The New York Yankees fell 5–0 to a poor Baltimore Orioles team on Sunday. The Orioles picked up their third win of the season, two of which have come against the Yankees. Over the three-game series, the Yankees scored a total of just seven runs, giving up nine, experiencing a rough offensive outing in the series finale.
Despite a phenomenal performance from Nestor Cortes, skipper Aaron Boone failed miserably to execute a good late-game strategy but stood by his decision after the Bombers allowed five runs in the eighth inning.
“No, that was [Loaisiga] all the way there,” Boone said. “It was just Luetge in case it got really heavy on him. That was the matchup I wanted.”
Even after Loaisiga gave up a walk to Robinson Chirinos, Boone refused to play the matchup game, bringing Lucas Luetge in against the lefty Rougned Odor.
“It was a great at-bat,” Boone said. “It was. He does a pretty good job of controlling the zone and he was able to really spoil some really tough pitches where I thought [Loaisaga] executed pretty well against him. And then [Chirinos] finally outlasted him there to keep the inning going. So good at-bat by him. Obviously, one of the key plays in the game.”
Instead, Odor singled to centerfield, driving in two runs and putting the Yankees in a tough spot. It was only after Odor’s at-bat that Boone made a shift to the left-handed pitcher, who subsequently gave up three runs immediately before the inning finally came to an end.
Even after the game, Loaisiga stated he was getting tired after battling several tough hitters.
“When you encounter long at-bats and then you’re walking people, you make it into long inning and you start getting tired,” Loaisiga said.
Loaisiga tossed 29 pitches in just one inning, suggesting that Boone should’ve made the decision to shift arms before he was put in a tough spot against Odor, who had leverage as a lefty hitter.
With the Yankees currently sitting at. 500 on the season, many are wondering how general manager Brian Cashman was given the freedom to do absolutely nothing regarding roster improvements.