It was a Happ-y Day for the Yankees. Get it? A J.A. Happ -y Day. Happ pitched 7 shutout innings — this 3rd consecutive good start — and the Yankees CRUISED with a 6-0 lead into the 9th inning.
And then Luis Cessa, after having pitched a scoreless 8th, couldn’t get the final out — getting lit up for 4 runs — including a 3-run homer to Yangervis Solarte and a solo shot to Erik Kratz, before Aroldis Chapman had to come in and get the final out (a strikeout of Pablo Sandoval).
So it was as easy as a 6-4 win could possibly be.
Small Ball and a Bazooka
On the offensive side — DJ LeMahieu (1-3, 2 walks, batting .306), Luke Voit, and Gio Urshela (3 hits) continued to drive the Yankee ‘replacement’ offense, and Gary Sanchez asserted himself back into the lineup hitting a Grand Slam off Giants’ starter Derek Holland in the 5th to give the Yanks that 6-0 lead.
The Slámchez. pic.twitter.com/3hhIaD74pp
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 27, 2019
Just before the slam, Voit got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded — the pitch barely grazing his uniform — to force in a run and give him an RBI and extended his consecutive on-base streak to 38 games.
The Yankees played small ball to get their first run — Cameron Maybin walked to lead off the 3rd, and with 1 out, J.A. Happ bunted him to second, where he was in scoring position with 2 out — and DJ LeMahieu came thru with a single for a 1-0 Yankee lead. Maybin overall got a hit, 2 walks, and scored that run.
The Defense
In the field — Gio Urshela and DJ LeMahieu continued to make phenomenal plays. As John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman both said on the radio, when all the injured guys get back, there is no way DJ LeMahieu is going to sit — he HAS TO play.
DJ turns the tables. pic.twitter.com/CXFEhYopj2
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 27, 2019
Nothing gets by Gio Urshela! A web gem! #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/7T6F5P116B
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 27, 2019
Even Luke Voit got into the conversation on Defense.
.@29alltime: Luke Voit, he’s more than a hitter, folks. #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/2qvO3KKzHc
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 27, 2019
The Prospects
Thairo Estrada got a hit and Waldman and Sterling were raving about him as well, saying he was a ballplayers ballplayer and in Spring training people’s eyes opened up to him — they placed him on the same level as Yankee top prospect Estevan Florial — confusing because MLB pipeline lists Estrada as the Yankees 19th best prospect coming into this season.
Gleyber Torres (remember him) got a hit and is batting .255. In an era of low batting averages due to the lively baseball (lots of strikeouts by pitchers) and computer-aided shifts — that is a decent batting average but Yankee fans were expecting a .300+ batting average from Torres. We’ll see as the season progresses.
The Yankee Killers & The Former Yankees
The San Francisco lineup gives you a sense of familiarity and misplaced Deja Vu as it contains former Yankee killers Kevin Pillar and Evan Longoria — they went hitless — and former Yankees Solarte (2 hits and the 3-run homer in the 9th) and Tyler Austin. Good to see Austin getting regular playing time.
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