Just when you thought it was safe to trust Aaron Boone with pitching decisions...
Game 1 of the American League Division Series was played yesterday, at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, against those pesky Toronto Blue Jays. Despite a lot of big AL Eastern Division games over the last 40 years, this was the 1st Playoff game between the 2 teams.
Boone started Luis Gil, who is a good pitcher. He allowed a home run to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 1st inning. He allowed a home run to Alejandro Kirk in the 2nd inning. It was 2-0 Jays in the bottom of the 3rd. Gil got the 1st 2 outs. Then Vlad came up again, and hit a single off Gil.
Gil had thrown 75 pitches. There were 2 outs in the inning. He was not injured. There was absolutely no reason to take him out at that point. There was a good reason to keep him in: Fewer pitches thrown by Yankee relievers.
Boone took Gil out. He replaced Gil with Tim Hill. Hill got out of the inning. But those of us who watch the Yankees already knew full well that there was no way in hell that Boone was going to get away with doing something so damned stupid.
Hill pitched a perfect 4th. Camilo Doval pitched a perfect 5th. It was still only 2-0 Toronto. In the top of the 6th, batting against Kevin Gausman -- who, in Toronto and before that in Baltimore, has given the Yankees trouble -- the Yankees loaded the bases with nobody out. Here was the chance to redeem Boone's stupid move.
But Aaron Judge struck out. Cody Bellinger drew a walk to force home a run. But Ben Rice popped up, and Giancarlo Stanton struck out. For the 2nd time in 4 games, the Yankees had a bases-loaded-nobody-out situation and failed to take sufficient advantage.
Still, a 2-1 deficit, with 3 innings to go, and with the Yankees' lineup, shouldn't have been too much to overcome. Especially when Doval pitched a perfect 6th.
Ryan McMahon singled with 1 out in the 7th, but the Yankees couldn't bring him home. And then Boone made another stupid decision. Not bringing in a new reliever: Doval was probably done, anyway. No, it was making Luke Weaver that reliever. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Weaver gave up walk, single, RBI single.
That was the minimum 3 batters. Boone took him out, and replaced him with Fernando Cruz. Here's what he allowed: Sacrifice bunt, walk, 2-RBI double, sacrifice fly. Now, it was 6-1.
Judge doubled with 1 out in the 8th. The Yankees couldn't get him home. Paul Blackburn pitched the 8th. No reason to bring in somebody to relieve him: This game is already lost, so don't waste any additional pitchers and compromise their availability for Game 2. Blackburn gave up 4 runs on 6 hits, including Kirk's 2nd homer of the game. The Yankees went down meekly in the 9th. Blue Jays 10, Yankees 1.
Just 2 days after their most satisfying win of the season, the Yankees had their dumbest loss of the season. If Boone had left Gil in, the Yankees still would have lost, given their inability to get runs home, but it probably wouldn't have been as bad as 10-1.
I was in full "Fire him before they even leave the building" mode.
Elsewhere in Division Series Game 1 action yesterday: Detroit Tigers 3, Seattle Mariners 2 in 11 innings; Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Philadelphia Phillies 3; and Milwaukee Brewers 9, Chicago Cubs 3.
Game 2 is this afternoon. Max Fried, the ace due to Gerrit Cole's season-long injury, starts against Trey Yesavage, a 22-year-old righthander from Boyertown, Pennsylvania, making his 4th major league appearance and start.
A pitcher the Yankees have never seen before? In a game broadcast on Fox? Oh, Lord, take me now.
Maybe it won't be so bad, because it'll be on FS1, not main Fox. Maybe the Yankees will hit. Maybe Boone will make good pitching decisions.
Maybe I'll flap my arms and fly to the Moon.
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