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| Credit: Paul J Bereswill-NY Post |
Red Sox 3, Yankees 2...
The Yankees had victory in their hands but Aroldis Chapman was unable to hold a one-run lead in the 9th and the Yankees fell to the Boston Red Sox in extra innings.
This was one tough. I felt very uneasy with Chapman taking the mound. The Yankees really needed an insurance run in the 8th when Didi Gregorius struck out in the bottom of the 8th with runners at the corners and two outs. I was concerned that Chapman would not be able to hold a one-run advantage. Unfortunately, I was right. Dellin Betances may have righted the ship but Chapman has not. I don't know if it's the World Series "hangover" (too many pitches thrown in an extended season), but...right now...the Yankees have two better closers in Betances and David Robertson.
It was expected that Chris Sale would be tough and he was. Entering the game, his season ERA was only 1.15 against the Yankees in two starts. We could have used that 0.15 of a run. After Boston had scored the game's first run in the top of the 5th on a run-scoring single by Jackie Bradley, Jr, the Yankees struck back against Sale when they got their turn at bat. Chase Headley lined a one-out single to center. After Ronald Torreyes struck out, Austin Romine tripled to right to score Headley. Mookie Betts was at the wall but couldn't make the catch on Romine's hit. The game was tied at 1. It would be the sole run the Yankees would score off Sale. He went 7 strong innings and only allowed 4 hits and the single run, while walking 2 and striking out 12.
Still, the Yankees had a chance. Jordan Montgomery, struck in the head by a line drive during batting practice on Saturday, was excellent. He kept the Yankees in the game, holding the Red Sox at bay to match Sale's dominance for 5 1/3 innings. The Red Sox were able to get only two hits off Monty, and the run in the 5th. Throwing 84 pitches, Monty did walk 3 batters but struck out 4.
With Sale out of the game, the Yankees finally broke through with a run in the 8th against Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes. Aaron Hicks worked a one-out walk. Aaron Judge singled to right, Hicks moved to second. Another walk, this time to Gary Sanchez, loaded the bases. Todd Frazier hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Hicks with the go-ahead run. The Yankees led, 2-1. The Red Sox pulled Barnes and replaced him with reliever Robby Scott to face Didi Gregorius. A single by Didi in this spot would have been huge, but sadly Scott struck out Didi on three pitches.
Enter Aroldis Chapman, goodbye potential win. With two strikes on Rafael Devers, Chapman unleashed a 103 mph fastball and Devers was ready for it. Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks could only watch as the ball landed over the wall in left center. The game was tied.
The Yankees could have won the game in the bottom of the 9th. With Addison Reed pitching, Chase Headley led off with a walk. Ronald Torreyes laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Headley to second. Jacoby Ellsbury, pinch hitting for Austin Romine, grounded out to first, but Headley was able to advance to third. The potential winning run just 90 feet away. The Sox replaced Reed with closer Craig Kimbrel to face Brett Gardner. It was a big opportunity for Gardy but but he struck out to end the inning.
Aroldis Chapman was still on the mound when the Yankees took the field in the 10th. With one out, he hit Jackie Bradley, Jr with a pitch and walked Eduardo Nunez. Manager Joe Girardi finally had the stones to remove Chapman and replaced him with Tommy Kahnle. Kahnle walked the first batter he faced (Mookie Betts) to load the bases. Andrew Benintendi's single to right scored JBJ with the go-ahead run. Kahnle was able to retire the next two batters but the damage had been done. The Sox were up, 3-2.
Craig Kimbrel easily retired the Yankees in the bottom of the 10th, and the Red Sox walked off the field with the game and series win.
It won't get any easier when the Yankees play in Boston next weekend. The Red Sox do not fear Chapman, nor should they have any reason to. "He's my closer", Joe Girardi said after the game. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
The Yankees (61-55) fell a season high 5 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East. They had a chance to make a statement and it didn't happen. The Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles were unable to make up any ground on the Yankees. The Rays lost, 4-3, to the Cleveland Indians while the O's were thumped, 9-3, by the Oakland A's. The A's are 3 1/2 games behind the Yankees, while the O's are trailing by four. The Yankees hold the Wild Card advantage by 1 1/2 games over the Los Angeles Angels (where did they come from?...) and 2 games over Jaime Garcia's former team (for 6 days), the Minnesota Twins.
Aaron Hicks made a great diving catch in the first inning to rob Eduardo Nunez of an extra-base hit.
Aaron Judge had three more strikeouts on Sunday to extend his consecutive game streak to 30. He trails the record that Adam Dunn set, for non-pitchers, in 2012 with strikeouts in 32 consecutive games. The Yankees really need Judge to make the necessary adjustments to get out of this funk if they are to have any October aspirations.
This was one tough. I felt very uneasy with Chapman taking the mound. The Yankees really needed an insurance run in the 8th when Didi Gregorius struck out in the bottom of the 8th with runners at the corners and two outs. I was concerned that Chapman would not be able to hold a one-run advantage. Unfortunately, I was right. Dellin Betances may have righted the ship but Chapman has not. I don't know if it's the World Series "hangover" (too many pitches thrown in an extended season), but...right now...the Yankees have two better closers in Betances and David Robertson.
It was expected that Chris Sale would be tough and he was. Entering the game, his season ERA was only 1.15 against the Yankees in two starts. We could have used that 0.15 of a run. After Boston had scored the game's first run in the top of the 5th on a run-scoring single by Jackie Bradley, Jr, the Yankees struck back against Sale when they got their turn at bat. Chase Headley lined a one-out single to center. After Ronald Torreyes struck out, Austin Romine tripled to right to score Headley. Mookie Betts was at the wall but couldn't make the catch on Romine's hit. The game was tied at 1. It would be the sole run the Yankees would score off Sale. He went 7 strong innings and only allowed 4 hits and the single run, while walking 2 and striking out 12.
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| Credit: Frank Franklin II-The Associated Press |
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| Credit: Jason Scenes-EPA |
Enter Aroldis Chapman, goodbye potential win. With two strikes on Rafael Devers, Chapman unleashed a 103 mph fastball and Devers was ready for it. Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks could only watch as the ball landed over the wall in left center. The game was tied.
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| Credit: Bill Kostroun |
Aroldis Chapman was still on the mound when the Yankees took the field in the 10th. With one out, he hit Jackie Bradley, Jr with a pitch and walked Eduardo Nunez. Manager Joe Girardi finally had the stones to remove Chapman and replaced him with Tommy Kahnle. Kahnle walked the first batter he faced (Mookie Betts) to load the bases. Andrew Benintendi's single to right scored JBJ with the go-ahead run. Kahnle was able to retire the next two batters but the damage had been done. The Sox were up, 3-2.
Craig Kimbrel easily retired the Yankees in the bottom of the 10th, and the Red Sox walked off the field with the game and series win.
It won't get any easier when the Yankees play in Boston next weekend. The Red Sox do not fear Chapman, nor should they have any reason to. "He's my closer", Joe Girardi said after the game. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
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| Credit: Frank Franklin II-The Associated Press |
Aaron Hicks made a great diving catch in the first inning to rob Eduardo Nunez of an extra-base hit.
Aaron Judge had three more strikeouts on Sunday to extend his consecutive game streak to 30. He trails the record that Adam Dunn set, for non-pitchers, in 2012 with strikeouts in 32 consecutive games. The Yankees really need Judge to make the necessary adjustments to get out of this funk if they are to have any October aspirations.
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| Credit: Mike Stobe-Getty Images |
Next Up: New York Mets at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY (2) and Citi Field, Flushing, NY (2)...
The Yankees play a quick two-game set at home against the Mets before the series resumes at Citi Field for two games beginning on Wednesday. The series follows some recent bad blood between the two teams over contentious failed trade negotiations leading up to the trading deadline.
Here are the pitching match-ups:
TODAY
Mets: Rafael Montero (1-8, 6.06 ERA)
Yankees: Luis Cessa (0-3, 4.83 ERA)
TUESDAY
Mets: Jacob DeGrom (13-5, 3.21 ERA)
Yankees: Sonny Gray (6-7, 3.39 ERA)
WEDNESDAY
Yankees: Jaime Garcia (1-1, 5.82 ERA)
Mets: Seth Lugo (5-3, 4.85 ERA)
THURSDAY
Yankees: Luis Severino (9-5, 3.32 ERA)
Mets: Steven Matz (2-6, 5.54 ERA)
May Sonny Gray and Jaime Garcia finally got some runs to work with, and may Luis Severino pitch much, much better than he did last Saturday against the Red Sox. As for Cessa today, at least he's facing a pitcher with 8 losses and ERA above six.
Odds & Ends...
Prior to Sunday's game, the Yankees returned reliever Giovanny Gallegos to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and recalled LHP Caleb Smith (who had been scheduled to pitch for the RailRiders on Sunday but was scratched with the promotion). LHP Nestor Cortes made the start for SWB in Smith's place. Cortes didn't get the win but he held the Durham Bulls to one hit and one unearned run in 4 2/3 innings. With no free passes, he struck out eight. The RailRiders won the game on a two-run homer by Ji-Man Choi in the top of the 9th.
The Texas Rangers have released infielder Pete Kozma who was on the Yankees' opening day roster as an injury replacement for Didi Gregorius. The Rangers had previously sold reliever Ernesto Frieri, who was in spring training with the Yankees, to the Seattle Mariners for $1 earlier in the week.
The Houston Astros have acquired reliever Tyler Clippard from the Chicago White Sox for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Clippard rebuilt his stock after the trade from the Yankees to the White Sox. Although he lost his first appearance for the White Sox, he won his only other decision in 11 appearances and finished with a 1.80 ERA and two saves. The Astros get a much better pitcher than the Yankees had earlier this year.
The Houston Astros have acquired reliever Tyler Clippard from the Chicago White Sox for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Clippard rebuilt his stock after the trade from the Yankees to the White Sox. Although he lost his first appearance for the White Sox, he won his only other decision in 11 appearances and finished with a 1.80 ERA and two saves. The Astros get a much better pitcher than the Yankees had earlier this year.
Have a great Monday! A win today would be great! Let's Go Yankees!
Another poor managed game , plays Headly who is struggling this year against LH pitching and sits Cooper, then when Headley leads the bottom 9th off instead of pinch running Ells and trying to steal 2nd base and then have Toe bunt him to 3rd he chose to just go ahead and bunt and then use Ells to pinch hit for Romine who is actually a good hitter with RISP.
ReplyDeleteI have to wonder if Girardi wants this team to win the division or not.
As for Chapman , he got beat wiith his best in the 9th but he does not have a good history going more than 1 inning because of his power.Four outs would had been the most and if he allowed the first batter second ibning to reach pull immediately.
Judge quit hitting when people behind him quit and the runners in front quit running .
So Judge has developed a I got to do it all swing and is out of sync.
It is simple if no one behind you is hitting then you can entice you to chase just like he is doing because no one is doing it consistently like Holiday and Castro wasbehind him.
Holiday is done , with what he had it will take months to get his strength back and to have ran him out there everyday was a bad choice.
There done ranting for today.