German Hurt by the Bomb & Shoddy D. Mets 9 Yankees 3

July 26, 2023 paperbacklou 2023 0
Anthony Volpe RBI Double in the 7th finally puts Yanks on the board.

Domingo German had “good stuff”, but was hurt by the long ball and some shoddy defense behind him, while Justin Verlander limited the Yanks with 6 shutout innings in the 9-3 Mets rout at Yankee Stadium on a Tuesday night.

The game turned in the 3rd inning, when with 2 outs, Francisco Lindor hit a fly to left that had a 90 percent catch probability, but Billy McKinney didn’t catch it — ceding to Harrison Bader coming in from center who was expecting him to catch it. That gave the Mets life and a walk later Pete Alonso hit a bomb to left for a 4-0 Mets lead.

After that German pitched a shutout 4th and 5th, but in the 6th Pete Alonso led off with another bomb — this one to center — and Daniel Vogelbach followed with a bomb to right center for a 6-0 Mets lead.

The Yankees finally broke through against the Mets bullpen in the 7th and 8th, scoring 3 runs and loading the bases in both innings but not quite getting the big hit to make it a game.

“His stuff seemed pretty good to me ,” said manager Aaron Boone about German afterwards. “But obviously the long ball got him tonite.” German struck out 9 in 6 innings, but allowed 3 homers.

Meanwhile Verlander “hit his spots tonite really well with his fastball and controlled the zone with different speeds and different pitches,” said Harrison Bader afterwards. “A good recipe for success on their side.”

The Yankees fall to 53-48, and dead last in the AL East, 9 games back of Baltimore, 7.5 behind Tampa, 2.5 behind Toronto, and 1 behind Boston. The Mets improve to 47-53, 17.5 back of Atlanta.

1. German Hurt by the Bomb and Shoddy D

Brandon Nimmo led off the game with a double, and 2 outs later Pete Alonso singled him home and the Mets were up 1-0.

German settled down and struck out the side in the 2nd inning to make it 4 straight strikeouts.

But with 2 outs in the 3rd, McKinney made his misplay in left, and a walk later Alonso ripped the 3-run homer to left to make it 4-0 Mets.

“Unfortunately I missed my spot there,” said Domingo German afterwards through the Yankee translator. “We were trying to execute a good changeup there, down and away, and it kept running in — into his zone — and he was able to recognize that pitch, execute there, and put good wood on it.”

“The atmosphere added to the fact that we just needed to be louder,” said Harrison Bader on the miscommunication between he and McKinney. “It can get really loud out there even when you’re calling the ball as loud as you can, sometimes it’s hard to hear.”

German pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th, and worked around a leadoff double by DJ Stewart in the 5th.

But Pete Alonso led off the 6th with a bomb to center and Vogelbach followed with a bomb to right center and it was 6-0 Mets — and seemingly ballgame.

“That’s the way the game is sometimes,” said German. “You can strike out hitters, but yet give up the runs. But if you want to find something positive about the outing, because they are not recognizing pitches and swinging and you’re getting the strikeouts, it’s a matter of executing the pitches in key situations — like that 3rd inning. I’m looking forward to making the adjustments, and making sure that I stay through my line — especially in tough situations.”

2. Verlander Shuts Down Yanks

Meanwhile Justin Verlander shut down the Yankees — he actually allowed a baserunner in every inning he pitched, but no runs in pitching 6 shutout innings.

He allowed:

  1. A 2-out walk in the 1st (to Giancarlo Stanton),
  2. A leadoff walk in the 2nd to DJ LeMahieu, erased on a double play,
  3. A 2-out single in the 3rd to Jake Bauers,
  4. A 1-out walk to DJ LeMahieu in the 4th,
  5. A leadoff baserunner due to an error in the 5th — but with Anthony Volpe on, struck out the next 2 batters as Volpe stole 2nd,
  6. A 2-out walk in the 6th, again to DJ LeMahieu.

“He had his way with us,” said Boone about Verlander. “I thought his slider was really good, and everything worked off of that. He was able to slow us down with the breaking ball that allowed his fastball to play. It seemed short late, and how he wanted to throw it.”

 

Verlander wins to go 5-5 3.24.

3. Mets Make it 7-0 in the 7th

Nick Ramirez pitched the 7th and got the first 2 batters before Francisco Lindor reached on an infield single that Volpe made a throwing error on allowing Lindor to reach 2nd. He scored on a 2-out single by Jeff McNeil and it was 7-0 Mets.

4. Volpe Gets Yanks on the Board

Brooks Raley took over for Verlander to start the bottom of the 7th and the Yankees Pounced.

Raley hit Isiah Kiner-Falefa with a pitch and Volpe made up for his error in the top half of the frame by ripping a double off the opposite-field right field wall — just missing a homer — scoring IKF and making it 7-1 Mets.

Kyle Higashioka walked, and Dominic Leone came in, walking Gleyber Torres to load the bases with 1 out.

Giancarlo Stanton Ripped a shot to opposite field right — just getting under it for a line-drive sac fly to make it 7-2. A little more loft and it might have been a 7-5 game.

Anthony Rizzo came up with 1st and 3rd, 2 outs — and struck out on 3 pitches.

5. Yanks Load Bases in 8th, Get a Run

The Yanks loaded the bases with 1 out again in the 8th — Mark Vientos got the 1st out of the inning, but then single, single, walk (by Harrison Bader, IKF, and Volpe) brought in old friend David Robertson to pitch, and Ben Rortvedt to pinch hit.

Rortvedt hit a grounder to 2nd, scoring the run on the fielder’s choice. Mets 7 Yanks 3.

With 2 outs, 1st and 3rd, and the Yanks a long ball from being right back in it — David Robertson got Jake Bauers to ground out.

6. Marinaccio Ripped Again

And the game was put to the wind by Ron Marinaccio in the top of the 9th — a 1-out walk by Nimmo and single by Lindor put 2 on for Jeff McNeil who doubled them both home for a 9-3 Mets lead.

“It starts with command,” said Boone afterwards. “He’s walked too many guys. Comes in there and gets Nimmo 0-2; loses him. Goes 0-2 with Lindor, but Lindor seemed to have everything covered on him and had a really long at bat until he finally got a mistake. I think it’s as simple as sharpness from a command standpoint. And when you’re a little off like that and you’re basically a 2-pitch guy — he’ll mix in that occasional slider — but he’s fastball/change — and he’s got to be sharp with that, whether its life at the top of the zone or locating his fastball and using the changeup off of that. But when he’s a little bit off… another tough outing.”

Marinaccio was yanked for Albert Abreu who got the last 2 outs.

In the bottom of the 9th, the Mets brought in old friend Adam Ottavino to be the form of the Yankees’ destructor — and he walked Stanton but got 3 outs, striking out LeMahieu for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401472537

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*