Despite another three home runs, Yankees falter in rubber match
Heading into Wednesday’s game, the
Yankees likely didn’t feel too good about themselves after blowing a 6-0 lead
just last night. Even after that, the Yankees had a chance to win the series if
they got a good start from CC Sabathia and the offense rallied behind him. A series victory would finally end the Blue Jays streak of four straight series wins at Yankee Stadium.
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| Photo Credit: Seth Wenig | AP |
After both teams went down quietly
in the first inning, the Blue Jays struck first, scoring three runs in the top
half of the second inning. After a single from Troy Tulowitzki and a walk by
Melvin Uption Jr., Ezequiel Carrera ripped an RBI double and both he and Upton
Jr. scored one batter later on a Darwin Barney double. The Yankees chipped away
in a loud way in the bottom half of the inning as Gary Sanchez belted his third
home run over the last two nights.
After a scoreless third and top of
the fourth inning, Starlin Castro hit a line drive home run into the left field
stands, breaking his previous career-high in home runs, hitting his 14th
of the year. Although he had allowed three runs and didn’t have a lead through
four innings, CC Sabathia had eight strikeouts. His breaking stuff was great
all afternoon, especially in the early portion of the game.
The fifth inning is where the Blue
Jays broke it open. Unfortunately for CC and the Yanks, DiDi Gregorius slipped
after making a very nice play on a Devon Travis groundball and Travis reached
on an infield single. Travis was moved to second on a fielder’s choice that
Donaldson himself reached on. The Yanks should have turned a double play but Headley made a throwing error, allowing Josh Donaldson to move to third. Yankee
killer Russell Martin came up next, singling home Donaldson to extend the Jays
lead to 4-2. The Jays weren’t done, however, as Melvin Upton Jr. put the nail
in the coffin, lifting a three-run home run to right field, giving the Blue
Jays a 7-2 lead.
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| Photo Credit: Seth Wenig | AP |
There was no way the Yankees hefty
lefty wasn’t frustrated with his final line, despite ending his afternoon with
12 strikeouts. Not all of the seven earned runs he allowed were his fault, but
they were all charged to him. His 12 strikeouts were a season-high and his 12:1
K:BB was his best mark of the year. Sabathia shouldn’t feel completely
discouraged, as that four-run fifth inning wasn’t totally on him, like I
previously mentioned.
The Yankees tried battling back
with a Chase Headley solo shot in the sixth and an RBI rope single for Aaron
Judge in the eighth. Just one day after the bullpen imploded, Kirby Yates,
Tommy Layne and Anthony Swarzak gave the team three scoreless innings. The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the ninth inning, losing the final two games of the series.
It was another tough loss for the
Yankees who lost in back-to-back games after hitting three home runs in each
defeat. After an off day on Thursday the Yankees travel to the West Coast to
take on an Angels team that had lost 11 straight games before winning on
Tuesday night. If the Yankees want to stay in this playoff race, they need to
wins series’. In all honesty, a sweep of the Angels is exactly what they need
to be considered contenders in the American League playoff race. All in all,
you can’t be entirely dissatisfied, however. The youth movement has begun and
to simply see these guys perform at the level they’re playing at right now
makes me, and probably all of you, extremely giddy.
Win: J.A. Happ (17-3, 3.05 ERA): 7.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R (4 ER), 1 BB, 9 K, 3 HR
Loss: C.C. Sabathia (7-10, 4.49
ERA): 6.0 IP, 9 H, 7 R (7 ER), 1 BB, 12 K, 1 HR
Save: Roberto Osuna (27 saves, 1.84 ERA)
Notables:
Chase Headley: 2-for-4, HR (11), 1
RBI, 2 R
Starlin Castro: 1-for-4, HR (14),
2 RBI, 1 R
Gary Sanchez: 2-for-3, HR (5), 1
RBI, 1 R, 1 BB
Aaron Judge: 2-for-4, 1 RBI
Russell Martin: 3-for-5, 1 2B, 1
RBI, 1 R
Melvin Upton Jr.: 2-for-3, HR (1),
3 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB
J.A. Happ: 7.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 9 K,
1 BB
Article by: James Grande
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