Series Recap: Yanks Fight For Two Versus A’s
Another series, another triple play for the Yanks! I mean, it is getting to the point now where it is kind of anticipated? Is that weird? When there are two runners on base and nobody out, my brain immediately thinks, “Well, a triple play is in order here so this could be a clean inning.” I used to never in a million years consider a triple play as a legitimate possibility. It was always brought up in jest. Well, here we are on June 21 and the Yankees have turned not one, not two, but three triple plays on the season. This one resulted in a series victory over the AL-best Oakland Athletics. The Yankees played some bad baseball and some good baseball, but winning is ultimately what matters.
Game 1 (Athletics 5, Yankees 3)
A Yankee import and a Yankee export went toe to toe on Friday night. Jameson Taillon, who the Yankees traded for this offseason, started the game. His counterpart, James Kaprielian, was a former first round pick for the Yankees who was sent to Oakland in the Sonny Gray deal.
First things first, Gio Urshela learning to go across the third base bag with ease this season has catapulted his game fielding-wise. This play he made on Friday was just one of many just like it over the last few weeks.
A home run by Matt Olson gave the A’s a 1-0 lead. He was the slugger to watch for a reason. He has unbelievable power in his swing and the short right field distance was a perfect recipe for a weekend of homers for the lefty.
Since the Aaron Hicks injury, the Yankees have deployed a mix of centerfielders. Mostly, it has been Brett Gardner out there and his range is fantastic. However, his arm in centerfield is a complete liability. This single made the game 2-0 in favor of the A’s. As you can see in the clip, Elvis Andrus is on second base and at first he drifts back towards the base instead of moving on contact. He could not tell if the ball was going to get through the infield. Once it does, he proceeds around the bases and scores standing up. Brett Gardner is one of a handful of centerfielders that does not either keep Andrus at third base or throw him out at home. The Yankees need to really think if it is worth having Gardner, who cannot reach the infield dirt, out there manning centerfield instead of left field.
In the 3rd inning, D.J. LeMahieu was the first to tag Kaprielian, who dealt his first time through the Yankees’ lineup. LeMahieu went the other way in classic fashion to tie the game 2-2.
Jameson Taillon nearly made it through 5 innings, but was yanked in the top of the 5th with 2 outs when Matt Olson stepped to the plate to face him for a third time. Instead, Boone opted for Wandy Peralta to face the slugger, and he induced an inning-ending flyout to the warning track in center.
In the bottom of the 5th inning, the Yankees jumped in front on a home run to right by Rougned Odor. With a 3-2 lead and 12 outs to go, the Yankees were probably liking their chances of earning a win on Friday night.
Instead, Boone stuck with Wandy Peralta, who immediately got 2 outs then allowed singles to Matt Chapman and Sean Murphy. With the lefty Tony Kemp up, who almost never hits home runs, Boone decided to let Peralta have the at bat. With 2 strikes, Peralta hung a slider and Kemp smacked it for a 3-run blast, changing the entire outlook of the game.
That was all she wrote for the Yanks, who did not score the rest of the way.
Yankee of the Day: D.J. LeMahieu (6): 1 for 4, HR, R, 2 RBI.
Game 2 (Athletics 5, Yankees 7)
The Nestor Cortes Jr. Game. That is what this was. Domingo Germán started, but Cortes saved the day. Germán was hit hard for 4 runs in 4-plus innings. Let’s go through everything that got us to the point of Cortes saving the day.
First, Tony Kemp picked up where he left off with a home run barely over the right field wall in the 1st inning. Not fun.
In the 2nd inning, the Yankees had runners on first and second with nobody out. Gio Urshela hit a very slow grounder, which is not usually a double play ball. But since this is the 2021 Yankees, the double play found its way. Urshela’s bat exploded on contact with the ball and wood splinters flew up into Urshela’s face. One unfortunately got into his eye and he could not even tell if the ball was fair or foul. That caused Urshela to be disoriented and give the A’s plenty of time to turn two. Luckily, Urshela was okay and stayed in the game (thank goodness he did).
When the A’s had their own threat going, D.J. LeMahieu made a nice play with the infield in to take a hit away from Tony Kemp (which we all appreciated).
Germán served one up to Matt Chapman and the A’s led 2-0.
With splinters in the eye and all, Gio Urshela’s next at bat got the Yankees on the scoreboard and cut the A’s lead in half.
Domingo Germán surrendered a 2-RBI single to Matt Olson to make the score 4-1 Oakland. Now we are caught up. Nestor Cortes Jr. entered the game with two A’s on base and nobody out. Cortes did a remarkable job not allowing any further damage and giving the Yankees a fighting chance to get back in the game.
The Yankees wasted a leadoff double by Clint Frazier in the 5th inning. However, in the 6th it was time to UNLEASH THE KRAKEN! Gary Sánchez hit a mammoth home run to the second deck in left field to make the score 4-2.
After Nestor’s third scoreless inning, the Yankees rallied in the 7th inning. Clint Frazier hit another leadoff double. Then with 2 outs, Judge and Stanton each singled to tie the game 4-4.
After Cortes Jr.’s day was done, the Yanks went to Chad Green. The hard-throwing right-hander was feeling it. Green struck out the side in order, including this breaking ball to freeze Chad Pinder to end the inning.
Wood splinters! Gio Urshela hit homer to dead centerfield in the 8th inning and the Yankees have their first lead of the ballgame!
LeMahieu added two insurance runs (before he got picked off first base), so the Yanks led 7-4 and gave the ball to Aroldis Chapman.
The home plate umpire, Sean Barber, decided to shrink the strike zone in the top of the 9th inning, so Aaron Boone had a lot to say to him. It eventually got Boone thrown out of the game.
The inning got sloppy and a run scored, but eventually Chapman threw his hardest pitch of the season at 103.4 mph to get the strikeout, the stare, and the win!
Yankee of the Day: Nestor Cortes Jr. (1): 3 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K.
Game 3 (Athletics 1, Yankees 2)
It was Father’s Day at Yankee Stadium and a pair of left-handed pitchers were on the bump. Naturally, Matt Olson got things started with a home run off of Jordan Montgomery.
That was the only run of the game through 5 innings. Montgomery and Sean Manaea were cruising, so the A’s led 1-0.
In the 6th inning, Montgomery put two runners on base with 1 out, and that was enough for Boone. He went to Jonathan Loáisiga, who appropriately induced two ground balls to get out of the inning unscathed.
In the bottom half of the inning, Manaea walked Frazier and Judge, which led to Gary Sánchez stepping to the plate in a golden opportunity. Gary did not disappoint, as he drove a one-hopper off of the wall in right-center to take the lead. Additionally, Gary made it to third base safely as Matt Chapman fell off balance as he fielded the throw and tried to apply the tag. Sánchez danced around the tag and reached his hand in safely.
Once again, the Yankees turned to Aroldis Chapman to close out a victory and once again things got hairy. Chapman could not find the strike zone. He walked Jed Lowrie and Tony Kemp to begin the inning. After a visit from the trainer and Aaron Boone, Chapman stayed in the game to face Sean Murphy. The Yankees got Luis Cessa and Wandy Peralta active in the bullpen.
The first pitch to Murphy was a ball. Chapman had lost the zone and I was not sure if the A’s would even need to swing the bat again to tie the game.
But then, a miracle. Once again, the Yankees pulled the ace from their sleeve this season.
A TRIPLE PLAY. GAME OVER.
Everybody was stunned. Just like that, it is a series win.
Yankee of the Day: Gary Sánchez (4): 2 for 3, 2B, 2 RBI. Go-ahead 2-run double.
Series Talking Points
Triple Play Machine: I talked about it a lot throughout the recap, but the triple play was just so unbelievable and I have a bit more to say about it. First, Gio Urshela is a wizard at turning triple plays. He knows before the ball is even hit that the triple play is in order. This time, he fielded the ball even with the third base bag, took one shuffle to his right and began his throwing motion at the same time. The throw to LeMahieu was perfect and LeMahieu made a quick exchange to get Murphy by a long shot at first base. I mean, it was not even a close play!
Second, the three triple plays ties the major league record for most by a team in one season, and we are not even halfway done yet.
Third, this was the third triple play in 31 days for the Yanks, which is the quickest in major league history that a team has turned three of them.
Last, Aaron Boone was asked what he told Chapman on the mound before Murphy’s at bat. Boone said he jokingly told Chapman to “throw the turbo sinker for the 3-ball.” That is what happened. What a play.
Gio Outplayed Chapman: Matt Chapman is the gold standard for third basemen in the major leagues. Chapman plays his home games in a ballpark with loads of foul territory, so I have a theory that his defensive statistics get skewed because he gets way more routine plays than the typical third baseman (easy popups for putouts). However, there is no denying that he is up there with Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado for the best in the business.
That being said, Gio Urshela put him in a blender this weekend. Chapman failed to tag out Gary Sánchez, who was basically giving himself up at third base. Meanwhile, Gio was throwing across his body from foul territory in game one, making all the plays with wood splinters in his eyes in game two, and turning a game-winning triple play in game three. If you just started watching baseball this weekend, you would have thought Urshela was the Platinum Glove winner.
Bullpen Bruises: Clearly, something is up with Aroldis Chapman. Over the past 6 weeks, the training staff has checked on him a handful of times. It seems to be his fingernail that is causing the ruckus. However, it is so important for Chapman to be fully healthy. It was nice to see him dial it up above 103 mph on Saturday, but Sunday was a different story. If the Yankees want to go far this season, they need a healthy Chapman.
Additionally, Zack Britton did not pitch in this series and was not warming up when the trainers checked on Chapman. After the series, Boone said that Britton was experiencing some soreness and was unavailable but will not go onto the injured list at this point. I know better than to be optimistic about this. Britton already had a setback during his rehab assignment. Then, when he came back, his velo was a little down and his command was shaky (he is not known for having pinpoint control, but when the velo and command are both off, something is wrong). Britton had surgery to remove bone spurs on his elbow this spring. Hopefully, we see a full-strength Britton sometime this week.
Gary Sánchez and Jonathan Loáisiga Are All-Stars: After this weekend, Gary Sánchez and Jonathan Loáisiga have punched their tickets to the All-Star Game in my brain. Gary is not even in the top five in the fan voting, mostly because voting started a month ago when his numbers were down. But now, Gary is basically an easy top-2 catcher in the AL. He is hitting everything under the sun like it is 2016 again. His hits have been important, too. He now owns an .820 OPS this season, right near the top of catchers in the American League. Get Gary to Colorado by voting here!
Loáisiga is a relief pitcher, so his spot is not up for the fan vote. But whether it is Kevin Cash making the decision or fellow players, Johnny Lasagna deserves to be a 2021 All-Star. He has a 1.63 ERA and a remarkable 7 wins this season! Now, obviously pitching wins do not tell the whole story, but for somebody like Loáisiga, it shows that he is constantly used in close games. Overall, he has 9 holds, 7 wins, and 2 saves. He is something else.
Series Totals
Hitting
D.J. LeMahieu: 3 for 13 (.231 AVG), 0 BB (.231 OBP), 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 K (.769 OPS), 0 SB
Giancarlo Stanton: 2 for 8 (.250 AVG), 3 BB (.455 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 K (.705 OPS), 0 SB
Aaron Judge: 3 for 12 (.250 AVG), 1 BB (.308 OBP), 3 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 7 K (.558 OPS), 0 SB
Gio Urshela: 3 for 11 (.273 AVG), 0 BB (.273 OBP), 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 6 K (.818 OPS), 0 SB
Gleyber Torres: 1 for 11 (.091 AVG), 0 BB (.091 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 4 K (.182 OPS), 0 SB
Gary Sánchez: 3 for 7 (.429 AVG), 1 BB (.500 OBP), 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K (1.643 OPS), 0 SB
Clint Frazier: 2 for 6 (.333 AVG), 2 BB (.500 OBP), 3 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 4 K (1.167 OPS), 0 SB
Brett Gardner: 0 for 4 (.000 AVG), 1 BB (.200 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 K (.200 OPS), 0 SB
Kyle Higashioka: 0 for 2 (.000 AVG), 0 BB (.000 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 K (.000 OPS), 0 SB
Chris Gittens: 0 for 3 (.000 AVG), 1 BB (.250 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 K (.250 OPS), 0 SB
Miguel Andújar: 0 for 6 (.000 AVG), 0 BB (.000 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 K (.000 OPS), 0 SB
Rougned Odor: 1 for 6 (.167 AVG), 0 BB (.167 OBP), 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K (.833 OPS), 0 SB
Tyler Wade: 0 for 0 (.000 AVG), 0 BB (.000 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 K (.000 OPS), 0 SB
Pitching
Jameson Taillon: 4.2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 HR, 5 Ks, 3.86 ERA
Domingo Germán: 4 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 HR, 6 Ks, 9.00 ERA
Jordan Montgomery: 5.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 HR, 6 Ks, 1.69 ERA
Nestor Cortes Jr.: 3 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 HR, 3 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Wandy Peralta: 1.1 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 HR, 1 K, 20.25 ERA
Luis Cessa: 2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 2 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Lucas Luetge: 2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 3 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Jonathan Loáisiga: 1.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 HR, 1 K, W, 0.00 ERA
Chad Green: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 3 Ks, W, 0.00 ERA
Aroldis Chapman: 2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 0 HR, 2 Ks, 2 SV, 4.50 ERA
Gerrit Cole: No appearances.
Michael King: No appearances.
Zack Britton: No appearances.