Greg Weissert Saves the Day. Another Martian Homer. NY 4 Detroit 3

September 7, 2023 paperbacklou 2023 0
The Martian Jasson Dominguez RIPS a homer to right to put NY up 2-1 in the 3rd -- the eventual game winner.

Greg Weissert came in with bases loaded, 2 outs in the 8th — the Yankees clinging to a 4-3 lead — and struck out Matt Vierling swinging on a 1-2, 95-MPH fastball to end the threat. PHEW.

Clay Holmes pitched a 1-2-3 9th and the Yankees held on to beat Detroit in an Agita win at the Stadium, 4-3 on a HOT, HUMID Wednesday night.

The win puts NY back a game over .500 at 70-69, and pulls them to 6.5 games behind a Wild Card with 23 games left. NY has won 5 in a row and 8 of 9.

The bullpen rewarded Clarke Schmidt with the win after he threw down another terrific starting performance — at one point retiring 16 batters in a row (pitching 1-2-3 innings in the 2nd thru the 6th innings).

The Yankee attack was led by The Martian, Jasson Dominguez, who went 3 for 4 with a blast of a homerun in the 3rd that put NY up 2-1 at the time and was the eventual game winner. Oswaldo Peraza also went 3 for 4 and drove in a key run.

The kids are alright, on another night.

“The right field wall is great. Great,” said The Martian afterwards when asked what he likes about hitting at Yankee Stadium.

“He’s playing with that little grin on his face, and enjoying playing baseball right now,” said manager Aaron Boone about The Martian. “Confidence. I think he knows he’s a good player. But I think he has the right level of humility with that too. There’s an easy way about him. He enjoys playing the game with his teammates. I don’t think he overcomplicates that part of it. As I’ve talked about the last several days, anxiety is the enemy of a hitter, and he doesn’t walk up with a lot of that.”

1. Schmidt Spectacular

Clarke Schmidt has come into his own this season and is now counted upon for starts like these. In the same HEAT and HUMIDITY that caused Gerrit Cole to last only 6 innings the night before, Clarke Schmidt rolled through the Detroit lineup with ease into the 7th.

Schmidt got caught for a run in the top of the 1st on a 1-out double by right fielder Zach McKinstry and a 2-out RBI single by Kerry Carpenter, but after that MOTORED thru the Detroit lineup with 1-2-3 innings in the 2nd thru 6th innings — getting 16 consecutive outs.

Schmidt wilted in the 7th — getting nicked for a leadoff single by Spencer Torkelson, then getting a strike out, then yielding consecutive singles to Matt Vierling and Andy Ibanez after going 0-2 on each batter. The single by Ibanez made it 4-2 NY.

Wandy Peralta came in and allowed a sac fly to make it 4-3, before getting a strikeout to end the inning.

Schmidt’s final line was not as impressive as his pitching: 6.1 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 6 K’s, 0 walks. He wins to go 9-8 4.54.

“I feel like I’m out there just trying to pitch,” said Schmidt afterwards. “I’m trying to be unpredictable; trying to execute; I don’t feel like I’m overthrowing or overdoing it at all. I’m trying to go deep into games and become a good starting pitcher. I feel like I’m starting to evolve into that.”

Schmidt had high praise for Austin Wells in the first game he pitched with Wells as catcher. “There’s a lot of dialog in between innings. He was locked in with me the whole night. He was reading swings well as myself or anybody else in the Yankee dugout. It was really fun to work with him and I’m excited to continue that.”

2. Giancarlo Breaks Manning’s Foot

Down 1-0, the Yanks came right back at Detroit starter Matt Manning in the bottom of the 1st. DJ LeMahieu singled and Aaron Judge walked to put 1st and 2nd nobody out.

Manning got Jasson Dominguez to ground out, and then struck out Gleyber Torres — Manning taking looong pauses between pitches — taking every second of the 20-second pitch clock, but then quick pitched Gleyber with a fastball that struck him out.

Giancarlo Stanton then RIPPED a comebacker to Manning at 119 MPH that hit off Manning’s back foot — Manning fielded it and threw Giancarlo out to end the inning. Manning walked off the field but did not return — the liner broke Manning’s foot.

3. LeMahieu Red Hot — Ties Game in 2nd

With Manning gone, Detroit had to go to their bullpen — having just had a bullpen day the night before. Beau Brieske came in and the Yanks got a run off him in the 2nd — with 2 outs, Oswald Peraza singled, Oswaldo Cabrera walked, and DJ LeMahieu singled in a run for a 1-1 tie.

4. The Martian RIPS HR to Right

Jasson Dominguez led off the 3rd against Brieske by RIPPING a line drive home run into the right field stands for a 3-1 Yankee lead.

You have to like the way Dominguez hits — he’s a switch hitter who from the left side makes a lot of contact with a compact but powerful swing. He looks like he will be a guy who doesn’t strike out as much as other power hitters.

Dominguez’s first homer was on the road — and John Sterling doesn’t do road trips anymore at age 85, so this HR at the Stadium gave rise to Sterling’s first call of a Martian homer. The call: “El Marciano! He’s my favorite Martian!”

5. Peraza Red Hot — Puts NY Up 3-1

The Yanks continued to press their attack against Brieske in the 3rd after The Martian’s homer — Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton worked back to back walks to put pressure on. After Austin Wells flied to left, and Anthony Volpe popped out to the infield, Oswald Peraza came through with a clutch 2-out RBI double for a 3-1 Yankee lead.

6. Judge, Martian, Gleyber Hook Up

Aaron Judge ripped a 1-out double off Jose Cisnero in the bottom of the 4th, and next batter Jasson Dominguez singled Judge to 3rd. Next batter Gleyber Torres singled home Judge and it was 4-1 NY. We saw this Judge-to-Martian-to-Gleyber hookup for runs the night before. It is lethal.

7. Weissert Heroic

After Wandy got the final out of the 7th, he got in trouble in the 8th — strikeout, infield single, strikeout, walk, walk to load the bases with 2 outs. On the final walk — an 8-pitch at bat by Carpenter — one foul ball came close to being a homerun down the line — but it was foul. PHEW.

In came Greg Weissert with the game on the line. Weissert threw 3 straight 94-MPH sinkers then struck out Vierling swinging with a 95-MPH four-seam fastball. PHEEWWWWWW!

8. Holmes for the Save

In came Clay Holmes for the 9th — he got ground out, ground out, strikeout for the old ballgame.

Etcetera

The Yankee memes for The Martian have been terrific.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401473102

 

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