Despite being held to one run in the deciding Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, the New York Yankees have a formidable offense. Let’s not overreact: they are one of the most explosive batting groups in the big leagues, and they boast top-notch talent almost from top to bottom in the lineup.
And, whenever he was on the field, Giancarlo Stanton was one of the main driving factors behind the Yankees’ offensive excellence. This was evident both in the regular season (.250/.387/.500, .379 wOBA, 143 wRC+) and, especially, in the playoffs (.308/.387/1.038, .542 wOBA, 254 wRC+.)
Stanton put the New York Yankees on his back come postseason time and, in the process, silenced some critics. In just seven games, he hit six home runs and had a .731 isolated power (ISO) mark.
He did it almost exclusively from the designated hitter position. In the last few years, the slugger has been rather injury-prone and the team has elected to protect him. This season, he lost several games due to a hamstring strain, and in the last couple of season, he has been affected by a lot of lower-body ailments.
The Yankees want to protect their slugger
“Given the injuries that we’ve experienced with him thus far, I think it would be a safe bet to focus with him at the DH level,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said according to NJ.com regarding the future position of the powerful slugger.
Stanton, when healthy, is capable of playing a passable left field. However, Cashman and the Yankees’ organization in general don’t want to take any more chances and want him to stay off the field, but in the lineup, as much as possible. The most logical path to achieve that is to make him an everyday designated hitter.
“I don’t think he’s not capable of playing the outfield,” Cashman said. “He’s very athletic and can clearly handle that position. The workload and maintaining his lower-body injuries I would think would be at risk. I would think that our best strategy would be to deploy him on an everyday basis in the DH role like we’ve been doing.”
The New York Yankees are coming off two poorly hit games that were equally poorly pitched. On Tuesday night, Deivi Garcia gave up one run and was replaced by J.A. Happ, who pitched poorly and blew the game. Last night the usually dependable Masahiro Tanaka didn’t have it and couldn’t locate his pitches; he gave up five runs in five innings. If the Yankees pitch and hit like that have in the last two games against the Tampa Bay Rays, they will be going back to Yankees Stadium to clean out their lockers and call it another failed season.
Tonight will be possibly a deciding game at Petco Park between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 4 of the ALDS. The game at 4:10 pm PDT (7:10 pm EDT) will be played with a setting sun in San Diego. Like last night the sun may cause some issues early in the game. I will be a near-perfect night for baseball with temperatures right about 70 degrees, with no chance of a shower. The game will be broadcast on TBS.
Tonight’s game will be as much a chess game between two managers with big decisions to be made as much as it will be a baseball game. The Tampa Bay Rays, out of starting pitchers, will start Ray’s reliever, Ryan Thompson vs. the Yankee’s Jordan Montgomery, who hasn’t pitched in nearly two weeks. Neither team is happy about their starters in the game, and both will be on a short leash in this huge game for both teams.
At the top of the first, Jordan Montgomery will take the Yankees’ mound, having not pitched at all in the postseason. Tremendous pressure will be on “Monty” not to screw up because if he does, the Yankees season may be over. Montgomery, on the regular season, was 2-3 with an elevated ERA of 5.11. Jordan gave up seven earned runs in his last to starts of the regular season.
The Tampa Bay Rays will send out reliever Ryan Thompson to start their half of the first inning. The Rays will treat this as an opener game, something they are very experienced with. Thompson is 1-2 with an ERA of 4.44. He hasn’t pitched more than two innings in any game this season. He pitched 2 clean innings in the game the Ray’s lost on Monday. This will be the first postseason start of his career.
Tampa Bay will come out tonight energized by their last two wins and ready to take the series from the Yankees. The Yankees have to come out with that same energy and conviction if they will have any chance of winning this game four. The Yankees will pull out all the stops; they will use premium reliever Zack Britton, who they haven’t taken advantage of in the first three games of the ALDS. Deivi Garcia, who only pitched one inning, may be brought in in relief. Don’t be surprised to see Aroldis Chapman in earlier than expected. The Yankees will have to use every trick in the baseball book to prevent elimination tonight.
In the Wild Card Series, the Yankees looked like the Murder’s row. They are going to have that same energy and offense exhibited in those games. They have the talent, they have the power; they have to go out there and do it.
For the Yankees lineup, Giancarlo Stanton has been carrying the load pretty much by himself; he had hit a single and a homer last night, and two homers the night before. Meanwhile, Yankee stars Aaron Judge, baseball’s batting champion DJ LeMahieu and home run leader Luke Voit have not contributed in any substantial way. They must find it and perform tonight to support the Yankee pitchers, as there is no tomorrow to work it out if the New York Yankees are to advance.
If the New York Yankees can win it tonight, they have a chance to win the ALDS when Yankees ace Gerrit Cole pitches on short rest on Friday night, probably against Blake Snell, who the Yankees have already bested.
Last night the New York Yankees played reminiscent of the regular season when the Yankees only won 2 of 10 teams. Now they have lost two games in a row of the five-game ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays. Masahiro Tanaka couldn’t locate his pitches, and the Rays made him pay. Last night the Yankees looked like a team uninspired and unable to hit Tampa Bay Ray’s pitching.
What is not understandable is how a team that hit 38 hits and 11 home runs in the first three games of the postseason could go entirely flat in the last two games with the ALDS on the line. The Yankees only have 12 hits in the last two games with three home runs, all by Giancarlo Stanton, who seems to be trying to carry the team on his back, as slugger Aaron Judge, batting champion DJ LeMahieu and MLB home run leader Luke Voit, just aren’t contributing.
Another question in last night’s game is why with the game on the line in the postseason, manager Aaron Judge would let starter Masahiro Tanaka get five earned runs before being taken out when on the previous night, the took out Deivi Garcia after giving up just one run. The Tampa Bay Rays are playing so well, and the Yankee bullpen can’t hold them down. Nothing the Yankees tried worked against the Rays, who look like they are on a mission.
One huge problem for the New York Yankees is in the name of Randy Arozarena who has hurt the Yankees big time in the last two games. He went 2 for 4 two nights ago and 3 for 4 last night. He has acted as a catalyst for the team. For the Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton has done the same thing but the rest of the team has not followed his lead.
At the top of the first inning last night, Masahiro Tanaka started by striking out the first batter he faced. He struck out the next, then gave up a long ball to Choi that amazingly was caught by a sun blinded Aaron Judge at the top of the wall in right field. Tampa Bay Ray’s Charlie Morton put down DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Judge, and Luke Voit in the bottom of the frame, setting the tone for the entire night.
At the top of the second, the Rays got a sac fly that drove in a run. At the bottom of the third inning, the Yankees got back in the game, evening it up at one, when Aaron Judge had a sac fly driving in Brett Gardner. But in the same inning, the Yankees missed their biggest opportunity of the game, leaving the bases loaded with Yankees.
At the top of the fourth inning, with two on the Ray’s, Kevin Kiermaier hit a three-run homer off Tanaka over the reach of Aaron Judge. It was obvious that Tanaka was not locating his pitches, but manager Boone left him in. At the top of the fifth inning, Tanaka faced Randy Arozarena, who promptly hit a homer off Tanaka into the left-field stands. Arozarena had already gotten two hits off Tanaka before the home run. Had Boone not let Tanaka face Arozarena, the game might not have gotten out of reach.
In the sixth inning, Boone replaced Tanaka with Chad Green; Green had one of his worst nights on the mound of the year, giving up three Rays runs. Luis Cessa came in and gave up another run. In the last three innings, Nick Nelson and Michael King pitched allowing only one hit between them, but it was too late; the damage had already been done in the Yankee’s 8-4 loss. Tanaka took the loss and Charlie Morton the win.
Giancarlo Stanton hit another home run last night, his sixth long ball in the postseason. He has driven in 13 of the Yankees runs and is hitting .368. In the last two Yankees losses, he has driving in six of the Yankees nine runs.
Tonight is do or die for the New York Yankees in the elimination game. The Yankees Jordan Montgomery will have to hold down the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Yankee lineup must perform as it had earlier in the postseason. With a lineup as talented and powerful as the Yankees lineup is, winning the next two games is certainly something they can do if they go out there and show the team they are. But they have to get the win tonight to give Yankee ace Gerrit Cole a chance to win it for them in the fifth game on Friday night.
The New York Yankees ended up losing on Tuesday 7-5 against the Tampa Bay Rays. The early-inning bad performances by Deivi Garcia and, especially, J.A. Happ, were too much to overcome when all was said and done.
However, that doesn’t take anything away from Giancarlo Stanton. With two home runs against formidable Rays’ starter Tyler Glasnow, the Yankees’ slugger made sure his team stayed in the game all by himself.
Unfortunately, some Yankees’ fans have memories of Stanton failing in the 2018 postseason and failing to stay healthy in 2019 and 2020. The first one represents an extremely small sample, and the second one is, as unbelievable as it may sound, not his fault.
He suffered all spring from a calf issue, and once the regular season started, he missed lots of games with a hamstring strain. Before the latter ailment, he was hitting well, and returned in time to finish with a .250/.387/.500 line with a .379 wOBA, a 143 wRC+ and four homers in 23 games.
The New York Yankees’ hottest slugger
But right now, in the playoffs, Stanton is a man on a mission. He wants to prove to the New York Yankees, his fellow players and the fanbase that he can carry the team in his back when he’s on.
In the 2020 postseason so far (four games) the Yankees’ slugger is hitting .333/.421/1.333 with five homers, six runs and 11 RBI. He has been a one-man wrecking crew. And hopefully, the best is yet to come.
Both of his homers last night were impressive, and proof that nobody in the major leagues can hit the ball harder than him when he’s right, not even Aaron Judge. His first dinger left the bat at 114 mph, and the second at 118 mph, traveling an astounding 458 feet.
Stanton is carrying the Yankees’ offense right now. Let’s hope the pitching corps can step up.
The New York Yankees had a disastrous night in an ugly game that the Yankees will want to put in the rearview mirror and look forward to winning a Game 3 to regain the ALDS lead in San Diego. Last night was a game filled with more questions than hits for the Yankees, from managerial pitching decisions to the Yankees striking out 18 times in nine innings, to lousy umpire calls. The Yankees also blew two starters in one game, when they are already short on proven starters. The Yankees committed one error in the 7-5 loss.
If the New York Yankees are going to keep from going a game behind in the series, they are going to have to turn it around tonight completely. They will have to have Tanaka go deep into the game to save the bullpen, which was overused last night. The Yankees will have to improve hitting and make the most of any home runs that are hit.
The only good that came out of last night’s game was that Giancarlo Stanton continued his tear, hitting two home runs on the night and driving in four of the Yankee’s five runs. One of his long balls was for 458′. In the postseason this year, Stanton has hit at least one home run in each of the games. But Stanton can’t carry the team on his back, although he seems to be trying to do it. They will need more production from the likes of Aaron Judge, DJ LeMahieu, who only has one hit between the two games, Luke Voit, who is hitless in the series, and Gary Sanchez who looks like a dear in the headlights at the plate. He was 0-4 last night.
Tonight at 7:10 pm EDT, the weather at Petco Park under the setting sun will be mostly clear and with temperatures in the low ’70s. The game will be nationally televised on TBS, with pre and post-game coverage on the YES network.
Tonight the home-field advantage at Petco will switch around, and the New York Yankee will have the fake home-field advantage. The Yankees will send out the postseason reliable Masahiro Tanaka to try for a win and put the Yankees back out in front in the ALDS. Tanaka was 3-3 with an ERA of 3.56. The Yankees won his last start, but Tanaka did not pitch well; he gave up six earned runs in only 4 innings in the Wild Card round against the Cleveland Indians. Hopefull for the Yankees, that game was an anomaly, as Tanaka, in his eight postseason starts for the Yankees, has never given up more than three runs in a game.
The New York Yankees will face off against the seasoned veteran Charlie Morton. Morton is in his second season with the Tampa Bay Rays after pitching successfully with the Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates. In his 13 years in the majors, he has appeared in 7 postseason games, going 4-2 with an ERA of 3.70. In the postseason, he last beat the Yankees in the Houston 2017 ALCS, when the Astros were proven, cheaters. This season he has gone 2-2 with an ERA of 4.74. Because the Rays took the Blue Jays Wild Card Series in just two games, Morton has not pitched in this year’s postseason. The Rays won his last start against the Phillies on 25th, although he gave up three earned runs in just five innings. He hasn’t pitched in 12 days.
It’s really crucial for the Yankees to come away with a win tonight and get a game ahead. A game four, which is a surety, will probably be started by Jordan Montgomery now that Garcia and Happ were used last night. The Yankees are really missing Luis Severino, Domingo German, and reliever Tommy Kahnle who are all out for the season, making the pitching a challenge. Should there be a gave five, Gerrit Cole will most likely take the mound on short rest. With Cole on the mound, the Yankees will have the advantage in the Series.
The New York Yankees entered Petco Park in San Diego last evening with their outlook looking encouraging. They just came off a big win in the ALDS last night, their whole lineup was alive and hitting, and their high paid star Giancarlo Stanton was as hot as he has been for the Yankees. Their new $324 million man on the mound Gerrit Cole had performed like the ace he is. So, what went wrong last night; everything.
Last night was a night with more questions than hits. The New York Yankees only got five hits while striking out 18 times. Yes, the Tampa Bay Rays starter Tyler Glasnow was good, but the Yankees missed opportunity after opportunity. No team in the history of baseball in the modern era has ever struck out 18 times in a nine-inning game. That just can’t happen in the postseason when in a short series.
Question number two is what was manager Aaron Boone thinking. Why have total faith in a highly praised pitching prospect Deivi Garcia, and then pull him after giving up just one run? Boone is notorious for leaving pitchers in too long, even after giving up five runs. Another question is, why bring in a starting pitcher to relieve him and blow two starters in one game when you short starters anyway? Maybe the bigger question is why didn’t Boone start their tried and true successful postseason starter Masahiro Tanaka in a Game 2, and put the ALDS further out of reach of the Rays?
Another question is why would MLB send out C.B. Bucknor to call balls and strikes in a crucial postseason game. Angel Hernandez and C.B. Bucknor are two of the worst ball and strike callers of all the MLB umpires? Both of these men are so bad they can affect the outcome of the game. I am not making excuses for the Yankees striking out, but several of those called strikes weren’t even close. At one point in the game, Brett Gardner nearly jumped out of the dugout at Bucknor. He was just as bad against both teams, but it more affected the Yankees.
The game started out with the 21-year-old Deivi Garcia on the mound, the youngest Yankee to ever start a postseason game. Garcia had earned the right; he pitched well in his six starts. With two outs in the first, Garcia gave up a homer to Randy Arozarena. At the bottom of the second inning, Giancarlo Stanton stepped to the plate and took Glasnow for a long ball into the right-field porch tying up the game at one apiece.
Then in a very puzzling move, Garcia didn’t’ come out to pitch the second inning. Boone sent out J.A. Happ, his third starter. Starters have a routine they go through; they are not used to being called in to relieve other starters. From the go, it was apparent that Happ didn’t have it; He gave up two runs in the second and two runs in the third inning, before pulling him two outs later. At the top of the fourth the Yankees with two on base, Giancarlo Stanton hit his second home run, a three-run blast the put the Yankee back in the game. Rays 5, Yankees 4.
From then on, the Yankees fought to gain the lead, but it just didn’t happen as the Yankees burned out their bullpen using six pitchers on the night, in a failed attempt to win a game 2. The Yankees lost 7-5. I don’t know if it was Aaron Boone, Kevin Cashman, or the analytics department, but the huge Gamble in strategy just plain failed. If the New York Yankees lose the ALDS to the Ray, critics will look back on the gamble and point to it as the loss factor. Tyler Glasnow struck out 10 and took the win. Happ suffered the loss. Pete Fairbanks got the save for the Rays.
The only really good takeaway from the game was Giancarlo Stanton, who seems to be trying to carry the team on his back. Yesterday I wrote an article on if Stanton could carry the team to a 28th World Championship. Last night it looked as, so that was the case. Stanton had two homers in the game, one for 458′. Stanton has had at least a homer in each of his four postseason games.
Tonight at Petco Park, Masahiro Tanaka will take the mound at 7:10 pm EDT for the Yankees. He will face the seasoned veteran Charlie Morton for the Rays. Tanaka will start the game tied in the ALDS with a blown-out bullpen to back him up. The Yankees will need Tanaka to go deep into the game if they are going to have any chance of winning tonight’s game. The Yankees must win this game; they can’t afford another ugly night they endured last night.
The New York Yankees have taken game one of the ALDS from the Tampa Bay Rays. Both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton had a big part in the win. Judge hit a homer and Stanton a Grand Slam, and the Rays are not happy about it. They admit that they were lucky taking 8 of 10 games from the Yankees when key players were injured and on the IL. Now they are faced with an entirely different team that they haven’t had to face all season.
Today on Twitter, a Ray’s Radio Broadcast was released, wherein the broadcaster suggested that maybe Judge and Stanton should be injured while making plays on the field. There is no question these two teams don’t like each other but suggest or hope that opposing players become injured so you can win is just sick.
How about the Rays’ radio broadcast wishing injury on Judge and Stanton? Fuck this guy pic.twitter.com/cgd7hbi4nS
Tonight at 8:10 pm EDT, the two teams will meet up again in San Diego in game two of the ALDS. New York Yankee prospect Deivi Garcia will be on the mound for the Yankees and Tyler Glasnow for the Tampa Bay Rays. The game will be broadcast on TBS.
For the New York Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton spent much of the 2020 season on the IL with a hamstring injury, when he came back into the lineup during a Blue Jays game on September 15th. On the 16th, Stanton went 4 for 4, including a home run and a double. He ended the season playing in only 24 games but hit 11 home runs. Now he has hit a home run in each of his last four games, including one in each of the postseason games. Last night he hit a Grand Slam helping the Yankees to a huge win in game one of the ALDS.
Giancarlo Stanton is hot right now and hitting the ball as he did in his 2017 MVP season. This all started when returning from the IL; he had better plate discipline and cut down on the strikeouts. He is presently batting .286 with seven RBI’s in the postseason games. If he keeps on playing as he is now, could Giancarlo Stanton have the bat that powers the New York Yankees to a 28th World Championship?
The Baseball superstar Giancarlo Stanton
Like many New York Yankees players, some we know and some we don’t know about their private lives. Stanton is no different, but here is what we do know. He is liked by many Yankees fans because he is a great player and disliked by many because he makes so much money, is frequently injured, and doesn’t always hit the ball.
His early life in California
But back to his early life. He was born to Michael Stanton and Jacinta Garay in Los Angeles, California, on November 8, 1989. He has an older brother and older sister. He was brought up in the Sunland-Tujunga area of Los Angels near the San Gabriel Mountain’s foothills.
In Stanton’s mind as a child, he didn’t care for his given name. Friends called him Carlo or Gene; his Mother called him Cruz (his middle name), although she wanted to name him Fidel, the Father objected. So Giancarlo decided he wanted to be called Mike from now on, and so it was until 2012 when he reinstated his preference for his real name Giancarlo. Stanton is of Irish African American descent, although his mother had Puerto Rican ancestry.
The future Yankee Giancarlo was a dominant player in just about every youth league sport he tried, including football. He continued playing sports after enrolling at Verdugo Hills High in Tujunga in 2003. He pitched and played the outfield for the varsity baseball squad. In 2005, as a sophomore, he hit a game-winning homer for the Dons in the city’s quarterfinals.
Unfortunately, Giancarlo’s grades were not measuring up to his stats. His parents, in the process of a divorce, switched him to a private school, Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, about 30 minutes away. Almost immediately, Giancarlo began coming into his own, both on and off the field. As he approached his final height of 6’6″ and packed on more muscle, few doubted he would make a living in sports. The only question was, which sport? He had accepted a scholarship to play baseball for Tulane and received offers from UCLA, UNLV, and USC to play football.
Stanton selected by the Miami Marlins
In 2007 when selected by the Miami Marlins in the second round of the draft, he was happy to receive a half-million signing bonus. He was again considering the Miami location, glad that he was not named Fidel. In 2008, Giancarlo spent the entire season with the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the Class-A South Atlantic League. Playing for manager Edwin Rodriguez, he was just 18 when the season started, but he torched enemy pitchers for 39 homers in 125 games. Giancarlo followed up his first campaign in pro ball with an outstanding 2009 season, as he moved steadily up the organizational ladder.
He spent 50 games with the Jupiter Hammerheads and hit .291 with 12 homers. Giancarlo started the 2010 season back in Jacksonville. That May, in a game against the Montgomery Biscuits, he hit a ball that cleared the scoreboard in left-centerfield later to be found to have gone 500′ from home plate. A month later, Giancarlo had surpassed 20 homers in just over 50 games. He got the call from the big club and was in the lineup at age 20 on June 8 against the Philadelphia Phillies with a $325 million contract.
In Stanton’s first major league game, he went 3 for 5 with two RBI’s. He continued to have success after success and award after award: two Silver Sluggers, two Hank Aarons, two home run Leaders, four All-stars, until he reached the MVP of the National League in 2017.
Giancarlo Stanton becomes a New York Yankee.
After the 2017 season, the Marlins dumped salary, Giancarlo Stanton was traded to the New York Yankees after a 59 home run season. The trade was for cash considerations, and the Marlins got Starlin Castro and minor leaguers. In 2018 he made his New York Yankees debut hitting two homers in his first game. He ended up the year with 38 homers and 100 RBI’s. Although he carried the team during Judge’s injuries and others, many fans criticized him for his team-leading 211 strikeouts.
On April 1, 2019, in a cruel April fool’s joke, placed him on the 10 days IL with a bicep strain. He returned to the lineup on June 20 to go back on the IL seven days later with a knee injury that limited him to just nine days on the playing field last season. With the Yankees unrelenting injuries last year and the departure to the IL of Hicks, Tauchman, and Encarnacion, the Yankees looked forward to returning to the outfield. Manager Aaron Boone is hoping Giancarlo can have a big impact on the postseason. He came back to play in nine games in September, but then went back on the IL.
Stanton came back from a knee ailment in time to play in the ALDS against the Minnesota Twins. He wasn’t much help as in three games, he hit .167 with no home runs and only 1 RBI. Stanton suffered a right quad injury during Game 1 of the ALCS against the Astros while running out a single in the second inning. He hit a home run in the sixth during the Yankees’ 7–0 win before the club realized after the game he was injured.
During spring training, Stanton played in only one game before going on the IL with a calf strain. He was expected to miss the start of the regular season, but when the start of the season was held back, the coronavirus Stanton was given the time to heal. After an August 8th game at Tropicana Field, he came down with a hamstring injury, keeping him away from the field until September 15th. Now that he’s back, he’s hot and eager to get a World Series ring and a win for the Yankees.
Giancarlo’s personals:
As I have said before, Stanton’s private life is pretty private he is not married but has been attached to several beautiful women over the years. He supposedly has a main squeeze right now, but it is doubtfully not the only one based on the previous history. On the lighter side, women know and appreciate Stanton as a sex symbol. In 2013 he posed gold clad and nude for ESPN’s body issue, something Bryce Harper of the then Nationals, Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots, among others, have done as well. Other than that, there are no scandals attached to his name.
Last year in September, he was featured as the love interest in singing star Lexy Panterra’s “Deep End” video. However, the star says they are just good friends. As if for now, the media beam is pondering the strong rumors of him dating a brunette beauty, Terez Owens. Owens is a model and sports blogger.
EmpireSportsMedia’s Columnist William Parlee is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. Follow me on Twitter @parleewilliam
The New York Yankees have had a very successful start to the 2020 postseason. They swept the Wild Card round against the Cleveland Indians and now have won the first game of the ALDS in San Diego against the East winning Tampa Bay Rays. The Tampa Bay Rays played a very different Yankee team than they did during the regular season. The New York Yankees, for the most part, limped through the season riddled with injuries, it affected their pitching and their lineup. Now the Yankees are healthy, and the savages are back, and in it to win it.
Last night the Yankees, showed the Tampa Bay Rays what they would be up against in this 2020 ALDS. Gerrit Cole struggled a bit, giving up three earned runs in six innings, but keeping the Yankees in the game. The Yankees took the lead in the fifth inning and didn’t relinquish it. The Yankee bullpen that has been a bit spotty missing Tommy Kahnle came through last night. Chad Green and Zack Britton pitched two scoreless innings, holding down the Rays lineup. The Yankees up 9-3 in the ninth, Luis Cessa came on and didn’t allow a hit in the bottom of the ninth.
The big story from last night was the New York Yankee home runs. They have had 11 long balls in the postseason so far. Last night Kyle Higashioka started the home run fest, Clint Frazier followed, and so did Aaron judge. In the ninth inning, Giancarlo Stanton topped it off with the fourth homer of the night, a Grand Slam into the San Diego night. The Yankees hope their powerful hitting will continue and get them another win tonight.
It should be a nice night for baseball at Petco Park in San Diego when the Yankees meet up with the Tampa Bay Rays at 8:10 this evening. The game-time temperature will be in the mid-’70s, and the game will be played under partly cloudy skies with only a slight chance of a passing shower. The game will be televised nationally on TBS, with pre and post-season coverage on the YES Network.
The Tampa Bay Rays will send Tyler Glasnow to the mound to face the Yankee’s savages. The Yankees have faced Glasnow three times in the regular season, winning only one of his starts. In that start, he lasted only two and two-thirds innings giving up five hits, and four earned runs. That was back in early August when the Yankees, for the most part, were still healthy. The Yankees lost his last two starts against him. Glasnow was 5-1 on the season with a slightly elevated ERA of 4.08. He totally dominated in his one postseason start against the Blue Jays, in a game the Rays won 8-2. Glasnow can be a strikeout machine, so the Yankees will have to be patient at the plate. Glasnow has 8 or more strikeouts in nine of his last twelve starts.
In a somewhat surprising move, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone will bypass the usual start by Masahiro Tanaka and send out Deivi Garcia to start Game 2. Garcia is the Yankees number one pitching prospect that made his Major League debut on August 30th. Garcia has started six games so far; the Yankees have won four of them. Garcia is 3-2 with an ERA of 4.98, elevated by one bad start against the Boston Red Sox. Garcia has confidence and demeanor on the mound of a much older veteran. He can throw up to 100 pitches in a game. At 21 years old, he will be the youngest Yankee pitcher to take the mound in a postseason game.
The New York Yankees have had 38 hits resulting in 31 runs in their first three postseason games. 11 of those hits were home runs. The Yankees tonight will hope to continue to show what their lineup can do when healthy and get the two-game lead in the five-game ALDS series.
For the New York Yankees, the big bats were out, and the savages ravaged the Tampa Bay Rays late in the game to take game one of the 2020 five-game ALDS. What was supposed to be a pitching duel that really didn’t materialize. Yankee ace Gerrit Cole pitched adequately but did not dominate in his six innings of work. The Tampa Bay Ray’s ace Blake Snell threw a lot of pitches and only lasted five innings giving up four runs and only striking out four Yankees.
After Blake Snell left the game, Ryan Thompson and Oliver Drake pitched two scoreless innings. But in the ninth inning with the Yankees ahead in the game by one run. Keven Cash,, the Tampa manager, made an extraordinary move. He brought in John Curtiss pitch the ninth inning. Curtiss was making his major league pitching debut in the postseason. The New York Yankees spoiled his debut, big time by hammering for five runs and the Yankee 9-3 win. Gerrit Cole got the win, and Blake Snell took the loss for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The game started out with Snell throwing 10 pitches to DJ LeMahieu, who finally got a hit. LeMahieu ended up going 2 for 5 on the night. Aaron Hicks had along sac fly, driving in LeMahieu, and Snell’s no runs in the first inning streak was over. At the bottom of the frame, Cole took the mound and gave up a homer to Randy Arozarena, and the game was tied at one until the third inning. Leading off the third, Clint Frazier hit up Snell for a long ball way up in the left-field stands of Petco Park. The lead wouldn’t last as Yankee killer Ji-Man Choi homered in the bottom of the frame, and it was Tampa Bay 3 and the Yankees 2.
That Tampa Bay Rays lead wouldn’t last either as the New York Yankees knocked Blake Snell out of the game in the top of the fifth inning. Cole’s battery mate catcher Kyle Higashioka led off the with a giant homer to left field. Slugger Aaron Judge followed with a blast the also made the left-field stands, retaking the Yankee lead at 4-3. The next three innings remained scoreless for both teams.
At the top of the ninth, the New York Yankees made it a no-doubter. With Higashioka on base, Aaron Hicks singled, driving in Higgy. With the bases now loaded, Giancarlo Stanton Grand Slammed off Curtiss blowing the game open for the Yankees’ final score of 9-3. Luis Cessa came in at the bottom of the night and closed it out for the Yankees, and they took the first game of the ALDS in San Diego.
When the Yankees hit home runs, they win games, and last night they hit four long balls; Higashioka, Judge, Frazier, and Giancarlo Stanton all contributed to that home run total. Gerrit Cole went six innings striking out eight Rays; it was the first time a starter had back to back 8 strike out games in the postseason. The Bronx Bombers also, became the first team in American League history to hit a grand slam in back-to-back playoff games. Gio Urshela connected in Game 2 of the first-round sweep against Cleveland and Giancarlo Stanton did it last night.
It was a big night for the Yankees. Tonight in somewhat a surprise move Yankee manager Aaron Boone will send out rookie Deivi Garcia to pitch Game 2 of the ALDS, most would have thought Masahiro Tanaka would pitch in the second game, but Boone is going with Garcia who has earned Boone’s support. The Tampa Bay Rays saw last night that the are not playing against the same team the dominated in the regular season. Game two will be at 8:10 pm on TBS.
