It was a tough loss. The reasons why:
1. Yanks Done In by Toronto Ace — Ryu
The Yanks were mostly done in by Hyun Jin Ryu, the former Dodger ace lefty who pitched 7 innings of 5-hit, shutout baseball. This was a turnaround for Ryu — who allowed 5 runs to the Yanks in 5 innings in a game last week. Ryu led the National League in ERA last year, going 14-5 2.32. The 33-yr-old 6’3 lefty signed a 4-yr, $20-million/yr deal with Toronto in the off season. Ryu finishes this year 5-2 2.69.
2. Monty Pitched Well; Ottavino Didn’t
Jordan Montgomery pitched well — into the 6th inning with 2 runs allowed. He mixed his fastball and curve to strikeout 9 batters — a very good start. Montgomery allowed a 1-out single in the 6th and was gone at 88 pitches, replaced by Adam Ottavino. Monty left with 5.1 innings, 6 hits, 9 strikeouts and the 2 runs allowed with the runner at 1st his responsibility. But Ottavino was not on his game — allowing a single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. getting a strikeout for the second out, and then allowing a bases-clearing 2-RBI double to catcher Alejandro Kirk, and it was 4-0 Toronto. Ottavino allowed another single before striking out the final batter to get out of the inning.
3. Strikeout in Middle of Lineup
This really wasn’t a reason for the loss — but a worry going into the post season. Against the brilliant pitching of Ryu, the Yankees didn’t exactly have a lot of runners on base during the game — but there was some frustration on Yankee Twitter when in the 6th they looked to be finally getting to Ryu, after Luke Voit led off with a single and Aaron Hicks followed with a single. Unfortunately the rally was snuffed by Giancarlo Stanton striking out, followed by a flyout by Gleyber Torres and groundout by Gio Urshela. Not Stanton’s fault but he got some heat on Twitter for being a big whiff in the middle of the lineup. The worry is that with Stanton back the Yanks will see more strikeouts in key situations.
4. Sanchez Missed By ‘This Much’
The Yankees rallied in the 8th — with 1 out, Aaron Hicks walked, Giancarlo Stanton walked, Gleyber Torres grounded out, but Gio Urshela singled to score a run. Clint Frazier walked to load the bases with 2 out.
GIO puts the Yankees on the board!#YANKSonYES LIVE https://t.co/MyYiU81DYJ pic.twitter.com/8BbYRJxNgE
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) September 25, 2020
Manager Aaron Boone pinch hit Kyle Higashioka with Gary Sanchez, and Sanchez rocked a shot to the deepest part of the ballpark — caught at the left centerfield wall — missing a grand slam by ‘this much’.
Gary Sanchez teases a grand slam… #Yankees #NYYForNY pic.twitter.com/iZdBObEpF9
— Justin Groc (@jgroc) September 25, 2020
Some Good News
Beside Montgomery pitching well, Chad Green pitched a shutout inning and Aroldis Chapman threw SMOKE in the 8th — a shutout inning striking out 2 on 10 pitches (9 of them strikes).
DJ LeMahieu went 1-5 and is at .355; Tim Anderson went 0-4 and is at .338.
Luke Voit continues to lead the AL in homers with 21; Jose Abreu has 19.
Gio Urshela continues to flash leather at 3rd, helping Montgomery out in the 4th with a terrific snare of a line drive.
Jumpin' Gio ☝️ pic.twitter.com/DtsDkcw6kl
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 24, 2020
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