Finally someone else’s manager pulled a pitcher too soon and brought in a reliever who coughed up a lead. Nathan Eovaldi was shutting out the Yankees 3-0 with 2 outs in the top of the 8th, but a single made it 3-1 and manager Alex Cora brought in former Yank Adam Ottavino. NY jumped all over him — double, double, single, single — and just like that the Yankees took 4-3 lead en route to the win.
1. Taillon Pitched Great
Jameson Taillon ended up out-dueling Eovaldi, despite being on the losing side of a 3-0 game for 7 innings. Taillon allowed a single run in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd innings.
The runs Taillon gave up in the 1st and 3rd were unearned.
- In the 1st, Enrique Hernandez tripled and scored on a throwing error by Yank 2nd baseman Rougned Odor; the next three batters all made out — pop out, strike out, and fly out — so the run was unearned.
- In the 3rd, Duran reached on another error by Odor,. and came around to score on a sac fly.
Taillon’s final line: 7 IP, 4 H, 3 Runs, 1 Earned Run, 4 K’s, 3 walks. His ERA drops to 4.36. He has been pitching really well.
2. Yank 2-Out Rally in 8th to Win It
Estevan Florial led off with a single off Eovaldi, and with 2 out, Brett Gardner singled to right, scoring Florial to make it 3-1 and knock out Eovaldi at 100 pitches.
Ottavino came in and allowed a grounds-rule double to Giancarlo Stanton and then Rougned Odor made up for his 2 errors by ripping a double off the Green Monster in left center to tie the game 3-3.
Gleyber Torres then blooped a single to right to put the Yanks ahead 4-3.
Late life and a lead 💪 pic.twitter.com/52i3iXYE4H
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 24, 2021
Ottavino then hit Greg Allen with a pitch. Allen and Torres then did a double steal of 2nd and 3rd. Finally, Ottavino got Chris Gittens to hit a pitch off himself for a groundout to catcher for the final out. But damage was done.
“I think if you see my body language during the game it’s probably pretty clear I was stunned by the whole ordeal,” said Ottavino afterwards. “But then again, it’s baseball. It’s a cruel game sometimes…Just looking to turn the page.”
This was the Ottavino the Yankees saw at the end of last season. The Ottavino a Yankee fan who lives in Colorado warned Yankee fans about after watching him play for the Rockies.
3. Yank Bullpen Shuts ‘Em Down
Jonathan Loaisiga was finally back from 10 days on the COVID IL list, and he pitched a shutout 8th. And then Aroldis Chapman was on for the 9th — Chapman who has been horrendous the last month but has shown in the last few games he might be getting his wheels on again.
Chapman’s first pitch was to the backstop ala Ryne Duran. But then he got a groundout and strikeout for 2 outs nobody on.
If you thought it would be easy — it wasn’t. Chapman walked Hunter Renfroe and with the count 3-2 on Vasquez, and the Yanks a strike away from a win — Vasquez put a little swing on a fastball and flayed it into right field for a hit — it bounced once and popped into the stands in right. The Yanks caught a break on the grounds rule double — had it not popped into the stands, Renfroe would have scored.
With 2nd and 3rd, 2 out, in the 4-3 game — Chapman struck out Enrique Hernandez to end it. PHEW. For the old ballgame.
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401228530
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