You may have thought, as I did, that general manager Brian Cashman's apparent strategy of having an all-outfield team was foolish.
Doesn't look so foolish now, does it?
In the bottom of the 1st inning at the Rogers Centre last night, left fielder Billy McKinney, who got his 1st major league hit and RBi yesterday, chased a Josh Donaldson line drive, and crashed into the outfield wall -- one of the last few in the major leagues that isn't padded. He didn't get the ball, and Donaldson reached 2nd on a double.
At first, it looked like McKinney had hit his head, meaning that he should be taken out of the game as a concussion precaution. He insisted that his head was fine, and manager Aaron Boone left him in the game. Then Justin Smoak hit one into the left field corner, and McKinney retrieved it, and threw it back to the infield, and it became clear that the problem wasn't with his head, but with his arm. Boone took him out of the game.
This is on top of Greg Bird, Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hicks and Clint Frazier already being on the Disabled List. McKinney was started to give Brett Gardner a day off, but Gardner had to be sent out there.
Boone let CC Sabathia pitch only 5 innings, in which he allowed 2 runs, only 1 of which was earned, 5 hits and 2 walks, with 4 strikeouts. He had thrown 84 pitches, 54 for strikes. This is CC we're talking about: He could have gone longer. But, apparently, Boone cares more about the pitch count than actual results. If you're still going to have a pitch count, then what the hell was the point of firing Joe Girardi?
Boone brought in Adam Warren, who shouldn't be on the Yankees' roster, or any other major league team's roster, because he stinks. He allowed another run and got hurt. So that's another injury, albeit one that will prevent him from wrecking any more Yankee games for a while. Jonathan Holder finished the 6th inning without further damage.
Tyler Austin hit 2 long home runs, a 432-foot 2-run shot in the 5th inning, and a 412-foot solo drive in the 7th. That made it 3-3.
But instead of letting Holder keep pitching in the bottom of the 7th, Boone put Dellin Betances in. Betances got through the 7th without much trouble. Him, Boone left in. And the 8th turned out to be the worst inning of the Yankees' young season thus far.
Yangervis Solarte -- who, you'll recall, Cashman traded away for Chase Headley -- led off the inning with a tremendous blast to center field, 455 feet. Betances struck Randal Grichuk out, but allowed a single to Kevin Pillar -- not to be confused with Kevin Millar, our former foe in Boston, who was so slow (How slow was he?), he certainly couldn't have done what I'm about to describe.
Betances struck Aledmys Diaz out. But Pillar stole 2nd. Betances walked Luke Maile. Then a double steal: Pillar stole 3rd and Maile stole 2nd. And then, Pillar stole home plate. He stole 2nd, 3rd and home in the same inning. All because Betances wasn't paying enough attention, and wasn't throwing enough strikes.
That made it 5-3 Blue Jays, and that's how it ended. WP: Ryan Tepera (1-0). SV: Roberto Osuna (1). LP: Betances (0-1).
It's not just that the Yankees lost, it's how. It could have been avoided, had Boone just let either Sabathia or Holder pitch longer. Instead, he Girardi-ed the game. His 1st screwup as a major league manager. Well, his 1st 2.
The series concludes this afternoon, Easter Sunday, with a scheduled first pitch of 1:07 PM. Sonny Gray will start for the Yankees, Marcus Stroman for the Jays. Then, tomorrow afternoon is the home opener, against the Tampa Bay Rays.
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