres getting the SF.
The win moved the Yanks into a virtual tie for third in the AL East with Toronto (Toronto is percentage points ahead), 7 1/2 back of Tampa Bay.
Yankees’ ace Gerrit Cole is on the mound tonight for the Yankees.
Torres 2 hits, 2 RBI but also out twice on the basepaths with baserunning mistakes. Judge 2-run HR (11) Take that, critics! Kiner-Falefa 2 hits, RBI. Solo HR (1). Trevino 3 for 3.
German 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 9 up, 9 down. but ejected & 10-game suspension coming up. 3.75 Hamilton 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 2 K. 1.23 IL stint coming up. Marinaccio (BS, 3) 1 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.74 Weber (W, 1-0) 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 W, 0 K. 5.06 Holmes (H, 3) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.86 Peralta (S, 3) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 1.65 Has he replaced Holmes as closer?
Quick notes: Great job by Weber. Also, Bader’s defense is unreal.
The Yanks (21-18) lost Thursday night to Tampa Bay, 8-2.
Domingo German pitched well, but …. I ‘ll get to that in a moment.
He gave up an unearned run in the top of the fifth. Anthony Rizzo made a two-out error, then a double put the Rays up 1-0.
In the top of the sixth, manager Aaron Boone made a move that had me screaming. German got the first two guys out, then gave up a walk. Boone had the quick hook again. Remember when he pulled German with one out in the ninth, a 2-0 lead, man on, German having pitched a two-hit shutout to that point, and it all backfired into a 3-2 loss?
Well, in 8 starts this year, Boone has pulled German in the middle of an inning 5 times. And it’s basically backfired each time. 10 runs, not all charged to German, have ensued. You think Boone would learn his lesson. Nope.
So instead of leaving German in to get one more out and get out of the inning, he brought in Ron Marinaccio. It backfired again. Marinaccio gave up a hit, HBP and then a bases-clearing double. 4-0 Rays, and with the way the Yanks were hitting (or not hitting) last night, game over.
Boone’s move may not have made a big difference anyway, because the Yanks didn’t score until two outs in the ninth on a Gleyber Torres single.
Meanwhile, Marinaccio wasn’t the only bullpen guy who didn’t have it. Tampa Bay got a run off of Albert Abreu, then three off of Ryan Weber, who was brought up earlier in the day when Deivi Garcia was sent back down.
But Boone? If German is doing well, next time… .leave him in to finish the inning.
Torres 2 RBI Bauers 2 hits.
German (L, 2-3) 5 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 W, 3 K. 4.00 Marinaccio 1/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. 1 HBP 2.70 Abreu 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 W, 0 K. 5.09 Weber 2 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 13.50 Season debut.
So far Aaron Judge has been ok, but not AARON JUDGE. 39 K in 102 at bats. 6 HR. A bit of a hangover after last year’s greatness? Hopefully he gets back to being AARON JUDGE soon.
The Sommer Frieze 
