Funny, but they rarely make that claim about Citizens Bank Park, the (no longer so new) home of the Philadelphia Phillies, even though the field dimensions make it easier there.
And, as they've proven at Citi Field a few times, the Yankees make any ballpark "too easy to hit home runs in."
On Monday night, the Yankees hit Philadelphia for a series against the Phillies. Rookie Jonathan Loasiga pitched into the 6th inning, and the bullpen, capped by Aroldis Chapman, was effective. The Yankees scored in the 2nd, thanks to a walk by Greg Bird and a double by Gleyber Torres. Aaron Judge hit a home run in the 5th.
The Phils closed to within 2-1 in the 7th, but the Yanks put it away in the 8th. Brett Gardner led off with a single, Judge drew a walk, and Didi Gregorius' attempt at a sacrifice bunt turned into an infield single when the Phils couldn't make a play.
That brought up a dream scenario: Giancarlo Stanton up with the bases loaded and nobody out in a hitters' park. He got the job done, if not spectacularly, with a single that brought home Gardner and Judge.
Aroldis gotta Aroldis, so he gave up a home run to make it interesting, but slammed the door. Yankees 4, Phillies 2. WP: Loasiga (2-0). SV: Chapman (23). LP: Vince Velasquez (5-8).
Aaron Hicks led off the Tuesday night game with a home run, and the Yankees picked up 3 more runs in the 3rd, 1 in the 4th, another in the 5th on a Gregorius homer.
That was all Luis Severino needed, pitching like the ace that Met fans, in their infinite foolishness, believe Jacob deGrom to be -- and the Phillies were hoping their starting pitcher, 2016 Chicago Cub hero Jake Arrieta, would be for them (and still might be, but not on this night). Sevy went 7 shutout innings, allowing 6 hits and no walks, striking out 9. Despite being much-maligned, Adam Warren and Chasen Shreve were each risked by Aaron Boone in that ballpark, and each pitched a scoreless inning.
Yankees 6, Phillies 0. WP: Severino (12-2). No save. LP: Arrieta (5-6).
The Wednesday game should have been Masahiro Tanaka's to start. As he is injured, Boone sent Luis Cessa out. He didn't get out of the 4th inning, and the bats didn't help: All the Yankees got was singles by Hicks (2 of them), Gregorius and Miguel Andujar, and walks by Gardner and Kyle Higashioka, filling in as catcher for the injured Gary Sanchez.
Phillies 3, Yankees 0. WP: Zach Eflin (6-2). SV: Seranthony Dominguez (5). LP: Cessa (0-1).
Then again, maybe this was a good sign. The Yankees often have a big-scoring game right before playing the Boston Red Sox, and then go in seeming to have used up all their runs. This time, they had a bad game going into a Boston series, so maybe they'll get the runs they need.
Bring on The Scum.
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