Last night in the Bronx, the New York Yankees failed to get a sweep to the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium in what could be best described as a competitive and exciting game that didn’t go the Yankee’s way. The game had just about everything, including how to score from first base on a single. It was a game that the nearly perfect Yankee bullpen failed to hold down the Astros.
All this while some surprising things were going on around the country. One of the most iconic baseball players in the history of baseball turned 90 years old. Willie Mays celebrated the milestone. Many Yankee fans weren’t even alive when Willie hit his 660th home run. President Obama said of Mays and Jackie Robinson; you guys paved the way for me to be president of the United States.
In other stunning news, the Los Angeles Angels released future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, designating him for assignment. Also, this is the first time in ML history that no team at this point of the season (30 games) has accomplished 18 wins or reached .600. By the way, Yankees fans, t The lowly Boston Red Sox, are the number one team in all of baseball. Also, the month of April marked the first time in baseball history that both New York teams (Yankees/Mets) have had the pitcher of the month in their respective leagues.
Gleyber Torres scores from first on a single
The New York Yankees couldn’t complete the sweep of the Astros last night, but for baseball fans, there was some pretty exciting stuff in the game, not all to their liking. One of the most exciting was when Gleyber Torres scored all the way from first base on a single by Aaron Hicks. This can all be summed up by saying the Astros were kicked in the butt by their own right field shift and a myriad of other mistakes.
With Hicks at the plate the Astros put on the shift, Hick smoked one to the third baseman that was near second base. Torres took off for second, Bregman bobbled the ball. Torres saw daylight, no one at third, and took off for third; as he approached third, he saw catcher Maldonado jogging to cover third. Torres rounded third, and Maldonado tried to reverse, and Torres tumbled home ahead of the catcher, bringing the Yankees just one run short of tieing the Astros. The shift and with Maldonado running for third. Bregman froze as he had no one to throw the ball to. Astounded, Pressly the pitcher also froze when he should have been covering home plate.
Ace Gerrit Cole left the game with the lead
After the game in an interview, Aaron Boone stated that Gerrit Cole didn’t have his best stuff but ground through six innings and left the game with the lead. Cole, in his interview, seemed to differ with that explanation, saying that he made some good pitches and was a victim of the home plate umpires tight strike zone. As an observer, I would have to say both statements were true. Cole didn’t seem as comfortable on the mound and was a victim of giving up two home runs in his six innings of work. Cole had the smallest number of strikeouts since he pitched with the Pirates during 2017. He did get an amazing 10 ground outs.
But the bottom line was that Cole was not the problem; the usually almost perfect bullpen totally fell apart trying to keep the New York Yankees in the lead column over the remaining 4 innings. The usually outstanding Chad Green gave up a very disappointing 3 run home run to Jose Altuve, much to the displeasure of Yankee fans. It was the first time in Green’s career that anyone had hit a home run off his high out pitch. Green took the 7-4 loss. In the ninth, Justin Wilson gave a 2 run homer to catcher Maldonado, who hadn’t had an RBI in his last 75 plate appearances.
Other stuff
- Yankee Giancarlo Stanton continued his torrid play. He hit safely in his 12th straight game. He had a monster home run and leads the team in both home runs and RBI’s.
- Other than Gleyber Torres’s amazing score caused by Aaron Hicks single, every other run scored was via the home run for both teams.
- Aaron Hicks has had a plodding start for the 2021 season, keeping him on the interstate (below .200). Last night he went 3 for 3 and increased his batting average to .202.
- Is the 2020 batting king DJ LeMahieu in a slump? Last night he went 0 for 5. In the Astros three-game series, he has gone 3 for 12.
- Last night in the eighth inning, star third baseman Gio Urshela made an amazing stop with a diving catch. He landed on his knee; he made a failed throw to first but remained on his knee, apparently in pain. He was removed from the game and sent for an MRI. The outcome of that MRI is unknown at the time of this writing. The Yankees will take a hit if he has to go on the IL, being one of the Yankees’ most productive players. It could be an avenue for Miguel Andujar to return to the team.
Today the New York Yankees start their final series of the homestand against the Washington Nationals at 7:05 pm. The Yankees Jameson Taillon will take on the Nationals’ Patrick Corbin.