Baseball, man. The Yankees went from staring a no-hitter and a humiliating loss in the face in the eighth inning to celebrating a huge walk-off win in the ninth. I don’t know if this was the best win of the season, but it was very satisfying and it certainly feels like the most improbable. The final score was 5-4.
All With Two Outs
For the first time in his ten starts this season, Michael Pineda allowed more than two runs on Thursday night. He served up three runs on one swing and it all happened with two outs. Wil Myers beat out an infield single with two outs in the fourth, Matt Joyce followed with a solid single to center, then Yunel Escobar unloaded on a hanging slider for a three-run homer into the first row in left field. I though it was gone off the bat. Kinda surprised me when it only landed in the first row. Either way, it was a three-run homer.
Escobar took Pineda deep for a solo homer in the seventh inning on a nearly identical pitch, a hanging slider that he hit out to left. This one had a little more distance than the first dinger. Pineda allowed four runs in 7.1 innings on Thursday, making this his worst non-pine tar start of the season. He struck out two and didn’t walk anyone because he never walks anyone — Pineda has walked four batters in 57.1 innings this year. That’s nuts. Giving up two homers to Yunel friggin’ Escobar is pretty annoying, but that’s life. Pineda was bound to have a dud eventually.
No No-No
The Yankees did not get their first real base-runner until Brian McCann drew a one-out walk in the seventh inning. The only guy they put on base in the first six innings came when center fielder Kevin Kiermaier dropped Stephen Drew’s fly ball leading off the third. It wasn’t a routine play, he did have to go back on the ball a bit, but he had a second to camp under it and the ball hit off his glove. Clearly an error. The Yankees didn’t even see their first three-ball count until there was one out in the fifth inning. Alex Cobb was mowing them down.
Mark Teixeira followed McCann’s walk with a walk of his own, which was the first sign Cobb was starting to lose it a bit with his pitch count approaching 90. Chase Headley struck out and Ichiro Suzuki popped out to end the mini-rally, however. The Yankees got their first base hit in the next inning, when Chris Young ripped a legitimate line drive double into the left-center field gap with one out in the eighth. Cobb left a fastball up and out over the plate, which is something a tiring pitcher tends to do. Not getting no-hit felt like a win all by itself. It really looked it would happen for a good while.
The team’s second hit of the night came one batter after Young broke up the no-hitter. The hobbling Martin Prado pinch-hit for Brendan Ryan and clubbed a two-run homer to left field to give the Yankees some life. Derek Jeter was hit by a pitch (more on that in a sec) and McCann reached on a James Loney error with two outs in eighth to bring the go-ahead run to the plate, but Teixeira struck out on three pitches to end the threat. That one is in the running for the worst at-bat of the year. Strike one looking, strike two looking, strike three swinging through a belt high fastball. End of rally.
Win It For Chase’s Chin
The game-winning ninth inning rally started the hard way. Headley took a Jake McGee fastball to the chin leading off the ninth inning and was down on the ground for several minutes. Eventually he walked off the field under his power. It’s always so scary whenever a player gets hit up around the face. Headley looked to be responsive but there was blood and you could already see some swelling. He’s heading to tests on his jaw. Scary.
The hit by pitch did spark the rally though, so it did not go for naught. Ichiro followed with an opposite field hustle double, putting the tying run in scoring position with no outs. Pinch-hitter Zelous Wheeler swung through three McGee fastballs for the first out, but then September hero Chris Young jumped all over a fastball up in the zone, sending the pitch out to left field for a three-run walk-off homer. He knew it was gone off the bat based on his rather aggressive bat flip. The Yankees went from losing 4-0 and being no-hit to walking off with a win in the span of three offensive outs. It was the first homer McGee allowed all season. This team, man.
Leftovers
Jeter took a Brad Boxberger fastball to the elbow in the eighth inning. It looked like it hit his elbow guard but he was still in a lot of pain. (Post-game x-rays came back negative.) Given his impending retirement and the fact that the season is almost over, I know I wasn’t the only one who suddenly worried his playing days were over because of some sort of fracture or whatever. Thankfully Jeter remained in the game and seemed to be fine. That was kinda scary for a minute.
Rich Hill bailed out Pineda in the seventh inning by striking out both Loney and Joyce with a runner on second base. There was an intentional walk of Myers mixed in there as well. The Yankees pulled someone named Chaz Roe out of the bleachers and he walked the leadoff guy in the ninth after getting ahead in the count 0-2. Josh Outman got his lefty out on a sac bunt and Shawn Kelley finished the inning with two ground balls. Five pitchers to get the last six outs.
Young’s homer was the team’s fourth walk-off homer of the season and second of the homestand — Headley walked off against Koji Uehara and the Red Sox one week ago. Carlos Beltran and McCann had the other walk-off homers. Headley, McCann, and Prado also had walk-off singles, giving the Yankees seven walk-off wins this year. They had seven last year as well, which surprised me. I can’t remember any of them right now. Drawing a blank.
Ichiro threw Loney out at the plate on Joyce’s single to end the sixth inning. It wasn’t a perfect throw by any stretch — it was a three or four hopper along the first base line — but McCann did a great job of catching the ball and lunging across the plate to tag the very slow Loney. A runner with even average speed would have been safe by a mile. Loney slid a little early and didn’t even touch the plate. Pretty big in hindsight.
Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
MLB.com is the place to go for the box score and video highlights. FanGraphs has some other stats and ESPN has the up to the minute standings. Both the Tigers and Mariners were off on Thursday, so the Yankees are now four games back of the second wildcard spot with 18 left to play. FanGraphs has their postseason odds at 2.5%.
Source: FanGraphs
Up Next
The Yankees are off to Baltimore for a four-game weekend series with the Orioles. The two teams will make up the August 12th rainout as part of a doubleheader Friday. Brandon McCarthy and Kevin Gausman will be the pitching matchup for the first game.
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