“Well fuck me, then.” 5 Reasons Why Baltimore 4 NY 3 in 10 Innings

April 29, 2021 paperbacklou 2021 0

It was a game of If’s.

  • If only Gleyber Torres‘ 2-out, game-tying double in the 9th didn’t bounce over the wall for a ground rules double, which otherwise would’ve scored a go-ahead run.
  • If only Trey Mancini‘s game-tying homer in the 5th didn’t hit the top of the fence and bounce over but bounced in.
  • If only Clint Frazier‘s 2-out, 2-on LONG FLY BALL in the 5th that was caught at the top of the wall, went another 2 feet.
  • If only Frazier’s line drive in the 2nd didn’t get snared by the 1st baseman.
  • If only Tyler Wade could’ve bunted the runner over in the 10th,
  • If only Aaron Boone had intentionally walked Cedric Mullins, 10th in the league in hitting with a .340 average, in the 10th instead of watching him hit a game-winning sac fly.

If if if if if if if.

Instead you found yourself saying “Well fuck me, then” a lot — as tweeted by @YankeesNerds after a play I’m not sure which one.

1. Montgomery Gets Fucked

Jordan Montgomery got into a little trouble in the 1st inning again — same as last start; but this time a lot less trouble. Last time he allowed 3 runs and then pitched shutout ball. This time he allowed a run on a single, sacrifice to 2nd, and RBI single by Trey Mancini.

And then Montgomery mowed down Baltimore thru 5 innings.

Clint Frazier helped him out in the bottom of the 4th with yet another spectacular diving catch — this time playing right. Frazier is making spectacular catches on an almost nightly basis.

Leading 2-1 thru 5, we tweeted “Monty 5 innings 1 run and a 2-1 lead so far. Very nice! Looking good Monty! @Gumbynation34″

Montgomery immediately allowed a home run to Trey Mancini leading off the 6th. It hit the top of the left field wall and bounced into the bullpen. He was promptly removed from the game by manager Aaron Boone. There went his win.

Well fuck me, then.

2. Frazier Gets Fucked

Clint Frazier said on Sunday that he feels he is “getting close” to coming out of a slump; he can tell in batting practice. He said how he’s changed his batting stance 500 times during his career; he is constantly changing it when he feels his current stance isn’t working anymore. He may be right: he hit a Homer on Tuesday night, and in this game hit bullets his first two times up — both caught.

One was a line drive over 1st in the 3rd that the 1st baseman snared. It was followed by 2-out singles by DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton so who knows what would’ve happened in that inning.

“It doesn’t work that way” reminded Yankee fan Jake Towers. We agreed — if Frazier is on 1st and there’s only 1 out, the pitcher (Jorge Lopez) would’ve pitched LeMahieu and Stanton differently.

But the Yanks were hitting shots off Lopez so maybe it would’ve been a big inning. We’ll never know.

In the 4th with 2 on, Frazier hit a LONG FLY BALL to right, that was caught at the top of the wall, and the score remained 1-0 Baltimore at the time.

His 3rd time up, in the 6th, he came up after Gary Sanchez led off with a walk — and hit into a double play.

Well fuck me, then.

3. Odor Is Mr. Clutch

Baltimore pulled Lopez after Brett Gardner singled and LeMahieu walked as the first two batters in the 5th. John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman were extremely surprised by the move; I didn’t know what game they were watching because I could see Lopez was getting hit hard just by listening to them describe the game on the radio.

Adam Plutko came in and allowed a single to Giancarlo Stanton to load the bases. But Gleyber Torres popped out and Gio Urshela struck out and it looked like a “Well fuck me, then” inning. But Rougned Odor got a BIG 2-out, 2-RBI single to put the Yanks up 2-1.

If Gio Urshela is the most fundamentally sound player on the Yankees; Rougned Odor is the most Clutch.

4. Gleyber Gets Fucked

Darren O’Day walked Cedric Mullins and allowed an RBI double to rightfielder Austin Hays in the bottom of the 8th which put the Yankees’ backs to the wall in the 9th, down 3-2. Cesar Valdez came in to pitch for Baltimore — and Mike Ford and then DJ LeMahieu worked walks in between a strikeout of Brett Gardner.

With the tying run on 2nd and 1 out, Giancarlo Stanton struck out.

With 2 outs, Gleyber Torres fell behind 1-2, and with the Yankees down to their final strike — he fouled off two pitches and then laced a SHOT to DEEP left center. It bounced before the wall and OVER — for a grounds rule, game-tying RBI double. Anything else it scores 2 runs and puts the Yankees ahead.

Gio Urshela then lined out to shortstop and the Yanks chance to take the lead was gone.

Well fuck me, then.

5. Loaisiga & Yankees Get Fucked

Aroldis Chapman pitched a shutout bottom of 9th to keep it tie score 3-3, and then it was on to extras where during COVID — or maybe forever — a team puts a leadoff batter (the guy who made last out) at 2nd base to start the inning.

Tyler Wade was up for the Yanks (having replaced Odor when Aaron Judge pinch hit for the 2nd baseman in the 8th, even though Odor was the guy with the big clutch hit; Judge struck out) and everyone thought he’d be bunting. But he wasn’t. He was swinging away and took a strike, then tried to bunt and fouled it off; then tried to bunt again with 2 strikes and fouled it off for strike 3. Gary Sanchez was walked intentionally, but Ford struck out.

Well fuck me, then.

In the bottom of the 10th, Baltimore’s Pat Valaika successfully bunted the runner over to 3rd off Yankee reliever Jonathan Loaisiga, and Cedric Mullins came up — sporting a .340 batting average — 10th in the American League — and hit a sac fly to win the game, 4-3. Behind him was Austin Hays, who is batting .233.

After the game, manager Aaron Boone, when asked if there were any thoughts to walking Mullins, said “no.”

Loaisiga Gets the Loss

Loaisiga got the loss — which seems unfair, since the leadoff runner and winning run was put on base by the rules, not Loaisiga.

If they’re going to muck with the rules — then change the rule that disallows a starting pitcher from getting a win unless he pitches thru the first 5 innings.

With current practice of bullpen days and heavy usage of the bullpen — there are so many games where the most effective pitcher is a guy who starts and goes 4 innings — maybe even shutout ball for 4 innings — but cannot win the game; instead a reliever comes in and pitches an inning and gets the win. It should be left to the official scorer.

With the loss the Yanks drop back to 11-14, tied with Baltimore for last.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401227425

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*