Yanks Eviscerate Cleveland in Game 1; NY 12 Clev 3 — 4 Reasons How

September 30, 2020 paperbacklou 2020 0

What a great night for a baseball game!

With the 1st of the important Presidential debates on tap for 9 pm (being held — in Cleveland), the Yankees took the field against the Indians — in Cleveland — at 7 pm. Yankee fans wishing to watch the debate and the Yankee game were in luck — by 9 pm the Yanks were up 5-2 and as the debate started the Yanks made it 7-2 in the 5th.

Here are the reasons how the Yanks won this game:

1. Yank Offense Ripped Bieber

The Yankees crushed ‘triple-crown’ pitching winner Shane Bieber, who led the American League in wins, ERA, and strikeouts, going 8-1 1.63.

They started off quick: a leadoff single by DJ LeMahieu and a Home Run by Aaron Judge and just like that it was 2-0 NY in the top of the 1st after two batters.

In the last game of the season on Sunday, Aaron Judge took 4 at bats and went 0-2 with 2 walks, dropping his batting average just under .260 to .257; manager Aaron Boone seemed to feel getting Judge the full 4 at bats was more important than nursing his batting average. Every little bit counts and if there’s any truth to that it was worth it.

Bieber still looked tough when in the 3rd inning, after he struck out LeMahieu and popped up Judge on one pitch — Aaron Hicks did his best impersonation of Bernie Williams in working a walk. Luke Voit ripped an RBI double to left center making it 3-0.

Cleveland got a run off Gerrit Cole in the 3rd on an RBI double just fair down the 1st base line by 3rd baseman Jose Ramirez — but the Yanks continued to get to Bieber: in the top of the 4th Gleyber Torres walked and Brett Gardner doubled in a run to make it 4-1. Kyle Higashioka put the ball in play for a single to deep shortstop and LeMahieu got a seeing-eye basehit thru the middle and it was 5-1.

Leftfielder Josh Naylor hit a homer in the bottom of the 4th to make it 5-2 NY, but minutes after the Presidential Debate started at 9 pm, Gio Urshela singled and Shane Bieber threw his 105th pitch and Gleyber Torres hit a HIGH FLY BALL to left center that went over the wall for a home run and a 7-2 Yankee lead.

2. Gerrit Cole Pitched Like an Ace

Cole allowed the RBI double to Ramirez in the 3rd to make it 3-1, and the homer to Naylor in the 4th to make it 5-2 — but otherwise was splendid — providing the dominant ace start the Yanks were hoping for.

Cole pitched 7 innings, allowing 6 hits, 2 runs, and struck out 13.

Luis Cessa pitched the final 2 innings with the Yanks enjoying the big lead.

3. The Right Decision — Gardner Played Over Frazier

There was some Yankee controversy before the game that Brett Gardner got the start in left over Clint Frazier.

There were two reasons for this:

1) Despite Gardner having a miserable season batting average-wise, and Frazier being so good all year — Gardner has been hotter than Frazier in the last 2 weeks of the season. As Yankee fan @BigBabyDavid pointed out on Twitter:

  • Brett Gardner last 42 PA: .394/.524/.667 (225 wRC+)
  • Clint Frazier last 39 PA: .156/.308/.250 (67 wRC+)

2) Gardner is a left-handed batter; Frazier is a right-handed batter; Bieber is a righty pitcher. Gardner (with switch-hitter Hicks) helped break up the Yankees heavily right-handed lineup.

The decision was a great one, as Gardner went 3-5 with 3 RBI’s and 2 Runs scored — including the Huge RBI double in the 4th to make it 4-1, and the home run in the 7th to make it 11-2.

4. Yankee Offense Continued to Pour It On

Yankee fans who watched the debate and checked their cell phone for the score of the game were happy each time they looked down. 4 runs in the 7th made it 11-2 NY capped by a 2-run homer by Brett Gardner.

Giancarlo Stanton capped off the scoring with a wicked home run in the 9th to make it 12-2.

Gleyber Torres ended up 4-4 on the day with a walk, 3 RBI’s and 3 runs scored.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=401246333

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*