The New York Yankees struggled but finally got a win in their game against the Baltimore Orioles in the eleventh inning on Friday night. Last night they were not that lucky almost being no-hit. The Yankees lost the second game 4-3 when closer Aroldis Chapman failed to hold the Orioles in the top of the ninth. The Yankees could not recover at the bottom of the frame.
Montgomery continues frustrated with no support
Jordan Montgomery is one of the top five pitchers in the American League that has received little or no run support in their starts. Including last night he has 15 no-decisions. Here are the facts: He has 6 games with no support; of 24 starts, he has had 12 starts with 2 or fewer runs of support, and 19 games with 3 or fewer runs in support. Yesterday was the worst yet, he not only got no runs to support pitching into the fifth inning, but the Yankees also couldn’t even boost his confidence with a single hit.
Through all of this, Montgomery, all season long, has been a trooper, not complaining at all about the lack of run support. However, that changed somewhat yesterday in an after-game interview. He indicated that he could pitch more aggressively and throw more fastballs if he had some run support.
Surprisingly, Gerrit Cole actually has received less run support but is a better pitcher being the New York Yankee ace.
Gallo breaks out, but the Yankees still not hitting
Prior to last night, Joey Gallo had gone 0-17, even getting some boos from the Yankee faithful when he would strikeout. Yesterday that all changed. Yesterday Chris Ellis held the Yankees hitless into the seventh inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Gleyber Torres’s pinch-hitting got the Yankees first hit of the game, scoring Anthony Rizzo, who had previously walked. In the eighth inning, DJ Lemahieu got an infield bunt single. Gallo took to the plate and hit a two-run bomb into the right-field stands, his 31st of the season.
The Yankees, for several games now after their 13 game winning streak, are again not hitting the ball well. Yesterday it was the first time since 2018 that the Yankees remained hitless through six innings of play. At the end of the day, the Yankees could only muster up 3 hits in the loss. What is most disturbing is that this is against the worst team in all of baseball.
With the New York Yankees race to be in the postseason, they must win over teams they should beat, and the lowly Orioles is one of them. Their rivals for the postseason are doing that; the Yankees aren’t. When the Rays last met up with the O’s last week, they swept them. The Red Sox outscored the O’s 30-5 in their series. The Yankees must do better. With the loss yesterday, the Yankees are now only 1/2 game ahead of the Red Sox for the first wild card slot.
Aroldis Chapman still has issues
Anyone that watched yesterday’s game knows that Aroldis Chapman still hasn’t figured out his lack of fastball control. Chapman was lights out during the first half of the season with an ERA of 0.00 through May 21st. During July, that ERA rose to 4.00 due to him seemingly losing control of his fastball. August wasn’t much better, but on August 26th, he was dominant, encouraging the Yankees. He followed that up on September 1st with another scoreless close. But last night, the old Chapman showed up in the ninth.
Mountcastle led the ninth inning with closer Aroldis Chapman on the mound for the Yankees; he reached on a wild pitch. Hays got a base hit to left, moving Mountcastle to second. Mancini, with two on and no outs, walked, loading the bases. Urias went down on strikes. Severino got a sac fly to left, scoring Mountcastle. Mateo struck out, but Chapman failed to hold the Orioles. Baltimore Orioles 4 New York Yankees 3.
If the New York Yankees get to the postseason, they will need Chapman to be dependable; as of now, that is not the case.
FUN FACT: Shortstop Andrew Velazquez is the only player in New York Yankees history born and raised in the Bronx, NY., per YES broadcaster Michael Kay.
QUESTION: With the game on the line in the 7th inning, why did manager Aaron Boone take Clay Holmes out of the game after only 18 pitches and striking out all four of the Orioles he faced. Instead, he went with Wandy Peralta, who immediately gave up two runs.
NOTE: Today, the New York Yankees complete the series with the Orioles in a rubber game at 1:05 pm EDT. Corey Kluber will be on the mound for the Yankees and Keegan Akin for the Orioles. The game will be broadcast on MASN and the YES Network.