Yanks Lose 7th Straight; Blow Doubleheader to Mets: 6-4 and 4-3 — Aug 28, 2020

August 29, 2020 paperbacklou 2020 0

It is difficult to say which was the worse blown loss to the Mets: the 1st game where the Yanks wasted a 4-0 lead and excellent start from Jordan Montgomery, or the 2nd game, where the Yanks blew a 3-1 lead and brought in a rusty Aroldis Chapman with a 3-2 lead in the 7th (and last inning in doubleheaders during Coronavirus).

In just over a week, the Yankees have plummeted from 1st place — up by 2.5 games with a 16-5 record to now 4 games behind Tampa — with 7 straight loses. Through the streak they’ve become uncannily consistent in blowing leads — even big leads — late.

BOOM Goes the Nightcap

In this doubleheader, the Yanks blew the nightcap when manager Aaron Boone sent in a very rusty Chapman — who had only pitched once previously this year, 10 days ago — and he immediately walked the first batter, who stole second, then BOOM came the walk-off homer by Amed Rosario for the 4-3 loss.

It seemed like another case of a major league manager over-managing — as soon as Chapman came into the 3-2 game you knew the Yanks would lose — and we tweeted this fact — as he has a history of being wild and ineffective when he hasn’t pitched in a while; he needs several games to find his groove, and it’s best to bring him into a game or two with multi-run leads or a deficit to get him in groove before throwing him into a 1-run, must-win game.

Luis Cessa had just pitched a good inning — a shutout 8th (as John Sterling acknowledged on the radio) — why not leave him in? Jonathan Holder pitched a shutout inning in the 1st game and seems to be getting in groove after a horrid stretch — he was an option. It wasn’t like Chapman has been in normal gear as the ace reliever he hasn’t been used almost the whole year.

After the game, manager Aaron Boone said “get the ball to Chappy there, you feel good about that”.

Blown Chances to Score More Runs Earlier

The Yanks had also blown an opportunity to score more runs earlier in the game, which is also consistent with the Yanks’ play during the streak. In the 3rd, the Yanks had bases loaded, 1 out, and plated two runs when Aaron Hicks singled in a run and Gary Sanchez walked to force in a run. “Hicks and Gary going back-to-back with quality plate appearances brings joy to me face,” said Dillard Barnhart.

But then Mike Tauchman hit an inning-ending double play grounder to 2nd.

“This is perfectly set up for the Yankees to blow another game in the 6th inning,” said Pete on Twitter, summarizing the overall feelings of Yankee Twitter.

Tauchman is batting .304 with a .386 OBP, but no home runs yet this season in 56 at bats and only 7 RBI.

Etcetera

Jonathan Loaisiga started and pitched 3 effective innings, 1 run, and was followed by Adam Ottavino (1 shutout inning), and Nick Nelson.

Jordy Mercer, veteran Pittsburgh shortstop, got into his first game as a Yankee and went 1-2 with a run scored. As put it Anne Namocatcat put it, “Maybe I haven’t paid enough attention to our roster, because our SS is who now?”

Aaron Hicks got 2 hits and an RBI — he has entered into a hot streak — great plate appearances; taking pitches, and hitting the ball hard.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=401240119

First Game

In the 1st game, the Yanks were humming along with a 4-0 lead and Jordan Montgomery was cruising with a strong start. Clint Frazier was the hitting star, with an RBI double in the 1st, and a 2-run homer in the 2nd.

Emily Nyman surfaced this meme that summarized Yankee twitter enthusiasm:

A Yankee fan site clipped the meme and tweeted it as if it was theirs, which caused some commotion and a thread amongst meme makers Emily Nyman and Zach Wood Designs — on how to properly protect your intellectual property.

Then in the 5th, Miguel Andujar mishandled a hot shot to him at 3rd, then threw it away for a double error, that eventually led to the Mets’ first run on a wild pitch by Montgomery to make it 4-1. “That double error really put a lot more stress on Monty. Agree it’s not much of an excuse, but he struggled afterward,” observed Bellmore Jim on Twitter.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM

The discussion on Yankee twitter was whether Montgomery should go out to pitch the 6th on 66 pitches. He did, and allowed singles to the first two batters. Chad Green came in and BOOM — 3-run homer to tie the game by Peter Alonzo. Green got two outs, then BOOM homerun by Dominic Smith and BOOM again, homerun by Jake Marisnick and it was 5-4 Mets. Yankee Twitter was apoplectic.

Etcetera

Luke Voit was 3-4 in the 1st game.

Estevan Florial got into his first major league game and got his first big league hit — a single.

Two years ago Florial was the 36th highest rated prospect in the world. Then he broke his right hand — his hamate bone — which ended his 2018 season. In Spring Training 2019 he broke his right wrist attempting to make a catch at the centerfield wall, and when he came back he struggled, batting .237 in single A Tampa. His sheen as an elite prospect is gone.

There are no minor leagues this year due to Coronavirus so minor leaguers like Florial are being given chances on MLB teams as its the only way for them to see live action.

Yankee Twitter

Through the 8-game losing streak, Yankee Twitter remains a constant: a fun place to read tweets. Yankees Analytics Nerds summed up many Yankee fans’ thoughts:

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=401226165

Editor’s Note: this story first stated the Yankees had lost 8 in a row. AmYankees on Twitter corrected us that it is 7 straight loses. Yankee Twitter comes through once again.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*