Source: FanGraphs
If the Yankees were tired after playing Sunday night in New York, it didn’t show Monday afternoon in Baltimore. The Yankees rallied from behind to pick up an important 7-4 win against the Orioles during the Labor Day matinee. The O’s are now 4.5 games back in the wildcard race. It’s a holiday weekend, so let’s recap this game with bullet points:
- Monty’s Short Start: It’s very clear right now the Yankees either have Jordan Montgomery on a tight leash or they don’t want him going through the lineup three times, or both. I guess that makes sense considering how they’ve been working to control his workload. Montgomery threw only 67 pitches in 4.2 innings Monday. He allowed three runs — Tim Beckham hit a solo homer and Chris Davis hit a two-run homer — and Jonathan Schoop was at the plate representing the tying run when Joe Girardi came and got him. I don’t know if Montgomery’s hitting a wall or what, but the last few outings have been a grind.
- The Comeback: Dylan Bundy surrendered only two walks in the first three innings, but the Yankees forced him to throw 55 pitches, and their at-bats were noticeably better the second time through the lineup. Starlin Castro opened the fourth with a single, and Didi Gregorius brought him home with a two-run home run over the high wall in right field. It hit the railing at the top of the wall, so it just barely cleared. Two walks (Aaron Judge and Todd Frazier) and a run-scoring single (Jacoby Ellsbury) followed to tie the game 3-3. Bundy threw 93 pitches in four innings. Buck Showalter sent him out to start the fifth, and a single (Chase Headley) and a homer (Castro) later, the Yankees had a 5-3 lead. The Yankees forced Chris Sale and Bundy to throw 207 pitches in 8.1 innings combined the last two games.
- Insurance Runs: The Yankees drew ten walks in this game. Ten! Three walks led to two insurance runs in the seventh inning. Frazier and Ellsbury started the inning with free passes, Austin Romine bunted them up, and Brett Gardner got a run home with a ground out — Beckham had to move to his left to field it, and after a slight hesitation, Frazier broke for home — and following another walk (Headley), Castro singled in another run. I was surprised Headley didn’t score from second on the Castro single with two outs, but whatever.
- Bullpen On Parade: Seven up, seven down, four strikeouts for Chad Green, who now owns a 41.7% strikeout rate and a 6.9% walk rate in 59.1 innings (1.97 ERA and 1.83 FIP). He’s been a monster all season. In games like this, when the starter goes short, Green is invaluable. David Robertson made things interesting with back-to-back walks leading off the eighth, but two strikeouts and a ground ball later, the inning was over. He broke out some nasty curveballs to escape the jam. Dellin Betances gave up a garbage time solo homer to Wellington Castillo in the ninth, but nothing else. The bullpen: 4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K.
- Leftovers: Three hits for Castro and one each for Headley, Gregorius, Judge, Frazier, and Ellsbury … Frazier and Ellsbury each drew two walks as well … tough day for Gardner and Greg Bird, both of whom went 0-for-5 … and finally, Judge drew his 100th walk of the season in the second inning, which is nuts. He’s the eighth rookie in history with 100+ walks and the first since Jim Gilliam in 1953. Judge drew his 101st, 102nd, and 103rd walks of the season in this game as well. He’s the first Yankee with 100 walks since Jason Giambi had 110 in 2006.
Here are the box score, video highlights, and updated standings. Don’t miss our Bullpen Workload page. The Yankees and Orioles will continue this three-game series with the middle game Tuesday night. CC Sabathia and Jeremy Hellickson are the scheduled starting pitchers.
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