Yankees bullpen, home runs by Judge, Hicks and Sanchez lead Yankees over the Mets

Coming off of a crushing loss to the Boston Red Sox Sunday night the Yankees looked to get back on track Monday. With their crosstown rival Mets at Yankee Stadium for the first of four straight between the two teams, the Yankees bats came to life late, as homers from Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, and Gary Sanchez powered the Bombers past the Mets 4-2.

Credit: Rich Schultz AP Photo 

Cessa would face off against right hander Rafael Montero and while both pitchers had struggled coming into tonight, the early stages of the game were pretty uneventful. Cessa came out of the gate looking impressive, hitting 100 mph on the gun and striking out the side in the first inning. The only trouble he ran into was in the top of the third inning, where he gave up home runs to Curtis Granderson and Yoenis Cespedes.

Although Montero came into tonight’s game with a 1-8 record and an ERA over six, he came out of the gate strong and shut the Yankees down through the first three innings. After the Mets jumped on top in the top of the third and following a shutdown inning by Cessa, the Yankees finally cracked Montero in the bottom of the fourth using a single by Aaron Hicks, a walk to Aaron Judge, a walk to Didi Gregorius and a sac fly by Gary Sanchez to push across their first run. Montero was able to work out of the inning without further trouble.

Credit: Rich Schultz AP Photo

Outside of the third inning, Cessa pitched well but his night would end on the early. He was approaching his pitch limit in the fifth inning when he appeared to show some discomfort in his shoulder following a pitch. After a few trips to the mound by Joe Girardi and the athletic trainer, Cessa would leave the game and give way to Chad Green. We will keep an eye out for whatever news there is on his injury but losing another starting pitcher to an injury would leave the team in a very tight spot in the short term.    

The Yankees worked Montero hard through the first five innings but were only able to push across one run. With his pitch count nearing 100 to begin the sixth, the first batter he would face would be the struggling Aaron Judge who went with a 1-0 fastball and powered it over the wall in right center. Judge has struggled mightily lately so hopefully this takes some of the pressure off and helps him relax.

Credit: Rich Schultz AP Photo

The Yankees were able to survive Cessa’s early exit thanks to some stellar work by Chad Green out of the bullpen. Green pitched 2.2 scoreless innings in relief and successfully bridged the gap to the back of the bullpen giving way to David Robertson, who pitched a clean eighth.

The Yankees were finally able to get to the Mets’ bullpen in the bottom of the eighth. With Hansel Robles on for his second inning of work, Aaron Hicks led off the inning by launching a no doubter into the seats in right field. Just two batters later, Gary Sanchez put one in the right field seats as well and the Yankees headed to the ninth inning with a lead for the second night in a row. 

Thanks to the heavy workload of Aroldis Chapman the night before, this time it was Dellin Betances who emerged from the bullpen to try and put the game away. Betances was able to pitch around an error by Tyler Wade to lock down the win for the Yankees. 

Winning Pitcher: David Robertson (6-2, 2.35 ERA): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Losing Pitcher: Hansel Robles (7-4, 4.63 ERA): 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
Save: Dellin Betances (7)

The Yankees and Mets will do it again at Yankee Stadium Tuesday night at 7:05pm with Sonny Gray (6-7, 3.39 ERA) and Jacob DeGrom (13-5, 3.21 ERA) as the probable starters.

Notables
Aaron Hicks: 2-4, 2R, HR (12), RBI, 2 R
Aaron Judge: 1-3, R, HR (36), RBI, R, BB, 2 K
Gary Sanchez: 2-3, R, HR (20), 2 RBI, K
Chad Green: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K

Article by Matt Graziano

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