Walkoff Win from the Darkest Depths — May 7, 2019: NY 5 Seattle 4

This was a win pulled out from the Darkest Depths of Mordor. After the rain delay, on a #TanakaTuesday night at the Stadium, the Yanks were down 4-1 in the 8th; then down 4-2 in the top of the 9th but with Seattle threatening to put it away with runners on 1st & 3rd, 1 out and Joe Harvey on the mound; they got out of it but still went into the bottom of the 9th down 4-2.

Choose the Form of Your Destructor

The Yankees were to choose their Destructor — one expected Gollum or the evil one — an ace reliever of some sort — but someone on Yankee Twitter didn’t empty their head and must have thought of journeyman Traveler and former Yankee Anthony Swarzak.

“I couldn’t help it. It just popped in there. I tried to think of the most harmless pitcher. Someone I loved from my childhood. Someone who could never ever possibly destroy us”.

Swarzak got Clint Frazier to fly out for 1 out. All gloom on the rainy night; the darkest depths. What fate this? Anthony Swarzak picked to be their Destructor?

But then a single by Gleyber Torres gave the Yankees hope. Up stepped Gio Urshela.

Magic Filled the Air. Tie Game and Yankee Twitter went ballistic; it was 10:30pm at night (game started at 6:35pm). And it didn’t end there — Cameron Maybin singled; exit Swarzak stage left. Enter Seattle reliever Roenis Elias.

“Seattle is probably wishing they had Edwin Diaz back”, said John Snyder.

But Gollum (or the evil one?) is pitching for the Mets now.

Maybin took a big lead and got credit for a steal of second on a pitch in the dirt. Brett Gardner struck out and with 2 out up stepped DJ LeMahieu.

There was hesitation as the Mariners asked for a challenge play — but the replay showed Maybin just beat the throw by a hair and was safe. Yankees Win! The Yankees WIN!

Later @DYYDJ2 posted this amazing video:

League-Leading Hitters

Ushela went 2 for 4 in the game, is batting .360 (doesn’t qualify for league leaders yet), and hitting the ball with authority. Said Aaron Boone after the game: “I saw that in the Spring that Gio was able to drive the ball to center and the opposite field w authority… He’s getting his A swing off a lot; that’s the goal as a hitter to be on time and get your A swing off.”

LeMahieu is batting .330 — now 5th in the American League — and almost all Yankee fans know how to spell his name now, although some still tweet DJLM.

Tanaka Tuesday

Masahiro Tanaka always seems to be pitching on a Tuesday. “Tanaka Tuesday” or #TanakaTuesday. Every time you turn around, it’s a Tuesday, and Tanaka is pitching. This was a Tuesday, and so…. on the mound for the Yankees to start the game was Tanaka. He persevered through 6 innings, allowing 2 runs. His splitter was there and then it wasn’t; but mostly it was there.

The Rain came in the 6th so everyone settled down for an hour and a half with the Yankees down 2-1.

Defensive Lapses

When the game resumed, the defense did not help Yankee relievers out. It was wet out so there’s that. Gio Urshela made a rare error at 3rd, which led to 2 unearned runs off Tommy Kahnle in the 8th and had Yankee twitter asking if he had borrowed Miguel Andujar‘s glove. Kahnle did allow 3 hits in the inning; the first game he has not pitched well all season.

And it was not a good night for Clint Frazier in right — as he and Brett Gardner got mixed up on who called for a ball (nobody did) to allow a fly ball to drop, and then later Frazier completely missed an easy fly ball in the 7th that popped out of his glove.

Luke Voit, Gary Sanchez, and Andujar went 0-12 — the #2 thru #4 hitters in the lineup. All the damage was done by the backend of the lineup and leadoff batter LeMahieu.

The Boxscore

http://www.espn.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=401075266

 

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