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Yankeemetrics: Sweepless in Seattle (Sept. 7-9)

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(AP)

Ace Tanaka
The Yankees made sure that there would be no hangover from their miserable blowout loss in the series finale at Oakland, as they rebounded to beat the Mariners on Friday night, 4-0.

The win improved the Yankees to 53-29 all-time at Safeco Field, the best record at the ballpark by any team. They completely dominated the Mariners, who had just four baserunners (three hits, one walk) thanks to another gem from Masahiro Tanaka. It was the first time the Yankees blanked the Mariners while giving up no more than three hits since May 14, 1996 … Dwight Gooden’s memorable no-hitter in the Bronx.

Tanaka was stellar, tossing eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks. Only one runner reached third base, and he retired 13 batters in row between a first-inning two-out single by Robinson Cano and a sixth-inning leadoff double by Mike Zunino. Tanaka is the first pitcher in franchise history with a 10-strikeout, no-walk scoreless outing against the Mariners. It was his fifth career double-digit, zero-walk game; the only Yankee with more is Mike Mussina (7).

The brilliant performance also extended his run of dominant ace-like performances since the All-Star break. His 2.30 ERA in the second half of the season is the third-best among AL pitchers (min. 30 IP), behind only Blake Snell (1.42) and David Price (1.78).

Gleyber Torres gave Tanaka some early run support with his 23rd home run of the season in the second inning, a two-run bomb that also was his 100th career hit. Torres (21 years, 268 days old) is the youngest Yankee to reach the century-hit milestone since a 20-year-old Mickey Mantle in 1952. He also matched Mantle on this home run leaderboard of franchise legends:

Longballs FTW
The Bombers used their two trademark offensive weapon home runs and almost-homers (sac flies) to beat the Mariners on Saturday night, 4-2. They lead the majors in both categories (232 homers, 51 sac flies) — and by large margins. Entering Sunday, their 34-homer lead was nearly the same as the difference between the second-place teams (Dodgers and A’s, 198) and the 15th place team (Phillies, 165). And their six-sac fly lead was the same as the difference between the second-place Pirates (45) and the eighth-place Diamondbacks (39).

(AP)

Andrew McCutchen got the deep-ball party started when he cranked a leadoff homer in the top of the first. McCutchen is the third different Yankee to hit a leadoff blast this season (Gardner has three and Hicks has one). The last time they had a trio of players each with at least one leadoff homer was 1995, when four guys — Tony Fernandez, Bernie Williams, Luis Polonia, Wade Boggs — did it.

After Seattle tied it up in the third, Giancarlo Stanton put them ahead again in the fifth with a sacrifice fly to right, his 10th with the team. He is one of four Yankees to hit double-digit sac flies and 30 homers in a season:

The Mariners quickly knotted it up again in the bottom of the fifth, but Austin Romine finally gave the Yankees the lead for good with a solo blast in the seventh. It was his first career go-ahead homer in the seventh inning or later.

(USA Today)

Dellin Betances survived a shaky ninth inning for his third save of the season. He loaded the bases with one out and then struck out Denard Span and Kyle Seager swinging to seal the win. Opponents are 5-for-50 (.100) with the bases loaded against Betances in his career, and he’s whiffed nearly half (28) of them (58). That .100 batting average allowed is the lowest among all active MLB pitchers (min. 50 batters faced).

(AP)

WTF loss to the Mariners
All streaks must come to an end, right? The Bombers domination of the Mariners was snapped in abrupt fashion on Sunday, losing 3-2 on a fantastic game-ending catch by Mitch Haniger with the Yankees potential game-tying run on base. Prior to that loss, they had won seven in a row against the Mariners, and were going for the season series sweep. It would have been the first time ever that the Yankees swept a season series against an AL West team since divisional play began in 1969.

The big story of the game was another RISP-fail showing by the offense, which went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position. That included a no-out, bases-loaded situation in the fourth inning that resulted in a single run scored when Andrew McCutchen took ball four on a full-count. The Bronx Walkers’ 14 bases-loaded walks are tied for the fourth-most in MLB this season, while their batting average and slugging percentage both rank 23rd.

(USA Today)

CC Sabathia battled through a rough first two innings but was able to limit the damage (two runs) and retired 11 of the final 13 batters he faced. Sabathia’s 2.24 ERA in 15 career starts at Safeco Field is the third-lowest at the ballpark among all pitchers with at least 10 starts there, behind Bartolo Colon (1.98) and Dan Haren (2.00).

Giancarlo Stanton — along with making the final out of the game — ended the no-hitter version of this game early with a first-inning double, his 30th of the season. Round number alert: he is the first Yankee with at least 30 homers and 30 doubles since Robinson Cano in 2012, the first Yankee right-handed batter to do it since Alex Rodriguez in 2008, and the first Yankee DH/outfielder to achieve both marks in a season since Hideki Matsui in 2004.

Yankeemetrics: West Coast nightmare (Sept 3-5)

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(AP)

Ugly homecoming for Sabathia
The Yankees nine-game, 10-day road trip got off to a miserable start in Oakland with a 6-3 loss on Monday afternoon. The three runs masked a lackluster offensive showing, as they were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and managed just four hits while striking out 11 times. The last time the Yankees had four or fewer hits and struck out 11 or more times in a game against the A’s … World War II was still more than one month away from officially ending — July 27, 1945.

(AP)

CC Sabathia had one of his worst outings of the season, lasting just 3 1/3 innings while getting tagged for five runs (four earned) on seven hits and lots of loud contact. Six of the 13 balls in play against him were line drives, a season-high rate of 46.2 percent. The Bay Area native now owns a 5.38 career ERA in 11 starts at Oakland Coliseum, his second-highest mark at any stadium where he’s made more than five starts (5.68 at Rangers Ballpark is his worst).

The most impressive Yankee pitching performance was turned in by Jonathan Loaisiga, who threw two scoreless innings with four strikeouts — each of them swinging — and one hit allowed. He was excellent in pounding the outer edges of the zone against righties with his fastball-slider combo, netting six whiffs and six called strikes on 25 pitches.

[Monday vs A’s]
Although Gleyber Torres was 0-for-3 with a walk, it’s still worth noting that Monday was his 100th career game, giving us a chance for a sweet #FunFact to celebrate his century-game milestone in the big leagues:

Torres is one of five players in AL history age 21 or younger with at least 20 homers, a .350 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage through their first 100 career games. The others: Jose Canseco, Tony Conigliaro, Joe DiMaggio and Hal Trosky. Fun list, eh?

King Louis
Thanks to #toomanyhomers, the Yankees overcame another bout of early-inning dead-bats disease and rallied for a 5-1 win on Tuesday night, snapping their five-game losing streak in Oakland. After getting no-hit through 5 2/3 innings, the offense exploded for seven hits and five runs in the final three innings en route to what turned into an easy victory.

This type of late-inning rally has become commonplace for the Yankees, who improved to an impressive 12-6 when tied at the start of the eighth inning. Last year they were 5-7 in those games, and the 12 wins are their most in a season since going 15-0(!) in 2009.

(AP)

The Yankees tied the game at 1-1 in the seventh after an Aaron Hicks bases-loaded walk — his AL-leading fourth bases-loaded walk of the season — and then pulled ahead in the next frame when Luke Voit led off the eighth with a solo home run. It was Voit’s seventh longball with the Yankees, and fifth that either tied the game or gave the team a lead. Obscure Yankeemetric Alert! The last Yankee with a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later in Oakland was Jason Giambi on April 14, 2007, a solo shot in the top of the 13th that propelled the Yankees to a 4-3 comeback win.

J.A. Happ bounced back from his worst start as a Yankee to deliver one of his best starts as a Yankee. He made one mistake in his gem (a solo homer in the second inning), but otherwise turned in a masterful six-inning, two-hit, one-run performance. In two outings against the best teams he’s faced as a Yankee — Tuesday vs the A’s and August 14 vs the Rays — he’s pitched a combined 13 innings, faced 45 batters, allowed three hits and just one run in those games.

(Getty)

Terrible terrible Sevy
The Yankees visit to the Bay Area ended with an disaster-filled dud, getting manhandled by the A’s 8-2 on Wednesday night. The Oakland Coliseum has become of house of horrors for the Bombers recently. They are now 7-18 (.280) at the stadium since the 2012 All-Star break, their worst win percentage at any AL ballpark over the last six and a half seasons, and the second-worst win percentage by any AL team there in that span (Twins are 4-16).

Pitching against the team that the Yankees are most likely to face in the Wild Card Game, Luis Severino had his worst start of the season, a total disaster in which he lasted just 2 2/3 innings and was blasted for six runs on six hits. The A’s rocked Severino from the start, as four of the first five batters pounded him with three scorched doubles and a line-drive single, plating four runs before Severino even recorded the second out of the first inning.

Those hits weren’t cheapies, either, they had exit velocities of 109.6, 106.3, 103.1 and 103.8 mph. Before Wednesday, he’d never allowed more than two 103-plus-mph hits in any single inning in his career. His lack of command was startling as Severino not only served up multiple meatball pitches but also threw two wild pitches and Gary Sanchez was charged with two passed balls. Sanchez has allowed 29 passed balls over the last two seasons, the most of any catcher in MLB in that span.

This game was an absolute debacle, yes, but it did produce a notable Milestone Alert. When Severino struck out Stephen Piscotty for the second out, it was his 200th strikeout of the season, the second straight season he’s reached that mark. Two other pitchers in franchise history have recorded multiple 200-K seasons, but none have done it three times.

Also, the 24-year-old became one of seven pitchers in the last four decades to record back-to-back 200-strikeout seasons before the age of 25. The others: Clayton Kershaw (2010-12), Yovani Gallardo (2009-10), Felix Hernandez (2009-10), Roger Clemens (1986-87), Fernando Valenzuela (1984-85) and Dwight Gooden (1984-86).

Yankeemetrics: Gleyber Day Weekend (Aug. 31-Sept. 2)

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(Newsday)

Bad Dellin
Even in a season in which they’re on pace for their best record in a decade, the Yankees continue to find new ways to lose games. On Thursday night they suffered one of the most shocking upsets of the season as they coughed up a two-run cushion in the top of the ninth inning and lost 8-7 to the Tigers.

It was the first time they lost a home game they led by multiple runs at the start of the ninth since August 27, 2012 against the Blue Jays. Every other team had at least one such loss in that span. Going back further, the only other time in the last 15 seasons — since 2004 — that the Yankees lost a game in the Bronx they led by at least two runs entering the ninth was June 28, 2012 vs the White Sox.

J.A. Happ threw his worst start in pinstripes, allowing five runs on 10 hits, including three game-changing homers. It’s hard to do all that while getting no more than 13 outs. The last Yankee to give up at least 10 hits, five runs and three bombs in an outing of 4 1/3 innings or fewer was Carl Pavano on May 11, 2005. Ugh.

Giancarlo Stanton had a historic night as he finally went deep for his 300th career home run, a two-run shot in the third inning that gave the Yankees a brief 2-1 lead. He became the fifth-fastest to reach the mark in terms of games (1,119).

Stanton is also in an exclusive club in terms of his age and power/on-base ability. Among right-handed batters, the only other players to compile at least 300 homers and an OBP of .350 or better through their age-28 season are Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Jimmie Foxx.

The goat of the game was Dellin Betances, who surrendered consecutive home runs in the ninth inning as a 7-5 advantage quickly became an 8-7 loss. This was the first time in his career he allowed multiple homers in a game. Obscure Yankeemetric Alert: Since 1925, only one other Yankee pitcher allowed back-to-back game-tying and go-ahead homers in the ninth inning of a game: Catfish Hunter on April 18, 1976 against the Minnesota Twins. Betances had been lights-out over the past three months before Thursday’s implosion:

Dellin Betances Since May 27
IP R HR Batters
Faced
Thursday 1 3 2 6
Previous 35 Games 33.2 2 1 129

Early Gleyber Day Celebration
The Yankees rebounded from Thursday’s crushing loss with another crazy comeback win on Friday. They finished August with a 17-13 (.567) record, which was their worst monthly record of the season — but that still put them in elite company. The last time the Yankees had a win percentage of .567 or better in each of the first five months of the season (combining March/April) was 1998.

Down 3-0 and without a hit through the first 5 1/3 innings, the Yankees exploded for four runs over a four-batter span in the sixth thanks to a trio of homers — a two-run shot by Brett Gardner that cut the deficit to 3-2, a game-tying solo homer by Aaron Hicks and a go-ahead blast from Miguel Andujar. Andujar’s dinger was his fifth that either tied the game or gave the team a lead in the sixth inning or later, which leads all Yankees. Oh and he put himself on this graphic too:

The Yankees would need another rally, however, after Zach Britton suffered a meltdown as he tried to protect the one-run lead, yielding a game-tying single in the seventh and a sac fly in the eighth. It was the first time in his career as a reliever that he surrendered a go-ahead sacrifice fly.

Britton was saved from goat status by the clutch hitting of Gleyber Torres, who delivered a game-winning bases-loaded two-run single in the eighth inning. It was his fifth game-tying/go-ahead hit in the eighth inning or later, the most on the Yankees this season.

(AP)

Two is enough
The comeback mojo continued on Saturday as the Yankees overcame another sluggish start offensively and rallied to win, 2-1, despite getting only two hits. This is the third time in the last three seasons they’ve won a game with no more than two hits; before this stretch, it hadn’t happened since 1994.

Oh, and there’s this stat too: Their three wins with two hits or fewer since the start of 2016 are the most of any team.

But what made this win so unique is the fact that the Yankees also struck out 10 times. Obscure Yankeemetric alert! Saturday was the 18th time since 1908 (as far back as we have complete boxscore data) that they won a game with two or fewer hits, but it was the first time they also had double-digit strikeouts.

For the second straight night their first hit was a game-changing homer, this time it was a two-run blast in the fifth inning by Gleyber Torres. His 22 homers are the most in Major-League history by a second baseman age 21 or younger in a single season.

Masahiro Tanaka battled through a shaky first inning during which he loaded the bases with no outs and escaped with only one run on the scoreboard. His ability to pitch out of tough situations and limit the damage has been an underrated part of Tanaka’s season. He’s held batters to a .100 batting average (4-for-40) with runners in scoring position and two outs, fourth-best among MLB starters (min. 40 batters faced), behind a trio of Cy Young contenders: Blake Snell (.063), Chris Sale (.073) and Aaron Nola (.094).

(Getty)

Not enough muscle
The Yankees finished off their homestand with a dud, an 11-7 loss that featured a bunch of heart-wrenching warning-track outs but ultimately too many big deficits to overcome. The Yankees were 33-13 at home in the first half of the season; since the break, they are just 15-11 in the Bronx, and 23 of the 26 matchups have come against teams that entered gameday with a sub-.500 record.

Lance Lynn was awful again, getting rocked for six runs before he was yanked in the fourth inning. His last four starts have been a disaster, especially when compared to the promise he showed in his first three appearances as a Yankee:

Lance Lynn as a Yankee
IP Runs WHIP
Last 4 Games 18.2 19 1.98
First 3 Games 16.2 1 0.96

Miguel Andujar went 3-for-4 with a double, pushing his batting average up to .301 and his slugging percentage up to .530. The only Yankee rookie in franchise history to finish a season with at least a .300 batting average and a .530 slugging percentage (min. 300 PA) was Joe DiMaggio in 1936 (.323 BA, .576 SLG).

Yankeemetrics: White Sox end Bronx drought (Aug. 27-29)

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(AP)

How to snatch defeat from jaws of victory
The Yankees kicked off their week-long homestand with a frustrating loss to the White Sox, a spectacular crash back to reality, another late lead blown thanks to sloppy defense and baserunning mistakes.

It was a very winnable matchup based on the historical stats and the game conditions, facing Chicago southpaw Carlos Rodon, racing out to a 2-0 lead and Masahiro Tanaka completing seven innings. Consider that entering Monday, the Yankees this season were …

  • 26-9 against left-handed starters, the best record in MLB
  • 19-5 vs the AL Central, the best record by any team against another division
  • 60-10 when scoring first, the best record in MLB
  • 51-7 when their starter goes at least six innings, the best record in MLB

But that’s baseball, that’s why you play game the game on the diamond and not on paper.

The ugliest stat was the fact that the Yankees had as many hits as errors (3) in the game. Unsurprisingly, teams are 0-20 this season when the number of errors they make is the same or more than the number of hits they get. The last time the Yankees won such a game — while getting at least two hits — was June 2, 2004 against the Orioles (3 errors, 3 hits in a 6-5 win).

The lone highlight was Gleyber Torres’ two-run homer in the fourth inning, his 20th of the season. Torres is the third Yankee age 21 or younger to hit at least 20 home runs in a season, joining — shockingly — Mickey Mantle (1952, ‘53) and Joe DiMaggio (1936). He is also the only second baseman in MLB history that young to hit 20 homers in his rookie season. And combined with Miguel Andujar’s 20-plus longballs this year, we get a trio of #FunFacts:

  • First set of rookie teammates in franchise history to hit 20 homers
  • 10th team in major-league history to have rookie teammates reach 20 home runs in the same season, and the first since the 2008 Reds (Jay Bruce, Joey Votto). The last AL team to do it was the 1982 Twins (Tom Brunansky, Gary Gaetti, Kent Hrbek)
  • Fourth team in MLB history with rookie teammates age-23 or younger to hit 20 homers, along with the 1982 Twins, 1975 Red Sox (Fred Lynn, Jim Rice) and 1938 Indians (Jeff Heath, Ken Keltner)

Gleyber also was the sixth Yankee to reach the 20-homer mark in 2018, the most such players in MLB. This is the fourth Yankee club to have six (or more) players hit 20 bombs; the other seasons it happened were 2009, 2004 and 1961.

(USA Today)

”Neil Walker, the Home Run Corker” – John Sterling
From massive disappointment to mammoth jubilation, the Yankees quickly rebounded from Monday’s crappy loss with a thrilling comeback walk-off win 24 hours later. It was their seventh walk-off win of the season, two more than last year, and tied for the second-most among AL teams in 2018 (through Tuesday).

The rally started in the sixth with the team trailing 4-0, when Miguel Andujar blitzed a two-run shot deep into the leftfield seats. It was his 22nd homer and 61st extra-base hit of the season, putting him alongside a couple Yankee legends:

This was the Yankees fifth comeback win when facing a deficit of at least four runs, their most in a season since 2012 (also 5).

The Yankees were still down by two runs until Aaron Hicks evened the score with his own two-run blast in the bottom of the eighth. This was the first time in his career he tied a game in the eighth inning or later with a homer. It also paved the way for the Yankees fifth win this season when trailing by multiple runs at the start of the eighth inning, the second-highest total in MLB this season behind the A’s (7).

Neil Walker capped the rally when he ambushed the first pitch he saw as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning and deposited it into the rightfield bleachers. It was just the second career walk-off homer for Walker, and the first time he ever went deep in a game as a pinch hitter.

Walker’s dinger was the 10th pinch-hit walk-off home run in franchise history and the first since Brian McCann delivered a game-winner off the bench on August 24, 2014 in the 10th inning against the White Sox. Only six others have done it in the ninth inning, like Walker:

Yankees Pinch-Hit Walk-Off HR in 9th Inning
Date Opponent
Neil Walker 8/28/2018 White Sox
Jason Giambi 6/5/2008 Blue Jays
Mike Easler 9/28/1987 Red Sox
Bobby Murcer 9/26/1981 Orioles
Oscar Gamble 9/27/1979 Indians
Curt Blefary 9/15/1970 Red Sox
Mickey Mantle 8/26/1966 Tigers

It’s been a while …
The comeback mojo disappeared on Wednesday as the Yankees dropped the rubber game, 4-1. This is the first time the Yankees lost a series to the White Sox at the new Yankee Stadium; the White Sox were the only AL team that had never won a series at the current ballpark in the Bronx.

The last time the Yankees lost a series to the White Sox at home was August 8-10, 2005 (lost 2 of 3 games). How long ago was that? The White Sox — on pace to lose nearly 100 games this season — won the World Series in 2005. And the three starters for the Yankees in that series more than 13 years ago were Mike Mussina (win), Shawn Chacon (loss) and Aaron Small (loss).

(USA Today)

White Sox outfield Ryan LaMarre was the Yankees kryptonite on Wednesday, and one of the most unlikely guys to play that role this season. LaMarre went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a homer, and drove in all four runs for the visitors. Entering the game, in 165 career at-bats, LaMarre had compiled six doubles, one homer and 11 RBI.

Ronald Torreyes made sure the Yankees wouldn’t get shut out when he delivered a bases-loaded one-out RBI single in the fifth inning. Torreyes definitely has a knack for bringing home baserunners that are 90 feet from home plate. Since the start of last season, in 23 plate appearances with a man on third and less than two outs, Torreyes has driven in the runner 19 times (82.6%) and has struck out zero times; the MLB average for scoring the runner from third with less than two outs is 50 percent.

Yankeemetrics: Brooms alive, Yankees sweep O’s (Aug. 24-26)

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(AP)

Luuuuuuuuuuuke!
The Yankees opened the series in Baltimore with a comeback win in 10 innings on Friday night. It was their first extra-inning win at Camden Yards in more than five years — since May 20, 2013 — after losing their previous four matchups there that went to overtime.

The victory improved the Yankees extra-inning record this season to 8-5, their most extra-inning wins since 2001 (8-8). It also was their eighth win when trailing at the start of the eighth inning, matching their win total from last year, and tied for the second-most in MLB this season (only the A’s had more through Friday).

The Yankees clawed back twice from a two-run deficit to win the game. The first rally was capped by a two-run bomb in the fourth inning from Luke Voit, his first homer as a Yankee. Voit boosted his pinstriped legend status with another two-run dinger in the 10th for his first career multi-homer game. Both the homers came off righties — prior to Friday, Voit had just two homers in 102 plate appearances against right-handed pitchers in his big-league career.

After the Orioles re-took the lead in the seventh, Gleyber Torres responded with a clutch, game-tying two-run single in the top of the eighth. It was his second hit this year in the eighth inning or later that tied the game; he is the only Yankee with multiple hits like that this season.

Neil Walker capped the second comeback with a solo homer in the 10th inning, and combined with Voit’s bomb in that same inning, it was the second game this season that the Yankees hit two or more homers in the 10th inning or later (also on June 6 at Toronto). #FunFact: The last time that the Yankees had two different games in a season where they smacked multiple extra-inning homers was 1941.

(Getty)

#TooManyHomers, It’s a Happ-y Day
A winning streak against a bad team? Yes! The Yankees clobbered the Orioles in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, hammering four homers en route to a 10-3 win. It was their MLB-leading 13th game this season with at least four homers; no other team had more than eight such games entering the weekend.

Miguel Andujar kicked off the home run derby with a go-ahead three-run blast in the third inning. It was his 21st of the season and 10th that either tied the game or gave the Yankees the lead. He is the youngest Yankee with at least 10 go-ahead/game-tying homers in a season since a 23-year-old Don Mattingly hit 11 in 1984.

J.A. Happ continued his outstanding run with the Yankees, winning for the fifth time in five starts as he delivered a strong six-inning, two-run effort. He now has a 2.37 in his five starts since joining the team, after posting a 6.65 ERA in his final five starts with the Blue Jays. As we always do, let’s celebrate Happ’s first month in pinstripes with a trio of #FunFacts:

  • First left-hander to win each of his first five games with the Yankees since Babe Ruth, who appeared in five games (four starts) for the franchise from 1920-33 and won all five games … with a 5.52 ERA.
  • First pitcher to both start and earn the win in each of his first five appearances as a Yankee since Bob Turley in 1955.
  • And finally, Happ is the first pitcher in franchise history to start in each of his first five games as Yankee, and get a win in each of those games while allowing no more than three earned runs.

Forever Sonny in Baltimore
The Yankees won 5-1 in the nightcap of Saturday’s twinbill, the first time they took both games of a doubleheader since April 16, 2014 against the Cubs at Yankee Stadium. That snapped a streak of 10 straight doubleheaders either split or lost, their longest drought since 1969-70 (14 straight).

You have to go back seven more years to find the last time the Yankees swept a doubleheader on the road — May 3, 2007 at Texas. And the last time they won both games of a twinbill at Camden Yards? July 13, 1996.

(AP)

Sonny Gray, making his first start since getting demoted to the bullpen, pitched a gem as he threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings while striking out seven and allowing just three hits. If that type of performance by Gray against the Orioles in Baltimore sounds familiar … well, there’s this stat to consider:

That’s four straight starts at Camden Yards with no more than one run allowed, the longest such streak since Pedro Martinez had a similar stretch from 2000-02. And going back further to his last start there with the A’s, it’s five straight starts at Camden Yards with no more than one earned run allowed, the longest streak by any pitcher in the history of the ballpark.

Tommy Kahnle couldn’t close out the game as the Orioles pounded him in the bottom of the ninth, so Dellin Betances came to the rescue and struck out Caleb Joseph for the final out. It was Betances’ 33rd straight game with a strikeout, the longest such streak by a reliever in AL history (previous record of 32 was set by Jeff Montgomery in 1989). The MLB record is 49 by Aroldis Chapman with the Reds from 2013-14.

(Getty)

Louisssssssssssssssss!
The Yankees continued their newfound skill of beating up on bad teams as they finished off the series sweep with a 5-3 win on Sunday night. It’s their first four-game sweep of the Orioles in nearly 13 years — since September 19-22, 2005 (in New York) — and their first four-game sweep of the O’s in Baltimore since August 14-17, 2003. They’ve now won 17 of their last 21 games against sub-.500 teams.

The Yankees again jumped out to an early lead thanks to a two-run homer in the second inning by Luke Voit. It was his third homer in the last three games, after hitting five in his first 77 career major-league games. He added two singles for his second three-hit game of the series. If you’re curious, Greg Bird also has two career three-hit games (none this year) …

The scorching-hot Miguel Andujar made it a 4-0 cushion with a two-RBI double in the third, his 60th extra-base hit of the season. He is the seventh Yankee age 23 or younger with 60 or more extra-base hits in a season. This is a decent list to be on:

  • Miguel Andujar (2018)
  • Don Mattingly (1984)
  • Mickey Mantle (1952, ’55)
  • Joe DiMaggio (1936-38)
  • Ben Chapman (1932)
  • Lou Gehrig (1926)
  • Tony Lazzeri (1926)

Andujar finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs on Sunday night; he now has at least two hits in 45 of his 124 career games. The last Yankee to pile up 45 multi-hit games this early into his major-league career was Phil Rizzuto (48 in 124 games) in 1941.

David Robertson pitched a clean ninth inning for the save, the fourth different pitcher to save a game during the weekend sweep (Luis Cessa, Zach Britton, Dellin Betances are the others). Obscure Stat Alert! Since saves became official in 1969, this is the first time that the Yankees have won four straight games with a different pitcher earning the save in each game.

Yankeemetrics: One up, one down in Miami (Aug. 21-22)

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(AP)

The Higgy and Miggy Show
The Yankees survived a bizarre game on Tuesday, somehow pulling out a 2-1, 12-inning victory in a game that neither team seemed interested in winning. The Marlins and Yankees combined to go 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position, and fittingly, the winning run was scored on an out.

The Yankees improved to 19-12 in games decided by one run, surpassing their win total from last year (18-26). They also improved to 7-5 in extra-inning contests; the last time they had a winning record in extras while playing at least 10 games was 2009 (7-3).

Masahiro Tanaka tossed six solid innings and his only mistake was a splitter he left up in the zone that Austin Dean clobbered for his second career home run. That was only extra-base hit and run Tanaka allowed, who has been pitching like an ace over the last two-plus months. Since June 8, he has a 2.75 ERA in nine starts, the best in the rotation and a top-20 mark among MLB starters in that span.

The game-winning RBI was — unsurprisingly — delivered by Miguel Andujar, who clubbed an elevated four-seamer deep enough into the outfield for — yet another non-shocker — a bases-loaded sac fly. These tweets below need no introduction:

And because we can never give enough fun facts about Mr. Andujar, here’s one that earns our Obscure Yankeemetric of the Series: Since sacrifice flies were first recorded in 1954, Andujar is the only Yankee to hit a go-ahead bases-loaded sac fly in the 12th inning or later on the road. Congrats, more history!

Miggy was only able to be the hero because of two outstanding late-game Houdini performances with the winning run 90 feet away. Chad Green put runners on the corners with no outs in the ninth, and escaped without allowing a run; A.J. Cole loaded the bases with no outs in the 11th, and escaped without allowing a run. Yup, teams usually plate at least one run most of the time in those situations:

Situation At least 1 Run Scored Avg Runs Scored
1st and 3rd, 0 outs 84.6% 1.7
Bases Loaded, 0 outs 83.6% 2.3

Finally, we get to most unlikely part of the game, the ending: with Tommy Kahnle going for the save, Kyle Higashioka nailed Isaac Galloway trying to swipe second base for the final out. Consider that before Tuesday …

  • Higashioka had only one caught stealing (out of 16 total attempts) in his career
  • Kahnle had been on the mound for 14 stolen base attempts in his career, and only once had a guy been thrown out

Oh, and the last time the Yankees won a game on a caught stealing as the final out, this happened (September 13, 2011 vs Mariners):

The end of Lynn-sanity
The Yankees four-game win streak was snapped in ugly fashion against the Marlins on Wednesday night. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead but somehow ended up on the wrong side of a lopsided 9-3 score, falling to a last-place team on pace for 97 losses. The Yankees split their four games with the Marlins this season; they outscored them 14-2 in the two wins and were outscored 18-4 in the two losses.

(AP)

Lance Lynn held the Marlins scoreless through the first five frames but then imploded in the sixth, coughing up five runs on five hits in the frame before getting pulled. This was Lynn’s eighth start with five-plus runs allowed this season, tied for the third-most in the majors; only Dylan Bundy (9) and Danny Duffy (10) have more. His 104th pitch of the night was a game-changing three-run dinger that turned a 2-1 Yankees lead into a 4-2 deficit, the first home run he gave up as a Yankee.

Lynn was a pinstriped hero after his first three games with the team, but his last two starts have been … well, it’s not what you want:

Lance Lynn as a Yankee
IP Runs WHIP
Last 2 Games 9.1 10 2.04
First 3 Games 16.2 1 0.96

Neil Walker drove in two of the three runs and added to our favorite underrated stat of the season when he hit a bases-loaded sac fly in the sixth. It was the Yankees MLB-leading 48th sac fly of the season, putting them on pace for 61. That would be the sixth-most in a single season in franchise history (sac flies became an official stat in 1954) and the most since 1997 (70).

Yankeemetrics: Welcome back bats, sweep Jays (Aug. 17-19)

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(AP)

Rain FTW
The Yankees snapped their mini losing streak and offensive slump with a rain-shortened 7-5 win over the Blue Jays in Friday’s opener. It was their first game called early because of weather since July 23, 2014 against the Rangers, a game that was stopped in the fifth.

Lance Lynn made sure that this would be a hard-earned comeback win as he got hammered by the Blue Jays in the first inning, surrendering four runs on three hits and three walks before the Yankees even got a chance to swing the bat. Regression is an unforgiving and terrible monster:

Lance Lynn as a Yankee
IP Runs K/BB Opp AVG
Friday 4 5 5/3 .353
First 3 Games 16.2 1 22/4 .200

It’s the first time the Yankees won a game after giving up four or more runs in the first inning since … May 3 last year against Toronto. The opposing starter that the Yankees pounded that day in the Bronx? Yup, Marcus Stroman, the same guy that the Yankees blitzed on Friday.

Didi Gregorius (RBI triple) and Miguel Andujar (RBI double) sparked the rally in the bottom of the first, quickly cutting the deficit to two runs. Gregorius’ triple was his fourth of the season, the same number he had in his previous three seasons combined with the team. Andujar’s two-bagger was his 35th of the season, putting the young third baseman in elite company.

Neil Walker turned a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 advantage with one swing of the bat in the fourth inning. His three-run shot off Stroman was his seventh homer of the season but his first as a Yankee that gave the team a lead.

Giancarlo Stanton capped off the scoring with a mammoth solo shot to right-center in the bottom of the seventh, just before the rainstorm halted the game. It went a projected 431 feet, the fifth time this season he hit a homer of at least 430 feet to center or the opposite field, tied with Bryce Harper for the most in the majors through Friday.

(USA Today)

Bombers back in style
The Yankees continued to bash Blue Jays pitching, scoring in double digits for the first time in more than six weeks en route to a homer-fueled 11-6 win on Saturday. They hit four home runs, giving them 201 through 123 games played. The only team in MLB history to reach the 200-homer mark quicker was the 2005 Rangers, who needed 122 games.

Luis Severino, who entered the game still struggling through a deep month-plus slump, bounced back from a terrible outing against the Mets earlier in the week to throw one of his best starts since the beginning of July. Though he struggled with his pitch efficiency (needed 100 pitches to get 15 outs), and gave up a bunch of hard contact (5 of 12 balls in play had an exit velocity of 98-plus mph), he was able to limit the damage to two runs while getting eight strikeouts.

The most encouraging number might be zero, as in the number of home runs he allowed. It was his first clean outing since July 1, and he had coughed up 11 dingers in his previous seven games before Saturday. His fastball command seemed to be improved, as he mostly avoided the meatball four-seamers that had plagued him recently. Even when he did leave a few of them over the heart of the plate, he was able to generate a whiff or a foul, giving up just two singles on his heater.

Miguel Andujar hit the team’s 200th homer in the fifth inning, his 20th of the season. He is the fifth Yankee with at least 20 home runs, making the Yankees the only team in MLB with five 20-homer guys this season. Combined with his 36 doubles, Andujar is clearly putting up special numbers for a player as young as he is:

Another Happ-y day
The Yankees completed the three-game sweep and finished off their 11-game homestand with another easy blowout win on Sunday, 10-2. They’re now a season-high 32 games above .500, the first time they’ve reached that mark since they ended the 2011 season with a 97-65 record.

They put up nearly identical box score numbers as the previous game, exploding for 10 runs and 12 hits (had 11 runs and 11 hits on Saturday). This was the 629th game in the history of the Jays-Yanks rivalry, but the first time the Yankees scored at least 10 runs in back-to-back games against them.

The Yankees wasted no time in lighting up the scoreboard as the first six batters each scored in the opening frame before Kyle Higashioka flew out to center for the first out. You have to go back more than two decades to find the last time the Yankees scored at least six runs to start a game prior to making an out — on May 17, 1997 against the Rangers in Texas. The last time they did at at Yankee Stadium was September 25, 1990 against the Orioles.

(USA Today)

The big blow came off the bat of Greg Bird, who clobbered his second career grand slam — both of which have come in the last six weeks. He is just the fourth Yankee first baseman to hit multiple grand slams in a single season:

J.A. Happ got off to a rough start, giving up a two-out solo homer in the first inning, but then quickly regrouped and didn’t allow another run until Kendrys Morales took him deep to lead off the sixth. It wasn’t a gem, but Happ still pitched well enough (2 ER in 5 1/3 IP) to win for the fourth time in four starts with the team. The Yankees have won all seven games started by Lance Lynn and Happ this season. Finally, a couple #FunFacts to celebrate Happ’s time so far in pinstripes:

  • First pitcher to win each of his first four starts as a Yankee since David Cone in 1995…
  • …And the first to do it with an ERA as low as Happ’s (2.22) since Phil Niekro in 1984 (0.98)
  • The only other left-handers to win each of their first four starts as a Yankee (since 1908) were Rob Gardner (1970-72) and Babe Ruth (1920-33)