In what should have been an easy win for the New York Yankees became a shoot out late in the game against the Cleveland Indians. Scoring eight runs should be plenty in a postseason game, but mistakes by manager Aaron Boone allowed the Indians to crawl back into the contest.
The Yankees overcame Cleveland 10-9 in the ninth-inning, securing victory in the AL Wild Card and moving on to the next round.
Good news and bad news for the New York Yankees:
GOOD NEWS:
The good news for the Yankees, their offense is well and alive. They recorded seven hits and 10 runs, securing 11 walks in the process. While they did strike out 12 times, the Bombers remained extremely patient at the plate and allowed Cleveland’s pitchers to do the work for them. The notable performances were Gio Urshela, who launched a grand slam in the fourth inning, and Gary Sanchez, who hit a two-run homer in the six-inning to regain the lead.
Urshela’s grand slam was the first by any Yankee 3rd baseman in the team’s postseason history. In addition, he singled to center to get on base and ended up being the go-ahead run after DJ LeMaheiu saved the day with a two-out single in the ninth.
So far, the Yankees’ offense has been stellar through two games, tallying 22 overall runs. This was a major shift after finishing the season on a cold streak. With the bats well and alive, the Yankees are capable of staying in any game. However, their pitching on Wednesday evening was problematic at best.
BAD NEWS:
Aaron Boone was a destructive force for the Yankees in their decision making down the line. Starting pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka allowed six earned runs in four innings, which was not representative of his stellar postseason statistics in the past.
An odd decision by Cleveland manager Sandy Alomar forced the hand of Boone, who brought in Jonathan Loaisiga to face off against a right-handed batter. Well, that decision turned out to be awful, as he allowed a double to center field and walked two batters, forcing Aroldis Chapman to enter the game early.
That is not to mention that Boone also took out Luke Voit in the seventh inning with the Yankees sitting on a two-run lead. They could have used Voit’s bat late in the game, despite the victory. Tumultuous decisions like this will not be friendly in the future.
Thankfully, the Bombers didn’t have to rely on JA Happ in game three, avoiding a potentially devastating matchup.