Thursday, June 15, 2017

Lots of Hits, Not Enough Runs...

Credit:  Randy Miller-NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Angels 7, Yankees 5...

Another tough loss for the Yankees despite fourteen hits.

The game started out well enough.  The Yankees scored four runs in the first inning to give Michael Pineda the lead before he faced his first batter.  Brett Gardner opened the game with a single off Angels' starter Matt Shoemaker.  After Aaron Hicks struck out, Aaron Judge singled to put runners at the corners.  Judge stole second and Matt Holliday hit a sacrifice fly to score Gardy.  The next batter, Starlin Castro, was  hit by pitch, which brought up Gary Sanchez.  The Sanchino homered to left and the Yankees looked like they were off to the races.  


Credit:  Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Sadly, this was not Michael Pineda's night.  The Angels came back in the bottom of the first with a run with they loaded the bases with singles from three of the first four Angels batters. Luis Valbuena then hit a fly to center that could have been a grand slam if not for a leaping catch by Aaron Hicks.  Cameron Maybin scored on the sac fly.  Pineda was able to get out of the inning without any further damage.

In the second inning, with one out, the Yankees wasted a triple by Rob Refsnyder when neither Brett Gardner nor Aaron Hicks were able to push the run across.  When the Angels came to bat in the bottom of the inning, Eric Young Jr, the previous night's hero, singled, and Danny Espinosa followed with a homer to right to bring the Angels within a run at 4-3.  

The lead was lost in the third when Albert Pujols scored on a wild pitch with Young in the batter's box.  Young subsequently lined a run-scoring single to give the Angels a 5-4 advantage.

The Yankees tied the score in the sixth when Chase Headley singled home Gary Sanchez.  Headley was thrown out trying to take two bases.  

Manager Joe Girardi pulled Michael Pineda after six innings, and brought in Ronald Herrera to face the Angels in the 7th.  It would not be a memorable debut for the rookie.  He was able to get the first two batters (Albert Pujols and Yunel Escobar) on ground-outs, but then he walked Valbuena.  Andrelton Simmons came to the plate and rudely introduced Herrera (0-1) to life in the Big Leagues with a homer to center. 


Credit:  Getty Images
The Yankees had a chance in the 9th when Aaron Hicks doubled with two outs.  The play was initially ruled as a game-ending out, but the call was overturned upon challenge by the Yankees.  It didn't matter as Aaron Judge hit a grounder to third for the final out.

The final line for Pineda was 6 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 2 SO.  He allowed the one home run and his season ERA was pushed to 3.71.  


Credit:  Sean M Haffey-Getty Images
I felt bad for Herrera.  He was in a difficult situation for his first Major League appearance, particularly for a pitcher who has yet to find success at the AAA Level.  What works at AA does not necessarily work in the Major Leagues as Herrera found out.

This was a tough series.  The Yankees were in all three games and could have easily won the series.  Instead, the Angels took 2 of 3 and the Yankees left town on a bit of a downer. 

The Boston Red Sox pulled to within two games of the Yankees (38-25) with a 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.  The Tampa Bay Rays lost to remain 5 1/2 games back.  Both the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays.  They are 6 1/2 and 7 games back, respectively.

Odds & Ends...

RHP Ronald Herrera has been promoted to the Yankees prior to yesterday's game in the aftermath of CC Sabathia's strained hamstring.  Herrera, 22, was acquired in 2015 from the San Diego Padres in the trade that sent infielder Jose Pirela to Southern CA.  Herrera caught my attention this season, but I honestly didn't expect the pitcher to make the jump from AA to the Majors even if he was already a member of the 40-man roster.  Herrera combined with Yankees reliever Jonathan Holder to throw a no-hitter on April 26, 2016 for the Trenton Thunder.  This season for the Thunder, Herrera is 7-0 with 1.07 ERA.  In 8 games, he has pitched 50 1/3 innings, with 41 strikeouts and 9 walks.  His WHIP is 0.7555. Herrera was born in Maracay, Venezuela, near the Caribbean Coast.  Yankees utility infielder Ronald Torreyes is a fellow Venezuelan.  Reliever Ben Heller was optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make room.  Welcome to The Show, Ronald! I wish your first Major League decision could have been a victory but hopefully next time it is.  
Credit:  ESPN.com
No roster decisions have yet been made regarding CC Sabathia, but it is speculated that he'll be placed on the disabled list with a moderate (Grade 2) hamstring strain (expected to miss at least four weeks) with the recall of pitcher Domingo German. 

The Yankees have acquired relief pitcher Matt Frawley (R) from the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade that sent reliever Johnny Barbato to the Steel City.  Frawley was drafted by the Pirates last year in the 17th Round out of Purdue University.  He'll be assigned to Class A Charleston.  Turning 22 in August, Frawley (3-1) is an older prospect at the A Level but in 19 appearances and 33 1/3 innings, he has to pitched to an ERA of 1.62 with only 4 walks and 32 strikeouts (WHIP is an impressive 0.75).  If Frawley continues to pitch as well as he did with the Class A West Virginia Power, he should soon find himself in AA with the Trenton Thunder.  



In reviewing the draft choices on Day 3 of the MLB Draft, I have to say that I love the name of the 22nd round pick.  RHP Janson Junk.  Now that's a baseball name.  Former Major League closer Brad Lidge's cousin, Ryan Lidge, was chosen in the 20th round.  Lidge is a senior catcher from Notre Dame.  This helps offset the loss of catcher Luis Torrens who was taken in last year's Rule 5 Draft by the San Diego Padres and is still on their Major League roster.  



There were a couple of late names that stood out to me.  In Round 29, the Yankees selected RHP Tristan Beck of Stanford.  Beck is highly touted but missed the 2017 season due to a back injury.  In some very early mock drafts, I saw Beck going as high as the first round.  Without any knowledge of the situation, I suspect that he'll return to Stanford for his junior year and attempt to rehabilitate his stock for higher placement in a future draft.  In Round 37, the Yankees took high school pitcher Tanner Burns.  Also highly touted, Burns' father has said that it's 100% his son will be attending Auburn University.  It would be a great coup if the Yankees could sign one of these guys (or both) but I seriously doubt it.  I suspect that we'll see Burns as a much higher draft choice in a future draft.

The Yankees begin a four-game set tonight against the Athletics in Oakland, CA.  Here are the pitching match-ups:

THURSDAY
Yankees:  Jordan Montgomery (4-4, 3.55 ERA)
A's:  Sonny Gray (2-2, 4.37 ERA)

FRIDAY
Yankees:  Luis Severino (5-2, 2.75 ERA)
A's:  Sean Manaea (6-3, 3.67 ERA)

SATURDAY
Yankees:  Masahiro Tanaka (5-6, 6.07 ERA)
A's:  Jesse Hahn (2-4, 3.56 ERA)

SUNDAY
Yankees:  TBA
A's:  Jharel Cotton (3-7, 5.52 ERA)

Have a great Thursday!  Here's hoping for much better success in No-Cal than So-Cal...

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)