Gulf of Tonkin False Flags Yankee Loss. MIlwaukee 7 NY 6 in 11

April 27, 2024 paperbacklou 2024 0
Alex Verdugo solo Homer in 2nd.

The Yankees ran out of pitchers.

And so Michael Tonkin took the mound in the bottom of the 10th with the Yankees up 6-5, after Giancarlo Stanton‘s clutch double in the top of the 10th had put NY ahead and on the verge of a win.

Michael Tonkin who? would be the question of most — even diehard — Yankee fans.

New York picked up Tonkin on waivers the day before. The Yankees are the 4TH TEAM Tonkin has been on SO FAR THIS YEAR — AND IT’S APRIL 27th! The 34-year-old journeyman has been on the Mets twice, Minnesota, and the Yankees in 3 weeks! He started the year with the Mets; was sent to Minnesota for cash on April 9; was waived by Minnesota on April 17th then re-picked up by the Mets; and was released by the Mets on April 25, when the Yankees snabbed him.

Tonkin allowed a leadoff RBI single in the bottom of the 10th as the Brewers tied the game, and a 1-out single in the bottom of the 11th for the Milwaukee walk-off win.

On a Friday night in Milwaukee, with the roof closed at American Family Field — when it takes on the notorious knickname ‘homerdome.’

Earlier, Luis Gil pitched well but got hurt by the homerun ball in the Brewer stadium where the ball flies out with the roof closed (5 runs on 2 homers in 5 innings), and the bullpen of Ron Marinaccio, Dennis Santana, Caleb Ferguson, and Clay Holmes had pitched 4 innings of shutout ball.

“I thought he threw well,” said manager Aaron Boone about Gil. “Obviously a couple of mistakes — the homers hurt him. That’s something he’s done a good job of this year — keeping the ball in the ballpark. Looks like he hung a pitch to (Joey) Ortiz, and (Blake) Perkins I thought put a really good swing on a ball — it was center but it was up and he was able to get to it — that’s a pitch that he (Gil) doesn’t normally get hurt with but Perkins put a good swing on that ball.”

On Tonkin, Boone said: “Definitely a tough spot to go into. But he’s got a lot of experience, and I thought he threw the ball well; didn’t back down at all. It’s just where we were in the game of what we had left. I thought he came in and got after it.”

When asked if he wrestled with the idea of bringing Holmes in for the 10th, Boone said: “No. He’s on maybe an 80-game pace and it’s April, and with some of the attrition we’ve had in our bullpen, I wasn’t going to bring my closer out for a second inning.”

NY falls to 17-10, but are still in a virtual tie for 1st place with Baltimore, which also lost. Milwaukee improves to 17-8.

1. Yanks Jump on Top 2-0 with Lefty Batters

The Yanks jumped off to a good start against Milwaukee starter Colin Rea, who came in with a 2-0 2.08 record, as lefty batters acquired this winter hit solo homers off the righty Rea.

With 1 out in the 1st, Juan Soto hit an 89-MPH cutter 398 feet into the seats in opposite field left center for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

With 1 out in the 2nd, Alex Verdugo got hold of a 79-MPH curveball and put it into the seats in right for a 2-0 Yankee lead.

2. Gil Hurt by Homer Ball — Milwaukee Goes Up 4-2

But Luis Gil got hurt by the homerun ball that flies out of the Brewer stadium with the roof closed. In the bottom of the 2nd, a 1-out single by 2nd baseman Brice Turang, and 2-run homer by 3rd baseman Joey Ortiz.

It was more of the same in the bottom of the 3rd — Gil allowed a 2-out single to 1st baseman Rhys Hoskins and 2-run homer to centerfielder Blake Perkins. Milwaukee 4 NY 2.

3. Yanks Jump Ahead 5-4 with HR by Lefty Grisham

The Yanks came right back for Gil — again with a homer by a lefty bat acquired during the winter. In the top of the 4th, Oswaldo Cabrera singled with 2 outs, Austin Wells worked a walk off Rea, and Trent Grisham hit a no-doubt-about-it 3-run homer to right to get NY back the lead at 5-4.

4. Old Friend Gary Sanchez Gets to Gil in 6th

Staked to the 5-4 lead, Gil rope-a-doped the 4th inning, leaving 2 baserunners, and pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 5th.

But in the 6th, old friend Gary Sanchez led off with a double, and Gil was gone.

Ron Marinaccio came in and allowed a ground out and sac fly to Joey Ortiz and it was a tie game.

5. Bullpen Good

Marinaccio got those last 3 outs of the 6th and then the 1st out of the 7th before being relieved by Dennis Santana, who pitched the rest of the 7th.

Caleb Ferguson pitched a shutout 8th and Clay Holmes was FILTHY in the 9th — a 1-2-3 inning of strikeout, groundout, strikeout.

6. Giancarlo Gets Yanks Lead in 10th

All was looking good when Giancarlo Stanton — pinch hitting for  led off the 10th by RIPPING a double to left center off 6’5 lefty reliever Jared Koenig, plating the inherited runner for a 6-5 Yankee lead.

The Yanks didn’t score another run — as Anthony Volpe struck out, Juan Soto flied out, Aaron Judge was intentionally walked, and Anthony Rizzo grounded out.

7. Gulf of Tonkin

But the Yankee lead was a false flag event — Tonkin allowed a leadoff single to Willy Adames in the bottom of the 10th for a tie game. To his merit, Tonkin kept the score tied: a fly out by Hoskins put the runner to 3rd, but a groundout to 3rd base by Perkins kept that runner at 3rd, and then Gary Sanchez grounded out to send the game to the 11th.

Koenig stayed in for the 11th. The Yanks advanced their inherited runner to 3rd with 1 out, but Koenig got Verdugo to ground the ball back to him, and the Yankee pinch runner Jahmai Jones was out at the plate.

And then to the bottom of the 11th. Tonkin — a journeyman’s journeyman who started his career with Minnesota many moons ago (2013), then pitched in every place but Vietnam, including Japan, Mexico, and the Independent League for a couple of years before returning to the Majors with Atlanta last year — was faced with the inherited runner on 2nd again.

Turang flied to right to advance the inherited runner to 3rd with 1 out, and Joey Ortiz — who killed NY all night (2-4 with a HR and 4 RBI) — ripped a single to left for the old ballgame.

Etcetera

  • Anthony Volpe went 0-5 as the leadoff batter, and is at .284.
  • Aaron Judge, who seemed to be coming out of his slump, went 0-4 with 2 K’s against Rea, and was intentionally walked in the 10th. Judge is at .178.
  • Gleyber Torres went 0-4. He is hitting .192.
  • Anthony Rizzo went 0-5 and is at .231.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401568861

 

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