On the night that the Yankees finally traded for power left-handed hitter Joey Gallo — signifying that they are “all in” to try to make the playoffs and win a title this season, they got DRUBBED on the field by Tampa, 14-0, with ace Gerrit Cole taking his worst loss of the year.
1. Cole Had 2 Rocky Innings
Gerrit Cole got off to a slow start — infield single, walk, single to lead off the game, and then BOOM — 3-run homer to Austin Meadows and it was 4-0 Tampa in the bottom of the 1st with nobody out.
Cole finally settled down and retired the next 3 batters in order — 2 strikeouts and a flyout but the damage was done; the game effectively decided.
Cole then pitched a 1-2-3 second inning, and pitched a scoreless 3rd — striking out 2 and allowing a sky high popup that hit the roof and never came down.
WHAT A STUPID PLACE!
What goes up comes down except that baseball pic.twitter.com/FR07siAyNy
— John Sterling Calls (@JSterlingCalls) July 29, 2021
Cole blew thru the 4th and 5th with 1-2-3 innings.
He had retired 9 in a row when Austin Meadows got a 1-out single in the bottom of the 6th. But then, nearing 100 pitches, Cole started to tire. A single to Randy Arozarena and a walk to Wander Franco loaded the bases. A sac fly by Kevin Kiermaier made it 5-0, and an error by Brett Gardner on the play made it 6-0 and Cole was gone.
2. Abreu Brought Gasoline to the Fire
With 1st and 2nd, 2 out, and the Yanks down 6-0 in the 6th, Boone relieved Cole and brought in Albert Abreu.
Abreu got Bombed.
Abreu:
- walked a batter then allowed a Grand Slam to Brett Phillips to make it 10-0, then
- walked a batter and allowed a 2-run homer to Ji-Man Choi to make it 12-0, then
- allowed a single and then a 2-run homer to Austin Meadows to make it 14-0.
He was then lifted for Sal Romano. It was an amazing piece of bad pitching by Abreu.
Ohhh boy! Oh Choi! A two-run home run and Tampa now takes a 12-0 lead pic.twitter.com/L6FTNJSrR0
— John Sterling Calls (@JSterlingCalls) July 29, 2021
3. Patino Shuts Down Yanks
Meanwhile young Tampa stud Luis Patino shut out the Yanks thru 6 innings, on only 3 hits; he struck out 8.
Tampa’s pen of Louis Head and Ryan Sherriff combined for 3 shutout innings and the old ballgame.
Etcetera
After the game, at 8:45 pm, the Yankees announced they had traded for the lefty power-hitting 1st baseman from the Cubs, Anthony Rizzo in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Alexander Vizcaino and outfielder Kevin Alcantara.
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