This afternoon the New York Yankees met up with the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. It was game two of the three-game set. Last night the Yankees lost the opener with a walk-off win by the Tigers in the tenth inning. The Yankee starter today was Deivi Garcia, who was called up from Scranton. He faced one of the most dependable Tiger pitchers Spencer Turnbull. The final score was the Tigers 6 and the Yankees 1.
Deivi Garcia disappointed
With Corey Kluber on the IL and possibly missing two months, the Yankees brought up Deivi Garcia and Albert Abreu from Scranton. Garcia started last night’s game against the Detroit Tigers and took the loss. He greatly lacked control of his pitches. Several of his called balls were nowhere near the zone.
He only lasted 4.1 innings giving up 5 runs. With two bad starts, one early in the season, he has probably lost his chance to stay up and replace Corey Kluber. In his first start, he also only went four innings. He is presently 0-2 with a 6.68 ERA.
Yankees only get 3 hits
The New York Yankees’ lack of hitting is getting serious as it appears to be deeply embedded in the lineup. On Friday night, the Yankees had 11 hits, far more than usual but went 0-10 with men in scoring position. Last night they could only muster up 3 hits in the game, leaving six on base and going 0-4 with men in scoring position. They also hit into their 58th double play in the game. The Yankees are tied for hitting into the most double plays—.096 per game.
The lack of hitting has dogged the Yankees all season except for a very few games. Only Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton have been performing as they should. There are a few others that have shown encouraging signs, but the Yankees still have 8 regular players, including the bench that are hitting less than.194. This morning, the Yankees are of the 30 MLB teams 23rd in batting average and slugging. Even worse, they at 27th in RBI’s.
Another discouraging sign for the Yankees is their best hitter for the last two years, DJ LeMahieu, is underperforming. He won last year’s batting title, but his batting average is over 100 points less this year. Presently he is hitting just .263 with only three home runs of the season. Also discouraging is that when the Yankees hit, it tends not to be timely. Last night they blew the game in the second inning when with the bases loaded and no outs, they only could score one run.
Now the New York Yankees are in danger of being swept by the second-worst team in the AL. What even worse, they, after today, will go back to the Stadium to play seven games against the AL-leading Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. I don’t know the answers to the hitting problem, but it seems obvious that they must have an upgrade in centerfield by trading for a power-hitting lefty. Secondly, they must immediately bring Chris Gittens up from Scranton to replace Mike Ford. Ford is hitting .140. Gittens, in only 14 games, has 4 homers and is hitting .268. They cannot continue not to get performance from first, left, and centerfield.
Justin Wilson adds his name to the Yankee IL
The signing of Justin Wilson is turning out to be a nightmare for the New York Yankees. Over the offseason, with the loss of Adam Ottavino and Zack Britton, the Yankees looked for relievers. They got Wilson from the Texas Rangers, and he has only been a headache since. First, he missed the beginning of the season due to a shoulder injury. When he returned, he pitched very poorly, and after Friday night’s game in which he blew the save, he is again on the IL, this time with a hamstring injury.
A rather odd move by manager Aaron Boone, closer Aroldis Chapman pitched only 14 balls in a tie hold in the ninth inning on Friday night. Instead of going with Chapman again in the 10th, he choose Wilson, who gave up a two-run homer that lost the game for the Yankees.