Series Recap: Cole Leads Yankees to Series Win Despite Sunday Blow-up
Photo Via: Associated PressAt the end of the day, the Yankees went to Houston and took two out of three against the Astros. Houston’s offense could not scratch a run across on Friday or Saturday night, then woke up to close out Sunday. It is now the All-Star Break and the Bombers have three days to figure out a new plan of attack for the Red Sox.
Game 1 (Yankees 4, Astros 0)
Before the season, I was not sure Nestor Cortes Jr. would make a single appearance on the 2021 Yankees. Friday night, he went down to Houston and made his second start of the season. He did not allow a run.
The Yankees struck first on a battle of an at bat by Brett Gardner. With a full count, the runners were on the move, so Odor and Urshela were able to get all the way around to score.
Cortes Jr. made it through four and two-thirds. Aaron Boone went out to the mound and called in Lucas Luetge to finish the fifth. The lefty picked up a huge strikeout and the Yanks marched forward.
The Yankees needed insurance runs and D.J. LeMahieu delivered in the 7th. On the 10th pitch of the at bat, the reigning batting champ lined a 2-run double and the Yankees had full control of the game.
In the top of the 9th, Aaron Judge picked up his 500th career hit. He was the second fastest Yankee ever to eclipse 500 hits and 100 homers (506 games), only behind Joe DiMaggio.
Instead of Aroldis Chapman, it was Jonathan Loáisiga who took the mound for the 9th inning. In Chapman style, Loáisiga reached back for triple digits and closed out the game.
Game one in the books! A shutout in Houston!
Yankee of the Day: Nestor Cortes Jr. (2): 4.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K.
Game 2 (Yankees 1, Astros 0)
The drama kicked off in game two of this series, and it started with a towering solo home run by No. 99.
This is what grabbed everybody’s attention. As Aaron Judge rounded third base, he tugged on the front of his jersey as a not-so-subtle jab at Jose Altuve.
Oh yeah, the Yankees had their ace, Gerrit Cole, on the mound against his former team to make one last start before the All-Star Break. Cole got into his first real tight situation after the Judge bomb. He got out of it the best way he knows how to get out of it.
The next jam Cole found himself in was in the 9th inning. With two outs and the ace at 126 pitches, Aaron Boone walked out to the pitcher’s mound and inquired on the righty’s status. Cole unquestionably did not hesitate. He was staying in the game. This was his game.
Three pitches. Three fastballs. Goodnight, Houston.
When I say easily — it was EASILY Cole’s best start as a Yankee. A nationally televised night game between two rivals. He faced the team he left after they did not give him the ball in Game 7 of the World Series. He flat out dominated.
Yankee of the Day: Gerrit Cole (6): 9 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 12 K, W. Threw 129 pitches, most by MLB starter this season.
Game 3 (Yankees 7, Astros 8)
Things were seemingly going too well for the Yankees. The Bombers shut out the Astros in their building on back-to-back nights. The Yanks even jumped out to an early lead on Sunday afternoon.
The Astros tied it back up in the bottom of the 3rd and this is where the drama kicked off. Martín Maldonado, who hit a chip shot over the right field wall, pulled down his jersey on his way around third base as a response to Aaron Judge’s signal the night before.
The Yankees responded with a similarly hit ball by Tim Locastro just over the fence in right. Rougned Odor wrapped Locastro up in a Yankees jacket and you knew things were not going to blow over.
The Yankees’ 2-1 lead became a 3-1 lead when Gleyber Torres nearly decapitated Giancarlo Stanton, who managed to score anyways.
In the bottom of the 6th, Kyle Tucker clobbered one to right for a solo shot off of Jameson Taillon. The first-year Yankee got through 6 innings and only allowed 2 runs.
The Yanks put another run across in the 7th and took a 4-2 lead.
Gary Sánchez blasted a 3-run shot that should have put this game to bed. The Yankees took a 7-2 lead in the top of the 8th. Gary tugged his jersey, just like Judge did, as he rounded third base. All of the momentum was in New York’s favor.
Instead, it was only the beginning. Domingo Germán pitched a scoreless 8th inning, but allowed a leadoff infield single on a dribbler back to him, followed by a scorched double by Kyle Tucker. That was enough for Boone, but he did not turn to the team’s usual closer, Aroldis Chapman. Instead, Boone called in Chad Green, who had pitched two innings on Friday against these very Astros.
Chad was greeted with a pair of doubles that nearly went for homers, followed by a bloop single from pinch hitter Jason Castro, and a lineout by Maldonado (Gleyber let it drop to try to turn the double play, but the umpire ruled it as an infield fly for an intentional drop).
This set the stage for who else, but Jose Altuve. He was only 4 for 24 against the Yankees this season coming into this at bat, but he was given a golden opportunity to make none of that matter. After a called strike, Altuve took a pitch off the plate for a ball to even the count. Green then delivered a breaking ball right over the middle of the plate, but a few inches below the strike zone. Altuve got all of it. He ran around the bases as the Astros’ dugout emptied, fans screamed, and the Astros players ripped his jersey right off his minuscule body. It was a walk-off home run.
It was the meltdown of all meltdowns against the worst team imaginable. Unfortunately, blown leads are far too commonplace for the 2021 Yankees. Only one team has blown a lead of 4+ runs in the 9th inning this season in all of baseball — the Yankees — and they have done it twice… this MONTH.
Yankee of the Day: Gary Sánchez (5): 1 for 5, HR, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Series Talking Points
The Ace Dazzled: As much as Sunday played the role of vibe killer, there plenty of great things that happened. Gerrit Cole threw one of the best games by a Yankee this century. He took the ball after being so sick that the Yankees at first planned on pushing his next start back to after the All-Star Game. Then, the Yanks decided he will start, but likely come out of the game early. Then, Cole got on the mound and the rest was history.
He was not leaving that mound without a win. He showed poise that few pitchers, let alone players, on this team lack. His 9th inning was basically the opposite of Chad Green’s.
After a few rough starts in a row, Gerrit Cole getting back on track would be a humongous positive for the Bombers in the second half.
Nestor Cortes Jr. Really Is Something: In what started out as a fun little story for the Yankees, Nestor Cortes Jr. is now making a prominent name for himself. The Yankees asked a lot of him to go down to Houston and make a start in their house. But Cortes did what he has done all season — put up zeroes. He now has a 1.05 ERA for the season and will likely be pitching a whole lot more.
Chad Was Bad, Boone Was Stubborn: Chad Green came out of the bullpen throwing low-to-mid-90’s instead of dialing it up into the high-90’s like he is capable of doing. After throwing multiple innings on Friday, Boone should have had double barrel action in the bullpen on Sunday. The moment that Green made it through the three batter minimum rule should have been his last pitch. Even for the bottom of the Houston order, it was essentially batting practice. Lucas Luetge was warming up as Green pitched, but Luis Cessa never even got up. Especially in Houston, a reliever getting rocked like that from the jump should be a more concerning sign for Boone and he should have jumped at the opportunity to give Houston a different look.
Loáisiga to the COVID-19 IL: Prior to Saturday’s game, Jonathan Loáisiga was placed on the COVID-19 related injured list. It proved costly for the Yankees, who likely would have given Jonny Lasagna the pill instead of Green on Sunday. With the series approaching against Boston, it sure would be great to have the Nicaraguan flamethrower back in the bullpen. Get well soon, Loáisiga.
Series Totals
Hitting
D.J. LeMahieu: 3 for 11 (.273 AVG), 4 BB (.467 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K (.830 OPS), 1 SB
Giancarlo Stanton: 2 for 11 (.182 AVG), 2 BB (.308 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 K (.490 OPS), 0 SB
Aaron Judge: 3 for 13 (.231 AVG), 2 BB (.333 OBP), 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 K (.872 OPS), 0 SB
Luke Voit: 1 for 5 (.200 AVG), 4 BB (.556 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 4 K (.756 OPS), 0 SB
Gio Urshela: 5 for 12 (.417 AVG), 1 BB (.462 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K (.878 OPS), 0 SB
Gleyber Torres: 4 for 12 (.333 AVG), 1 BB (.385 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K (.801 OPS), 1 SB
Gary Sánchez: 2 for 10 (.200 AVG), 1 BB (.273 OBP), 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 K (.773 OPS), 0 SB
Brett Gardner: 3 for 11 (.273 AVG), 2 BB (.385 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 K (.748 OPS), 0 SB
Rougned Odor: 1 for 4 (.250 AVG), 0 BB (.250 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 K (.500 OPS), 0 SB
Tim Locastro: 1 for 8 (.125 AVG), 0 BB (.125 OBP), 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 K (.625 OPS), 0 SB
Tyler Wade: 1 for 4 (.250 AVG), 0 BB (.250 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 K (.750 OPS), 0 SB
Kyle Higashioka: 0 for 3 (.000 AVG), 1 BB (.250 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 K (.250 OPS), 0 SB
Pitching
Nestor Cortes Jr.: 4.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 HR, 2 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Gerrit Cole: 9 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 0 HR, 12 Ks, W, 0.00 ERA
Jameson Taillon: 6 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 HR, 4 Ks, 3.00 ERA
Domingo Germán: 2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 2 Ks, 9.00 ERA
Lucas Luetge: 1.1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 1 K, W, 0.00 ERA
Jonathan Loáisiga: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
Chad Green: 2.1 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 2 Ks, 15.43 ERA
Aroldis Chapman: No appearances.
Wandy Peralta: No appearances.
Luis Cessa: No appearances.
Justin Wilson: No appearances.
Nick Nelson: No appearances.
Albert Abreu: No appearances.
Brooks Kriske: No appearances.
Jordan Montgomery: No appearances.