Sunday, June 3, 2018

Yankees Hold Off Rain & Orioles...

Photo Credit: Associated Press (Gail Burton)
Yanks Win Series with second win in a row over the Birds…

I was going to lead off this post with Miguel Andujar but I had to start off by saying I am very happy that Gleyber Torres was not hurt when he was hit by a pitch on his right wrist during the sixth inning of yesterday’s 8-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles. It hurt to watch so I can only imagine what it felt like to be the recipient. It could have been much, much worse. Fortunately, there was no serious damage and Torres was able to continue playing. I half expect to see Neil Walker playing second base today to give Torres a breather.

Photo Credit: Associated Press
Sorry Miguel. Yes, Giancarlo Stanton homered but it was Andujar who gave the Yankees a lead they would not relinquish with his two-run shot in the second inning. He finished the game 2-for-4 with 3 RBI’s. His other hit was a run-scoring double in the eighth inning. All he does is hit damn extra base hits. He leads the team with 18 doubles (5 more than Aaron Judge) and is the co-leader with two triples. Love it. I am still a fan of Brandon Drury but there’s no question Andujar has been a big part of the Yankees’ 2018 success.  

Photo Credit: USA TODAY Sports (Brad Mills)
Stanton’s dinger was huge given Masahiro Tanaka’s propensity for giving up homers. Tanaka ended up getting taken yard three times but fortunately they were all of the solo variety. Still, even empty base home runs are very annoying. Thankfully the Yankees offense performed well enough to repel those runs. Tanaka (7-2) picked up the win despite the less than ideal pitching line. 5 1/3 innings, 97 pitches, 8 hits, 4 runs, and a walk. He did strike out 7 batters. One of the runs charged to Tanaka was a run-scoring double given up by reliever Jonathan Holder in the bottom of the sixth. For as uneven as Tanaka has pitched this year, he has the same record as Houston’s Justin Verlander despite the ‘slightly’ worse ERA (4.79 to 1.24).  

After the game, Tanaka said, “I feel like I need to do a better job on the home runs.” Ya think? Is a homer-less game by Tanaka too much to ask for? I prefer to only see guys with an interlocking N-Y on their helmets belt ones out of the park, thank you very much.

I expected Greg Bird to do some damage against his high school teammate Kevin Gausman but for whatever reason, Gausman always seems to win those battles. Bird did get a hit yesterday but Gausman was already in the showers by then. One of these days. I want to see Bird take his buddy deep for bragging rights.  It’s only right and something I am sure that Bird’s hairless cat would want.

Overall it was a nice job by the Yankees bullpen. Yes, Holder gave up the hit that made it a two-run game and David Robertson was nicked for a run in the ninth, but they sandwiched great performances by Chad Green and Dellin Betances. No harm, no foul.  

It was a sloppy game for the Orioles with three errors in the sixth inning. It’s unfortunate the Yankees were only able to score two runs in that frame. Not that they really needed any more in this game but the O’s did close the gap in the bottom of the inning before the Yankees pulled away in the eighth. It seems like it is only a matter of time until Orioles manager Buck Showalter gets his walking papers. It is shaping up to be a poor finish for the career of the former Yankees manager.  

The other game stars for the Yankees were Brett Gardner (two doubles and a run scored), Didi Gregorius (a pair of singles, an RBI and two runs scored), and Aaron Hicks (3-for-4 day, 2 RBI’s and a couple of runs scored). Hopefully this is the start of a better month for Sir Didi. After his All-World performance in April, May was a month to forget. Once Gary Sanchez and Didi starting hitting, this offense is going to be unstoppable.  

Photo Credit: USA TODAY Sports (Brad Mills)
The game was delayed for an hour and forty-four minutes due to the threat of rain. Seemed odd that they’d pull out the tarp when it was not actually raining. But whatever. They got the game in, and the Yankees won their fourth consecutive game. There’s a high chance of rain this afternoon so there will probably be more delays before the Yankees can head for Detroit, Michigan. Hopefully it doesn’t mean spending the night at BWI, particularly considering they have to play two games tomorrow in the Motor City. The Yankees will miss long-rumored trade target Michael Fulmer. Fulmer, off to a disappointing start (2-4, 4.60 ERA, 1.368 WHIP), pitches today against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Sadly, the Boston Red Sox won their 40th game of the season yesterday against Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros. It wasn’t Verlander’s fault. The Red Sox just worked the simple formula. Keep it close and get into the Astros bullpen. Once there, good things happen for opposing teams. The Red Sox (40-19) continue to lead the Yankees (37-17) by a half-game in the AL East.

Justus Sheffield was hammered for six runs in five innings yesterday during Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s 8-0 loss to the Indianapolis Indians. I guess he was “Bottom” Sheff for the day. Four hits, including a homer, and three walks did in the young left-hander. Brandon Drury, to his credit, singled to increase his on-base streak to 25 games. The sorely missed Ronald Torreyes was 2-for-4 on an otherwise forgettable offensive (literally and figuratively) day for the RailRiders.  

By the way, congratulations to Gleyber Torres for his recognition as May American League Rookie of the Month. His slash line for the month was .317/.374/.659 with nine home runs and 24 RBI’s.  He delivered 26 hits, 13 runs scored and drew six walks.  The month included Gleyber’s four-game homer streak as the 21 year old continues to draw out the names of Yankees legends like Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle with his hitting prowess. Not saying he is those guys but his accomplishments echo reminders of those names. That’s pretty damn good company.

Photo Credit: The Sporting News
Weather-permitting, let’s get a win today. I’ll be at Coors Field watching the Los Angeles Dodgers go for the sweep against the Colorado Rockies. Hopefully the Pinstripers can do the same.

Go Yankees!

Update:  Today's game in Baltimore has been postponed.  It will be made up as part of a double-header (ugh, another one!) on Saturday, August 25th. 

Photo Credit: Getty Images (Mitchell Layton)