Source: FanGraphs
The Yankees are now 13-14 against last place teams this season. Thank goodness for that 8-4 record against the Red Sox, huh? This team really knows how to play down to the competition. The Yankees looked bad in all phases of the game Friday night, losing 7-3 to the Indians. It’s Friday night, so let’s recap with bullet points:
- Almost Out Of The Inning: Masahiro Tanaka allowed four runs (three earned) in six innings and it could have easily been two runs in six innings. He got the soft ground ball to end the fifth with runners on the corners, but Brendan Ryan bobbled it, and the run scored. Very routine play that gets made like 999 times out of a 1,000. This was the one. Joe Girardi also sent Tanaka back out for the seventh, watched him put the leadoff runner on, then yanked him. Batter-to-batter is easily my least favorite managerial move. The bullpen allowed the runner to score. Tanaka wasn’t great by any means, but he didn’t much help from the rest of the team either.
- Just Short: The Yankees scored just one run against the dominant Carlos Carrasco — he joined Dallas Keuchel as the only pitchers to strike out 11+ Yankees this year — and that run came with two outs in the fourth. Carlos Beltran doubled and Greg Bird singled him in. Nice and easy. The Yankees rallied against the bullpen in the eighth, getting two run on three singles (Brett Gardner, Chase Headley, Alex Rodriguez) and an error (Jose Ramirez). That got them to within 4-3. A walk loaded the bases with two outs, bringing Stephen Drew to the plate. Shockingly, the guy with a .263 OBP made an out. It would have been a letdown had it not been so predictable.
- Blown Open: Not a great night for the usually reliable bullpen. Chasen Shreve allowed Tanaka’s inherited runner to score on a Michael Brantley single, then Justin Wilson allowed three runs on four hits in the top of the ninth. The inning would have ended with just one run on the board had Drew been able to complete the 5-4-3 double play, but alas. Wilson’s been awesome. A bad inning was bound to happen at some point.
- Leftovers: Gardner had two hits while Headley, A-Rod, Beltran, Bird, pinch-hitter Jacoby Ellsbury, and Drew had one hit each … Ellsbury and Gardner drew walks, and Gardner stole a base … Brian McCann is clearly favoring his left leg, the one he hurt a few weeks ago, because he’s changed his batting stance drastically (video) … and finally, Ramirez, the Indians nine-hole hitter, went 3-for-3 with a walk. He’s hitting .455 against the Yankees this year and .184 against everyone else.
Here are the box score, video highlights, updated standings, and postseason odds. Also check out our Bullpen Workload and Announcer Standings pages. The Yankees have already lost the season series to the Indians but will try to salvage this four-game series starting Saturday afternoon. It’ll be Luis Severino and Danny Salazar on the bump. Oh, and by the way, it’s Jorge Posada day! No. 20 will be retired in a pre-game ceremony. Fun fun fun.
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