April 8, 2021

Schadenfreude 280: (A Continuing Series)


Dan Martin, Post:
[A] costly error by Gleyber Torres, a bloop hit off Chad Green and a lack of timely hitting by the Yankees — along with a strong throw from right field by Anthony Santander — added up to a 4-3, 11-inning loss.

Chance Sisco's flare single to left off Green in the 11th scored automatic runner Rio Ruiz from third to put the Orioles ahead for good.

Brett Gardner bunted Gio Urshela to third in the bottom of the inning before DJ LeMahieu lofted a fly ball to shallow right. Urshela tried to score, but was thrown out by Santander.

Asked if he thought his fly ball would score Urshela when it left his bat, LeMahieu said: "Probably not." . . .

In the previous inning, Green had seemingly escaped trouble when he got Pedro Severino to ground to Torres with Santander at third and two out. But Torres made another poor play and bounced the throw to Jay Bruce at first. Bruce couldn't pick it and Santander scored the go-ahead run on the error. . . .

[T]he shortstop had made another misplay on Tuesday. . . .

Ken Davidoff, Post:
This is one throbbing secondary pinstriped headache. . . .

Gleyber Torres' 10th-inning throwing error didn't directly lead to the Yankees' 4-3 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday . . . Yet the shortstop's second official miscue of the year, on top of a couple of other memorable unofficial foul-ups, lowlighted the [evening] . . .

And it intensified the scrutiny on the fourth-year player, who arrived in the big leagues as a serviceable second baseman and has struggled to transition to . . . shortstop . . .

[In the 10th, with two outs] O's catcher Pedro Severino knocked an easy grounder to Torres. With plenty of time to get the slow-footed Severino, Torres unleashed an absolutely terrible throw that inexperienced first baseman Jay Bruce couldn't corral, allowing Santander to cruise home. Those who remained from the announced crowd of 10,254 let Torres have it with a stream of boos. . . .

[Torres] stood on deck in the bottom of the inning as Santander caught DJ LeMahieu's line drive to right field and nailed a tagging Gio Urshela at home, leaving Urshela disheveled . . . Urshela was OK, having "wretched his neck," and this seems like a good time to mention that the injury-prone Aaron Judge wasn't available and is in doubt for Friday . . .

For now, there's little for the Yankees to do besides support their youngest player and hope their faith pays dividends. . . . They've made their bed with him at the premium spot.

It's a headache . . .

Kristie Ackert, Daily News (April 5):

[T]he Yankees' hyped lineup opened the season with a bust instead of the bang they are known for. In losing two out of three to the Blue Jays, the Yankees hit .218 overall . . .

They went 4-for-24 (.167) with runners in scoring position over the three-game series and 10-for-47 (.213) with men on base.

But don't expect any major changes to the lineup . . .

The Blue Jays did that to the Yankees lineup with two replacement pitchers in Ross Stripling and R.J. Zeuch, because Robbie Ray and Nate Pearson were hurt. The headliners in their offense, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, went 3-for-14 and 0-for-8 respectively. Both had three strikeouts and neither had an extra base hit. . . .

The Yankees' No. 3 hitter had a particularly awful start to the season. Aaron Hicks had six strikeouts through the first two games — the first time in his career with three strikeouts in back-to-back games . . . Hicks had one, legged-out infield single in 12 at-bats on the weekend [and] struck out seven times.

That spot is usually reserved for a hitter who delivers runs, but . . .


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