Yanks “This Close”. Toronto 6 NY 5

September 29, 2021 paperbacklou 2021 0

The Yankees came back from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game in the 7th, and Giancarlo Stanton came “this close” to hitting a go-ahead Home Run in the top of the 8th, but the ball was caught at the wall in right center — and the Yanks lost 6-5 when Bo Bichette hit a game-winning homer in the bottom of the 8th.

NY had Gleyber Torres on 2nd with 2 outs in the 9th — but failed to get a game-tying single — Tyler Wade hitting a shallow fly to center for the final out.

The Toronto win pulls them to within 2 of the Yanks, and Boston pulls to within 1 game as they beat Baltimore. There are 4 games left in the year.

1. Cole Absorbs Loss

Gerrit Cole absorbed the loss on a night when Toronto hit his fastball.

  • George Springer led off the bottom of the 1st with a double on the 1st pitch — a 97-MPH four-seam fastball. Marcus Semien then hit the 5th pitch thrown to him — a 97-MPH four-seam fastball for a Home Run — his 44th of the year and it was 2-0 Toronto.
  • In the 2nd inning, 3rd baseman Santiago Espinal hit the 1st pitch thrown to him — a 97-MPH fastball, for a double, and George Springer singled him home 2 batters later and it was 3-0 Toronto.
  • In the 3rd, Bo Bichette hit the 2nd pitch to him — a 96-MPH four-seam fastball — for a Home Run and it was 4-0 Toronto.

Dropped Pop Up to Left Dooms Yanks

Cole allowed another run in the 5th, when George Springer led off with a high popup to left off a changeup that should have been an out — but a mixup between Gio Urshela and Joey Gallo caused the ball to drop. It looked like Gio had it but at the last second he looked at Gallo to take it and Gallo was surprised.

Afterwards, manager Aaron Boone said Gallo should have taken charge on it. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.then singled Springer home with 1 out — it was 5-2 Toronto.

Cole’s final line: 6 innings, 9 hits, 5 runs, 6 K’s.

“I think we’re running into some really tough teams and I was not quite sharp enough today,” said Gerrit Cole afterwards. “That’s the bottom line.”

Cole did not get the loss, but the sub-par performance that drove up his ERA might have ended Cole’s Cy Young chances; he finishes 16-8 3.23 with a 1.06 WHIP.

Robbie Ray is 13-6 2.68 with a 1.04 WHIP. The Yankees would need to really rip Ray in tomorrow night’s game to improve Cole’s chances for his 1st Cy Young.

2. Yanks Get to Berrios

Meanwhile Jose Berrios was lights’ out early — looking like he would pitch a no hitter. Yet his record with Toronto this year was 5-4 3.50 since coming from Minnesota so one knew he could be reached.

The Yanks got to Berrios in the 5th — after Berrios struck out Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Gallo to start the inning — Gleyber Torres doubled, Gio Urshela singled him home, and Brett Gardner doubled Urshela home and just like that it was 4-2 Toronto.

The Yanks cut into the lead some more in the 5th on a leadoff double by DJ LeMahieu, an Anthony Rizzo groundout that moved DJ to 3rd, and a sac fly by Aaron Judge.

3. Yanks Tie it 5-5 in 7th

Down 5-3 in the 7th, Joey Gallo led off with a hit-by-pitch and Gleyber Torres got an infield single — but Urshela and Luke Voit (pinch hitting) both struck out — the runners moving up on a wild pitch by reliever Tim Mayza.

With 2 outs, Kyle Higashioka came up with a Huge hit to tie the game 5-5.

4. Loaisiga Returns — Shutout 7th

Jonathan Loaisiga returned from the rotator cuff soreness and breezed through the 7th — a 1-2-3 inning — the best news of the night for the Yanks.

5. Giancarlo So Close

With 2 outs in the top of the 8th and the game tied 5-5, Giancarlo Stanton stepped up — Giancarlo who had hit game-deciding homers in each of the last 4 games. He hit a fly ball to DEEP right center field that was caught at the warning track. So Close.

6. Bichette Wins It

And then Bo Bichette hit his second homer of the game off Clay Holmes in the bottom of the 8th to put Toronto ahead 6-5.

7. Gleyber Left on 2nd — So Close

In the top of the 9th, Gleyber Torres singled with 1 out, moved to 2nd base on a Gio fly out, and was left stranded there when Tyler Wade flied out to center for the old ballgame.

Etcetera

  • Aaron Judge went 0-3 with an RBI — he is now slashing 37-95-.285 (.371 OBP). He would have a lot more RBI’s if he hadn’t batted 2nd all year. Only in the last few weeks has he been hitting 3rd — and driving in a lot of runs.
  • Gleyber Torres went 3 for 4 to raise his average back up to .261.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401229419

 

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