Man, what an amazing and unexpected win. The Yankees were down 4-0 in the blink of an eye Wednesday night, but the pitching staff went into lockdown mode and gave the offense not only a chance to tie the game, but win it in extras. The final score was 5-4 Yankees in 13 innings. They managed to take two of three from the red hot Royals in Kansas City. What a game. What a series.
Cessa Settles Down
Luis Cessa’s worst Major League start was, in a way, also his most impressive. This was the first time he faced some real adversity. He dominated a weak Angels lineup in his first start, then got a ton of run support against the Orioles in his second start. This was an important game, and right away, Cessa put the Yankees in a 2-0 hole. He hung a first pitch curveball to Kendrys Morales that went for a two-run home run in the first inning.
A two-base error by Chase Headley and a double by Alcides Escobar gave the Royals a 3-0 lead in the second, then, in the third, Eric Hosmer poked a solo home run just inside the foul pole to the opposite field. Cessa didn’t even make a bad pitch. It was a changeup right where Gary Sanchez wanted it. Hosmer just went out and got it. The Yankees were down 4-0 after three innings and Cessa was looking shaky as hell. The only pitch he had working was the changeup. He couldn’t locate anything else.
The bullpen was a little short thanks to Tuesday night’s rain delay and extra innings affair, so Joe Girardi couldn’t afford to pull Cessa early. He had to stick with him and get some length, and to Cessa’s credit, he settled down and retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced. One of the two baserunners was an infield single. No, Cessa was not good overall (6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 HR), but he didn’t completely melt down either. He stopped the bleeding and gave the offense a chance to get back into the game. Way to grind it out, Luis.
Rally To Tie
Through five innings the Yankees could only muster three singles and one double against former Yankee Ian Kennedy. They did put runners on first and second with one out in the fifth, but Aaron Hicks and Brett Gardner both flew out to end the rally. It seemed like one of those nights for the offense. They were down early and weren’t going to be able to get anything going. We’ve seen that happen enough this season.
But! The Yankees did not go quietly. They rallied for three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh to tie the game 4-4. The big blow in the sixth inning was Starlin Castro’s booming two-run home run. Kennedy gave up a ton of long fly balls all night, balls that probably would have been home runs at Yankee Stadium, and it wasn’t until the sixth inning that he paid for one. No. 19 of the season for Castro, extending his career high.
Hicks played a huge role in the team’s fourth run of the game. He worked a one-out walk to end Kennedy’s night, then went first-to-third on Gardner’s bloop single. It looked like it might drop in no man’s land, but who knows with Kansas City’s outfield defense. Hicks read it well and was going first-to-third all the way. Jacoby Ellsbury drove him in with a sacrifice fly to tie the game. (One pitch earlier, Cheslor Cuthbert came up just short on his diving catch attempt on Ellsbury’s foul pop-up. Huge.)
No Runs SLWPHB
For at least one series, the good version of Chasen Shreve returned. He recorded the final two outs of Tuesday’s nail-biting win, and in this game he chucked two scoreless innings in relief of Cessa. A scoreless seventh and a scoreless eighth. He cut right through the top and middle of the lineup too. Man, getting 2015 Shreve back these last few weeks would be huge. The Yankees need all the help they can get in the middle innings.
The two bullpens traded zeros until the 13th inning. Guys named Brian Flynn and Blake Parker and Brooks Pounders and Matt Strahm all saw action. Parker almost gave it up in the 11th on a walk, a hit batsman, and two stolen bases, but Paulo Orlando lined out to Castro to end the inning. That was pretty dicey. Ben Heller, who looked like a deer in the headlights Tuesday, threw with conviction in the bottom of the 12th and got three quick ground outs. Much, much better Ben.
The Yankees blew a bases loaded, one out opportunity in the top of the 12th, partly due to some bad luck. Sanchez ripped a line drive towards left, but Cuthbert was standing right there. Mark Teixeira swung at ball four (via Brooks Baseball) …
… and grounded out to end the inning. Blah. At least Chris Young gave the Yankees another chance in the 13th. Didi Gregorius singled and Castro doubled to start the frame, then Brian McCann got the run in with a two-strike sac fly. After all of that, the Yankees led 5-4 in the 13th. Unfortunately Aaron Judge struck out and Gardner grounded out, so no insurance runs scored. One-run lead it is.
Dellin Betances came on for the 13th inning save opportunity, and as he tends to do, he looked like he had no idea where the ball was going. Betances walked Cuthbert to start the inning, which is bad for many reasons. Most notably because he’s easy to steal against and the middle of the order was coming up. Things were looking ominous until Hosmer hit a tapper back up the middle that Dellin fielded between his damn legs and turned into a 1-6-3 double play. I mean, what?
Morales hit a slightly scary but ultimately routine fly ball to right to end the game as the very next batter. The bullpen: 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K. The Royals’ last hit was Salvador Perez’s infield single in the sixth. Their last hit to the outfield was Perez’s one-out single in the third. Shreve, Parker, and Heller in particular came up huge. The Yankees were long overdue for a “random relievers thrown five scoreless innings” game, and those three did it. Bravo.
Leftovers
The Yankees went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and of course the one hit didn’t even score a run. It was Gardner’s single in the 12th, which advanced Headley to third. Third base coach Joe Espada threw up the stop sign with one out, which made sense because Orlando has a strong arm. No one could have known Orlando would airmail the third to the backstop. Alas.
All told the Yankees had eleven hits, including three by Castro and two each by Gardner and Headley. Starlin was a monster in August. He hit .313/.333/.571 in the month. Drove in 24 runs in 28 games too. McCann and Hicks were the only starters without a hit, but McCann had the game-winning sac fly and Hicks playing a big role in the game-tying run. Contributions up and down the lineup.
And finally, in case you missed it earlier, Hicks left the game with a right hamstring strain. He hurt himself busting it down the line on a ground ball. Remember to never hustle, kids. The Yankees didn’t say anything about the severity of the injury. I imagine an MRI is forthcoming.
Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
For the box score and updated standings, head on over to ESPN. The Yankees are only 2.5 games back of the second wildcard spot. Amazing. MLB.com is the place for the video highlights. We have Bullpen Workload and Announcer Standings pages too. Here’s the absolutely ridiculous win probability graph:
Source: FanGraphs
Up Next
The Yankees are done in Kansas City and now they’re heading to Baltimore for yet another important series against a wildcard competitor. But first: a much-needed off-day. The Yankees don’t have a game Thursday. When the series at Camden Yards starts Friday, Dylan Bundy will be on the mound for the O’s. For some reason the Yankees have all three of their starters for the weekend listed as TBA. Okie dokie. Friday is Chad Green’s spot, for what it’s worth.
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