Sunday, May 22, 2022

Yankee Attack, Chapman Blow It

Today, in the 1st game of a rain-forced doubleheader with the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees confused Jameson Taillon for Jordan Montgomery, and failed to provide him with sufficient run support.

In 7 innings, Taillon allowed just 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk, striking out 7. But the Yankees couldn't get it done. They wasted men on 1st and 2nd with 1 out in the 1st inning, a leadoff single by Aaron Hicks in the 2nd, an Aaron Judge 2-out single in the 3rd, a Jose Trevino 2-out single in the 5th, an Anthony Rizzo 1-out walk in the 6th, and men on 1st and 2nd with nobody out in the 7th.

With the White Sox having scored in the top of the 4th, the Yankees went into the bottom of the 8th trailing 1-0. With 1 out, Judge hit a home run, and Rizzo followed this with a double. Giancarlo Stanton was intentionally walked to set up the double play. It was unnecessary: Josh Donaldson flew out to center, and Hicks popped up to 3rd.

Manager Aaron Boone took 2 big risks with the bullpen. First, he trusted Lucas Luetge with the 8th inning, after Luetge's last outing was a loss. It worked: The White Sox did not score in the inning. Then, Boone trusted Aroldis Chapman with holding the 1-1 tie in the 9th, after Chapman had blown the last 1-1 tie he'd been given, and Clay Holmes, rather than Chapman, had been trusted with the last 2 save opportunities.

This gamble did not pay off. Chapman immediately allowed a home run to AJ Pollock. (Like CC Sabathia, he doesn't use periods for his initials.) Chapman got a flyout, then gave up a walk, followed by a wild pitch, and then a passed ball by Molina, and then an RBI double by Adam Engel. Boone pulled Chapman for Ron Marinaccio, who got a popup, then threw a wild pitch of his own, and finally got out of the inning with a strikeout.

The Yankees went down quietly in the bottom of the 9th. White Sox 3, Yankees 1. WP: Kendall Graveman (1-1). SV: Liam Hendriks (13). LP: Chapman (0-2).

The series concludes tonight. Luis Severino starts against Michael Kopech.

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