Mike Ford was a pitcher and a hitter at Princeton. He was 6-0 with a 0.98 ERA in nine starts for Princeton in 2013, according to Bryan Hoch. He didn’t look like that type of pitcher when he took to the mound in the 8th inning. He looked like a position player trying to pitch for the first time in professional ball. Performing a lark. He got the first guy out, but then double, single, single, homer, homer, single before he got the last two guys out. He settled down — and pitched a scoreless 9th — throwing off-speed pitches that had the Indians off stride. He even struck out his last batter, catcher Roberto Perez who had been 3 for 4 against the other Yankee pitchers.
Silver Lining Play: pic.twitter.com/5n0fivbj3l
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 16, 2019
After the game, Ford had this to say:
Mike Ford on his MLB pitching debut.#YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/RPc6ccecDS
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 16, 2019
Earlier in the game, Chad Green ‘opened’, followed by Jonathan Loaisiga, and then the Yanks gave Chance Adams a chance. The problem with the ‘opener’ strategy is if you reach for a reliever who is having a bad night – or 2 or 3 relievers having bad nights. And if your opener has a bad night.
The Yanks did get an exceptional performance from Nestor Cortes Jr. who pitched 1/3 of an inning shutout ball.
The Offense
And on the offensive side, there were many silver linings: Gary Sanchez hit a homer, so he remains hot, which is Great. Gleyber Torres hit a homer. Didi Gregorius went 3 for 3.
Most impressively, DJ LeMahieu and Gio Urshela both got 2 hits – LeMahieu is batting .338 to lead the American League, and Urshela is battin .337. Urshela doesn’t qualify but is close to qualifying – a player needs (3.1 x # of games his team has played) plate appearances – after this game Gio has 365 but needs (3.1 x 123 =) 381. If he gets 5 plate appearances per game he should qualify for the batting lead in 9 games.
Aaron Judge continued to look lost at the plate – 0 for 5 with 4 K’s – his second game in a row like that.
Etcetera
The goal of this article was not to mention the final score of this game. Because what does the final score mean anyway? The Yankees lost; suffice to say that. But it was one where you wished J.A. Happ was pitching. You can peak at the boxscore if it means so much to you.
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