The last couple of weeks haven’t been easy for this Yankees team. It won’t get any easier as they now turn to play playoff hopefuls.
The New York Yankees haven’t started September the way they expected. Just recently, the Yankees were handed their third consecutive series loss, this time at the hands of the Texas Rangers. Even worse, they lost to a team unlikely to make a playoff run this October. As a result of this loss, they have fallen out of first place in the AL East. The Baltimore Orioles have caught up with them. Luckily, Baltimore who had the chance to build up their lead in the division, lost the last game of their series to the Chicago White Sox. Entering Thursday, the Yankees trail Baltimore by just half a game.
Baltimore currently owns the season head-to-head advantage. The teams have one more series together this month in the Bronx. That series could determine who will be crowned AL East champs. New York will now travel to Chicago to take on the Cubs. It will be the first time since 2017 when the Yankees last played at Wrigley Field. Not to mention, this will mark 1B Anthony Rizzo’s return to Wrigley Field as a visitor since the trade went down between both teams three years ago. This series will be interesting to watch as both fight for playoff spots down the stretch.
Yankees Use Five-Run Sixth Inning to Put Away Defending Champs in Series Opener
Monday’s opener featured a Yankees offense that has struggled to put away teams late in games. But that did change in Monday’s victory over the Rangers. The big blow of the inning began in the sixth, when the Yankees sent all nine batters to the plate. 2B Gleyber Torres started the rally with an infield single, followed by a single from OF Juan Soto. Then Aaron Judge smoked a liner down the third base line to score Torres and end LHP Jack Leiter’s night.
New York wasn’t done scoring. The hits continued to implode against Rangers RHP Chase Anderson, who served up a bloop RBI single to 3B Jazz Chisholm. Moments after, Rizzo picked up a bloop two-run double to left field. Chisholm then came along to score on a wild pitch. Last but not least, DH Giancarlo Stanton would record the final Yankees run of the night with a solo blast in the eighth. It was his 25th home run of the season for Stanton, who now has 10 seasons with 25 or more home runs.
Then there was RHP Gerrit Cole. Prior to this start, Cole has been pitching well as of late. He tossed six strong innings, in which he struck out nine and walked one while limited Texas to just one run. It was enough for him to earn the win. Unfortunately, Cole couldn’t get through the seventh inning as he had to exit due to cramping in his right calf. The bullpen took care of business the rest of the way.
Carlos Rodon Dominating Start Wasted
Going up for the Yankees in the second game of the series was LHP Carlos Rodon. Lately, he has been pitching as well as he ever has. Rodon gave up just a run and a hit while fanning 11 Texas batters. Unfortunately, he would only receive a no-decision. The reason is thanks to the blown save by RP Clay Holmes, who served up a game-winning grand slam to OF Wyatt Langford. This loss hurts for the Yankees who are in a closely contested race for the AL East crown.
Speaking of the offense, it was shut down for five innings by Rangers starter Andrew Heaney. But that is not surprising at all. New York seemed to struggle against left-handed pitchers all year. That seemed to be their weakness on the offensive side. The scoring did not start until a C Jose Trevino RBI groundout in the seventh inning that tied the game up at one. The Yankees would add one more in the inning on an RBI single from OF Alex Verdugo, making it 2-1.
The following inning, New York added some insurance runs on a two-run single by SS Anthony Volpe to make it 4-1. Though it was not enough as Texas was able to rally late to complete the comeback in dramatic fashion.
Late Inning Rally Falls Shorts in Series Finally
Down 10-2 entering the ninth inning, the Yankees had a chance to make some noise. Following a late grand slam by pinch-hitter OF Trent Grisham, New York did make things interesting. The lead was cut down to four. Moments later, things were more interesting as the Yankees kept the game alive on back-to-back hits. Unluckily for the Yankees, the game would come to an end on a fly out by Giancarlo Stanton. Langford, the hero of the previous game, robbed what would have been a three-run home run.
Another storyline for this loss was the performance of RHP Marcus Stroman. He got rocked in this start, giving up five runs on nine hits. Even worse, he only lasted for three-and-two-thirds innings.
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