The New York Yankees were hoping to face Houston Astros ace Gerrit Cole on a night when he didn’t have his best stuff. The Yankees got their wish, but never capitalized in their 4-1 game three loss. That, plus a few questionable decisions by Aaron Boone led to the loss.
Cole Struggled Early
Luis Severino made a huge mess in the first, but managed to give up just one run. But, the Yankees came out swinging to start the bottom of the inning as DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge opened with back-to-back singles.
Brett Gardner and Edwin Encarnacion were retired, Gleyber Torres walked, then Didi Gregorius grounded out on the first pitch he saw with the bases loaded.
The Yankees also had things going in the second, fourth, and fifth but failed to score each time. Cole got into a groove late, retiring his final seven batters.
He went seven innings, struck out seven, and walked five. Cole usually sits around 12 strikeouts a game, and has never walked that many guys. The Yankees kept getting on base but couldn’t deliver with RISP, something they did well all season.
The Yankees had just five hits and one run. The run came on a solo-shot by Gleyber Torres in the eighth, and opposite field blast.
Luis Severino wasn’t great for the Yankees, but gave up just two runs in 4 and 1/3 innings. He threw nearly 100 pitches and booted an easy grounder that would of gotten him out of a big jam in the second inning.
Boone’s Part
Aaron Boone yet again managed a poor game.
First of all, why on earth is Brett Gardner batting third and Gleyber Torres batting fifth? Gardner is batting .154 this series while Gleyber has been scorching hot all postseason.
He also ate up his high leverage relievers very quickly. Chad Green and Tommy Kahnle threw no more than eight pitches each before being removed, and both were throwing good. After those two guys, he went to Adam Ottavino who yet again made a mess. Two runs would score from his mess.
Another topic of discussion is the effort of Gary Sanchez. There were two consecutive pitches thrown by Zack Britton who came in to bail out Ottavino that were thrown inside and in the dirt, and he made no effort to block the pitches. He was lucky because the first one drilled the umpire and stayed in front, but the second went to the backstop and a run scored.
Sanchez continus to dog it down the line, and in my opinion, Austin Romine should be starting. He hit better later in the season, hustles all the time, and calls great games behind the plate.
Also, the Yankees need to make a decision on Giancarlo Stanton. He says that he is healthy enough to DH, so DH HIM! Edwin Encarnacion has one hit since game two of the ALDS, and needs to sit. If Stanton isn’t healthy enough to play, they need to drop him from the roster. Mike Tauchman is healthy and ready to go if need be, and I’m sure that he would love to be on the roster, as would Clint Frazier.
The Yankees struggled all night in game three, and along with some poor decisions from Aaron Boone, the Yankees now trail in the ALCS 2-1. The team is hoping for a rainout on Wednesday to push game four to Thursday where Masahiro Tanaka could start the game. And as we know, playoff Tanaka is on a whole nother level.
This team needs to figure something out or they won’t be playing come next Tuesday.