Series Recap: Sox Put Final Nail in Yanks’ Coffin
Photo Via: Charles Wenzelberg — New York PostJust when you think this team has hit rock bottom, they find a new one. There is no reason to believe that this truly is the lowest point of the season. This team is special in all of the worst ways. It will find a way to bring an even more crushing, agonizing, and torturous defeat than the last. Odds are it will even happen this week.
The recaps will be brief because I will not be fully back on here until next week.
Game 1 (Yankees 4, Red Sox 5) (10 Innings)
Jordan Montgomery started this game and he was brilliant. He navigated a tough Boston lineup fairly easily, only allowing three singles. He did not allow an extra-base hit.
Boston rookie Tanner Houck matched zeroes with Monty until the 4th inning. Gleyber Torres singled to score Gardner, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
The score remained the same, even when Sal Romano replaced Montgomery to get the final out of the 6th inning. Romano also picked up the first out of the 7th inning, but then was lifted for lefty Lucas Luetge.
Luetge has been getting knocked around for a few weeks, which continued on Thursday night. He allowed back-to-back singles, but then induced a tailor-made double play ball. The grounder to Tyler Wade got stuck in his glove as he attempted to transfer it for the throw, so everybody reached on what was ruled an E-5. A sac fly by Kiké Hernández tied the game, but that was all that scored in the inning (thanks to a crazy play where Gleyber Torres threw out Bobby Dalbec at home plate).
The Yankees immediately struck back against former teammate Adam Ottavino. D.J. LeMahieu walked and stole second. Then, Brett Gardner walked. Giancarlo Stanton singled home LeMahieu. Then, something interesting happened. Rougned Odor laid down a sacrifice bunt. It was followed up by a sacrifice fly for Gleyber Torres that nearly went for a homer. The Yankees ended the inning with a 3-1 lead.
In the bottom of the 8th, it only took Luis Cessa five pitches to get the three outs needed to keep the lead into the 9th.
Boone decided to end Cessa’s night there and give the ball to Chad Green for the 9th. Green struck out Christian Vazquez to begin the inning, then allowed a single to Alex Verdugo. The next batter, Bobby Dalbec, was in an 0-2 hole, but Green laid a fastball right over the plate. Dalbec hit it to center for a single and the Red Sox were in business. Pinch-hitter Kevin Plawecki also got a fastball over the heart of the plate and lined it to Brett Gardner in left.
One. Out. Away.
Kiké Hernández stepped to the plate with 2 outs in the 9th. On the second pitch, he roped a line drive over Gardner’s head, scoring both runners (including Duran, who pinch-ran for Dalbec, all the way from first). That double by Hernández tied the game, but at that point everybody in the world knew Boston would win it.
With the automatic runner on second, the Yankees were able to scratch a run across without getting a hit, giving them a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th.
The Red Sox did one better. The Sox scored two runs without getting a hit, thanks mostly to four (4!) wild pitches by rookie Brooks Kriske. Why was Kriske in the game? Well, Britton and Chapman had pitcher three times in the past four games (despite Chapman throwing fewer than 40 pitches in those games combined). Also, Boone must not have believed in Green enough after he blew the 9th inning to give him a chance to redeem himself.
In 10 innings, the Yankees broke our hearts once again.
Yankee of the Day: Jordan Montgomery (4): 5.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K.
Game 2 (Yankees 2, Red Sox 6)
I will be much more brief with this game. Gerrit Cole started and his pitch count went through the roof because he could not control his put-away pitches. He tried to make up for it at the wrong time and surrendered a costly 2-run homer to Rafael Devers.
Devers clobbered another one off of Nestor Cortes Jr., and the Red Sox won 6-2.
Yankee of the Day: Brett Gardner (3): 1 for 3, 2B, BB, RBI.
Game 3 (Yankees 4, Red Sox 3)
Saturday was the only win of the bunch, but do not be fooled into thinking that means it was easy. The Red Sox scored on their very first batter — no, not by a home run. Kiké Hernández drove a ball of the Green Monster, which Estevan Florial had trouble tracking down. He eventually got to the ball and made a throw to Rougned Odor, who was given a chsnce to throw out Hernández at third base. Instead, Odor airmailed it into the camera well, so Hernández was awarded with the extra base.
The Yankees trailed 3-0 after another error by Odor, and this one seemed out of reach.
Fast forward to the top of the 8th inning and the Yankees offense finally showed up. To be honest, it was the luckiest inning the offense had all season. With two outs, Brett Gardner singled, which scored Florial who had doubled to begin the inning. That was enough for Alex Cora to make a pitching change. He brought in Ottavino again, and he did not get the job done for the second time in the series. Stanton hit a ground-rule double off the end of his bat, then Rougned Odor poked a game-tying double high off the Green Monster. Gleyber gave us the lead with a single and a miracle inning was capped off.
Aroldis Chapman was given a chance to nail down the save and boy, that was close. A strikeout of Kiké Hernández ended the game with the tying run just 90 feet away.
Yankee of the Day: Jameson Taillon (2): 7 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W.
Game 4 (Yankees 4, Red Sox 5)
Everything about this game was reminiscent of the final game against the Astros in Houston. The Yankees jumped out to a 4-0 lead and Domingo Germán was DEALING. In fact, he had a no-hitter after 7 innings. He even struck out four batters in the 7th.
Alex Verdugo hit a ball over Greg Allen’s head — Allen turned himself around, turned again the other way, and watched the ball sail over his head. The ball was catchable, but it is not a play that is made every time. It was scored as the first hit of the game for the Red Sox, and it was the last pitch Germán would throw.
It also kickstarted a streak of five Boston hits. By the end of the streak, Jonathan Loáisiga was already being pulled from the game with a 4-3 score. The tying run was on third and the go-ahead run was on second.
Aaron Boone brought in Zack Britton, a ground ball inducing machine, but refused to bring the middle infielders to keep the runners where they are. Naturally, Plawecki hit a slow roller at Gleyber Torres, who was unable to throw home and had to elect for the out at first instead. The go-ahead run advanced to third. Instead of intentionally walking Bogaerts and letting Britton pitch to Devers with a double play in order, Boone had Britton pitch to Xander. The Sox shortstop clipped a fly ball to right field and the go-ahead run scored.
Of course, Devers grounded out to end the inning. The Yankees got the tying run on second base in the 9th, but Odor popped out to end the game.
Yankee of the Day: Domingo Germán (3): 7 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K. 4th pitcher in Yankees history to get 4 Ks in an inning.
Series Talking Points
The Yankees Collapse Again: The scariest part of the collapses this weekend was that I barely felt anything. At this point, no lead feels safe and I truly believe the Yankees will lose until the final out is recorded. A 3-1 lead in the 9th inning feels like a tie game. Between the losses to the Tigers, Twins, Royals, Angels, Mets, Astros, and now the Red Sox, I just expect it to happen.
Playoff Hopes Are Gone: The Yankees are 51-47. Thanks to the two Wild Card teams, front offices have a hard time believing that a team might be out of it. But this team — this team right here — is OUT of it. You only get so many close games per season, or games where you have a late lead. The Yankees have blown so many of them that they will not have the chance to make them up.
Boone Cannot Be Renewed: Between the bullpen decisions, outfielders constantly running into each other, players forgetting how many outs there are, outs on the base paths, four wild pitches in an inning, refusing to bring the infield in, and refusing to issue intentional walks… it is tough to make a fair argument to renew Aaron Boone’s contract. That is, if the Yankees’ expectations for this season truly were as high as management stated all offseason.
Series Totals
Hitting
D.J. LeMahieu: 3 for 17 (.176 AVG), 3 BB (.300 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 K (.594 OPS), 1 SB
Giancarlo Stanton: 4 for 15 (.267 AVG), 4 BB (.421 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 6 K (.754 OPS), 0 SB
Gleyber Torres: 5 for 14 (.357 AVG), 0 BB, 1 HBP (.375 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 5 K (.804 OPS), 4 SB
Gary Sánchez: 1 for 5 (.200 AVG), 1 BB (.333 OBP), 2 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 K (.933 OPS), 0 SB
Brett Gardner: 3 for 11 (.273 AVG), 4 BB (.438 OBP), 3 R, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 5 K (.801 OPS), 0 SB
Rougned Odor: 5 for 17 (.294 AVG), 0 BB (.294 OBP), 2 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 4 K (.882 OPS), 0 SB
Gio Urshela: 1 for 3 (.333 AVG), 1 BB (.500 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 K, (.833 OPS), 0 SB
Tyler Wade: 1 for 4 (.250 AVG), 0 BB (.250 OBP), 2 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 K (.500 OPS), 1 SB
Greg Allen: 2 for 12 (.167 AVG), 1 BB, 3 HBP (.375 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 5 K (.542 OPS), 1 SB
Ryan LaMarre: 0 for 5 (.000 AVG), 0 BB, 1 HBP (.167 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 K (.167 OPS), 0 SB
Chris Gittens: 1 for 7 (.143 AVG), 1 BB (.250 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 K (.393 OPS), 0 SB
Estevan Florial: 2 for 8 (.250 AVG), 2 BB (.400 OBP), 1 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 K (.775 OPS), 0 SB
Rob Brantly: 1 for 11 (.091 AVG), 0 BB (.091 OBP), 0 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 K (.182 OPS), 0 SB
Pitching
Jordan Montgomery: 5.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 HR, 6 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Gerrit Cole: 5 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 1 HR, 8 Ks, 5.40 ERA
Jameson Taillon: 7 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 0 HR, 4 Ks, W, 1.29 ERA
Domingo Germán: 7 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 HR, 10 Ks, 1.29 ERA
Sal Romano: 0.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Justin Wilson: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 HR, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
Nestor Cortes Jr.: 2 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 HR, 3 Ks, 13.50 ERA
Brooks Kriske: 0.2 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 HR, 1 K, 13.50 ERA
Luis Cessa: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Lucas Luetge: 0.2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Zack Britton: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0 Ks, 0.00 ERA
Jonathan Loáisiga: 1 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0 Ks, 36.00 ERA
Chad Green: 1 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 HR, 1 K, 18.00 ERA
Aroldis Chapman: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 HR, 2 Ks, 1 SV, 0.00 ERA
Albert Abreu: No appearances.