Game 44. Yanks fall back to 2nd after 2-1, 11 inning loss.

For the second week in a row, Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees and Blake Snell of the Rays went at it mano-a-mano in a pitcher’s duel. Although Tanaka pitched six scoreless innings, the Yanks (27-17) lost in 11 innings, 2-1.

The Yanks scored their only run of the game in the third inning. With one out, Brett Gardner and D.J. LeMahieu singled and Luke Voit walked. After Aaron Hicks struck out, Snell threw a WP, allowing a run to score. Gary Sanchez struck out to end the inning.

It was an awful day for Sanchez, who struck out each of the first four times he came to bat, and GIDP to end the game in his last at bat.

In the top the sixth, with a man on second and two out, a liner up the middle struck Tanaka’s shin and ricocheted to Luke Voit at first. Voit stepped on the bag for the third out. The richochet saved what at that time was the tying run. Although X-rays were negative, Tanaka is still questionable for his next start with a contusion.

In the bottom of the sixth, with one out, Aaron Hicks reached second on an error. With two out, Gleyber Torres singled, but Hicks (who ran through a stop sign) was gunned down at the plate.

In the top of the seventh, Tommy Kahnle gave up HR to the first batter he faced, and that tied the game at 1.

In the bottom of the ninth, Gio Urshela almost won another game by himself. After fouling off a ton of pitches and working a LONG at bat, he drilled one to RCF that was caught just in front of the wall.

In the top of the eleventh, Luis Cessa gave up a HR, and that was the ballgame. 2-1 Rays.

Because of the DH the other day, Chad Green will be the Yanks’ “opener” tomorrow. It will be a bullpen game, and it will be interesting how Aaron Boone manages it.

Hicks 2 hits.
Sanchez 0 for 5. Struck out first 4 times up, Game ending DP last time.
Urshela 2 hits.
Clint Frazier slumping. 8 for his last 48.

It looks like we may be getting Didi Gregorius and Giancarlo Stanton back in about 2-3 weeks.

There will then be interesting decisions to be made then. Who goes? Probably Estrada for Didi, but who for Stanton? Morales? Maybin?

Tanaka 6 IP,  0 R, 3 H, 0 W, 6 K.  3.09
Kahnle (BS, 1) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  1.50 Gave up 1 HR.
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  2.66
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  2.04
Holder 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  4.09
Cessa (L, 0-1, 3.60) 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.  Gave up 1 HR.

 

 

 

Advertisements

Game 43. Yanks shock Rays with 3 in 9th to win 4-3. Take over first place.

The Yankees (27-16) scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to shock Tampa Bay 4-3 and take over first place by 1/2 a game over the Rays.

And guess who the hero was again? Yup, Gio Urshela.

Kendrys Morales started the game’s scoring by hitting his second HR of the season—and first as a Yankee—in the second inning. 1-0 Yanks.

CC Sabathia pitched great, his only mistake coming when he served up a gopher ball in the fourth that tied the game at 1.

In the eighth, Chad Green gave up a double, and was one strike away from getting out of the inning, but a double, and an infield single with a throwing error on the play by Gleyber Torres gave the Rays two runs. There was a rain delay in the bottom of the eighth.

But going into the bottom of the ninth, the Yanks were down 3-1. Luke Voit led off the inning with a HR (11). Gary Sanchez singled and Thairo Estrada ran for him. Morales struck out but Torres worked a great at bat and on the tenth pitch, doubled Estrada to third. Clint Frazier was intentionally walked. Cameron Maybin PH for Brett Gardner, and Rays’ pitcher Jose Alvarado threw a WP that tied the game. Maybin grounded into a fielder’s choice, Torres out at home. That made it two outs, runners at first and third. Maybin stole second to take away the force. Urshela then singled to win the game.

Voit 3 hits, solo HR (11).
Morales solo HR, his first as a Yankee, in his second Yankees’ game.
Urshela 3 hits, GW RBI, .347

Sabathia 6 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 2 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR.  2.97
Ottavino 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.  1.64
Kahnle 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  1.06
Green 1 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 W, 0 K.  13.97
Holder (W, 3-1, 4.29) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.

 

Game 40. Yanks beat Rays, 7-1.

With all of the injuries, the Yanks still hit the quarter-pole of the season at 24-16 after a 7-1 win over Tampa Bay today.  With the win the Yanks climb back to within a 1/2 game of the Rays.

They won despite striking out 17x. In return, Yankees’ pitchers struck out 12 Rays.

It started out as a pitcher’s duel between Masahiro Tanaka, who was great today, and last year’s CYA winner Blake Snell. Snell early on was mowing down the Yanks.

But with two out in the fifth, Austin Romine and Mike Tauchman doubled, Romine scoring on Tauchman’s double, and Tauchman scored on a single by D.J. LeMahieu.

Tanaka’s only mistake came when he gave up a HR in the bottom of the sixth that cut the Yanks’ lead to 2-1.

The Yanks made it 3-1 in the eighth. Luke Voit led off the inning with a walk, and one out later, Brett Gardner, who didn’t start the game, singled. Miguel Andujar bounced into a forceout, but Voit then scored on a WP.

In the ninth, after a long delay due to a power outage, Thairo Estrada hit his second HR of the season to make it 4-1. Romine and Tauchman both singled. LeMahieu bunted the runners over and Voit was intentionally walked. Gio Urshela, who up until that point was 0 for 4 with 4 strikeouts for the game, singled in two runs. Gardner followed with a SF to make it 7-1.

Chad Green, just back from SWB struck out the side in the ninth. Good to have the old Chad Green back and not the guy who was struggling so badly earlier in the season that he had to be sent down to straighten himself out.

LeMahieu 2 hits, RBI
Voit 0 for 2 (1 for last 26) but walked 3x, scored 2x.
Urshela 2 RBI (see above; tough day until that last at bat)
Gardner 1 for 1, SF, RBI
Andujar 0 for 5, 3 strikeouts. You wonder if that shoulder is really OK. Down to .128
Estrada solo HR. Prior to that, he was like Urshela. 0 for 3, 3 strikeouts. Both came through in the ninth.
Romine 2 hits
Tauchman 2 hits, RBI

Tanaka (W, 3-3, 3.44) 7 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 0 W, 7 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Britton (H, 7) 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K.  3.12
Green 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  14.54

UPDATE: FROM THE NY POST:

In case the injuries continue, the Yankees added some infield depth Sunday.

The Yankees announced they had claimed Breyvic Valera off waivers from the Giants, and they’ll send the 27-year-old from Venezuela to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, they moved Greg Bird to the 60-day disabled list. Bird, who has said timetables are “pointless,” last played a game April 13.

Valera, a second and third baseman, adds some depth to a farm system that has graduated Gio Urshela and Thairo Estrada, valuable contributors since injuries forced their call-ups.

Valera, who has appeared in 37 big-league games since his 2017 debut, has played in the majors for the Cardinals, Dodgers and Orioles. At Triple-A this year, the switch-hitter was slashing .257/.396/.338 with a home run and two steals in 24 games. He rarely strikes out, having K’d 10 times and walked 16 times.

Valera in his 37 MLB games is 16 for 74, .216, with 0 HR and 8 RBI.

 

Game 38. Gio the hero again! Yanks beat Rays 4-3.

Sorry for the late postings. With my illness, I slept in and got some much needed rest.

Gio Urshela continued his amazing spring by being the hero once again. His bases-loaded single in the sixth was the game-winning hit in a 4-3 Yankees’ (23-15) win over the Tampa Bay Rays Friday night.

With the win, the Yanks are now just 1/2 game behind the Rays for first place in the A.L. East. And guess who is coming on, and just got over .500 last night? Yeah, THEM. This could turn out to be one heck of a three-team fight in the division this year.

The Yanks struck first, getting two runs in the top of the first. D.J. LeMahieu reached on an error, Luke Voit walked, and Gary Sanchez singled to load the bases. After Clint Frazier struck out, LeMahieu scored on a passed ball, all runners moving up, then Gleyber Torres singled in Voit and it was 2-0 Yankees.

German pitched well for a while, four scoreless innings, but some balls were hit hard for outs in the fourth for outs, and in the bottom of fifth, those hard-hit balls didn’t find gloves. Instead, two of them went over the fence. One for a two-run HR, one for a solo shot. 3-2 Rays.

The Yanks came right back in the top of the sixth with the two runs that won the game. Sanchez singled on a pop-up that hit one of those stupid catrings and ricocheted weirdly to where no one could catch it. (The Trop—-worst stadium in MLB. A joke. Oakland’s is right up there, too. Both embarrassments). Anyway, a break for the Yankees. Frazier singled, and after Torres struck out, starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow of the Rays had to leave the game with forearm tightness. He’d be getting a MRI, and that is very serious stuff for a pitcher. Usually the forerunner of a problem, and that problem could be upcoming TJ surgery. For his sake, hopefully not. But after a new pitcher came in, Miguel Andujar got an infield single, breaking an 0 for 18 skid, to load the bases. Urshela then got his 2-run single to put the Yanks up 4-3. They couldn’t tack on any more.

German was pulled after five, but still picked up his seventh win, which leads the majors.

The Yankees’ bullpen took it from there, but not without a huge scare in the seventh. Adam Ottavino loaded the bases with no one out but got a strikeout and DP to get out of it.

Sanchez 2 hits
Urshela 2 RBI

German (W, 7-1, 2.70) 5 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 2 W, 5 K. Gave up 2 HR.
Kahnle (H, 5) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  1.13
Ottavino (H, 8) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 1 K. 1.77
Britton (H, 6) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  3.31
Chapman (S, 9) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.  2.45

 

 

 

Game 37. Yanks 2-hit M’s, win 3-1. Gio with the big hit again. Hicks to return Monday.

The emergence of Gio Urshela continues. What this will mean for Miguel Andujar, last year’s ROY runnerup, will be interesting once more people start coming off of the DL. Andujar may have to DH more. If that’s the case, Stanton has to play OF more, and that then affects people like Clint Frazier or Brett Gardner, esp. when Hicks and Judge return. A domino effect.

Aaron Boone will have to make decisions. But these will be tough but good decisions and not decisons made out of necessity because half of your roster is on the DL.

Urshela, who didn’t start the game, got a big bases-loaded single with two outs and two strikes on him in the bottom of the eighth to give the Yanks two insurance runs they would need in a 3-1 win over Seattle Thursday night.

The win puts the Yanks (22-15) 1 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East (2nd place) and the Yanks now go into the Trop (one of, if not the WORST stadium in MLB) for a three game weekend series. The Yanks can take over first place if they can sweep the Rays this weekend.

They won’t have Aaron Hicks yet, though. Hicks, 0 for 11 on his rehab stint so far, obviously doesn’t feel his swing is there yet, so he will go from playing for A+ Tampa to AAA SWB for this weekend, play three games for SWB, then rejoin the Yanks on Monday. We’ll see what the corresponding move will be.

The Yanks’ pitchers two-hit the Mariners last night, with the only blemish being a two-out, two-strike HR given up by Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth which made Urshela’s hit that much more important.

J.A. Happ pitched five innings of scoreless ball, giving up just one hit. The bullpen up to Chapman was superb, especially Adam Ottavino who got out of a jam in the sixth.

The Yanks got a run in the second when Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres singled. After Andujar (2 for 22 since coming off the DL) and Mike Tauchman flied out, Cameron Maybin doubled in Frazier. It looked like Torres may have had a chance to score, but he held at third. Thairo Estrada grounded out to end the inning.

That was all the scoring until the eighth. Ottavino got a big DP ball to end the top of the sixth and keep Seattle from scoring.

In the bottom of the eighth, with the score still 1-0 Yankees, D.J. LeMahieu and Gary Sanchez both singled. Brett Gardner grounded into a forceout, then stole second. Clint Frazier struck out. Torres was intentionally walked to set up a force at any base. Urshela, who replaced Andujar for defensive purposes, then drove in two runs to make the score 3-0 Yankees. Tauchman then struck out to end the inning.

As mentioned above, the single by Urshela proved huge when Chapman gave up a HR in the ninth. Final, 3-1 Yankees.

LeMahieu 2 hits (.344, what a pickup; leads AL in batting average (won one already when with Colorado)
Torres 2 hits
Urshela 2 RBI (.354, came into the year a .225 hitter; what a surprise)
Maybin RBI double (.323, great pickup so far).

Happ (W, 2-3, 4.36) 5+ IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 W, 1 HBP, 7 K.
Ottavino (H, 7) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.  1.86
Kahnle (H, 4) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  1.20  (what a rebound from last year)
Britton (H, 5) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  3.52
Chapman (S, 8) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.  2.63

I am fighting a URI/Chest cough, so bear with me on the reports. Thanks!

Game 36. Yanks fall, 10-1.

Just a bad night all around as the Yanks (21-15) lost 10-1 to Seattle. They only got five hits.

The only run came in the sixth when Mike Tauchman doubled, D.J. LeMahieu singled him to third and Tauchman scored on a SF by Luke Voit.

Only Luis Cessa pitched well.

Gio Urshela fouled a ball off of his leg and had to leave the game. X-rays negative, bruised knee.

D.J. LeMahieu 2 hits (.339).
Mike Tauchman 2 hits.

The Yanks may have to reconsider how quickly they are bringing guys back from rehab. Miguel Andujar is 2 for 19 since coming off of the DL. Meanwhile (see the minor league report) Aaron Hicks, in three rehab games, hasn’t got a hit yet. Maybe both need more time?

Loaisiga (L, 1-1, 4.50) 4 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 2 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Cessa 3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.32
Barrett 2 IP, 5 R, 5 H, 2 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR.   14.73

When Loaisiga was added to the roster for the start, Tyler Wade was sent down.

After this game, Barrett was sent down. Nestor Cortes reportedly on his way up.

Game 35. O Gio My! Yanks get 3 in bottom of 9th to shock M’s, 5-4.

Gio Urshela hit a game-tying 2-run HR in the bottom of the ninth, and D.J. LeMahieu soon followed with a game-winning RBI single as the Yankees (21-14) scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to stun Seattle and win 5-4.

Seattle scored first, getting a run in the second inning. It could have been more except for a fielder’s choice wherein Urshela nabbed a runner at the plate.

The Yanks came back to tie it in the third. Urshela doubled, went to third on a flyout by Cameron Maybin and scored on a groundout by Brett Gardner.

Tanaka gave up a HR in the sixth to Edwin Encarnacion and Seattle was up 2-1.

In the eighth, after a long rain delay in the seventh inning, Seattle struck twice. Urshela made an error that led to two unearned runs. One run scored on a seeing-eye bloop double by Jay Bruce.

Clint Frazier has a fine bat, but his defense needs work. He made one error in the game and he and Brett Gardner messed up another flyball that should have been caught but fell for a single.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Yanks cut the gap to 4-2. Gardner and LeMahieu walked, and after Luke Voit hit into a forceout and Gary Sanchez struck out, Gardner scored on a WP.

In the top of the ninth, Seattle had men on second and third with one out and once again, Urshela came home on a fielder’s choice and nabbed the runner at the plate. Those two occurences proved huge in the game.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Gleyber Torres singled, and on an 0-2 pitch, Urshela drilled his second HR of the season over the CF wall to tie the game. Cameron Maybin singled, stole second, and scored (barely getting in before the tag) on a single by LeMahieu. The Mariners challenged the call, but lost the challenge.

LeMahieu 2 hits, GW RBI, .330
Torres 2 hits
Urshela 2 hits, Game-tying 2-run HR, 2 RBI .360
Maybin 2 hits, .360

Maybe Andujar (.179) should be dropped out of cleanup until he gets his feet wet again. He’s been slumping since coming off of the DL.

Tanaka 6 1/3 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 2 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.77
Holder 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.   3.79
Kahnle 1 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 W, 0 K.  1.29
Harvey (W, 1-0, 5.40) 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.

For Joe Harvey, it was his first MLB victory.