The New York Yankees played a double header against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. Let’s break down the action!
Game 1
The first game started out looking pretty good for the Yankees, but the lead they had was squandered and they ultimately lost the game.
The game started off very well. Giancarlo Stanton ripped a solo homer to left field to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
Homer No. 22 for @Giancarlo818! Or, should we say, #ASGiancarlo? #YANKSonYES live stream: https://t.co/AWBsagWOFR pic.twitter.com/a4LxNSl3Mm
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 9, 2018
The Bombers added more in the third. Kyle Higashioka doubled to right center field, and then Tyler Wade (yes, that Tyler Wade) singled to center and Higgy advanced to third.
Wade had me rocking back and forth with him in the box. pic.twitter.com/K6HgpL10qC
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) July 9, 2018
Then Aaron Hicks, the Yankees’ hottest hitter before exiting Saturday’s game with leg cramps, roped a ball, but right to first base. Orioles 1B Trey Mancini caught it and stepped on first for the force out, and nailed Higashioka trying to score on the play. It went from first and third and no outs to a man on second and two outs very quickly!
Aaron Judge picked up Hicks and Higgy, though, singling to left and advancing to second on the throw home.
Then Didi Gregorius singled Judge in, and the Yankees had taken a 3-0 lead!
The Orioles got back in it in the fourth when Mark Trumbo launched a two run homer off of CC Sabathia.
Goodbye, Trum?! @Mtrumbo44 goes deep. #Birdland pic.twitter.com/xTOTr3l9Wc
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) July 9, 2018
The Yankees took back one of those runs in the top of the sixth on a Neil Walker RBI single.
Walker? More like hitter, and more like 4-2 Yankees!#YANKSonYES live stream: https://t.co/AWBsagWOFR pic.twitter.com/17UNSnZk0Z
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 9, 2018
The bottom of the sixth, though, is when it all went bad for the Yankees.
Trumbo walked to lead off the inning, and the Jonathan Schoop hit a ball, hard, that went through Neil Walker’s legs and into right field. It was ruled a double by the scorers, likely because of how hard it was hit, but it went right through Neil Walker’s legs.
Manager Aaron Boone trusted CC to work through the second and third, no out jam, but Danny Valencia hit a three-run shot to center and the Orioles took the 6-5 lead.
? @dannyvalencia19 launches an Earl Weaver special to put us up 5-4 in the 6th! #Birdland pic.twitter.com/f3vtyCl0lP
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) July 9, 2018
That ended Sabathia’s day and it also made the final stat line look bad: 5.0+ IP, 7 hits, 5 runs, 4 strikeouts and 3 walks.
Jonathan Holder and AJ Cole came in and provided 3 scoreless innings, combined, to save most of the bullpen for Game 2 of the double header.
A.J. Cole This Season
With Yankees:
16.2 IP, 0.54 ERA, 22 K, 6 BBWith Nationals:
10.1 IP, 13.06 ERA, 10 K, 6 BB— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) July 9, 2018
The Yankees threatened in the ninth. They got a pinch-hit single from Miguel Andujar and he eventually got to third with one out, but Higashioka struck out and Brett Gardner has a pinch-hit groundout.
That one is on the short list for worst loss of the year by the Yankees, as the Orioles are simply an awful team this year. You have to win those games.
Fortunately, the Yanks got to immediately gargle the proverbial mouthwash and play the second game of the twin bill.
Game 2
This game was much better for the Yankees.
I wasn’t optimistic heading into it with Luis Cessa on the hill, but he was excellent in the night cap, tossing 6.0 shutout innings of shutout baseball, 3-hitting the O’s in that time.
As for the offense, the Yankees immediately got to work, scoring in the top of the first on a Didi Gregorius double and taking a 1-0 lead.
The Yankees added two more in the top of the fourth when Neil Walker walked and Brett Gardner rewarded that with a 2-run homer. 3-0 Yankees!
Brett Gardner CRUSHES ONE ?
His 7th blast of the year gives the Yankees a 3-0 lead in Baltimore.#YANKSonYES LIVE stream:https://t.co/guTSRytzVP pic.twitter.com/z8EimMRHno
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 10, 2018
Greg Bird singled in a run in the fifth to tack on one more, but the Yankees exploded and really put the game out of reach in the eighth inning.
Austin Romine has broken out of his slump and fully proved it with a two-run homer to extend the lead to 6-0.
RO-RO WITH A BLAST! ?
Austin Romine takes @29alltime's advice & HITS a 414-foot BOMB.@Yankees take a 6-0 lead!#YANKSonYES LIVE stream:https://t.co/guTSRytzVP pic.twitter.com/nb5aWcNpAS
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 10, 2018
The Yankees got two more in the eighth behind a Gardner double and a throwing error by Jonathan Schoop.
The Orioles did get two runs in the bottom half of the eighth when Tim Beckham homered off of Gio Gallegos, but the Yankees took those runs back in the ninth on a Romine double and a Judge single.
The Yankees took the second game in easy fashion with a 10-2 final score.
The biggest key in the night cap was getting 6 strong innings from Cessa and then 3 satisfactory innings from Gallegos. They didn’t burn up the pen.
In the double header, they didn’t have to use Adam Warren, David Robertson, Chad Green, Dellin Betances, or Aroldis Chapman! That’s huge and should prove a massive benefit in getting through the rest of this series against the Orioles.
Featured Image via Flickr/Keith Allison
