He got help, in the form of home runs by Aaron Hicks and Gleyber Torres, both in the 5th inning. Chad Green, Dellin Betances (who has rebounded from a bad last couple of seasons to pitch very well this year) and Aroldis Chapman each pitched a scoreless inning.
Yankees 4, Rays 3. WP: German (1-4, his 1st big-league W). SV: Chapman (19). LP: Blake Snell (8-4).
*
The Friday night game was the major league debut of pitcher Jonathan Loáisiga (pronounced "Loh-EYE-see-gah," and pictured above), a 23-year-old righthander from Nicaragua. Naturally, fans were nicknaming him "Lasagna." I sure hope no one has told him about the 2006 Premier League finale between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.
Loáisiga sure didn't pitch like a debutant -- or like a virus-afflicted athlete. Manager Aaron Boone let him go 5 innings, and he was terrific: He allowed no runs on 3 hits, with 6 strikeouts. One worrying point: 4 walks. Jonathan Holder, David Robertson, Betances and Adam Warren each pitched a scoreless inning
Pitching for the Rays was Nathan Eovaldi, the former Yankee known as Nasty Nate, an All-Star before injury wrecked his career. He did not have a good game, although he did pitch into the 8th inning. Didi Gregorius took him deep in the 3rd inning. In the 6th, another run scored on an Aaron Judge double, a Gregorius single, and a Giancarlo Stanton sacrifice fly.
Eovaldi loaded the bases in the 8th, and was removed. But Gary Sanchez brought all those runners home with a double, making the final score Yankees 5, Rays 0. WP: Loáisiga (1-0). No save. LP: Eovaldi (1-2).
*
Yesterday was a Sevy Saturday. Luis Severino pitched 8 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits and 2 walks, fanning 9. He got an RBI double by Torres in the 2nd, an RBI single by Gregorius in the 3rd, and back-to-back dingers by Stanton and Sanchez in the 5th.
Unfortunately, Boone decided to relieve Sevy. Even more unfortunately, he did so with Chasen Shreve, who allowed a home run to the 1st batter he faced, Matt Duffy. He then allowed a triple to Jake Bauers. That's 7 total bases in 2 batters. Boone decided not to fool around any further: He brought Chapman in, and the result was groundout, groundout, strikeout.
Yankees 4, Rays 1. WP: Severino (10-2). SV: Chapman (20). LP: Ryan Yarbrough (5-3).
*
All good things must come to an end. I just wish this winning streak didn't come on Old-Timers' Day.
Maybe it's my fault. I went to Point Pleasant Beach, and to Martell's Tiki Bar. The Yankees were around 0-25 (an estimation, but not an exaggeration) with me dining there until finally winning a game in 2011, and another in 2012.
Granted, they only played the Old-Timers' Game while I was there -- 37-year-old OTD debutant Nick Swisher, who last played in just 3 years ago, with the Atlanta Braves, hit a home run -- not the regular game, but it doesn't matter: Somehow, whoever decides these things decided, "Hey, Uncle Mike was at Martell's today, so the Yankees must lose their game." And, rooting against Mexico because I'm an American, I saw Mexico pull a World Cup shocker over Germany.
CC Sabathia -- 4 months older than Swish, but still pitching like a champion this season -- gave it his all, getting into the 8th inning, allowing 3 runs on 10 hits, but only 1 walk, and struck out 10. Alas, he didn't get much support. The only Yankee run came in the 5th, a homer by Hicks. Hicks had that homer and a single, Gregorius had a single and a triple, but, other than that, just 3 singles by Stanton, Sanchez and Greg Bird.
Rays 3, Yankees 1. WP: Chaz Roe (1-1). SV: Sergio Romo (3). LP: Sabathia (4-2).
So the Yankees took 3 out of 4 from Tampa Bay, despite the fact that they started 2 rookie pitchers and both came away with wins. They end the week half a game behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League Eastern Division -- but, having 5 games in hand on them, 2 games ahead of them in the all-important loss column.
It's already been an odd season, and we're still in mid-June.
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