Charlie Morton outduels Sonny Gray as the Yankees' nine-game winning streak is snapped
In
a game dominated by pitching, the Yankees did not produce much at the plate and
fell victim to Charlie Morton’s brilliance. Sonny Gray looked much better out
there tonight and worked out of trouble in big spots to only allow two runs
over six innings. The Yankees chipped away at the lead in the eighth, cutting
the game to 2-1, but ultimately could not push another run across and their nine-game
winning streak was snapped.
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| Photo Credit: AP |
There
was an interesting start to the bottom of the first as Sonny Gray made a good
pitch but gave up a base hit, then balked, which advanced George Springer to
second with Jose Altuve coming to the plate. Following this, there were two
more ground balls to short, resulting in a run. Gray then got out of the inning
with minimal damage.
The
second inning was more of the same for the Yankee bats who Charlie Morton made
easy work of early on. Gray settled down in the bottom half of the inning and
worked a 1-2-3 inning.
In
the top of the third, Walker grounded out, then Torres had a good at-bat to
work a walk for the Yankees first base runner of the night. One pitch later,
Austin Romine grounded into a double play to end the inning and any hope the
Yankees had of getting something going against Morton. Morton clearly had his
good stuff up to this point and it is showing, making this formidable lineup
look bad early on. Sonny Gray again
retired the Astros in order, looking very good and being the aggressive Sonny
we have been looking for all season.
In
an inning (fourth) where it felt like momentum was there to be had, the Yankees
led off with two straight strike outs, the first being a questionable high
strike call on Gardner, the second being a nice slider in the dirt to get
Gregorius. Stanton was then retired with a hard ground ball to shortstop,
keeping the no-hitter alive for Morton, who had been simply dominating in all
facets of pitching up to this point. In the bottom of the inning, the Astros
took that momentum and Gray started to unravel. Following a leadoff single by
Altuve, Carlos Correa worked a walk. Then, Gurriel hit a weak fly ball to left
field that ended up being a double off the short porch in left scoring one. In
a second and third situation with no one out, Sonny Gray got Reddick to ground
out to first, where Walker made a nice play and threw home to easily get Correa
at the plate. After walking Bregman, Gray faced a pivotal moment in the game
with the bases loaded against Marwin Gonzalez. Gray would get a HUGE strikeout
by being aggressive with his fastball inside, and then used a nice curveball to
put him away. With two outs, Gray faced McCann who flied out to right field,
leaving only one run in with the bases left loaded.
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| Photo Credit: AP |
As
the Yankees came to bat in the fifth down 2-0, they were struck out in order
after a lead-off walk by Gary Sanchez. Another 1-2-3 inning for Sonny in the
bottom of the frame led to the top of the sixth, with the Yankees still being
no hit.
After
six and a third innings, Austin Romine finally hit a one-out single to right
field to save the Yankees from total embarrassment. However, the next two
batters were set down in order as Brett Gardner continued to look totally lost
at the plate in this long lull he is going through. Gray came out again for the
bottom of the sixth which did not start off well. A double down the line to
lead off the inning was followed by two quick outs. Gray proceeded to walk the
next batter, and with runners on first and second and two outs got a big strike
out to end his night. He produced a solid six innings of work and limited the
damage, only giving up two runs.
Charlie
Morton continued his dominance of the Yankee lineup in the seventh, setting
them down in order once again without any hard contact. Dellin Betances came on
to relieve Gray in the bottom of seventh in a 2-0 game, raising the blood
pressure of many Yankee fans. To the surprise of the Yankee faithful, Betances
returned to vintage form, looking dominant setting down the Astros in order.
Down
to their last six outs, the Yankees once again were set down two batters in a
row by Morton. At over 100 pitches, he faced Gleyber Torres who ripped a double
off the base of the left field wall. This prompted Hinch to take out Morton and
bring in the reliever Brad Peacock to face Aaron Judge, who had not started the
game, but who was put in by Boone in the big spot. Aaron Judge worked a walk,
with Torres moving to third on the payoff pitch putting the Yankees in a first
and third situation with two outs, with the tying run on first base and Brett
Gardner at the plate, a great opportunity to break out of his slump and deliver
in the clutch. A.J. Hinch once again turned to the bullpen to counter Gardner
with Chris Devenski, who features a good changeup which plays well against lefties.
Gardner wasted no time against Devenski, smacking a base hit to right field on
the first pitch, putting the game at 2-1 with runners on first and second. The
Yankees hottest hitter, Didi Gregorius came to the plate in the biggest spot of
the game, with the go ahead run on first base. Didi quickly fell behind 0-2 in
the count and chased a change up in the dirt for his third strike out of the
night, ending the threat right there, leaving one more chance for the Yankees
to draw even.
The
Yankees turned to Jonathan Holder in the top of the ninth to try and hold the
Astros right where they were. Holder has been very good lately, and looked
nothing short of that in the ninth. Despite a one-out base hit, Holder quickly
worked a double play to set the Yankees up for magic against Ken Giles in the
top of the ninth. With Stanton, Sanchez and Hicks due up, the Yankees seemed to
be in a good spot to level the game up at two. After a swinging strikeout by
Stanton, a questionable call on a 3-2 outside fastball retired Sanchez looking.
Down to their final out, Aaron Hicks came to the plate. He was subsequently
struck out on three pitches as any hope of a Yankee come back was foiled before
it got the chance to start.
FINAL
SCORE: ASTROS 2 YANKEES 1
THE
GOOD
Sonny
Gray was very good tonight. His final line came out to 6 IP only four hits,
three walks and four strike outs. At a total of 97 pitches he threw 60 for
strikes, a decent ratio. At times Gray looked like his old self and danced
around hitters, but for the most part was very aggressive tonight. His fastball
looked to have more life and downward action with his curveball generating more
late break and depth. He made big pitches and got out of big spots especially
in the fourth where he only gave up one run on a second and third with no outs
situation.
Dellin
Betances and Jonathan Holder both looked good tonight which is a good sign for
the next few weeks until Kahnle and Warren return from the DL. Betances looked
especially dominant, setting the side down in order, topping of at 99 MPH with
his fastball and the same devastating curve ball that he has been known to
throw.
Gleyber
Torres was just about the only bright spot in the Yankee lineup today, working
a walk his first time up, lining out hard to Altuve his second time up, and
eventually ripping the double down the line that would take Charlie Morton out
of the game in the eighth inning. He looked very relaxed and had three very
good at bats.
Aaron
Boone made some good managing decisions tonight, by pinch hitting Judge in the
eight as well as managing the pitching very well.
THE
BAD
Nearly
the entire lineup apart from Torres looked lost tonight. Granted, Morton had
his A+ stuff tonight, spotting his fastball in the high 90’s on corners and
putting hitters away with a wipe out slider. The lineup will be okay and will
look to bounce back tomorrow.
What’s Next?
The
Yanks are back at it again tomorrow with Jordan Montgomery on the mound against
Justin Verlander. Their nine-game winning streak was snapped but they will look
to rebound tomorrow. Not the end of the world by any means, but the Yankees
need to at least take one from the Astros to keep the confidence alive for the
future against this team, as it could be an opponent they see again and again
in the coming years, with both teams stacked with young talent.
Winning Pitcher: Charlie Morton (4-0, 1.72 ERA) 7.2 IP, 2
H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K
Losing Pitcher: Sonny Gray (1-2, 6.67 ERA) 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2
R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Save: Ken Giles (3)
Notables:
Brett
Gardner: 1-4, 1 RBI
Gleyber
Torres: 1-2, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 2B
Austin
Romine: 1-2
What’s Next?
The
Yanks are back at it again tomorrow with Jordan Montgomery on the mound against
Justin Verlander. Their nine-game winning streak was snapped but they will look
to rebound tomorrow. Not the end of the world by any means, but the Yankees
need to at least take one from the Astros to keep the confidence alive for the
future against this team, as it could be an opponent they see again and again
in the coming years, with both teams stacked with young talent.
Article
by: Brendan Mills
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