Happ & the Bullpen, and Cameron Maybin — June 18, 2019: NY 6 Tampa 3

Happ and the Bullpen, and Cameron Maybin. Like a poem.

And the Yankees are like Poetry in Motion — now 2.5 games in 1st after beating Tampa on a rainy night at the Stadium, 6-3.

And Luke Voit — 3 for 3 with a walk. And DJ LeMahieu — 2 for 5 and led off the game with a single, and then scored on a Gary Sanchez DEEP sac fly to center to make it 1-0 Yanks in the first. Having LeMahieu and Voit rhyme at the top of the lineup — giving the Yankee lineup amazing on-base capabilities.

JA Happ (now 7-3 4.59) surrendered the lead with a run in the 2nd and a run in the 3rd — on singles and doubles — and some on Yankee twitter were using the “sucks” adjective to describe him. But he did what JA Happ does on a decent night — kept the Yanks in the game.

Tampa “Opener” Strategy Fails

And then it was back to LeMahieu and Voit — both singling in runs in the 5th with 1 out to give the Yanks back the lead. Tampa manager Kevin Cash had just taken out reliever Ryan Yarbrough and brought in Chaz Roe — who was immediately greeted by 4 straight singles by Cameron Maybin, Gleyber Torres, LeMahieu, and Voit for the 3-2 Yankee lead. Tampa had started “Opener” Ryne Stanek, and then brought in Yarbrough in the 3rd. But sometimes when you reach out to too many relievers, you’ll find one having a dud night and that’s the ballgame. A clear hole in the “Opener” strategy.

The Ballpen

The Yanks strategy of “good enough” starter (Happ) for 5 innings, then the vaulted ballpen (Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle, Zach Britton, and Aroldis Chapman) worked. Kahnle allowed a run in the 7th to make it 4-3 on a nobody-out double by Travis d’Arnaud — but then got tough and struck out the next two batters, and got a groundout.

And Cameron  Maybin

Cameron Maybin (3 for 4) homered in the 7th for an insurance run and make it 5-3 — his 4th straight game with a homerun.

Gonna party like we just hit 21 (in-a-row). pic.twitter.com/CIHUDTRTQJ

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 19, 2019

“He had a batting practice in Chicago that — I mean it was really, really impressive,” said Aaron Boone. “He’s in a really good place up there… He’s doing a good job of putting the ball in the air with authority, and I think he’s believing that ‘if I can control the zone here I don’t have to put the ball on the ground or anything I can get my A swing off.”

Edwin Encarnacion hit a SHOT to the opposite field — right centerfield bleachers — for his first hit and homer as a Yankee and then the parrot trot around the bases.

Born to Fly. pic.twitter.com/QP7yB3Zx94

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 19, 2019

Other Yanks

Giancarlo Stanton — in his first game back after the long IL stint — went 0 for 4 — popping up behind the plate and striking out twice — and got booed by some Yankee fans. He made a terrific play in right field early in the game, catching a ball in the stands. Aaron Hicks and Didi Gregorius both took the collar (0-4).

Giancarlo Stanton may not have had a hit in his return last night, but he did rob Travis d'Arnaud with this impressive catch. #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/xp9LiRgtyl

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) June 19, 2019

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=401075826