Sometimes it’s the ones you think you have in the bag, that get away. This one got away in a big way. The Yanks seemed to be breezing, with a 4-0 lead and Masahiro Tanaka on the mound. The game seemed hours’ old. But then you looked at the scoreboard and it was only the 5th inning. A 2-run homerun to Kole Calhoun in the 5th was a ‘mistake’ by Tanaka; no biggie. Another 2-run homerun by 2nd baseman Tommy La Stella two batters later and it was a tie game.
It was later noted on Twitter by @ColeyHarvey that “Masahiro Tanaka threw 89 pitches tonight … He only induced one swing and miss. That’s the lowest number of whiffs he’s had in a game his entire 143-game career (regular season/postseason). The Angels (who entered with the lowest whiff percentage in MLB) swung at 31 pitches.”
Back to square one but the Angels had the momentum and the Yanks had to put their hitting shoes back on. That never happened. And unlike the previous game where the Yanks got 3 scintillating innings of middle relief from Jonathan Loaisiga, in this one the Yankee ballpen was horrible.
Holder Couldn’t Hold ‘Em
Tanaka left with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 out in the 6th — after a passed ball by Gary Sanchez allowed them to move up — Jonathan Holder came in and allowed a hit to shortstop David Fletcher to put the Angels on top 6-4.
The Ballpen Blew Up
In the 7th, Stephen Tarpley came in and walked the first two batters — Calhoun and Trout — then gave way to Joe Harvey who got lit up — allowing a single and two walks sandwiching an error by Gio Urshela — and with 2 out, bases loaded, it was 8-4 Angels — on a 3-2 pitch Fletcher hit a fly to right that was out of reach of Mike Tauchman and got past him for a bases clearing triple — 11-4 Angels.
Some Signs of a Late Comeback
That last triple would prove the dagger — as the Yanks loaded the bases in the 8th on Cody Allen — who walked the first two and allowed a single to DJ LeMahieu. The Yanks got a run in on a Brett Gardner bases-loaded walk, and got Gary Sanchez to the plate in an 11-5 game. Sanchez took some big rips, fouled one off, then hit an easy fly to left for the final out.
And that was Ballgame.
2nd Guessing Aaron Boone
Tommy Kahnle, who has been pitching great, came in for a perfect 9th causing Yankee fans on Twitter to ask why he hadn’t been brought in earlier when Tanaka was in trouble in the 6th.
Wade = Speed & Defense
Tyler Wade played left field and went 1-3 to raise his avg to .250. In the 3rd he just beat out a grounder to 2nd for an infield single — then stole 2nd, stole 3rd, and scored on a DJ LeMahieu single.
Reach. Steal. Steal. Score. pic.twitter.com/AW3JaHh5NT
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 26, 2019
Urshela at 3rd Base
Gio Urshela hit his first homerun as a Yankee. That plus his stellar defense and .270 avg had Yankee twitter saying he’d be our 3rd baseman even when Miguel Andujar got back and who needed Manny Machado for that matter.
First for Ursh. pic.twitter.com/hpOSALuh9b
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 26, 2019
John Sterling’s call: “Gio Urshela, the most happy fella”
John Sterling's home run call for Gio Urshela is the ABSOLUTE BEST! pic.twitter.com/1AxOvEJRu4
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 26, 2019
Catcher Defense
Angels catcher Jonathan Lucroy continued to help the Yankees out early with a passed ball in the 4th. Gary Sanchez threw out Mike Trout trying to steal 2nd but had key passed balls in the 6th and the 7th.
Etcetera
Luke Voit was 3 for 5 and is now batting .255. LeMahieu got 2 hits.Andrelton Simmons continued to be red hot — he was DH in this game and went 2-4. After the game it was announced that Clint Frazier had been placed on the IL with a partial tear in his ankle — Yanks said it looked like he’ll be out 10 to 14 days.
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