Source: FanGraphs
That was a Bad Loss. Three-run lead against the team with the worst record in the league? That’s a win you have to take to the bank. Instead, the Yankees gave the game away in the sixth and seventh innings and the Athletics walked away with the 5-4 series-opening win. This was a West Coast night game, and West Coast night games get bullet point recaps:
- Two Bad Pitches: For the most part, CC Sabathia pitched well on Thursday night, except for those two bad pitches. He left a changeup out over the plate for Billy Burns and another for Brett Lawrie, and both were hit out of the park. Burns hit a solo homer and Lawrie a game-tying two-run shot in the sixth. Sabathia was doing just fine until that pitch to Lawrie ruined everything. The end result: 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. I feel that’s worse than Sabathia actually pitched. Blame David Carpenter for predictably allowing two inherited runners to score.
- Gas On The Fire: I can’t imagine Carpenter will be around much longer. Joe Girardi sent Sabathia out for the top of the seventh, he put the first two runners on, then Carpenter made a mess of everything. He got one out on a bunt (he made a nice play to get the force at third), loaded the bases on a single, walked in the go-ahead run (!), then allowed an insurance run on a sac fly. Awful. Carpenter’s allowed at least one run in seven of his last ten outings. The Yanks have too many good arms in Triple-A to keep running him out there. The game was lost when he came in.
- Four Runs Ain’t Enough: The Yankees scored four runs because the top of the order did damage. They didn’t score more than four runs because the bottom order is a series of black holes. Brian McCann hit a solo homer and had a run-scoring single, Alex Rodriguez drove in a run with a sac fly, and Brett Gardner doubled in a run in the ninth. That’s the good. Stephen Drew popped up and Chris Young struck out with runners on second and third in the fourth, and Didi Gregorius flew out with runners on first and second in the sixth. That’s the bad. The Yankees went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Top of the order can’t do everything every game, fellas.
- Leftovers: Chasen Shreve got the final out of the seventh and tossed a perfect eighth. I’m pretty sure he’s the team’s third best reliever right now … McCann went 3-for-4 while the rest of the lineup went 5-for-30. Gardner had three of the other hits … A-Rod made a nice little “slide” to score on McCann’s single. He narrowly avoided Josh Phegley’s tag and was able to juuust touch the plate. Replay confirmed he was safe … Beltran’s 15-game hit streak came to an end … Chase Headley flew out to the warning track to end the game with Gardner on second. Blah.
Here are the box score, video highlights, updated standings, Bullpen Workload page, and Announcer Standings page. The Yankees and A’s will continue this series with the second game on Friday night. Chris Capuano and Sonny Gray is the lopsided pitching matchup.
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