Loaisiga impresses once again; Yanks take series opener from Phillies

The Bombers ended their three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Phillies. The Yanks sent twenty-three year-old rookie Jonathan “Johnny Lasagna” Loaisiga to the mound against Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez.

Photo Credit: AP

The Yanks started off the night’s scoring in the top of the second. Greg Bird started the inning with a walk and went to second on a passed ball with Gleyber Torres at the plate. Later in the at-bat, Torres waited on an off-speed pitch and poked it down the right field line for an RBI double. What this kid can do on the baseball field at only 21 years-old is absolutely incredible. In the top of the fifth, Aaron Judge gave the Bombers a 2-0 lead when he smoked a hanging slider over the left field fence.

Johnny Lasagna was absolutely dealing tonight. In 5 and 2/3 innings, Loaisiga gave up zero runs on one hit, walked two and struck out eight. He was perfect through four and only gave up one walk through five. In the sixth, Loaisiga gave up a leadoff single to Jorge Alfaro and then walked Aaron Altherr. After getting Cesar Hernandez to ground out, Loaisiga’s night was over. David Robertson came in and struck out Rhys Hoskins and got Odubel Herrera to ground out to end the inning. Another promising start for Johnny Lasagna as he shut down a very good Phillies lineup. This was the best his curveball has looked so far. He used his 97 MPH fastball to overpower hitters and his changeup has “put away pitch” potential. Loaisiga still has a lot to prove, but he has now had a couple of solid starts and is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA. His next start looks to be against the Braves and that will unquestionably another big test.

The Phillies got on the board in the bottom of the seventh when a Yankee reliever, other than Chasen Shreve, finally gave up a run. Robertson gave up a leadoff walk to Carlos Santana, who eventually made it to second on a wild pitch. Scott Kingery singled Santana home to make it a one-run ball game. Robertson would strike out Maikel Franco and then Dellin Betances came on to strike out Alfaro.

The Yankees extended their lead in the top of the eighth against the dreadful Phillies’ bullpen. However, the Yankees received some lucky breaks in the inning. Brett Gardner started off the inning with an infield single and Judge followed with a four-pitch walk. Didi Gregorious bunted for an infield single and with the bases loaded, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler went to the bullpen with the bases loaded. Giancarlo Stanton hit a Baltimore chop that bounced over the head of the shortstop Kingery to bring in two runs. The eighth ended with Yanks up 4-1.

Betances started the bottom half of the inning, but did not have his best control. Aaron Boone had Betances bat in the top of the inning and he grimaced on his way back to the dugout. If this results in Betances going back to “2017 Playoffs” or “April” Dellin, Yankees’ fans as a whole will collectively lose their minds. Betances left the game with two on and two out, and Aroldis Chapman came in and got Carlos Santana to fly out to left.

The Yankees had a two out threat in the ninth, but Didi was banged out on a horrible strike three call (Joe West has been awful for far too long). Chapman gave up a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to Franco, but struck out the other three Phillies’ batters.

Final Score: Yankees 4 Phillies 2

Off-field Notes

Gary Sanchez was placed on the 10-day DL with a right groin strain. Boone expects him to be sidelined for three to four weeks of action. When speaking to reporters prior to Monday’s game, Boone subtly called out the All-Star catcher. He stated that he wanted this to be an opportunity for Sanchez to work on his conditioning in order to be in great shape for the rest of the season. Sanchez is currently hitting an extremely disappointing .190 with a .724 OPS. Despite his dreadful start, Sanchez is still second amongst MLB catchers in home runs, RBIs, runs scored, and tied for second in walks. Hopefully this DL stint can give Sanchez some time to heal physically and clear his head. If this team wants to make a run deep in the playoffs, he will need to be a key contributor.

In response to the Sanchez injury and the overworked bullpen, the Yankees called up Kyle Higashioka and right-hander Giovanny Gallegos from Triple-A. Clint Frazier was once again sent back down to Scranton. Everyone understands the Yanks have a ton of talent, and Frazier is constantly the odd man out in the outfield. The entire Yankee organization is aware of Frazier’s talent, but Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks are preventing him from starting every day. He should be starting every day. Yesterday in Tampa, Frazier pinch-hit and hit an absolute bomb that unfortunately hit a speaker hanging from the roof. Instead of a go-ahead home run, it resulted in a pop out to short. (The Trop is an absolute joke and should be burned to the ground). Frazier has proved he can play in the big leagues and he should not be a trade piece for a rental pitcher. He will have a spot on this team next year at the latest.

I will personally drive Chasen Shreve to wherever the Yankees want to send him. Just get him off the team. About 110% of Yankees fans would appreciate that gesture.

What’s next?

Tomorrow night should be a fantastic pitching duel between Yankees ace Luis Severino (11-2, 2.24 ERA) and former CY Young winner Jake Arrieta (5-5, 3.42 ERA). Severino had to labor through his last start against Seattle, giving up three runs on eight hits in 5 and 2/3 innings. However, he did pick up his league-leading 11th win of the season (tied with Corey Kluber of the Indians). Arrieta started off the season strong, but has struggled in June, going 0-3 with a 6.97 ERA in four starts.

Recap by: Johnny Keefe

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