When J.A. Happ is on his game, he is fun to watch. He mixes his fastball and off speed pitches like a master, and mows down lineups with ease. He scintillates. He’s been on his game the last 6 starts including this one where he cruised through the Boston lineup for 8 shutout, 4-hit innings.
The Yankee offense produced 8 runs and the Yanks romped to their 10th straight win, to go 31-21 and remain 3.5 behind 1st place Tampa with 8 games to play in the season.
The Yankee Offense
Clint Frazier led the Yankee offense again with a 3 for 4 performance, including an RBI single in the 1st to make it 2-0 NY, and a 2-run homer in the 5th to make it 7-0 NY. Besides Frazier’s homer, the Yanks picked up chippie runs throughout the game on RBI singles or runs scoring due to sac fly’s, or groundout fielder choices. They scored 2 in the 1st, 2 in the 4th, and 3 in the 5th to make it 7-0.
Clint with a 3-hit night at the dish: pic.twitter.com/wHSWCMVG6n
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 20, 2020
Happ for the Shutout
You realized by the 4th inning when the Yanks took the 4-0 lead, that this game was going to be a win with the way Happ was dominating. When they made it 7-0 in the 5th it was a matter of sitting back and watching Happ’s mastery, seeing if he could get a complete-game shutout.
J.A. Rules. pic.twitter.com/ss5B1KL3eq
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 20, 2020
He ran into a bit of trouble in the 8th, with runners on 1st and 3rd, nobody out, but struck out rightfielder Cesar Puello and 2nd baseman Jonathan Arauz, then got Rafael Devers to ground out to 1st.
With Happ at 113 pitches, it was Nick Nelson for an uneventful 9th.
Happ: Recent Success Has Been About the Mental Aspect
When asked why he’s been so good, Happ said he “had life on the fastball, and the changeup has come around for me lately, it’s been a big pitch.” The difference between the early season and the last 6 starts, Happ said, has been “Focusing on the next pitch, realizing that you can’t do anything about the previous pitch, and just trying to stay in the moment a bit better, and get back into my zone.”
Etcetera
- DJ LeMahieu got 2 hits to raise his average slightly to .368, to continue to lead the American League. Tim Anderson of the White Sox is at .366.
- Luke Voit and Brett Gardner got 2 hits each.
- Aaron Judge 0-3 but with 2 walks.
- Kyle HIgashioka spelled Gary Sanchez, and Higgy got a hit and caught Happ well.
- Gio Urshela with a 1-3, 2 RBI performance.
It was a very cool September night — with temperatures in the 50’s. During the game, Clint Frazier tweeted that “can’t wear my mock turtleneck tonight because gardy took it from my locker and now he’s going to wear it. he just wanted to let me know who the man was around here …..”
can't wear my mock turtleneck tonight because gardy took it from my locker and now he's going to wear it. he just wanted to let me know who the man was around here ….. 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/ZV6azhl73G
— Clint Frazier (@clintfrazier) September 19, 2020
After the game, Gardner explained:
It is sweater weather season…#YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/8dtuVaD4gc
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) September 20, 2020
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