Yanks Find Another Way to Lose. Toronto 5 NY 2

August 21, 2022 paperbacklou 2022 0

The Yankees found another way to lose. In this one, they jumped on top 1-0, had two spectacular defensive plays early — Aaron Judge robbing a homer and Oswaldo Cabrera making like Derek Jeter— and saw Gerrit Cole motoring through the Toronto lineup like water through 4 innings.

But Cole had a bad 5th inning. And the Yankee offense went putrid — no longer scoring against Mitch White — a part-time starter Toronto acquired at the trade deadline from the Dodgers — and only getting one more run, late.

Plus the Yanks used Albert Abreu again in the late innings, and it resulted in the other team scoring an insurance run again. While Clarke Schmidt — who had been filling the Michael King setup role brilliantly — continues to “lengthen out” in AAA to come back as a starter in case NY needs one.

It all resulted in a 5-2 Toronto victory at the Stadium on a beautiful 75 degree Summer Saturday afternoon.

“We gotta play better. Period. And the great thing is, it’s right in front of us.,” impassioned manager Aaron Boone afterwards, slamming the table which caused a stir on Twitter. “It’s right here. And we can fix it. It’s right here. It’s there and we can run away with this thing. And we got the dudes in there to do it. And we gotta do it. If we don’t score, tough to win.”

NY is now a scant 6 games over Toronto,  7 games over Tampa, 10.5 over Baltimore, and 13 over Boston. NY had a 15.5 game lead in 1st place a month ago. The race is back on.

1. Judge Steals Homer

Aaron Judge got the Yanks off to a good start by stealing another homer with a leaping catch in right — this one on the run — robbing Bo Bichette in the top of the 2nd with 1 out.

2. Yanks Jump on Top

And then the Yanks took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd when Jose Trevino hit a 1-out double, Isiah Kiner-Falefa reached on an error, and Estevan Florial singled in a run.

On Yankee Twitter, @Miss90s quirped “There’s your run Cole. You’re on your own now.”

Couldn’t be right — the Yanks had 1st and 2nd, still only 1 out — and this was a new day — the Yankee offense seemed alive.

She ended up being right.

DJ LeMahieu, still playing with the bad toe, struck out and Andrew Benintendi grounded out to end the inning.

3. Cabrera’s Jeter-esq Play

The Yankees were still on a roll, up 1-0 in the top of the 3rd, when Jackie Bradley Jr. — who was released by the Red Sox last week and signed with the Blue Jays 4 days ago — hit a popup foul down the 3rd base line.

Rookie Oswaldo Cabrera — playing his 4th MLB game — made his second spectacular defensive play in 2 games (he robbed a homer yesterday) by making like Derek Jeter in a no-fear catch of the foul ball and going horizontal over the tarpaulin.

Cabrera was playing 3rd base in this game, with Josh Donaldson out with a stomach ailment.

4. Cole Brilliant, Except for the 5th

And Gerrit Cole was blowing smoke through the Toronto lineup until the 5th: he struck out the first batter, but allowed a double and then walked catcher Danny Jansen on 5 pitches.

Jackie Bradley Jr. doubled to left to drive in 2 and make it Toronto 2 NY 1.

Raimel Tapia reached on an infield single and then Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tried to do the same thing but was called out at 1st. Toronto challenged the call and Guerrero was called safe to load the bases.

Alejandro Kirk fouled off a 2-2 pitch before blooping a double into left center to score 2 — Guerrero Jr was out at the plate. Toronto 4 NY 1.

After that Cole struck out the last batter and breezed through the 6th, 1-2-3, but damage was done.

“It comes down to not attacking Jansen in that inning,” said Cole afterwards. “And not getting an out on a ground ball right back to me.”

5. Gleyber Homer Pulls NY to Within 4-2

After the run in the 2nd and @Miss90s tweet, the Yankees:

  • Had a leadoff single in the 3rd, followed by 2 strikeouts and a groundout,
  • Had 2 singles in the 4th — the 2nd one by DJ LeMahieu coming with 2 outs — but Andrew Benintendi grounded out (again) to end the inning (again).
  • Were retired in order in the 5th,
  • Had a 1-out single in the 6th amidst former Yankee David Phelps striking out the side,

  • Had a 1-out walk in the 7th,
  • and then finally got a run in the 8th on a Gleyber Torres homer to make it 4-2.

6. Abreu Lays Down the Final Straw

And so down 4-2 the Yanks needed a bloop and a blast to tie it — but manager Aaron Boone brought Albert Abreu in for the 9th and boom homer to left by Matt Chapman and it was 5-2 Toronto.

As Max Goodman pointed out on Twitter, “Albert Abreu has now allowed at least one run in five of his seven appearances this month. He’s given up 7 ER and 11 H over 8 IP in August.”

The Yanks went out 1-2-3 in the 9th for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401356021

 

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