Series Recap: Yanks Mauled By Tigers
Photo Via: Kim Klement — USA TODAY SportsThe Yankees got swept by the Detroit Tigers. That is a true sentence that I just had to type. There is plenty of blame to go ‘round, so let’s jump into the game recaps and then go on a tirade. The recaps will be quick because the actual games were pathetic wastes of 3-4 hours with minimal bright spots.
Game 1 (Yankees 2, Tigers 3) (10 Innings)
The Yankees had Gerrit Cole on the bump against the Detroit Tigers. Easy win, right? Wrong. It was not the fault of Cole either. He was not his sharpest, but he still managed 6 innings of 1-run ball. Unfortunately, the Yankees were only able to match that run total off of Casey Mize. Rougned Odor tied the game at 1 with a home run and a grade-A bat drop.
Gerrit Cole gave it his all in the final inning of work, and he let out a nice yell when he got the strikeout he was looking for.
The most intriguing thing to happen all weekend was Gio Urshela’s walk. That’s right, a walk. Why? Well, because he walked on a 2-2 count. Ball 3 was called, and Gio put his bat down, took off his shin guard and trotted to first base… and nobody said a word. The umpires did not notice, the Tigers did not notice, and the Yankees either did not notice or correctly stayed quiet.
With Chad Green on the mound and a runner on second base for Detroit, Jeimer Candelario hit a rope that looked like it was destined for the right field corner. D.J. LeMahieu made a marvelous play, leaping into the air like MJ to make an outstanding catch.
In the 9th inning, Aroldis Chapman walked a batter and the Tigers sent in the speedy Akil Baddoo to pinch run. Gary Sánchez took care of that.
In the top of the 10th inning, the Yankees finally got a run across in the only way it probably could have happened. A passed ball.
Yanks have lead! Nothing could go wrong, this game is a wrap! Nope! Aaron Boone decided to put Justin Wilson out there for the save opportunity. With the automatic runner on second, the go-ahead run was at the plate to start the inning. Wilson got 2 quick outs, then faced his former roommate Robbie Grossman.
Exactly what you thought would happen… happened. Sure, Wilson got a tough break on a missed strike-3 call in the at bat, but that does not mean you can give up a home run. The bullpen cannot be that fragile.
Yankee of the Day: Rougned Odor (1): 4 for 5, HR, R, RBI.
Game 2 (Yankees 1, Tigers 6)
Deivi García was called up to make his second start of the season and it did not go well. The first inning seemed like the Yankees were about to grab a win. The Yankees loaded the bases with nobody out against Spencer Turnbull. In perfect 2021 Yankees fashion, Miguel Andújar grounded into a double play, which brought in a run but killed the rally.
García retired the Tigers without any damage, but the rest of his outing was where things fell apart. In fact, the game was so uneventful that there are no other plays even worth putting in the recap.
Yankee of the Day: Albert Abreu (1): 3.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K.
Game 3 (Yankees 2, Tigers 6)
Michael King made the Sunday start for the Yanks, and this was just about the only cool thing that happened.
Things fell apart in the field for the Yanks. A broken bat ground ball was hit at Gio Urshela, who booted the ball. It was a tougher play than it should have been because of the broken bat barrel flying in his direction, so I do not blame Gio for not making the play. But it was multiplied by two inexcusable Gleyber Torres errors, effectively putting the Yankees dismal offense in too deep a hole to climb out of.
The Yankees put a few runners on base in the 8th inning when Gary Sánchez hit an infield single to bring home a run to make the score 6-2. The ball was thrown away, sending Gleyber Torres to third base. Sánchez, however, thought the ball went out of play and started jogging to second base. The Tigers retrieved the ball and threw Sánchez out on the base paths. In the 9th, the Yankees loaded the bases against Michael Fulmer with Aaron Judge at the plate. Instead of tying the game like we all hoped, the result was a strikeout looking.
Yankee of the Day: Nick Nelson (1): 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 2 K.
Series Talking Points
Boone Decision-Making: Aaron Boone decided to use Justin Wilson in the 10th inning with a 1-run lead. Jonathan Loáisiga never pitched in the series. Lucas Luetge and Luis Cessa were never used in the series. Aroldis Chapman was used in the 9th inning of a tie game on the road. The decisions on Friday night were questionable at best. In fact, Justin Wilson was placed on the injured list after surrendering a walk-off home run. Boone even said the injury (hamstring strain) had been bothering Wilson for weeks and that he knew about it. Yet he STILL USED HIM FOR A SAVE. INSANE. The Yankees need to start focusing on winning the game they are playing today, because their plans always blow up in their faces. The only game this weekend in which they needed Loáisiga, Cessa, and Luetge was Friday, and they never even warmed up.
Baserunning/Defense: The defense was awful this weekend. Urshela made an error, Gleyber made a coupel errors, Rougned Odor threw a ball away to first base when he should have flipped the ball to second base for a force out. Miguel Andújar dropped a popup. Higashioka and Cole had a cross-up. Just sloppy baseball that needs to be cleaned up or the Yankees will find themselves 10 games out of first place soon enough. Add a few more outs on the base paths this series as well, because that is what the Yankees do.
Series Totals
Hitting
D.J. LeMahieu: 4 for 13 (.308 AVG), 1 BB (.357 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 4 K (.665 OPS), 0 SB
Giancarlo Stanton: 0 for 8 (.000 AVG), 2 BB (.200 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 6 K (.200 OPS), 0 SB
Aaron Judge: 3 for 13 (.231 AVG), 1 BB (.286 OBP), 2 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 5 K (.670 OPS), 0 SB
Gio Urshela: 0 for 8 (.000 AVG), 1 BB (.111 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 K (.111 OPS), 0 SB
Gleyber Torres: 3 for 11 (.273 AVG), 2 BB (.385 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K (.657 OPS), 0 SB
Gary Sánchez: 3 for 7 (.429 AVG), 2 BB (.556 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K (.984 OPS), 0 SB
Clint Frazier: 3 for 11 (.273 AVG), 1 BB (.333 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 4 K (.606 OPS), 0 SB
Brett Gardner: 1 for 6 (.167 AVG), 0 BB (.167 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 K (.333 OPS), 0 SB
Kyle Higashioka: 0 for 3 (.000 AVG), 0 BB (.000 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 K (.000 OPS), 0 SB
Mike Ford: 0 for 2 (.000 AVG), 1 BB, 1 HBP (.500 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 K (.500 OPS), 0 SB
Miguel Andújar: 2 for 9 (.222 AVG), 0 BB (.222 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 K (.444 OPS), 0 SB
Rougned Odor: 4 for 9 (.444 AVG), 0 BB (.444 OBP), 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 K (1.222 OPS), 0 SB
Tyler Wade: 0 for 4 (.000 AVG), 0 BB (.000 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 K (.000 OPS), 0 SB
Pitching
Gerrit Cole: 6 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 0 HR, 5 Ks, 1.50 ERA
Deivi Garcia: 4.1 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 0 HR, 3 Ks, 8.31 ERA
Michael King: 2.1 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 0 HR, 0 Ks, 7.71 ERA
Nestor Cortes Jr.: 3.2 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 0 HR, 3 Ks, 2.45 ERA
Justin Wilson: 0.2 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 HR, 0 Ks, 13.50 ERA
Albert Abreu: 3.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 HR, 3 Ks, 2.45 ERA
Nick Nelson: 2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 0 HR, 2 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Wandy Peralta: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Chad Green: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 HR, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
Aroldis Chapman: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 HR, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
Luis Cessa: No appearances.
Lucas Luetge: No appearances.
Jonathan Loáisiga: No appearances.
Jordan Montgomery: No appearances.
Jameson Taillon: No appearances.
Domingo Germán: No appearances.