Didi Gregorius drew a walk in the 1st inning, and Aaron Hicks hit a home run. Miguel Andujar (2 runs) and Neil Walker (solo) had back-to-back jacks in the 4th, to make it 5-1 Yankees. Giancarlo Stanton added a homer in the 5th, and Walker hit another in the 6th.
That was more than enough for J.A. Happ, who wwent 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk, striking out 9. David Robertson pitched a scoreless 7th, and Dellin Betances a perfect 8th. Aroldis Chapman hadn't pitched at all in the Chicago series, so they had to give him some work. Sometimes, that doesn't work out well: He's been known to take some big leads and make them shaky. Not this time: He walked 2, but allowed no hits and no runs.
Yankees 7, Rangers 3. WP: Happ (12-6). SV: None. For the 4th straight game, the Yankees won without a save. LP: Ariel Jurado (2-2).
*
The Yankees got 7 runs on Thursday night, and it was plenty. They also got 7 runs on Friday night, and it wasn't nearly enough. Brett Gardner hit a home run in the 5th inning, and Austin Romine in the 7th. Romine and Gregorius each got 3 hits.
But the pitching wasn't there. Masahiro Tanaka allowed 6 runs in 5 innings, A.J. Cole 4 in 2, Chad Green 2 in 1. Only Zach Britton, in the 9th, emerged unscathed.
Rangers 12, Yankees 7. WP: Mike Minor (9-6). No save. LP: Tanaka (9-3).
*
The Saturday afternoon game looked like it was going to go the Yankees' way. They got 2 runs in the 1st inning, including another homer by the on-fire Stanton. Lance Lynn had pitched very well, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 8.
And then, Aaron Boone pulled a blunder right out of Joe Girardi's binder. Lynn had thrown 99 pitches. A smart manager would have left him in, but Boone either isn't smart, or (this may be more likely) is, as Girardi may have been, under orders from Brian Cashman, who isn't smart, to adhere to a pitch limit.
So David Robertson was brought in, and he pitched a perfect 6th. Naturally, a smart manager would leave him in. Boone didn't do this. He brought Britton in to pitch the 7th, and then brought Betances in to finish the inning. Between them, they blew it, allowing the game to be tied.
But Andujar hit a home run in the bottom of the 7th. Betances shook off his bad 7th to pitch a perfect 8th. Chapman loaded the bases in the 9th, but got out of it.
Yankees 5, Rangers 3. WP: Betances (3-3). SV: Chapman (30). LP: Chris Martin (1-3).
*
Stanton kept his hot streak going in the Sunday afternoon game, hitting one out in the 1st inning. Other than that, it was a tight pitching duel between CC Sabathia and Martin Perez, until the bottom of the 5th. With 1 out, Romine beat out an infield single. Gardner doubled, and Hicks singled Romine home. Stanton singled. Andujar got Hicks home on a groundout. And Gregorious hit a home run.
Sonny Gray almost blew it in the 7th, but Jonathan Holder got through the 8th and the 9th with no runs. Yankees 7, Rangers 2. WP: Sabathia (7-4). No save. LP: Perez (2-5).
I often say that, as long as the number of weeks left in the sregular eason exceeds the number of games behind a baseball team is, they have a chance. There are now 7 weeks to go, and the Yankees trail the Boston Red Sox by 9 1/2 games in the American League Eastern Division, albeit by "only" 8 in the all-important loss column. 8 > 7, so the Yankees don't have a very good chance.
They do, however, remain in the driver's seat to host the AL Wild Card game. But, given that this is the most gutless bunch of Yankees in the last 100 years -- since before Babe Ruth arrived -- I don't like their chances in the Wild Card Game.
Then again, I didn't like said chances last season, and they won. And they won the AL Division Series, too. But they still looked really bad in losing the AL Championship Series.
And, let's not forget: If the Yankees do win the Wild Card Game, they advance to the ALDS, where they would give up home-field advantage to the team with the AL's best record. And that will probably be the Red Sox.
So don't get your hopes up.
No comments:
Post a Comment