Monday, July 31, 2017

Toe-Powered Offense Falls Short...

Credit:  Kathy Willens-AP
Rays 5, Yankees 3…

Ronald Torreyes tried but nobody else in the offensive lineup was cooperative as the Yankees lost the fourth and final game of the series with the Tampa Bay Rays.  Yankee hitters were 1-for-11 in scoring opportunities so this one goes down as a game of ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda’.

On a day when it was announced the Yankees had acquired left-handed starting pitcher Jaime Garcia, one of the other lefties in the rotation…Jordan Montgomery…failed to get out of the third inning.  Like Saturday, the Rays took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.  Montgomery struck out Peter Bourjos, walked Steven Souza, Jr, and struck out Evan Longoria.  Lucas Duda singled to left as Souza, Jr took second.  Trevor Plouffe followed with a single up the middle, scoring Souza, Jr with the game’s first run.

Credit:  Kathy Willens-AP
The Yankees grabbed the lead in the bottom of the second.  Chase Headley walked with one out  and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Rays starter Jacob Faria.  After Todd Frazier struck out, Ronald Torreyes hit a homer over the left field wall…2-1, Yankees.

Peter Bourjos led off the third inning with a double to the left field wall.  After Steven Souza, Jr struck out, Evan Longoria reached on an infield chopper as the speedy Bourjos took third.  Lucas Duda walked to load the bases with only one out.  For a moment, it looked like Monty might be able to work out of the jam.  He struck out Trevor Plouffe and had Corey Dickerson a strike away from ending the inning.  But Dickerson hit a 1-2 pitch into center field, scoring Bourjos and Longoria with the tying and go-ahead runs.  Wilson Ramos followed with a single to center, scoring Duda, and it was 4-2 Rays.  Manager Joe Girardi had seen enough, and pulled Montgomery, who had thrown 71 pitches despite an inability to get out of the 3rd inning, in favor of Luis Cessa.  Cessa threw a wild pitch which allowed Dickerson to take third as Ramos moved to second, but he was able to strike out Tim Beckham to get out of the inning.  

The Yankees made it a one-run game in the bottom of the 4th.  With two outs, Todd Frazier walked on four straight balls and scored when Ronald Torreyes doubled to the left field corner.  Frazier slid in under the throw from the outfield to score while Torreyes moved to third but Toe was left stranded when Austin Romine grounded out.

The Rays added an insurance run in the top of the 8th against Yankees reliever Chad Green.  Mallex Smith, pinch-hitting for Tim Beckham, led off the 8th with an infield single.  Smith stole second, easily sliding in under the tag.  With two outs, Steven Souza, Jr doubled off the left center wall to bring Smith home for the Rays’ fifth and final run.

The Yankees had numerous scoring opportunities in this game, but none bigger than the bottom of the 9th.  After Gary Sanchez struck out against Rays closer Alex Colome, Brett Gardner singled to left.  A wild pitch moved Gardy to second and Clint Frazier reached first when Colome threw four straight pitches outside of the strike zone.  With the tying run at first and one out, the Yankees had the heart of the lineup representing the winning run at the plate.  Aaron Judge had the first opportunity but got under a pitch and popped out to Trevor Plouffe in foul territory.  It came down to Matt Holliday for the Yankees’ last chance.  He weakly grounded out to Evan Longoria who easily threw Holliday out at first.  

The Yankees could have won this game, leaving a total of 22 men on base, but it was not meant to be.  The bullpen did a very good job after Montgomery’s early exit.  The combination of Luis Cessa, Chasen Shreve and Chad Green pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing only 3 hits and the 8th inning run given up by Green.  They walked 6 batters but struck out 11.  Shreve and Green worked out of a bases loaded threat in the top of the 7th inning. The trio gave the Yankees the chance to win so that’s all you can ask.  

Fortunately, the Boston Red Sox also lost on Sunday, by the same 5-3 score to the Kansas City Royals, so the Yankees (56-47) maintained their half game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East.  The Rays picked up a game so they are 3 1/2 back after losing three of four to the Yankees over the weekend.

Austin Romine left the game after getting hit by a pitch in the 6th inning.  It was a tough game for him.  He was struck in the throat by a bounced foul ball earlier in the game, and was hit in the head by Steven Souza, Jr’s bat on a follow-through of his swing.  Although he stayed in the game to run after getting hit, he was replaced at catcher by Gary Sanchez the next inning.  The cameras showed a bruised welt on Romine’s hand but x-rays proved negative.  Manager Joe Girardi does not expect any DL time for Romine, and of course Romine’s attitude was the usual ‘just cram the hand in the glove and go’.  

Credit:  Getty Images
Clint Frazier had quite a second inning.  Right before Romine got the ball to the throat, Frazier caught a fly ball in front of Brett Gardner who had tried to call Frazier off.  The next batter, Adeiny Hechavarria, hit a ball to the left field wall and Frazier timed his leap and catch perfectly to take away an extra base hit.  Bad play-good play, but fortunately both were for outs.  

Next Up:  Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY…

The Yankees entertain the Detroit Tigers for a three-game series at the Stadium beginning today.  By game time, the Trading Deadline will have come and gone.  It’s time to focus on winning the AL East.  Newcomer Jaime Garcia, having pitched last Friday in Oakland for the Twins, will be unavailable to pitch until Thursday, thereby missing the Detroit series.  

Here are the scheduled pitching match-ups:

TODAY
Tigers:  Michael Fulmer (10-8, 3.35 ERA)
Yankees:  Luis Severino (7-4, 3.03 ERA)

TUESDAY
Tigers:  Anibal Sanchez (2-1, 6.18 ERA)
Yankees:  CC Sabathia (9-3, 3.66 ERA)

WEDNESDAY
Tigers:  Jordan Zimmermann (6-8, 5.69 ERA)
Yankees:  Masahiro Tanaka (8-9, 5.09 ERA)

Odds & Ends…

Prior to Sunday’s game, the Yankees optioned lefty starter Caleb Smith to Triple A and recalled lefty reliever Chasen Shreve.  After the game, they optioned RHP Luis Cessa to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (presumably to make room for LHP Jaime Garcia).

I had thought Tigers reliever Justin Wilson would be the next ex-Yankee traded this month in  what has been a flurry of transactions involving former Pinstripers.  I was wrong.  Yesterday, the Chicago White Sox made their latest veteran dump when they sent OF Melky Cabrera to the Kansas City Royals.  This is Melky’s second tour with the Royals where he spent the 2011 season.  But Wilson wasn't far behind as word spread that he was on his way to Wrigley Field by the end of the day.  

Congratulations to third baseman Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers for becoming a member of the 3,000 Hit Club.  Beltre reached the milestone on Sunday with a double off Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Wade Miley.  Beltre is currently in his 20th MLB season and is the first player born in the Dominican Republic to reach 3,000 hits.  

Credit:  Tom Fox-The Dallas Morning News

As of this writing, I don't know what to think about the Sonny Gray rumors.  On Saturday, it sounded like the Yankees were making significant progress with the Oakland A's but then yesterday, nothing (implying a potential impasse).  With the clock clicking down, it's anybody's guess what will happen.  While I remain optimistic the Yankees will get Gray, there is a good possibility that Jaime Garcia is the Yankees' last acquisition before the deadline.  Although the Yankees are rumored to be looking at Yu Darvish as a backup plan, I think that is far less likely to happen.  I'm hoping we'll be looking at Sonny skies before game time today but prepared to move on with the arms and bats currently on the roster.  

Have a great Monday!  It’s should be a wild ride up to 4 pm Eastern today but afterwards, let’s start a new winning streak.  Go Yankees!

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