Coming into this series against Baltimore, I thought it would be good if the Yanks could take 2 of 3. Baltimore had just swept Boston, and this is baseball, where winning .667 of your games would give a team a record-setting season.
And the Yanks won 2 of 3, so that ain’t bad — as Meatloaf might sing. But the Yanks shoulda coulda won this game. A blown opportunity.
Key takeaways and reasons why:
1. Taillon Looked Good
The key takeaway from this game is that Jameson Taillon looked good. He was pitching a perfect game thru 3 innings. I mentioned this to friends and jinxed it — in the 4th Taillon allowed a leadoff homer to leadoff batter and centerfielder Cedric Mullins, and then another homer to rightfielder Anthony Santander. That made it 2-1 Baltimore after the Yanks had just taken a 1-0 lead on a 1-out Aaron Hicks single in the bottom of the 3rd.
First game in 707 days.
Welcome back, @JTaillon50 💪 pic.twitter.com/ASnnMSgVB7
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 8, 2021
Taillon finished with 4.2 innings, 3 hits, 7 strikeouts, 2 walks in 74 pitches. The word “solid” is often overused but if anyone was “solid” it was Taillon in this game.
If Taillon can pitch well for the Yanks, and Corey Kluber comes thru, added to Gerrit Cole, and Domingo German, with Jordan Montgomery looking like he is going to put it all together this year (5 shutout innings in his first start) — the Yankee starting staff could be awesome this year, which bodes well for my 105-wins prediction. Not to mention Luis Severino coming back in July.
2. Urshela’s Big Hit Tied It in 8th
This game stayed 2-1 Baltimore into the bottom of the 8th, when with 2 out, Gary Sanchez doubled and Gio Urshela doubled pinch runner Mike Tauchman home. Just like that — a tie game. At this same exact time the Knicks were going down to the wire in Boston — so some Yankee and Knick fans were glued into both games at the same time.
Gio went 2-5 and is batting .261. We’ll take it. Urshela doing well at the plate to go with his stellar D at 3rd is a big ingredient to the Yanks recipe for success this year.
Gio x Sockman.
Tie game. pic.twitter.com/8WiEzYfjTn
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 8, 2021
3. Yanks Left Too Many Baserunners
The Yanks got 13 hits but left 12 runners on base. Yankee batters struck out 10 times. Gary Sanchez wasn’t one of them — he was 2 for 3 with a walk and no strikeouts. That was good.
So it seems like the Yankee lineup is filled with all-or-nothing guys but Baltimore’s batters struck out 17 times. They only left 5 on base because they only got 4 hits.
Baltimore starter John Means pitched 4.2 innings, allowing 7 hits. After Hicks’ RBI single in the 3rd, Giancarlo Stanton hit into a double play. Other than than, the Yankees had several rallies where they put runners on 1st and 2nd — but with 2 outs already; they weren’t able to get the 2-out RBI single. That happened in the 1st, 4th, and 5th.
A-A-ron up the middle 👏 pic.twitter.com/eCY27q5eUa
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 7, 2021
5. Yankee Bullpen Great
The Yankee Bullpen was Great on the day — Nick Nelson 1.1 shutout innings, 2 strikeouts, Darren O’Day a shutout inning, Jonathan Loaisiga a shutout inning, Aroldis Chapman threw HEAT in the 9th — striking out the side. Chad Green and Luis Cessa also pitched well (see below).
6. Extra Inning Rule Sucks
The new extra inning rules — adopted last year — have a team place their leadoff batter on 2nd base. Yankee Stadium fans could be heard chanting “Play Real Baseball” as play began in the 10th. By this time, the Knicks had lost their game so all attention focused on the Yanks.
After the game, Yankee fan Kristen_Marie asked, “Here’s a question, how many of you were bothered by 17 or 18 inning tie games?” If you read the replies you’ll see most Yankee fans want the old extra innings back.
7. Gleyber’s Defense
Baltimore put their leadoff batter — Santander — on 2nd to lead off the 10th. Chad Green got a groundout to 3rd, not advancing the runner, then another groundout to put Santander on 3rd, with 2 outs. Green got a 3rd grounder — by catcher Pedro Severino — this time to Gleyber Torres at shortstop. The wrong place to have a guy hit a grounder. ERROR on the throw. Ballgame Orioles.
Yankee Twitter EXPLODED.
There were big worries about Gleyber Torres‘ defense at shortstop coming into the year and it has quickly hit a frenetic pitch.
8. Higgy to the Rescue
But the ballgame wasn’t over. The Yanks placed their leadoff batter on 2nd in the 10th — Tyler Wade running for Stanton — and with 2 out, backs to the wall — Kyle Higashioka singled in the tying run.
Kyle. Clutch. pic.twitter.com/c1bQUyHHjF
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 8, 2021
9. Cessa to the Rescue
Green allowed a single with 1 out in the 11th to plate the Orioles’ runner and it was 4-3 Baltimore. Green walked a batter and was gone — relieved by Luis Cessa.
Cessa walked the first batter to load the bases, then struck out 2 to end the inning, and give the Yanks a chance. Yankee Twitter applauded Cessa en masse.
10. Out at the Plate
So the Yanks put their leadoff batter — Urshela — on 2nd. Brett Gardner sacrified him to 2nd and with 1 out DJ LeMahieu hit a sac fly attempt to right. Not deep enough. Urshela was out at the plate. Ballgame.
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