The New York Yankees went into yesterday’s late afternoon start, hoping to win an important makeup game from the Mets. But that was not to be, as the Yankees failed to maintain the lead in that game that they had twice. Although I am totally unbiased in my writing, I am a life long Yankees fan, and It pains me to write negatively about my team, but this game was just horrible in so many ways.
At an unusual start time of 4:10 pm, J.A. Happ took the mound for the New York Yankees and pitched a clean first inning. At the bottom of the second inning, Happ got all the support he needed, as the bottom of the lineup loaded the bases for the 9th man, Tyler Wade. Wade hit a single driving in Gio Urshela for the 1-0 Yankee lead. Two batters later Luke Voit hit a double to far left, and two runs scored, including Wade that motored the 270′ dash all the way from first base, making it 4-0 Yankees. At that point, it looked as though Happ would have all the ammunition he needed to have another excellent game.
At the home half of the second ex-Yankee, Todd Frazier powered a long ball over the right-field fence, as the Mets got one run back. But at the bottom of the fourth, everything fell apart for Happ. With a man at third Marisnick hit one to the left-field wall and the Mets had another run. Rosario singled driving in Marisnick, McNeil later batted in Rosario and the Mets tied up the game at 4. That did it for Happ, who pitched through the fifth inning.
Adam Ottavino and Chad Green combined for two scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh. At the bottom of the seventh, the backend of the Yankee lineup came through again. Gio Ushela drove in Aaron Hicks, allowing Mike Ford to go to third. Brett Gardner singled down the 1st baseline driving in Ford, and it was 7-4 Yankees.
Then came triple trouble, setup/closer Zack Britton, who had been excellent all season, gave up three hits and two runs to the Mets. At the ninth, Aroldis Chapman that has not been effective since returning from the coronavirus, gave up two hits and another run, a home run to J.D. Davis, tying up the score again. In a somewhat unusual move, manager Aaron Boone brought in AAA Albert Abreu in the bottom of the tenth inning. Pete Alonso hit a two-run homer off Abreu, for the final score of Mets 9 and the Yankees 7. Ewin Diaz got the win and Albert Abreu the loss for the Yankees.
The Good Stuff:
There wasn’t much good news in this game, however, it can’t go without saying that the New York Yankees bottom of the lineup really went to work for the Yankees in the game. Both Adam Ottavino and Chad Green put down the Mets nicely in their innings. The Yankees also got the news that Gleyber Torres would be returning to the lineup sometime over the weekend in Baltimore.
The Bad Stuff:
J.A. Happ continued to be a mystery for the Yankees, as his inconsistent pitching continued. After one of the best starts by any Yankee, he really bombed in this one. The top of the lineup bats were mostly silent in the game. The real bad news was that the Yankees closers of Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman just couldn’t get the job done, giving up three runs. Albert Abreu failed miserably in his second appearance of the season and should be sent to the alternate site, and kept there. With Tyler Wade at second starting out the 10th, he made a running mistake and was picked off.
On the injury front with only 24 days left in the regular season, there still is no timetable for the return of sluggers Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton.