DJ Lemahieu

Yankees: Bad injury news for Luke Voit, DJ LeMahieu, Joey Gallo escapes with negative scans

by
New York Yankees, Luke Voit

The New York Yankees recorded one of the most important wins of the season against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday evening. After falling in the second game of the series, the Yankees bounced back with Corey Kluber on the mound, giving themselves a two-game cushion in the Wild Card over the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners.

Luckily for the Yankees, Boston fell to the Baltimore Orioles, but Seattle extracted a victory, finding themselves tied for second place behind the Bombers. The Yankees, though, have an extremely important series coming up against the Tampa Bay Rays, who have had their number this season and have locked down first place in the AL East standings.

Tampa lost their most recent game to the Houston Astros, dropping two of three in a three-game series. Starting at 7:05 PM on Friday night, the Bombers will host Nestor Cortes on the mound, who has a 2.85 ERA this season over 80 innings pitched. The Rays will feature Shane McClanahan, who has been one of the best young starters in the league this year, with a 3.44 ERA over 120 days. He has given up just one home run more than Cortes (14 compared to 13) — a much larger sample size.

Despite having the better pitching matchup, the Rays likely won’t see Joey Gallo, DJ LeMahieu, or Luke Voit in the Yankees’ batting order, presenting major losses for the Bombers.

Voit was placed on the 10-day injured list with a sore left knee, as skipper Aaron Boone indicated he wasn’t feeling too great on Thursday.

“He woke up pretty stiff today and he’s limping around pretty good,” Boone said. “We think it’s kind of a bone bruise that can be a result of the surgery. That’s kind of been on and off for him.”

LeMahieu has right hip soreness and will likely take the next few days to rehabilitate and give it some rest before the postseason starts, given the Yankees can hold onto their slight advantage.

“I think it was affecting him more at the plate tonight,” Boone said Thursday. “Hopefully like last time, having a little treatment and just managing it as best we can, we’ll see if he’s back in there tomorrow or not.”

As for Gallo, x-rays and CT scans indicated that his left forearm didn’t suffer any significant damage, which is a great sign for a team that needs their lefty batters healthy. In the 6-2 win over Toronto, Aaron Judge powered the offense forward, recording two hits and two RBIs, both of which were homers.

New York Yankees Recap: Gerrit Cole bombs, Yankees lose again to the Indians

by
Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees

The New York Yankees continued their roller-coaster season today at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees shamed the Cleveland Indians in game one of the series by shutting them out 8-0, only to be shamed in game two with an 11-3 loss. Today was the rubber game of the three-game series with ace Gerrit Cole on the mound for the Yankees and Eli Morgan for the Indians. This was a must-win game for the Yankees, as with yesterday’s loss, they slipped out of a wild card berth. In a complete shock, Cole gave up 7 runs, and the Yankees lost 11-1.

Cole faced Brad Zimmer leading off in the first inning. Zimmer didn’t get a chance to hit the ball as a pitch hit him. The game was delayed as he tried to walk it off. Oscar Mercado struck out swinging. Jose Ramirez walked. With two on and one out, Bobby Bradley singled, loading the bases for Harold Ramirez, who singled past a diving Rizzo scoring two runs. Yu Chang with men on the corners and still only one out hit into a double play, getting Cole out of further trouble.

DJ LeMahieu led off in the bottom of the first against Eli Morgan and struck out. Anthony Rizzo flew out to right. Aaron Judge ground out to short. Cleveland Indians 2 Yankees 0.

The second inning was led off by Roberto Perez, who ground out softly to second. Andres Gimenez struck out. Ernie Clement flew out to Stanton in right. At the bottom, Giancarlo Stanton went down swinging. Luke Voit ground out to short. Gleyber Torres hit a double off the center-field wall. Brett Gardner ground back to the pitcher to end the inning. Indians 2 Yankees 0.

It was the top of the lineup for the Indians in the third. Zimmer singled up the middle. Mercado flew out to Judge in center. Ramirez singled to center, moving Zimmer to second. Bradley struck out. H. Ramirez singled to the left-center. Gardner and Judge converged, and neither caught the ball, scoring another two runs for the Indians. Chang singled up the middle, moving H Ramirez to third. Perez, with men on the corners and two outs singled, bring in another Indian’s run. Gimenez ground out to second, but the Indian tacked on three more runs.

At the bottom of the third, Gio Urshela led off and homered into the centerfield wall, with Ramirez crashing into the wall; following a delay, it was determined that he couldn’t throw and was taking out of the game. Higashioka gave one a ride to the warning track in center for out number one. LeMahieu got a base hit to left. Rizzo singled to right, with DJ moving to second. Judge with two on and only one out flew out to center. Stanton flew out to the warning track in right-center. Cleveland Indians 5 Yankees 1.

The fourth inning was led off by Clement, who ground out to left. Zimmer stuck out, and Mercado ground out to third. At the bottom, Voit flew out to the center. Torres flew out to right. Gardner flew out to left for the first quick inning of the game. Indians 5 Yankees 1.

Jose Ramirez led off the fifth inning with his 35th home run of the season into the second deck at Yankee Stadium. Bradley struck out swinging. Myles Straw hitting for Ramirez that was taken out of the game, singled to center. Yu Chang at the base, Straw was caught off first for the second out, and Chang struck out. At the bottom, Urshela singled up the middle. Higashioka hit into 4-6-3 double play. LeMahieu flew out to left. Indians 6 Yankees 1.

The sixth inning Yankee crowd was stunned when Gerrit Cole gave up his seventh run to Perez, a homer into the left-field bullpen. Gimenez struck out. Clement lined out to left. Cole was taken out of the game to boos from the Yankee faithful. Zimmer faced the new Yankee pitcher Lucas Luetge and ground out to first. At the bottom, with Morgan still in the game, Rizzo singled to left. Judge struck out. Stanton ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Indians 7 Yankees 1.

Oscar Mercado led off the seventh inning by grounding out to short. Ramirez singled to left. Bradley struck out. Myles Straw reached on an E5, with Ramirez moving to second. Chang singled, driving in Ramirez as the Indians tack on another run. Perez stuck out. In the bottom, Luke Voit struck out against new pitcher Trevor Stephan. Torres went down on strikes. Gardner also stuck out. Indians 8 New York Yankees 1.

The eighth inning was led off by Gimenez, who singled to left off new Yankee pitcher Clarke Schmidt. Clement walked. Zimmer singled, both runners moved up on a passed ball by Higashioka. Mercado walked. Ramirez came to the plate with the bases loaded and only one out and singled out to right, allowing two more runs to score. Bradley struck out, and Straw struck out, but the Indians picked up another two runs. At the bottom, Urshela flew out to right. Higashioka doubled to right. LeMahieu singled into right field. Rizzo struck out. Judge with two on and two outs struck out, stranding two. Indians 10 Yankees 1.

At the top of the ninth, Chang singled to left. Perez struck out. Chang moved to second on a passed ball. Gimenez singled with Chang moving to third. Gimenez beat out Schmidt to the base. Clement reached on an E3 sloppy play by Rizzo as another Indian run scored. Zimmer ground out. Mercado ground into a force out. Stanton came to the plate and struck out at the bottom, with last licks on the line for the Yankees. Voit struck out. Torres also struck out to end the game.

The final score was the Cleveland Indians 11 and the New York Yankees 1. The winning pitcher was Eli Morgan, and the loser was Gerrit Cole.

 

 

 

New York Yankees: 3 Major takeaways from Yankees powerhouse win over the Orioles

by
New York Yankees, Michael King

The New York Yankees entered last night’s game with the Baltimore Orioles with an urgency to win over a team they should win over. The Yankees have a relatively easy next 9 games with the O’s, the Indians, and the Rangers. These are all games the Yankees should win before facing a difficult end of the season against the Red Sox, Jays, and Rays. They need to at least win these 3 upcoming series to stay in contention for a wild-card berth. Last night they took the first step toward that goal by besting the Orioles 7-2.

Gerrit Cole wasn’t great, but it didn’t matter

New York Yankee ace Gerrit Cole’s night did not start well. Cole had the luxury of first stepping to the mound with a two-run lead, but he almost blew it. Cedrick Mullins faced Cole and doubled to the left-field wall. Ryan Mountcastle popped out to first. Anthony Santander ground out, but Mullins advanced. Trey Mancini, with two outs and a man on third, walked. Austin Hays walked to load the bases. Ramon Urias struck out to get Cole out of a bases-loaded jam. New York Yankees 2 Orioles 0.

It was evident from the start that Cole did not have his best stuff working. After the first inning, Cole was pretty much what a Yankee ace is supposed to be. Cole managed five innings of shaky ball, giving up just one run, walking three while striking out seven Oriole’s batters. He lowered his ERA and got the win in the game. The only thing he didn’t accomplish was helping out the bullpen by going deep into the game. He had 108 pitches, 62 for strikes in his 5 innings of work.

The real Yankee pitching hero of the night was Michael King. With Cole only going 5 innings, it might have taken four or five relievers from an already overworked bullpen to close out the game. But King came in and pitched a brilliant three innings in relief, not allowing a single hit. Some might question why Aaron Boone did not allow King to close out the game as he was a stretched-out reliever with only 47 pitches. Boone brought in Sal Romano, who only lasted one out, giving up a run on two hits, requiring Boone to bring in Aroldis Chapman to close out the game.

Home runs power the Yankees

1-2-3-4-5, count ’em five home runs power the Yankees to a win in the first game of a 3 game set against the Baltimore Orioles. Aaron Judge started the power assault with a two-run homer in the first inning, driving in DJ LeMahieu. The third inning was devastating for Orioles’ starter Alexander Wells. Giancarlo Stanton stepped to the mound and crushed one into the left-field stands, scoring another two runs. To add insult to injury, Luke Voit then got a solo back-to-back shot, putting Wells into a five-run hole.

But the New York Yankees were not done. In the eighth inning, Joey Gallo got his 34th homer of the season. Finally, in the top of the ninth, DJ LeMahieu deposited a long ball into the left-field stands for his 10th homer of the season and giving the Yankees nine players with double-digit home runs.

Torres moved, but the same result

The New York Yankees rearranged the entire infield for one player, Gleyber Torres. The main reason was to relieve stress on Torres that they thought his excessive errors at short might be affecting his poor hitting behind the plate. Manager Boone even announced that the change would be for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, the experiment didn’t work. Torres possibly made his worst performance error at his new position when he bobbled an easy double-play ball.

Torres’s move to second also meant that Gold Glover DJ LeMahieu was moved off of second base to the hot corner. That move caused stellar third baseman Gio Urshela to move to shortstop. Both of these players proved earlier that they could handle their new positions. In the remaining days of the season, we will have to see how this experiment works out, but it didn’t look good for Torres last night.

Notes: Sal Romano earlier yesterday was awarded a Major League contract from the Yankees. The contract was worth $583K after earning just $47K in 2020. Luckily for the Yankees, the contract is for only one year. Last night on the first night of that contract Boone called him out to close the game, he pitched horribly lasting only 1/3 of an inning, requiring Chapman to close out the game.

Tonight the Yankees will face off with the Orioles in game two at Camden Yards. Nestor Cortes Jr. will be on the mound for the Yankees and John Means for the Orioles. The 7:05 pm EDT game will be televised on the YES Network and MASN.

New York Yankees Recap: Homers are king as Yankees win over the Orioles

by
New York Yankees, Aaron Judge

The New York Yankees entered a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Camden Yards in Baltimore. After a win against the Minnesota Twins last night, the Yankees hoped to continue with another win tonight. The Yankees had a dramatic come-from-behind win, and that same energy was hoped to propel them to another winning streak against the Orioles, who will lose at least 110 games this season. Gerrit Cole was on the mound for the Yankees and Alexander Wells for the Orioles. The Yankees homered their way to a 7-2 win over the Orioles.

DJ LeMahieu led off the first with Wells on the mound and singled to left. Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer for his 34th of the year. Anthoney Rizzo singled to center. Giancarlo Stanton struck out swinging. Luke Voit lined out to short. Joey Gallo flew out to left, but the Yankees picked up two runs in the half. At the bottom, Cedrick Mullins faced Cole and doubled to the left-field wall. Ryan Mountcastle popped out to first. Anthony Santander ground out, but Mullins advanced. Trey Mancini, with two outs and a man on third, walked. Austin Hays walked to load the bases. Ramon Urias struck out to get Cole out of a bases-loaded jam. New York Yankees 2 Orioles 0.

At the top of the second inning, Gleyber Torres stuck out. Gio Urshela singled to right. Gary Sanchez flew out to right-center. Higashioka ground out to second. LeMahieu flew out to Mullins. At the bottom, Pedro Severino ground out. Pat Valaika ground out. The bottom was scoreless off of Cole. New York Yankees 2 Orioles 0.

In the third inning, Stanton, with one on, hit a two-run homer to left. Luke Voit followed him with a homer of his own, a solo shot for his 10th of the season. At the bottom, the Baltimore Orioles remained scoreless. New York Yankees 5 Orioles 0.

The Yankees had a scoreless fourth inning. DJ Stewart ground out to lead off the fourth inning. Austin Hays stuck out. Urias singled to Stanton in left field. Urias struck out. Pedro Severino ground out to end the inning. New York Yankees 5 Orioles 0.

Stanton, against new pitcher Erick Handhold in the fifth inning, singled up the middle. Voit ground out for a double play to left. . Joey Gallo ground out to center. Cole at the bottom faced Valaika, who got a single in front of Stanton in left. Gutierrez popped out to center. Mullins went down swinging. Mountcastle doubled down the left-field line to drive in Valaika, getting the Baltimore Orioles on the scoreboard. Santander walked on Cole’s 103rdd pitch. Stewart, with two on and two outs, stuck out to end the inning. New York Yankees 5 Orioles 1.

The sixth inning was led off by Gleyber Torres, who ground out to short. Urshela singled up the middle. Higashioka singled to right field. LeMahieu hit into a double play to end the half. Austin Hays led off the bottom against new Yankee pitcher Michael King and walked. Urias singled. Hay made second on a double bobble from Torres and Urshela. With two on and no outs, Severino hit into the double play with Hays moving to third. Valaika flew out to Stanton in left to keep the Orioles scoreless in the sixth. Yankees, 5 Orioles 1.

Aaron Judge led off the seventh inning by walking. Rizzo hit into a double play. Stanton walked. Brett Gardner was brought in to pinch-run for Stanton. Voit struck out on the 10th pitch at-bat. At the bottom, Gutierrez flew out to Gardner in left. Mullins lined out directly to Judge. Mountcastle went down swinging. Yankees 5 Orioles 1.

The eighth inning was led off by Joey Gallo, who homered to right-center. Torres gound out. Urshela flew out to right field. Higashioka flew out to left field to end the half. Anthony Santander led off the bottom by flying out to a running Aaron Judge in right. Stewart flew out to Gardner in left field. Hays struck out looking for a 1-2-3 inning for Michael King. Yankees 6 Orioles 1.

DJ LeMahieu led off the ninth inning for the Yankees and homered into the left-field stands. Judge ground out to third. Rizzo singled up the middle. After taking over for Stanton at left, Brett Gardner flew out to the warning track at center in his first at-bat. Voit flew out to right-center to end the half, but the Yankees picked up another run. At the bottom, with the last licks on the line, Urias facing Sal Romano foul tipped into Higashioka’s glove. Austin Wynns singled to right. Valaika walked. Gutierrez singled off Romano’s bare hand with two on and one out as Wynns scored, knocking Romano out of the game with an injured finger. Aroldis Chapman came in to face Mullins with one out and two on; he struck out. A wild pitch advanced the runners. Mountcastle struck out swinging.

The final score was the New York Yankees 7 and the Baltimore Orioles 6. The winning pitcher was Gerrit Cole, and the loser was Alexander Wells.

 

 

 

 

 

Star infielder calls the Yankees the ‘streakiest team in baseball’

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New York Yankees, DJ LeMahieu

From August 14 to August 27, the New York Yankees won 13 straight games and were at the top of the world. No one expected them to keep winning forever, but what came after that was embarrassing: the team lost four consecutive contests, won two, and then dropped its last seven.

A few weeks ago, the Yankees comfortably controlled their own destiny. After Friday’s forgettable loss against the Mets, they are barely holding on to the second Wild Card spot, only half a game ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays and one game ahead of the two AL West hopefuls, the Oakland Athletics and the Seattle Mariners.

Second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who has been a major disappointment for the Yankees this season considering the expectations around him, gave a blunt evaluation of the current state of the franchise.

“We’ve been the streakiest team in the league,” LeMahieu said to WFAN after the loss to their crosstown rivals. “One good game, and the tides can turn in a hurry, like we’ve seen all year. Hopefully quickly.”

The Yankees need to play with a sense of urgency

Not a lot of teams can win 13 games in a row and then lose 11 of 13. Those are your 2021 New York Yankees. Things need to change if they want to qualify, though.

LeMahieu can’t explain what exactly the Yankees need to do to return to their winning ways. According to him, there is not a specific thing, but he knows they have to be better in all areas.

“Not one thing in particular,” LeMahieu said. “Just either been playing really bad or unbelievable, and not a whole lot in between. Before the All-Star break, it didn’t feel like a good team, and coming out of the All-Star break we were a great team. We’re one game away, a few games away to get it going.”

New York Yankees: Takeaways from the Yankees historic night

by
wandy peralta

Yankees rewrite the history books

It was a hot, muggy night in Atlanta, Georgia, last night. It would be a night that the New York Yankees created history by winning a game against the Atlanta Braves. It wasn’t just any win; it was their 11th consecutive win, the first time the Yankees have done that since 1985. If that wasn’t enough to delight Yankees fans, they won their ten series in a row, the first time that has been done by the Yankees since 1954.

Knowledgeable Yankee fans knew that the winning streak couldn’t last forever and that if they were to lose a game, it would likely be last night. It didn’t look good with the Brave’s best pitcher on the mound and the Yankees starting their least effective starter. But forget about all of that; the Yankees’ confidence that has carried them so well recently took over, and the Yankees found a way to get it done. With good pitching and powerful hitting at key moments, the Yankees pulled out the win and created history. The Yankees won the game 5-4.

The Yankees pitched, and the hitters hit

Although Yankee starter Andrew Heaney may not have been stellar, he found a way to keep the Braves’ powerful lineup down. He gave up 2 runs in four innings of work before the Yankee bullpen came in to help. The usually good Albert Abreu gave up another run in the fifth. Joely Rodriquez came in and cleaned up for Abreu, not allowing a run and getting his 12th hold of the season. Just off the Covid list, Clay Holmes pitched a clean 6th getting the win in the game. Chad Green pitched two scoreless innings before turning it over to closer Aroldis Chapman.

Meanwhile, the New York Yankee hitters got busy wearing down the Braves starter, Charlie Morton, causing him to throw 88 pitches before being knocked out to the game early. Giancarlo Stanton started the fun when he greeted Morton with a second-inning solo home run to the farthest part of Truist Park in center. Then, in the fifth inning, DJ LeMahieu crushed a two-run home run to left field. Finally, Brian Snitker, the Braves manager, had seen enough and pulled Morton from the game. Then, in the seventh inning, Rougie Odor hit a solo home run of his own that would turn out to be the winning run.

The two newest members of the Yankees disappointed; both Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo went hitless in the game. However, the old guard won the game. DJ LeMahieu got 2 RBIs in the game. Aaron Judge got 2 hits scoring once. The on-fire Giancarlo Stanton got his RBI, Gary Sanchez and Rougie Odor both got RBIs. Andrew Velazquez, the spark, stole a base keeping the Yankees with the most stolen bases since the All-Star break.

Aroldis Chapman creates a nail-biter

If you didn’t watch the game, you missed an exciting, tense, nail-biting ninth inning last night.

At the bottom of the inning closer, Aroldis Chapman came to close it out for the Yankees. Facing him was d’Arnaud, who ground out to Velazquez. Duvall singled up the middle. Heredia pinch-hitting for Pederson went down on a Chapman slider, two outs. Ehire Adrianza pinch-hit for pitcher Will Smith, he walked. With two on and two outs, the dangerous Ozzie Albies came to the plate as the winning run and singled to left to load the bases with Braves. Then with the bases loaded and two outs Jorge Soler with sweat dripping from Chapman’s cap, walked, bringing in the fourth run and knocking Chapman out of the game.

Wandy Peralta came in to get the save for the Yankees. Peralta, with the bases, still loaded, faced Freddie Freeman with the game on the line, the winning streak on the line. Freeman flew out to Gallo in left for the Yankee win and the 11th straight win for the first time since 1985. The final score was the New York Yankees 5 and the Atlanta Braves 4. The winning pitcher was Clay Holmes, and the loser was Charlie Morton. The save went to Wandy Peralta (5).

 

 

 

 

 

New York Yankees Recap: Chapman falters, but the Yankees pull out 11th straight win

by
yankees, dj lemahieu

The New York Yankees entered tonight’s game in a very unusual situation. That situation was to win their 11th straight game, which has not been done since 1985. The Yankees have won their last 9 series and their 10th game in a row going 26-8 since July 17th. No team in baseball has had two teams with a 9-1 record or better face each other since 1901. The Yankees would not have an easy task with the Atlant Braves starter Charlie Morton on the mound. The Yankees had Andrew Heaney starting for them. The Yankees got their 11th straight win 5-4 over the Braves. It was the 10th series win. the first time that has been done since 1954.

The first inning was led off by DJ LeMahieu, who ground out to short. Anthony Rizzo struck out on a Morton curveball. Aaron Judge hit a line drive to center for a single. Joey Gallo flew out to center to end the half. At the bottom, Ozzie Albies led off and ground out to short. Jorge Soler also ground out to Velazquez at short. Freddie Freeman walked. A pitch hit Austin Riley. Dansby Swanson hit a two-run double, driving both Freeman and Riley. Travis d’Arnaud ground out to short to end the inning, but the Braves scored two runs. Atlanta Braves 2 New York Yankees 0.

Giancarlo Stanton led off the second inning by homering to right-center to bring the Yankees one run closer. Gary Sanchez struck out swinging. Rougie Odor went down swinging, as did Andrew Velazquez to end the half. At the bottom, Adam Duvall led off and struck out. Joc Pederson went down swinging. Charlie Morton gave Heaney a strikeout of the side. Braves 2 Yankees 1.

The third inning was led off by Andrew Heaney, who went down looking. LeMahieu struck out for Morton’s sixth strikeout. Rizzo flew out to center to end the half. At the bottom, Albies hit the first pitch he saw for an out to right field. Soler ground out to Odor at third. Freeman popped out to left-center. Braves 2 Yankees 1.

Aaron Judge led off the fourth inning by leading off with a double down the right-field line. Gallo went down looking. Stanton that homered in the second ground out to the infield with Judge moving to third base. Sanchez singled up the middle-scoring Judge to tie the game at 2. Odor chopped out to first to end the half, but the Yankees tied the game. At the bottom, Riley led off by singling to short. Swanson swung out swinging. d’Arnaud singled to left. Duvall, with two on and one out, popped out to Rizzo in right field territory. Pederson was hit by a pitch but swung for the final out of the inning. New York Yankees 2 Braves 2.

The fifth inning was led off by Andrew Velazquez, who struck out. Then, DJ LeMahieu hit a two-run homer to deep left. At the end of the fifth inning, the New York Yankees 4 and the Atlanta Braves 3.  The sixth inning was scoreless for both teams. Clay Holmes pitched an excellent sixth for the Yankees. In the seventh inning, the Yankees picked up another run with Rougie Odor’s solo homer, which turned out to be the winning run for the Yankees. . Chad Green in for the Yankees had a scoreless seventh. New York Yankees 5 the Atlanta Braves 3.

The top of the eighth inning was scoreless for the Yankees. At the bottom of the eighth, Chad Green struck out Soler. Freeman singled to left field out of Gallo’s reach. Riley singled but tried to stretch it to a double and was called out at second. Freeman took third base. Swanson ground out to end the inning. New York Yankees 5 Atlanta Braves 3.

At the top of the ninth inning, Gary Sanchez was called out on strikes. Odor walked. Velazquez struck out swinging. Luke Voit pinch hit for Chad Green and walked on four pitches. DJ LeMahieu popped out to Swanson at short to end the half-inning.

At the bottom of the inning closer, Aroldis Chapman came to close it out for the Yankees. Facing him was d’Arnaud, who ground out to Velazquez. Duvall singled up the middle. Heredia pinch-hitting for Pederson went down on a Chapman slider, two outs. Ehire Adrianza pinch-hit for pitcher Will Smith, he walked. With two on and two outs, the dangerous Ozzie Albies came to the plate as the winning run and singled to left to load the bases with Braves. Then with the bases loaded and two outs Jorge Soler with sweat dripping from Chapman’s cap, walked, bringing in the fourth run and knocking Chapman out of the game.

Wandy Peralta came in to get the save for the Yankees. Peralta, with the bases, still loaded, faced Freddie Freeman with the game on the line, the winning streak on the line. Freeman flew out to Gallo in left for the Yankee win and the 11th straight win for the first time since 1985. The final score was the New York Yankees 5 and the Atlanta Braves 4. The winning pitcher was Clay Holmes, and the loser was Charlie Morton. The save went to Wandy Peralta (5).

New York Yankees: 4 Takeaways from the Yankees eighth win in a row

by
Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees

New York Yankees now just 4 games out

The New York Yankees have been playing great ball since the All-Star Break. Since July 17, they have gone 25 and 8 during the period.  The Yankees had won their last seven series culminating with a sweep of the Boston Red Sox when they overtook them for a playoff berth. However, last night the Yankees won their eighth game in a row, and the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the White Sox, moving the Yankees just four games short of a tie in the AL East.

“Nasty” Nestor does it again

Nasty Nestor was nasty again last night. Nestor Cortes had another great performance yesterday, pitching seven innings of 2 run ball while walking two and striking out seven. His ERA is now 2.56 after winning his longest and 2nd win of the season. He had an excellent command of his pitches with a great life.

Nestor Cortes Jr. was primarily a reliever pitching in 15 games since he was brought up on May 30 from the Scranton Wilkes/Barre Rail Riders. With the loss of Corey Kluber, he made his first start on July 9th against the Houston Astros; he pitched 4.1 innings of scoreless ball, impressing the Yankees. Unfortunately, in his next several starts, he, like other Yankees pitchers, didn’t get much run support. During the period, he has been stretched out, pitching seven full innings last night. Nevertheless, he has won his last two games against the White Sox and last night against the Minnesota Twins. His excellent pitching will likely keep him around even when the rotation is back to full force.

Home run again king

Even though the New York Yankees are now winning games without hitting home runs, the team is built around the home run ball. Again last night, the home run was king in the win. Last night slugger Aaron Judge led it off with a 2 run home run in the second inning off Twin’s starter Charlie Barnes. In the seventh inning, Luke Voit contributed his own home run, and in the eighth inning, DJ LeMahieu hit his eighth of the season.

Brett Gardner and Gleyber Torres injury news

The Yankee’s veteran and iron man Brett Gardner was hit in the elbow by a pitch in the fifth inning. Although visibly painful, Gardner stayed in the game until he was relieved by Tyler Wade in the seventh. Manager Boone said Gardner indicated that it really stiffened up, and Boone wanted to get some ice on it and start treatment. However, Boone also said he didn’t expect tests to be done and see how he was today.

Gleyber Torres is on the way back from his jammed finger suffered on August 8th against Seattle. Torres has begun his rehab with an important first step. Yesterday before the game, he took dry swings and fielded ground balls at the Stadium. Boone said that he still had some pain but that the swelling and gone down in this thumb, allowing him to get started on the rehab process. However, Boone declined to give a date for his return into the lineup.

Note:

Tonight Yankee ace Gerrit Cole will take the mound facing the Minnesota Twins’ Kenta Maeda in a 1:05 pm matinee at Yankee Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on FS1.

 

New York Yankees Recap: Yankees get 8th win in a row, now only 4 games out of the AL East lead.

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The New York Yankees entered the night facing the Minnesota Twins in the second game of a four-game series. In the first game, the Yankees fought out a 7-5 win over the Twins. Tonight the Yankees had Nestor Cortes Jr. on the mound facing the Twin Charlie Barnes.

To begin the game, Jorge Polano against Nestor Cortes Jr., flew out to Joey Gallo in left-field foul territory. Luis Arraez went down fanned by Cortes Jr. Josh Donaldson struck out swinging for a perfect inning for Nestor Cortes Jr. At the bottom DJ LeMahieu walked. Aaron Judge worked a back-to-back walk. Joey Gallo struck out swinging. Barnes threw one in the dirt, and both runners advanced. Giancarlo Stanton reached on a hit by a pitch to load the bases. Luke Voit got a two-run single to the left, scoring both Judge and Stanton for the Yankees’ two-run lead. Rougie Odor popped out to the catcher. Gary Sanchez singled to the pitcher to load the bases for Andrew Velazquez, who walked in a run. Brett Gardner gound out but scoring Voit. New York Yankees 3 Twins 0.

Mitch Carver led off the second by a ground out to third. Rob Refsnyder flew out to center. Nick Gordon struck out swinging for Cortes’s 3rd strikeout. At the bottom, it was LeMahieu singled to the left. Judge homered a lazer to right. Galo flew out to center. Stanton popped out to the catcher. Voit singled to left. Odor ground out into the shift. New York Yankees 6 Twins 0.

The third inning was led off by Willans Astudillo, who flew out to Judge.  Cave lined out to Gallo in left. Andrelton Simmons walked on a very bad ball call. Polanco flew out to center for another scoreless inning for Cortes Jr. At the bottom, ahead by six runs, Sanchez ground out to short. Velazquez was tagged out at first. Gardner singled to left. LeMahieu flew out to Gordon in the center to end the inning. Yankees 6 Twins 0.

Luis Arraez led off the fourth inning by grounding out. Donaldson went down looking. Carver walked. Refsnyder singled to center for two on and two outs. Gordon was hit by a pitch. Astudillo popped out, leaving the bases loaded with Twins. At the bottom, Judge flew out to center. Joey Gallo worked a walk. Stanton walked. Voit singled, and Gallo scored.     New York Yankees 7  Twins 0

The fifth inning was scoreless for both teams. At the top of the sixth inning, the Twins scored two runs on Josh Donaldson’s two-run homer. Aaron Judge answered at the bottom of the sixth with a two-run homer of his own, making it New York Yankees 8 and the Minnesota Twins 2.

After the top of the seventh inning, Nestor Cortes Jr. left the game with a 7-2 lead for another good start for Cortes Jr. In the game, he walked two while striking out 7 Twins. New York Yankees 7 Minnesota Twins 2.

In the top of the eighth, with Joely Rodriguez on the mound, striking out two, J-Rod had a 1-2-3 inning. At the bottom, Tyler Wade in for Brett Gardner walked. DJ LeMahieu hit a homer to left field just to the right of the foul pole driving in Tyler Wade for the 8 run lead. That did it for Twins reliever Baraclough. New pitcher Juan Minaya faced Aaron Judge with no outs and two runs already in struck out swinging. Joey Gallo struck out looking. Giancarlo Stanton walked. Voit flew out to center to end the inning. New York Yankees 10 Minnesota Twins 2.

At the top of the ninth inning, with the last licks on the line for Minnesota, the Yankee reliever that made his major league debut on August 3rd, Brody Koener, and with 16 days rest, walked  Mitch Carver, the first batter he faced. Refsnyder went down on strikes. Nick Gordon hit into a force out at second. Odor tried for the double play, but Voit couldn’t complete it. Willians Astudillo lined out to short to end the game and give the Yankees 8 wins in a row.

The New York Yankees have played so many close games recently; tonight is the first time the Yankees have scored 10 runs since August 4th against Baltimore. The final score was the New York Yankees 10 and the Minnesota Twins 2. The winning pitcher was Nestor Cortes Jr., and the loser was Charlie Barnes.

With the Tampa Bay loss, tonight against the White Sox the New York Yankees are now only four games out from the AL East division lead.

 

 

New York Yankee Analysis: What to expect from the last seven weeks of the season

by
New York Yankees, DJ LeMahieu

The New York Yankees have been surging during the last month, so have the Toronto Blue Jays, while the Tampa Bay Rays continue to be the best team in the AL East. The Boston Red Sox overachieving has ended, making the race for the postseason exciting. Today I will try to predict what I see for the remainder of the season and why. Over the past few years, I have registered just over 50% accuracy in my predictions, so take this for what it is worth.

The Baltimore Orioles: We can get this out of the way right away. The Orioles will finish last in the AL East. No matter what they do in the last weeks of the season, they won’t improve their position.

The Toronto Blue Jays: The Jays are the team that is making this season so interesting. They are a young and energetic team that has done much this season to better themselves. The Jays are just whispering behind the Yankees in the division, with both teams going 7-3 in their last ten games. Although the Blue Jays lead the AL in home runs and OPS thanks to an MVP-caliber season from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., they got an important boost at the trade deadline via the acquisition of two-time All-Star José Berríos, the Yankees are yet to meet up with Berrios.

With the return of George Springer to the outfield and Alec Manoah back in the rotation, things are looking pretty bright for the Jays going forward. Where the Jays may fail is with their not-so-good bullpen has really underperformed. Nevertheless, I predict the Jays will finish third in the East and fight Oakland for the second wild-card spot.

The Boston Red Sox: After the first few weeks of the season, I said they would fall apart when the Red Sox were playing so well. They haven’t but recently have not over-achieved like they did the first half of the season. The addition of Alex Cory, like him or not, has had a huge impact on the Red Sox in changing their culture. In addition, the Red Sox has going for them the return of their ace Chris Sale to the rotation; if he returns to form, it will be a big plus for the Sox.

Rafael Devers has been huge for the Red Sox. he has 27 home runs and 82 RBIs. Right behind him are juggernauts Xander Bogaerts and JT Martinez, with a combined 37 home runs and 133 RBIs. The problem for the Red Sox is that they don’t have a single starting pitcher with an ERA under 4, and during the second half so far, they have gotten little offense from the outfield. Also, in the second half, their bullpen has been less than stellar. Prediction: they will finish fourth in the East and will not make the playoffs.

The Tampa Bay Rays: It’s hard to change the picture for the Rays. They have the best put-together team managed by the best manager in the AL East. They went to the World Series last year and will make the postseason this season as well. The addition of Nelson Cruz at the trade deadline could be huge for the Rays as it adds a proven veteran to their relatively young lineup. The young lineup has four players with 20 or more home runs. They don’t have a single starter with a losing record, and Andrew Kittridge 8-1 has been huge for the Rays.

It’s hard to find weaknesses with the Rays. If they have any, it’s a lack of production from short and the loss of their pitching ace Tyler Glasnow that has been a Yankee killer. They also have some injuries to deal with. Luckily for the Rays, they don’t have an extremely challenging schedule ahead. I predict the Tampa Bay Rays will win the AL East by at least 2 games.

The New York Yankees: The Yankees, after a plodding start to the season, have been the best team in baseball for the last several weeks, advancing in the AL East. The Yankees have been winning despite having more injuries and Covid outbreaks (21) than any team in the East. They also did more to improve the team at the trade deadline than any other American League team, with 3 pitchers and contact hitting lefty Anthony Rizzo and power-hitting Joey Gallo.

That’s not to say the Yankees don’t have their problems; they do, and some big ones. Most significant is that the Yankees have been hit harder than other teams with Covid outbreaks that have put key pitchers and key hitters on the Covid list; this coming week, Yankee ace Gerrit Cole will finally be back with the team, followed by pitcher Jordan Montgomery. Also, in the coming week, Anthony Rizzo and catcher Gary Sanchez should rejoin the team. However, the biggest disappointment for the Yankees is that neither of last seasons’ batting average champ DJ LeMahieu and home run leader Luke Voit has yet to perform this season. To get to the postseason the Yankees will need improvement from them both.

Predictions: It’s hard to predict the New York Yankees because they have had so many injuries. With the returning players, and if the team can find a way to limit further infections, they have an excellent chance of finishing second in the AL East and will surely get a wild card berth. If they are fortunate and the Rays are not, they could still take the division.