April 27, 2021

Schadenfreude 289: (A Continuing Series)

Dan Martin, Post:

[T]he Yankees fell back into last place in the AL East with a 4-2 loss to the Orioles on Monday night.

And they found a new way to lose: on the basepaths.

They had a chance to get back in the game in the top of the eighth, but Aaron Judge was thrown out at third on Gio Urshela's RBI single. . . .

The game didn't take long to go the wrong way for the Yankees.

Deivi Garcia . . . got off to a rough start, allowing a leadoff homer to Mullins in the first and an RBI double to Freddy Galvis in the second.

Kristie Ackert, Daily News:

The Yankees (9-13) have lost two straight. The Orioles (10-12) won their fourth straight at Camden Yards over the Yankees . . .

The Yankees had their chances in the eighth, but Aaron Judge tried to go from first to third on Gio Urshela's RBI single and was thrown out as the Yankees were trying to close the gap.

"I've gotta stay at second base", Judge said.  . . . "I got to play a little smarter baseball."

Aaron Boone was ejected after arguing with veteran home plate umpire Will Little, who ruled that DJ LeMahieu, the second run, did not cross the plate before Judge was thrown out. . . .

[Garcia] may get another chance . . . Corey Kluber has struggled with command coming back from missing most of the last two years. He takes a 5.40 ERA over four starts into Tuesday night's game. Jameson Taillon has a 6.23 ERA over four starts and Domingo German has a 6.27 ERA in three. Jordan Montgomery [has a] 4.57 ERA over four starts . . .

Dan Martin, Post:

It's nearly four weeks into the regular season and the 9-13 Yankees are in last place in the AL East, on their way to their worst April since 2016, when they went 8-14.

That's also the last time they failed to make the playoffs as they finished in fourth place in the AL East.

And while the Yankees will tell you it's still early . . . it's not that early.

The problems that have plagued them aren't showing signs of going away as they sit in the basement of the division.

Their slugging percentage of .348 is the worst in the majors and their OPS is .650, ahead of only the Tigers.

Incredibly, almost every offensive player is in an ugly slump . . .

And the struggles are clearly getting to them. Their comeback chances all but ended at Camden Yards on Monday night when Judge was thrown out at third base to end the top of the eighth inning after Urshela's base hit to left. The play prevented DJ LeMahieu's run from scoring, which would have gotten the Yankees to within a run.

Afterward, Judge admitted he was too aggressive on the play . . . a product of them failing to produce offensively. . . .

After a brief display of power in Cleveland . . . the Yankees looked lost again on Monday . . . As one AL scout put it Tuesday, "Almost everyone is going bad."

That includes particularly worrying trends from Gary Sanchez . . . who is slipping towards the horrific numbers he put up in 2020. In his past nine games, he's 2-for-28 with 10 strikeouts and no extra-base hits. In the same stretch, Gleyber Torres is 6-for-33 with no extra-base hits. Aaron Hicks is 4-for-33 in 10 games . . . Clint Frazier is 2-for-37 with 17 strikeouts . . . LeMahieu is 2-for-20 and Brett Gardner is 1-for-19.  . . .

So what to do? There are no simple fixes. No one on the 40-man roster could be expected to come up and provide an impact . . .

Kristie Ackert, Daily News:

Aaron Boone was furious. Home plate umpire Will Little had waved off the second run of the Yankees’ eighth-inning rally. The Yankees manager had been looking at bench coach Carlos Mendoza and when he turned to the field to ask for a replay, he was told he was too late.

Boone stormed onto the field and was quickly ejected  by first base umpire Greg Gibson — his first of the season. But the real fury should have been at third base, where Aaron Judge had run into the third out of the inning, killing the rally as the Yankees fell to the Orioles 4-2 at Camden Yards. ...

Austin Hays threw out Judge before DJ LeMahieu crossed the plate for the second run, home plate umpire Will Little ruled. Boone was having bench coach Carlos Mendoza check with the video replay room to see if they should challenge the play at third or at home plate.

When he went to challenge, the umpires said it was too late. Boone argued they didn't give him enough time.

"He was basically saying, don't even come out and try to discuss challenging us because you can't and you're out of here," Boone said . . . "I just felt like it was kind of bullying"

Dan Martin, Post:

The Yankees didn't call up Deivi Garcia until they needed a sixth starter — and that's pretty much what the right-hander pitched like on Monday night.

The 21-year-old right-hander wasn't the reason the Yankees lost to the Orioles — a lethargic offense and poor baserunning had much more to do with it — but Garcia didn't exactly stake a claim to a rotation spot. . . .

Garcia gave up a long homer to Cedric Mullins, who unloaded on a 92 mph fastball on Garcia's second pitch of the game, reaching Eutaw Street beyond the seats in right.

In the second, Freddy Galvis drilled an RBI double to left-center, scoring Pedro Severino from first to give Baltimore a 2-0 lead. . . .

Garcia's outing ended after 65 pitches and four innings. He called it "a learning experience" . . .

2 comments:

GK said...

I love it that ESPN runs a story on the Mookie-less Sox doing well to start the season and this...
"But while it's only late April, Boston now finds itself atop the American League East, surprising both fans and baseball observers with a 14-9 record, three games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays."

The you-know-who are not worth mentioning, just an afterthought, for ESPN !

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31338081/life-mookie-betts-how-boston-red-sox-built-win-him

Jim said...

"Boonie" does remind me of a spoiled little Lord Fauntleroy at times. Yes, he'd know all about bullying.