Monday, October 2, 2017

"B" Team Bats Go Down Quietly To End Regular Season...

Credit:  MLB.com
Blue Jays 2, Yankees 1...

I can't say that I went into this game feeling very strongly about a win or loss.  In the grand scheme of things, the playoff format has been decided so it didn't really matter if the Yankees went 92-70 or finished 91-71 (which they did).  They still finished second in the American League East and hold home field advantage in the AL Wild Card game on Tuesday. Despite holding the Blue Jays to two hits, the Yankees were unable to muster any significant offense and lost by a run.


The Yankees lineup featured many backup players as key starters got the day off in advance of the AL Wild Card game. The only notable starters were Todd Frazier and Starlin Castro. Chase Headley got the start at first base, but he's probably the team's DH heading into the post-season. Greg Bird got into the game later.  

Credit:  Kathy Willens-AP

It was nice outing for Jordan Montgomery. He held the Blue Jays scoreless until the top of the 4th inning. Richard Urena worked a one-out walk.  Justin Smoak singled to right on a grounder that went just past the glove of Tyler Wade, with Urena moving to third. Jose Bautista, making perhaps his final start as a Blue Jay, lofted a high fly to center. Urena scored on the sacrifice as the throw from Aaron Hicks was off line. 

Credit:  Associated Press

I thought the Yankees had a chance to potentially pick up a run in the bottom of the 4th. Tyler Wade singled to left barely over the stretched glove of shortstop Richard Urena with one down. While Matt Holliday was batting, Wade appeared to steal second to move into scoring position. However, replay showed that the tag was applied before Wade reached the base as Urena's foot blocked the base to prevent Wade from touching the bag. Matt Holliday flied out to end the inning so the Yankees were still down by a run.

Credit:  Getty Images

Montgomery made it into the 6th inning, striking out Ryan Goins. But that was all for Monty's successful rookie campaign as Manager Joe Girardi took the ball and turned it over to Adam Warren. 5 1/3 innings for Montgomery. Two hits, a walk and a run.  He struck out three batters for the eventual no-decision. 

Credit:  Kathy Willens-AP

Adam Warren, making his first appearance since being activated off the disabled list, retired the two batters he faced to end the inning and show that he's ready to be a potential weapon for Tuesday night.  

Warren retired the only batter he faced in the top of the 7th (pop out by Justin Smoak) and was replaced by Domingo German.

With Blue Jays reliever Danny Barnes on the mound in the bottom of the 7th, Matt Holliday homered into the left field seats with one out, a solo shot. The game was tied at 1.   It looked like the Yankees might get more when Greg Bird followed with a walk. Miguel Andujar doubled to left center (ball dropped in front of a sliding Teoscar Hernandez), with Bird moving to third and there was still only one out. But the Yankees couldn't get either runner home as both Austin Romine and Clint Frazier grounded out to leave the runners stranded.

The Blue Jays scored the eventual winning run in the top of the 8th despite no hits. With Domingo German still pitching, Rob Refsnyder reached first base after striking out when Austin Romine couldn't catch a wild pitch from German (a low pitch that hit the ground behind the plate and bounced away).  Ezequiel Carrera walked, with Refsnyder advancing to second. Darwin Barney laid down a good sacrifice bunt with two strikes to push the runners to second and third. Ryan Goins took advantage of the runner at third with perhaps the shortest RBI I've seen this year, a slow dribbler that went no more than 10 feet. Refsnyder came home to score as the only play was to get the runner at first. The Blue Jays had  recaptured the lead, 2-1. German struck out Teoscar Hernandez to get out of the inning but the Jays had the run they would need to win the game.

From there, the Yankees couldn't do anything against Toronto relievers Ryan Tepera and Roberto Osuna with Greg Bird popping out to the shortstop Richard Urena for the final out to end the game. It would have been nice to close out the season with a win but as I stated when I started this blog post, it didn't really matter one way or the other. It's hard to take momentum from a game when most of the starters are sitting on the bench.  

The second-place Yankees (91-71) finish the season two games behind the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox (93-69) fell to the Houston Astros, 4-3, as those two teams prepare to resume their battle in Houston, Texas with Game 1 of the ALDS on Thursday. The Minnesota Twins, the Yankees opponent on Tuesday, beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-1, to finish the season at 85-77.  

It's been a long, run season and I hope that it continues beyond Tuesday. If not, I feel that Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner has been given the message that this team is ready to compete now and that he needs to ensure the team is given the best possible chance for success in 2018. 

GM Brian Cashman and Amateur Scouting Director Damon Oppenheimer presented Aaron Judge with an inscribed Waterford Crystal Gavel for his rookie record of 52 home runs.




Next Up:  American League Wild Card Game, Minnesota Twins versus New York Yankees, Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY...

Here it is...do or die. We've endured the rigor of 162 regular season games and the pay-off is a chance to advance to the American League Division Series. Win or lose, this has been a tremendous year for the Yankees. They've surprised the experts who didn't expect the Yankees to contend this quickly. The Minnesota Twins have had an excellent year as well, going from a team that lost 100 games in 2016 to a play-off contender.  

Here are the scheduled pitching match-ups. Suffice it to say that every pitcher on both teams will be ready for the call.  

Tuesday, October 3rd, 8:00 pm ET

Twins:  Ervin Santana (16-8, 3.28 ERA)
Yankees:  Luis Severino (14-6, 2.98 ERA)

This should be a great game! The winner advances to play the Indians for Game 1 of the ALDS in Cleveland on Thursday.  

Odds & Ends...

The Yankees announced on Sunday that "they will significantly expand the protective netting during the upcoming off-season at both Yankee Stadium and George M Steinbrenner Field". The action comes after the young girl was hit in the mouth on a foul ball by Todd Frazier on September 25th.  

The managerial firings should begin shortly. It's been announced after much speculation that Terry Collins will not be returning to the dugout for the New York Mets in 2018.  He'll move into a front office position. Ironically, neither of the AL Wild Card managers have a contract beyond this year. I guess Tuesday will have a say in their respective futures although you'd have to believe that both would be back after unexpectedly successful seasons.  

Have a great Monday! Enjoy the day off, and let's get ready to root, root for the home team on Tuesday night. Go Yankees!

This Day In New York Yankees History 10/2: Don Mattingly The Hit Man


Don Mattingly was the one bright spot for the New York Yankees in the 1980's and early 1990's and on this day in 1986 set a new team record for hits in a season with 232. Mattingly passed Earl Combs team record which was set in 1927 and would finish the season with a league leading 238 hits.


The reigning and defending World Series champion New York Yankees played the Boston Red Sox in a one game playoff on this day in 1978 in Fenway Park. We all know what happened, Bucky F'in Dent happened.


The Yankees are known for winning World Series championships but many fans forget that New York had plenty of years where things didn’t exactly go as planned. On this day in 1966 the Yankees would beat the Chicago White Sox 2-0 but would still finish a half game behind the Boston Red Sox for last place in the American League. New York finished with a 70-89 record and fell 26.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. This was the first Yankees club to finish in last place in the American League since 1912.


Speaking of winning World Series on this day in 1936 the Yankees would beat the Giants in Game 2 of the World Series by the score of 18-4. That was then and still is now the largest lopsided victory in the history of the Fall Classic.


Finally on this day in 1932 and on this day in Yankees World Series history the team won their 12th consecutive World Series game as they swept the Chicago Cubs. This would mark the third consecutive World Series sweep the Bombers would achieve.