You have to remember that Jasson Dominguez, aka as “The Martian”, is only 20 years old and has only played a handful of games in AA, where he will probably start out at in 2023.
But it is ok to dream of him being in the Bronx soon. He homered yet again today in one of the Yankees (8-8 in spring training) split squad games. He played in the home game, in which they lost to the Phillies, 6-3.
The Yanks only had four hits in this game.
LeMahieu 1 for 2 with a walk Judge 0 for 2 with a walk. Stanton 2 for 3, single and double. Dominguez 1 for 3, 2-run HR #2 prospect Volpe 0 for 1 with a walk, also was HBP #1 prospect
German 2 1/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 3 K M. Gomez 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K Holmes 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K 1 HBP King 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. Krook (L) 2 2/3 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 1 W, 3 K. 2 WP has shot at bullpen spot. Keating 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 WP
They lost the away game, 3-0 to the Pirates, getting just 5 hits.
Peraza 0 for 3 #3 prospect Kiner-Falefa 1 for 3 Florial 0 for 2, 2 strikeouts. I expect him to be DFA’d soon. Donaldson 0 for 3 McKinney 2 for 3 Jones 0 for 2, 2 strikeouts #5 prospect.
Weber (L) 2 2/3 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 2 W, 1 K. Gave up 2 HR 1 balk Hamilton 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. Ramirez 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Has shot at bullpen spot. Santos 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 W, 1 K.
C Carlos Narvaez hit a two-out, two-run HR in the bottom of the ninth to give the Yankees (4-2 in spring training) a 4-2 win over Washington Wednesday afternoon.
Before the game, #4 prospect C Austin Wells found out his rib problem was actually a fractured rib. He will be out 6-8 weeks.
The Yanks had a lot of regulars in this game, and the starting lineup resembled a regular season lineup.
LeMahieu 2B 1 for 2 Judge RF 0 for 2 Rizzo 1b 1 for 2 Stanton DH 0 for 2 Donaldson 3B 0 for 1, walk, run Bader CF 1 for 2, RBI triple, run Hicks LF 1 for 2 Higashioka C 0 for 2 going soon to WBC (World Baseball Classic) for games Kiner-Falefa SS 0 for 2
Key reserves:
Volpe (#1 prospect) 0 for 2 1 strikeout. Trying to grab SS job. Florial 0 for 2, 2 strikeouts. Out of options. If doesn’t make team, would be DFA’d Cabrera 1 for 2 Calhoun 0 for 1, walk (trying to win LF job) Dominguez (#2 prospect) 0 for 1, walked in front of Narvaez HR, struck out.earlier. Narvaez 1 for 2. 2-run GW HR in bottom of 9th.
Pitchers
German 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 1 HBP (competing with Schmidt for #5 rotation spot with Montas out) Weissert 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Let inherited runner score (Charged to German) fighting for bullpen spot Loaisiga 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. going soon to WBC Yoendrys Gomez 3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2 HBP #11 prospect Ryan Weber 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. Longshot for a bullpen spot.
Gleyber Torres and Jasson “The Martian” Dominguez homered, and Oswaldo Cabrera had a 2-run RBI bloop single, but the Yanks fell to the Phillies 7-4 yesterday in their first spring training game.
Torres will soon be leaving the Yanks to join Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Also leaving the Yanks soon will be Kyle Higashioka (USA) and Jonathan Loaisiga (Nicaragua).
Dominguez, who turned 20 just a few weeks ago, is the youngest player in Yankees camp. He will probably begin the season at AA. He hit a hard (102.7 MPH off the bat) as he grounded out his first time up batting lefty, homered (about 110 MPH and 420 ft) batting righty his second time up, and popped up batting lefty his last time up.
Of the nine Yankees pitchers used, Ryan Weber pitched in five games last year for the Yanks, being on the shuttle and DFA’d a few times. Greg Weisssert was up and along with Nick Ramirez, is looking to make the Yanks’ bullpen. Randy Vasquez is a top pitching prospect who struggled yesterday. Alex Mauricio looked good, as did Ramirez.
Highlights:
Kiner-Falefa 1 for 3, double. Torres 2 for 3, double and solo HR. Cabrera 2 RBI but misplayed a ball in LF Dominguez solo HR (#2 prospect)
Weber 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. Vasquez 1 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. #14 prospect Mauricio 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K Danish (BS) 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. Ramirez 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. Snelten (L) 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 H, 3 W, 1 K. Pestana 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. Fitts 1 IP, 1 H, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. #29 prospect.
These rule changes could cause problems. I don’t like a lot of them. I understand Manfred is trying to speed up the game, but the beauty of baseball is that it doesn’t have a clock. Now there is one. And imagine if this happened in the regular season:
In the Red Sox/Braves exhibition game yesterday, it was tied in the bottom of the ninth. Two outs, full count on the batter, and since the batter wasn’t ready in time, strike three was called ending the inning (and since it was just a spring training game, it ended the game as well). Can you imagine that happening in a regular season, or worse, a postseason game? What a travesty!
I understand the desire, but is the time to get ready too short? You know I hate the extra innings rule with that “man starts the inning on second” rule. I understand the desire to speed the game along and save pitchers arms, but…. and I wonder if the clock—by not allowing pitchers to compose themselves—will hurt more pitcher’s arms.
I can live with the bigger bags. I like banning the shift. And those, along with another change I don’t like which I’ll mentioned next, are going to make the speed game more important. I understand (again) the desire not to turn baseball into a beer-league softball game where HRs decide everything, and to put speed and athleticism back into the game. But limiting the pitcher to only two step-offs or pickoffs, then giving the runner the base if the third try is unsuccessful is too much. Maybe after five, ok. But this is another rule I don’t like. And how will records be affected? Will someone steal 100 bases in a season in which 15 of those are actually bases he was given because of a third unsuccessful attempt at a pickoff? Will a pitcher lead the league with 250 strikeouts in which 15 are because of the batter not being ready in time? What about consistency of records over time? How will those records stack up against these new rules?
I see the intent. But with all these changes will it still be baseball or morph into something unrecognizable and unlikeable?
With all apologies to the Dells, Oh, What a Night!
Before the game, the Yankees placed Frankie Montas on the 15-day IL, retroactive to 9/17. Since he’d come off it right at the end of the season, I think it is safe to say that he would NOT start a postseason game.
Harrison Bader came off the IL and made his Yankees debut with 3 RBI. We will get to the game recap soon.
Ryan Weber chose free agency after being DFA’d. We’ll see what happens there.
Now to the game. Aaron Judge hit his 60th HR, tying the # Babe Ruth hit in 1927 (and in 147 games too!). He is now one behind Roger Maris’ Yankees and AL record of 61 (we know about the MLB and NL Steroid-aided records*).
Judge’s HR also put him at .316, and he now leads the AL in batting average as well as HR and RBI (and a whole lot of other categories). As of now, he’d win the Triple Crown, a feat done only once since 1967. Two Yankees have won the Triple Crown—Lou Gehrig in 1934 and Mickey Mantle in 1956.
Not only that, the Yankees, down 8-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth, scored five runs to win the game 9-8 over Pittsburgh, capped off by an “ultimate slam” — a walk off grand slam with your team down by 3—by Giancarlo Stanton.
Nestor Cortes was “Nasty Nestor” again, but the Yankees’ bullpen was horrendous. Judge and Stanton’s HR, as well as Bader’s great Yankees debut, saved them.
With the win, the Yankees (89-58) kept their 5 1/2 game lead over Toronto. The magic # for clinching the division is 10. The magic # for a playoff berth is now 2 (since the Yankees own the tiebreaker over Baltimore).
The Pirates scored first, on a SF in the top of the fourth inning. Oswaldo Cabrera, making his first start in LF, caught the ball at the top of the wall. It just missed being a grand slam.
In the bottom of the fifth, Cabrera reached on a 3-base error, and was driven in on a single by Bader. Bader moved up on a groundout and scored on a single by Jose Trevino. 2-1 Yanks.
Ron Marinaccio put a couple runners on in the top of the sixth, and both scored when Lou Trivino replaced Marinaccio only to give up a 2-run double. 3-2, Pirates.
The Yanks came back in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. Josh Donaldson led off the inning with a single. After Stanton struck out, Cabrera walked. A wild pitch moved the runners up, then Bader singled them both in. Nice Yankees’ debut for Bader, who the Yankees traded Jordan Montgomery for, but who the Yanks had to wait on, due to Bader being on the IL with plantar fasciitis.
Trivino gave up a HR to Brian Reynolds in the top of the seventh that tied the game.
In the top of the eighth, the bullpen imploded further. With one out, a walk, error by Anthony Rizzo, and single off of Jonathan Loaisiga made it 5-4. Clay Holmes, who has been awful since July 9, came in and gave up a 3-run HR to made it 8-4. I don’t know what is wrong with Holmes, but the Yankees need to straighten him out. At this time, it seemed like the only reason to keep watching or listening was to see what Judge would do in his last at bat.
And in the bottom of the ninth, Judge didn’t disappoint, hitting #60 to make it 8-5 Yankees. The historic homer seemed to spark the team, who didn’t want the homer to go to waste in a loss. Rizzo followed with a double. Gleyber Torres walked. Donaldson singled to load the bases. Then Stanton, struggling mightily since June 1, hit HR #27, a walk off grand slam to win the game.
It was the fourth time in Yankees’ history that the Yankees were down by three runs and a batter hit a walk off grand slam (ultimate slam) to win the game. Babe Ruth did it in 1925, then a long wait for the second one, Jason Giambi in 2002. Donaldson did it last month, and now Stanton last night.
Judge Solo HR (60) .316-60-128 leads AL in all three categories. Can he win the Triple Crown? Torres 2 hits Donaldson 2 hits Stanton 4 RBI walk off grand slam (27) Bader 2 hits, 3 RBI Trevino 2 hits, RBI
Cortes 5 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 2 W, 4 K. 2.67 Marinaccio (H, 6) 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 2.31 Trivino (BS, 3) 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.84 (A’s/NYY) Loaisiga 1 1/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 H, 2 W, 1 K. 4.64 Holmes 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.67 Chapman (W, 3-3) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 4.41
It was a disappointing game in many ways as the Yankees (87-67) blew a 5-0 lead and lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 on Friday night.
Before the game, Aroldis Chapman came off the IL, and Ryan Weber was DFA’d. The Yanks will have many more moves next week as several others come off the IL.
With the loss the Yanks’ magic # to clinch the AL East remains at 13. Since Baltimore lost, the Yankees’ magic # to secure a playoff berth is 7 (since the Yankees own the tiebreaker against the Orioles).
It looked great early on for the Yankees. They scored three runs in the top of the first. Aaron Judge led off the game with a single, and one out later, Gleyber Torres doubled, Judge going to third. A SF by Josh Donaldson plated Judge. Oswaldo Cabrera walked, then Isiah Kiner-Falefa (IKF) singled in one run and Marwin Gonzalez singled in another. 3-0. They had runners on second and third after a WP but couldn’t add on further.
Later in the game, Gonzalez had to leave due to illness, and Cabrera had to move to first, which he never played before. Also, catcher Jose Trevino had to leave after taking a foul ball off his knee. He was replaced by Kyle Higashioka.
The Yanks added two runs in the top of the second, when Aaron Hicks led off with a single, then Judge singled. A walk to Giancarlo Stanton loaded the bases. Torres flied out, no advance, but a run scored when Donaldson hit into a force at second. An error on the play allowed Judge to score as well. 5-0.
But Yankees’ starter Frankie Montas, who struggled in the first inning, gave up a 3-run HR in the bottom of the second. 5-3. The trade for Montas has been a disappointment. He is 1-3, 6.35 as a Yankee in 8 starts (5-12, 4.05 overall). With Sonny Gray before, and now Montas, the joke going around is that the Yankees should stop trading for Oakland pitchers. Anyway, I cringe every time I hear talk about whether Montas is the Game 2 or 3 playoff starter for the Yankees. From what I’ve seen, HE SHOULD NOT BE ON THE PLAYOFF ROSTER! I’d prefer Cole, Cortes, Severino (off the IL next week), Taillon and even German over Montas right now. That is 5 guys when you probably only need 4 and maybe, depending on the playoff schedule and off days, 3. Yes, that is right. In my pecking order, once Severino comes back, Montas is #6 … and depending on how you like Clarke Schmidt, maybe even #7.
To the top of the third, and Aaron Hicks made the same mistake he made a few days ago. He has to realize who bats behind him. With two outs, he doubled. NORMALLY, you would be happy with the double. You go to second base. NOT IN THIS CASE. Hicks should have just stopped at first. For by going to second, he took the bat out of the hands of the most dangerous hitter in baseball, Judge. Judge, of course, was intentionally walked. Stanton made out. Hicks has to learn to stop at first on such occurrences, or Stanton (hitting .215) needs to step it up. Aaron Boone and the coaches also should realize this and talk to Hicks about it.
Willie Mays would sometimes stop at first in those situations so as to NOT take the bat out of the hands of Willie McCovey. Mays had baseball smarts. Hicks? Not so.
Maybe move Torres to 2 behind Judge? After all, he’s hot lately. Stanton isn’t.
To the fourth, and the Yanks stranded two more runners. Meanwhile, the Brewers tied the game in the bottom of the fourth off of Montas and Lucas Luetge. Given a 5-0 lead, Montas couldn’t get out of the fourth inning and Boone had to use most of his bullpen for the rest of the game. Unacceptable.
The Yanks stranded two more runners in the sixth.
In the bottom of the eighth, Milwaukee took the lead. On one play, Gleyber Torres couldn’t come up with a ball hit up the middle. A tough break there. But on another, IKF made an error with two out allowing a run to score. The internet has been on his defense lately. Could Oswald Peraza have made that play? Who knows. But IKF has to make that. Instead, 6-5, Brew Crew.
Donaldson tied the game in the top of the ninth with his 14th HR of the season, a ball that hit the foul pole. Cabrera followed with a double but was left stranded. The home plate umpire made an absolutely horrendous called third strike call on Miguel Andujar with Cabrera on third and one out. MLB needs to do more than to give umps a slap on the wrist on these egregious errors. They need to suspend or fire umps. We have seen so many bad calls and nothing happens to the umps. Boone was tossed arguing the call. Yeah, the manager and/or player pays for the umps f-up.
Clay Holmes came on for the bottom of the ninth and blew the game. This has to be very concerning for the Yankees. You need a reliable closer going into the postseason. In 2009, EVERY closer blew a postseason game except for one. Mariano Rivera. The Yankees won the World Series, their last one to date. Since July 9, Holmes ERA is 6.86. He has lost 4 games and has 3 blown saves. He has walked 13 in 19 2/3 innings. He has to right the ship and quickly or the Yanks will have to find another closer for the postseason.
The loss is one thing. But the 2 for 11 w/RISP, 11 left on base, and the struggles of Montas and Holmes are another. That is what made this loss so disappointing. Oh yeah, one more thing at the bottom.
Montas 3 1/3 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 4 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.05 (Oak/NYY ERA) Luetge 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.75 Weissert 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 7.56 SEE BELOW German 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 3.12 Peralta 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.40 SEE BELOW Trivino 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. 4.69 SEE BELOW Loaisiga 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 4.43 Holmes (L, 6-4) 2/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 W, 1 K. 2.59.
One more thing here. (I told you above, didn’t I?) Check the pitching line above. Weissert faced one batter. Stuck him out. Peralta faced one batter. Struck him out. Trivino faced three batters, struck them all out.
WHY DIDN’T THEY STAY IN THE GAME LONGER, BOONE? Don’t mess with success!
Before the game, news regarding C Jose Trevino. He was put on paternity leave. Ben Rortvedt was called up from AAA.
Trevino also is the team nominee for the Roberto Clemente award, given for community service.
With Trevino joining the list of unavailable Yankees due to injury or paternity leave, the lineup was further depleted, and the Yankees (83-56) lost to Tampa Bay 4-2 Friday night. Their lead in the AL East, once 15 1/2, is now 3 1/2.
Even the return of Derek Jeter to Yankee Stadium for the first time in a while didn’t bring any luck.
Some reinforcements back from the IL can’t arrive quickly enough (more on that in a bit), but how good will they be? How rusty?
Yankees’ starter Frankie Montas gave up back-to-back, one out doubles in the first inning, and the Rays were up 1-0.
The Rays got three runs in the fourth, thanks to a couple of misplays by Aaron Hicks, who was then booed mightily and pulled from the game. Harrison Bader can’t arrive soon enough, it seems. I had to laugh and pull a “show me” attitude when Hicks said his goal in spring training was to be a 30/30 guy. Not even close and right now his goal should be just to remain on the team in 2023, which I don’t believe will happen. Hicks contract, with 3 more years to go, is one of the worst in Cashman’s GM history. The Yanks, like they did with Joey Gallo and Sonny Gray, need to know when to cut the cord. As with Gallo and Gray, they’ve stuck with Hicks too long. Once the fans turn on you, you got to go.
With one out in that fourth inning, Ji-Man Choi walked. Montas got the second out, then gave up a single. Wander Franco, just off the IL, and who doubled in the Rays’ first inning rally, doubled again, driving in two runs. Hicks had the ball in his glove at the foul line, but with the side wall approaching, appeared to shy off and dropped it. He thought it was a foul ball and took his time getting the ball back in while two runs scored. Very bad look. Then he misplayed the next drive into another double and the Rays lead went from 1-0 to 4-0. If he makes the first play, the game remains at 1-0. He basically gave away three runs. With the Yankees’ offense compromised, that was like giving away the game. The fans then gave Hicks the “Gallo” treatment, not only booing him but actually chanting “Joey Gallo” at him. It was a bad look and made manager Aaron Boone pull Hicks after the inning.
On top of that, Hicks to that point was 0 for 2, 2 strikeouts, and his batting average dropped to .211.
You can’t have this. The Yanks need to find a taker for him or eat his contract. Like I wrote, when the fans turn on you as they have, you got to go.
This isn’t to be mean at Hicks. It’s just reporting the reality of what happened and what must happen.
The Yanks scored a run in the seventh, thanks to who else? Aaron Judge. Oswald Peraza walked, and with one out, moved to second on a groundout. Judge singled to make the score 4-1.
Kyle Higashioka homered (8) in the bottom of the ninth to make it 4-2. Judge walked with two out in the ninth, but Gleyber Torres, the potential tying run, flied to right to end the game. The ball was caught at the fence.
Before the game, Deivi Garcia was sent back down so that Nestor Cortes could come off the IL and make the start. Cortes was limited to 60 pitches, however.
Miguel Andujar was to go down after having been the 29th man in Wednesday’s DH. Instead, he stayed and D.J. LeMahieu joined the large contingent on the IL.
With so many players on the IL, the depleted Yankees need to think outside the box. In some ways, they did last night, but in another way, they did not, and it may have cost them the game. I’ll explain soon.
With the 4-3 loss, the Yankees lead over Tampa Bay is now 4 1/2 games. The Yankees host the Rays for three HUGE games this weekend. The Yankees’ magic # for clinching the AL East remains at 22. It is 15 for a playoff spot.
The Yankees started the game with Isiah Kiner-Falefa (IKF) hitting in the cleanup spot. It was one way of thinking outside the box, and this was more or less by necessity. Everyone else is injured. In trying to hold on to their division lead, the Yankees’ lineups are looking like spring training lineups. Maybe worse. At least IKF did have two hits.
Andujar hit a 2-run HR (1) in the second inning to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. They wouldn’t score again until the eighth and blew chances in the eighth and ninth to tie the game or possibly win it. With all these injuries, the Yankees may need Andujar to recapture that 2018 form when he hit .297-27-92, with 47 doubles, and finished second in ROY voting to Shohei Ohtani.
Cortes retired the first 12 men he faced, but then two ex-Yankees got him. Cortes gave up a single to Gio Urshela to lead off the fifth, then after a WP, Gary Sanchez doubled Urshela home. Clarke Schmidt relieved Cortes. After a walk and a strikeout, a single tied the game.
With one out in the top of the eighth, pitcher Wandy Peralta could not make the play at first base, first missing the bag, then when he did step on the bag ahead of the runner, he didn’t have control of the ball. That bobble helped cost the Yankees the game. Peralta got the next batter out, but then Greg Weissert came in to face Carlos Correa. Weissert gave up a 2-run HR to Correa that made the score 4-2 and turned out to be the game-winner.
I do have to question the use of Weissert there. I understand that you want to use a righty against the righty swinging Correa. But Weissert? It was only Weissert’s seventh MLB game. He is 3-0, but with an ERA of 8.22. That is a lot of trust in a big spot in a big September game to place in someone with that little experience. I understand the injury situation. No Trivino or Effross. That may have factored into things here, also the fact that a lot of the bullpen was used in that 12-inning game one of the DH the day before. So Holmes and Loaisiga may have been unavailable. Those two things (injury and BP usage in the extra inning game) may have forced the Yanks to use Weissert. It cost them.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Yanks got one run back, but it could have been more. Aaron Judge led off, and he doubled. What you are seeing now is teams avoiding Judge like the plague if they can. We will get to that in a bit. After Gleyber Torres walked, IKF hit into a force out, then stole second while Marwin Gonzalez struck out. On ball four to Estevan Florial, the ball got away and Judge scored to make it 4-3. IKF went to third. Giancarlo Stanton PH but struck out. I wonder if Stanton is hurt more than we realize. Since June 1, he is hitting .153. That is Gallo-like. He is 4 for 39 with 10 strikeouts since coming off of the IL. The failure of Stanton to be Stanton and to protect Judge in the lineup is hurting the Yankees.
In the bottom of the ninth, the failure of Aaron Hicks to think outside the box may have cost the Yankees the game. With one out, Oswald Peraza singled. Hicks doubled Peraza to third. Hicks should NOT have gone to secondbut should have stayed at first. In a Sports Century feature on Willie Mays, at the end of the show, it was mentioned how Mays would sometimes NOT take second base, but would stay at first, in order to force pitchers to pitch to Willie McCovey rather than to walk McCovey. That is exactly why Hicks should NOT have gone to second. He had to think outside the box there and realize what would happen. And what would happen DID happen. With one out and men on second and third, the Twins walked Aaron Judge of course. A Judge single wins the game. The Twins, being smart and playing for THEIR playoff lives, were not going to let the big guy (pun not intended) beat them. So, they walk Judge to 1) not face the big man and 2) set up a game-ending DP. I wonder if when Hicks went into second if he realized the mistake he made. He took the bat out of Judge’s hands.
Gleyber Torres, who needs to right himself with all the other injuries going on, struck out. Torres is down to .237 and is hitting .179 since July 13. Once again, Judge needs help. He can’t do it alone.
IKF then grounded out to end the game.
The point is, the Yanks need to think outside the box. They can’t do things that will take the bat OUT of Judge’s hands. The other team will try to do that enough times on their own.
The Yankees (79-54) got three hits last night. Two by Aaron Judge. They got one run, on Judge’s 52nd HR of the season (matching his career high from 2017). The rest of the team did nothing except for a Giancarlo Stanton single.
The Yanks lost to Tampa Bay, 2-1. The AL East lead is down to 4. The pitching has been ok during this collapse. The hitting except for Judge has gone ice cold.
On Twitter, there is a video of a Yankees fan, and it could be me, you, anyone of us, watching Judges’ 9th inning HR on TV, and screaming “HELP HIM OUT, GUYS! HE CAN’T DO IT ALONE! HELP HIM OUT!”
Precisely.
The Rays got two in the third. A single, single and sac bunt put runners on second and third. A ball hit back at Yankees’ starter Clarke Schmidt. If he can field it, maybe he gets out of the inning with no runs allowed. Instead, it ricocheted off him, went into right field for a single, and both runners scored. When things go bad, you aren’t getting any breaks. Just like the night before, when Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s drive hit the very top of the fence. 4 inches higher and it is a HR. All luck is against the Yanks right now.
In the seventh, the Yanks nailed a runner on the bases, Cabrera to Torres. Cabrera has played what, 10 games? And he has what, 3 outfield assists?
Judge hit his HR in the ninth, and that avoided a second straight shutout. He was leading off the inning.
The pitching hasn’t been bad. It’s the hitting. The pitchers are under so much pressure right now, probably feeling that they have no margin for error.
Before the game, Andrew Benintendi went on the 15-day IL, Estevan Florial called up. Anthony Banda DFA’d, Ryan Weber called up.
There isn’t much more to say, except …
“HELP HIM OUT, GUYS! HE CAN’T DO IT ALONE! HELP HIM OUT!”
AAA: SWB (64-58) lost both games of a doubleheader. This really hurts their playoff chances. Game 1: Lost 9-4. C Ben Rortvedt solo HR (2) 3B Armando Alvarez solo HR (14) 1B Ron Guzman 2 hits, 2 RBI. 2-run HR (12)
Weber (L, 3-4) 4 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 1 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.86 Mujica 1 1/3 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K. 4.17 Ramirez 2/3 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 15.43
Game 2: Lost 12-10. CF Estevan Florial 3 hits, 2 RBI. 3-run HR (15).#15 prospect. .288-15-42, 33 SB SS Tyler Wade 2 hits, RBI 2B Oswald Peraza 3 hits, 4 RBI. 3-run HR (18) #3 prospect. .257-18-49, 32 SB RF Ryan LaMarre 3 hits, RBI. Solo HR (1)
Semple (L, 1-1) 2 2/3 IP, 8 R, 10 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 3 HR. 1 HBP 11.45 Minnick 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 6.75 Rich Rodriguez 1 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K. 1 HBP. 5.84 Zach Greene 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 3.90
AA: Somerset (73-46; won 1st half division title) won 8-1. DH Austin Wells 4 RBI. Grand Slam (9) #4 prospect .278-17-51, 11 SB 3B Andres Chaparro 2 htis
Will Warren (W, 7-4) 6 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 W, 5 K. 3.38 #8 prospect (9-7, 3.44 2 levels) Myatt 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 5.23 Cowart 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 5.25 Jennings 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.40
High A: Hudson Valley (66-53) won 9-7. C Carolos Narvaez 3 RBI LF Kyle Battle 2 htis, 2 RBI
Abeyta 4 2/3 IP, 6 R, 9 H, 6 W, 3 K. 4.48 Edgar Barclay (W,6-4) 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 1.98 #29 prospect. C. Gomez (S, 4) 2 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1 HBP 3.32
Low A: Tampa (58-60) won 6-1. 1B Ben Rice 2 hits. 2B Brett Barrera 2 his, RBI. LF Christopher Familia 4 RBI
Messinger (W, 1-7) 5 1/3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 W, 5 K. 3 HBP. 4.14 Mendez (H, 1) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 5.63 McNeely 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 0.00 Anderson 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.07 Dees 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 H, 0 K. 3.31
AAA: SWB (62-55) won 5-4. LF Miguel Andujar solo HR (13). Needs to show that power in Majors. Hasn’t since that injury in 2019. 3B Armando Alvarez 2 hits, 2 RBI. 2-run HR (12)
Weber 4 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.53 Zach Greene (W, 9-0) 3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.98 M. Gomez (H, 6) 2/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 0 K. Gave up 1 HR. 5.96 Weissert (H, 1) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 1 HBP 1.76 Could be called up soon. Bristo (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 5.00
AA: Somerset (70-44; 1st half division champs) won 10-6. SS Anthony Volpe 3 hits, 3 RBI. #1 prospect. .255-17-59, 43 SB C Austin Wells 2-run HR (7) #4 prospect .277-15-42, 10 SB 3 levels RF Elijah Dunham solo HR (16) #21 prospect .262-16-56, 32 SB 3B Andres Chaparro 2 hits 2B Jesus Bastidas 2 hits, 2 RBI 2-run HR (16) DH Eric Wagaman 2 hits, 2 RBI 2-run HR (3rd at AA)
Will Warren 5 2/3 IP, 6 R, 6 H, 3 W, 5 K. Gave up 3 HR. 3.64 #8 prospect. Myatt (W, 2-1) 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 2 K. 5.49 Cowart 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 6.30
High A: Hudson Valley (61-53) lost 3-2. CF Jasson Dominguez “The Martian” 2 hits. #2 prospect. .273-12-50, 32 SB at Low and High A combined.
Yoendrys Gomez 3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 W, 4 K. 1.93 #12 prospect Diaz 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 5.63 Edgar Barclay (L, 5-4; BS, 2) 3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 4 K. 2.06 #29 Prospect. Alvarez 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.93
Low A: Tampa (54-59) lost 5-1. RF Tayler Aguilar 2 hits 1B Connor Cannon HR (2)
Messinger 5 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 0 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.46 Mendez (L, 1-1) 2 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 2 HR. 6.14 Santana 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 1.82
I don’t know if it is a case of pitchers not being able to hold runners on, poor catching, great speed or a combination of all of that, but look at the SB numbers of some of those prospects. Impressive.
The Sommer Frieze 
