New York Yankees Recaps: Yankees snap losing streak with nailbiter in the Bronx (video)

Yankees win with one of the team’s best pitching performances of the year

The New York Yankees after losing seven straight games, which hasn’t been done since Joe Girardi’s 2017 team, the Yankee stopped the slide.  J.A. Happ who has been the worst link in the pitching rotation, came out last night, determined to show that he could make an impact, and a huge impact, he did make. He pitched 7.1 innings of scoreless ball.  He induced 13 ground ball outs, allowing only three hits, and striking out five.

The game started out with Happ having a one, two, three inning in the top of the first inning, against the New York Mets. That set the tone for his pitching all night. In the bottom of the first, Luke Voit continued his home run hitting ways when he pounded a bullet to the right-field stands.  It was Voit’s seventh home run in the last ten games. As it turned out it would be the only run produced by the Yankees in the game that they won 2-1 against their crosstown rivals.

The New York Mets pitcher Robert Gsellman was tough on the Yankees, he allowed just the one run in four innings while striking out four Yankees.  But the key to holding down the lately quiet bats of the Yankees was the Mets bullpen. A combination of five Mets pitchers held the Yankees hitless until their closer Delin Betances entered the game, at the bottom of the ninth inning.  Betances walked Clint Frazier, newly acquired Jordy Mercer singled, moving Frazier to third. Erik Kratz squared up to bunt and Betances hurled one past his catcher, and Frazier scored on the wild pitch for the Yankees 2-1 win.

Major takeaways from the game

First, the good points: Brett Gardner while continuing his hitting slump, may have saved the game for the Yankees, when he athletically caught a line drive while tumbling to the wall in the left field. One of the most impactful players in the game was Erik Kratz. He worked with Happ like they had been pitching catching counterparts for years, working seamlessly together, and contributing to Happ’s success in the game. They embraced in the dugout after the game. He also had two amazing putouts at second while providing excellent defense. The New York Yankees enjoyed DJ LeMahieu’s return to the lineup last night, but he was not impactful in the game’s outcome.

Although the Yankees stopped the slide, there were some blemishes in the game. Most notable was Adam Ottavino’s entrance into the game in the top of the eighth inning. He immediately allowed a home run to Willy Ramos to tie up the game at one. This is the fourth game in a row that the New York Yankee bullpen has given up the lead in a game.  The Yankees also had a couple of running mistakes. Both in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Both Mike Tauchman and Clint Frazier were called out at home plate trying to score.

One of the most telling moves of the game came in the bottom of the ninth inning. With the tie game on the line, manager Aaron Boone, with slugger Gary Sanchez holding a bat in this hand, chose to send out catcher Erik Kratz instead of the more obvious choice of Sanchez. This may have been a signal to Sanchez to step up his game or Boone’s complete lack of faith in his supposed star catcher.  Whatever the case, the move turned out to be the correct one. After the game, Boone was questioned on the move, and he pretty much skirted the question, just saying he liked the matchup.