Yanks Get Drenched. LA Angels 9 NY 4

August 9, 2024 paperbacklou 2024 0
Jazz Chisholm Jr's first homer in pinstripes.

If only Yankee Stadium had a retractable roof.

I’m being facetious — having tweeted they should NOT just the other day and received a lot of feedback, both for and against.

But if they did, Nestor Cortes might have pitched a good ballgame. And a bunch of Yanks would have hit homers.

Instead, Nestor was on the mound in the 5th when the rains came POURING down, and he couldn’t get the extremely wet ball over the plate for strikes, walking Logan O’Hoppe on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases with 2 outs, then going 0-2 on Kevin Pillar, who reached out for a sinker and singled in 2 to make it 4-1.

Had Nestor been able to get one more strike the game would have gone to the bottom of 5th with NY down 2-1 — instead Cortes was yanked.

Enyel De Los Santos came in, and walked the first batter in the still pouring rain. Then the rain let up a bit — and Yank fans wished it hadn’t — as a double, single, hit-by-pitch and single later, it was an 8-1 game.

The Yanks were also robbed of as many as 5 homeruns on the evening — heavy winds pushing balls that seemed like goners, back into the stadium. With a roof, this would have been a different game.

At a rain-soaked and windy Yankee Stadium on a Thursday night — NYC getting hit with the remnants of Hurricane Debby. It was at least a fine mist all evening, with periods of rain, and Pouring rain — the pouring rain parts always seemed to happen with a Yankee pitcher on the mound. Even Suzyn Waldman and Justin Shackil noticed it on the broadcast.

“I think they’re one of the teams that strike out the least in the big leagues. To their credit they fouled off a lot of pitches I thought I threw tonite,” said Cortes afterwards. I felt like today was a pretty good command day for me. I thought I made a lot of good pitches; they battled all night; the conditions were tough; they came out with the win.”

“It’s tough when the rain is on you, and you’re trying to grip the ball, and you got 15 seconds,” added Cortes when asked about the conditions. “And it’s tough to go in your glove to take off for another pitch that you’re not gripping — but it’s no excuse both teams had to battle through that adversity; they were the better team today.”

NY drops to 68-48, but Baltimore also lost so they remain tied for 1st place. The LA Angels improve to 51-64.

1. Cortes OK

Nestor Cortes finished with a horrible line: 4.2 innings, 9 hits, and 6 runs — but pitched much better than that. As mentioned, one more strike in the 5th and he would’ve had 5 innings, 2 runs.

Cortes allowed a homer to Nolan Schanuel to lead off the game, then pitched a shutout 2nd inning, before yielding a double and an RBI single to Schanuel in the 3rd for a 2-1 game.

But Cortes continued along pitching a decent game, throwing a shutout 4th and trailed 2-1 entering the 5th.

2. Yanks Robbed of Homers by the Winds & the Rain

Meanwhile, Tyler Anderson ended up with a great line: 6 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 7 K’s. And Anderson was tough but he was helped by the wind and the rain — which caused several homerun balls to be pushed back into Yankee Stadium.

3. Chisholm HR Ties It 1-1 in 2nd

Finally — after Wells’ drive was caught at the wall in the 2nd — Jazz Chisholm Jr.rocketed one to right center for a Homer and 1-1 tie at the time.

4. The Ugly 5th Inning in the Pouring Rain

Cortes got the first out of the 5th — a tremendous play by Aaron Judge in center to catch a sinking liner.

Cortes then allowed a single, but got Schanuel to line out for the 2nd out.

So it was 2 outs and a runner on as the rain started to get Heavy. Cortes allowed a double to the red hot Zach Neto, then with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs — went 1-2 on O’Hoppe as the rain got HEAVY — the water pouring off Cortes’s baseball cap, aa he had to put the ball between his legs to keep it dry in between pitches. Cortes missed with 2 pitches to go 3-2, then a foul ball, then another ball and it was bases loaded, 2 outs.

Cortes went 0-2 on Pillar, but Pillar reached out for a sinker low and outside and blooped one into center for 2 runs and a 4-1 game and Cortes was gone.

In came De Los Santos and all hell broke loose. a walk, then a sinking liner to right by Jo Adell that Juan Soto dove for but just missed — it went for a double and 2 runs and a 6-1 game.

A hit-by-pitch and a single later and it was an 8-1 game.

5. Cousins, Hill, & Kahnle Mostly Hold ‘Em

After that, Jake Cousins, Tim Hill, and Tommy Kahnle did well out of the pen — Cousins and Kahnle pitching shutout innings, and Hill allowing a run on an RBI single to guess who — Zach Neto in the 8th to make it 9-1.

6. Yanks Rally in 8th — But Weather Gets ‘Em Again

The Yanks — whose offense seemed snake-bit all evening by homerun balls being pushed back by the wind and the rain and caught at the wall — finally rallied in the bottom of the 8th off Mike Baumann.

DJ LeMahieu singled, Alex Verdugo singled, and Gleyber Torres hit a DRIVE to right that — guess what — was held up by the wind and the rain and caught at the warning track by Jo Adell.

Juan Sot then singled in a run, Aaron Judge lined out, and Giancarlo Stanton singled in a run to make it 9-3.

Austin Wells then hit a drive to right that was — guess what — held up by the wind and rain  and caught at the warning track by Adell.

7. Cabrera Gets to Joyce in 9th

Ben Joyce came in to pitch the 9th for the Angels — as the rain let up. The 6’5 Joyce is known for his 105 MPH fastball.

Oswaldo Cabrera greeted him by hitting a 101-MPH fastball for a homer to opposite-field right and a 9-4 game.

Joyce then struck out Jazz Chisholm, got LeMahieu on a grounder, walked Verdugo, and struck out Gleyber Torres on 3 pitches — 103 MPH, 101 MPH, 103 MPH — for the old ballgame.

Etcetera

Anthony Volpe fouled a pitch off his ankle and was removed from the game. Xrays afterwards were negative.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401570194

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