The New York Yankees faced the Baltimore Orioles last evening at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida. Gerrit Cole, in his fifth start of spring training, faced the Orioles Jo Lopez. The Yankees lost the game 4-1. Here are three major takeaways from the game.
Gerrit Cole dominant in Orioles game
In Gerrit Cole’s last spring training game of the season, he had his best outing of the spring. He went 5.2 innings, the first Yankees pitcher to do so, and was absolutely dominant. He allowed only two hits over the span and reduced his spring training ERA from 3.55 to 2.45. He had an excellent command of his pitches. Gary Sanchez caught him.
In his first games of the spring, he struggled some, particularly giving up home runs. Last night he was like a different pitcher in complete control of the game. Cole often tries out new things in spring training and saves his best stuff for the regular season. Last night was a display of dominance that the New York Yankees hope he can carry over to his Opening Day start at Yankee Stadium on April 1.
In the second inning, two Orioles reach on back-to-back fielding errors by Tyler Wade; nevertheless, he overcame Wade’s errors for another scoreless inning.
Aroldis Chapman bombed big time
Aroldis Chapman was an absolute mess last night; he had no command of his pitches. Fans have often criticized Chapman for giving important games away, particularly in the postseason. Any fan watching last night’s game had to be horrified by his pitching. He only pitched one-third of an inning, giving up three runs, striking out one, and serving up two wild pitches.
Aroldis Chapman came out to pitch the seventh inning. Ruiz singled off of Chapman. A wild pitch allowed Ruiz to go to second. Hays singled, scoring Ruiz for the Orioles 1 run lead. Glavis doubled. Sisco walked and the second wild pitch of the inning by Chapman scored Westburg pinch-running for Hays. Sanchez struck out, but Chapman was pulled from the game by manager Aaron Boone. He was replaced by Nick Goody, who walked Mullins. Mancini ground into a double play to end the Orioles half, but the O’s picked up 3 runs. Orioles 3 Yankees 0.
Yankee hitters again remain silent
In another concerning game, the New York Yankee hitters just couldn’t hit Orioles pitching; they just avoided another shutout. The Yankees this spring have had several games where they only had one or two runs scored. Last night they only were able to muster up 3 hits in the entire game. They walked five times but were never able to push those walks across home plate.
It is said that if a team can score five runs in a game, they will usually win the game. So far in spring training, the Yankees have only been able to score an average of 3.7 runs per game. The Yankees certainly hope that will change in the regular season.
Today the New York Yankees will face the Toronto Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field in a 1:05 pm game. The Yankees Jhoulys Chacin will face the Jays Anthony Kay. The game will be televised on the YES Network, MLBN, and in Canada on SNET.