Over their last 180 games, the Yankees are. Barely more than a .500 team. 91-89.
I can hear Aaron Boone now: "But they're grinding! They're savages in that box! They're not far away!"
Sorry, I forgot to say "Cliché Alert."
Hearing Boone say they're "grinding" makes me think of coffee. Actually watching them makes me want a stronger drink.
Gerrit Cole started the finale of their series away to the Colorado Rockies, and went 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and 1 walk, striking out 11. But in so doing, he threw 102 pitches, and Aaron Boone didn't have the guts to break Brian Cashman's rule and leave him in there longer. Thus did the bullpen musical chairs begin.
The Yankees led 3-1 when he left, and Wandy Peralta pitched a perfect 7th inning. But Boone didn't leave him in, either, bringing Tommy Kahnle in to pitch the 8th, and he loaded the bases. Boone brought Clay Holmes in, and he gave up a grand slam. It was 5-3 Rockies.
A 9th-inning comeback was necessary. Billy McKinney led off by being hit by a pitch. That would be a dumb thing for a pitcher to do to start an inning, but the pitcher was Daniel Bard, who used to pitch for the Red Sox, so you never know. Gleyber Torres grounded to 3rd, but Rockies 3rd baseman Ryan McMahon threw the ball away. McKinney came all the way around to score, and Torres wound up on 2nd. 5-4.
Giancarlo Stanton flew out, advancing Torres to 3rd. Anthony Rizzo drew a walk. Oswald Peraza was sent in to pinch-run for Rizzo. Boone put the delayed double steal on: Peraza stole 2nd, but the Rockies didn't take the bait, and Torres had to stay put. DJ LeMahieu was intentionally walked to set up the double play.
They got it, but not how they intended. Harrison Bader hit a line shot to left. It was caught, but Torres was able to score. And then Peraza was thrown out at 3rd. Unwritten Rule of Baseball: Never make the 1st or last out of an inning at 3rd base. Corollary question: Why make any out at any base?
At any rate, the game was tied, and Ian Hamilton pitched a scoreless 9th. Extra innings. Neither team could score in the 10th. In the top of the 11th, Oswaldo Cabrera singled home ghost runner Anthony Volpe. One thing led to another, and Peraza, who had stayed in the game, singled home a run. It was 7-5 Yankees. All they had to do in the bottom of the 11th was get 3 outs without allowing more than 1 run.
Boone brought Nick Ramirez in to pitch. This was a stupid thing to do. He gave up a leadoff home run to Nolan Jones. With the ghost runner, this meant tie ballgame. Then he got 2 outs, thus pitching to the minimum 3 batters. No reason to bring in another reliever, though. But Boone did, bringing in Ron Marinaccio, and he gave up a walkoff homer to Alan Trejo. It was his 1st homer of the season, and only the 6th of his career.
Rockies 8, Yankees 7. WP: Gavin Hollowell (1-0, his 1st major league win, having made his debut only 2 weeks ago). No save. LP: Marinaccio (4-5).
The Yankees blew a 2-run lead in the 8th, and another in the 11th. "Grinding"? After this game, the only that's grinding is my gears.
Tonight, the Yankees begin a series away to the Los Angeles Angels, featuring Shohei "Not Better Than Babe Ruth" Ohtani and Mike "Not Comparable to Mickey Mantle" Trout. Luis Severino starts against Griffin Canning. Yeah, another one of those families that turned a last name into a first name, making their son's full name sound like the name of a law firm.
No comments:
Post a Comment