Schadenfreude 319 (A Continuing Series)

Gary Maniloaf is the gift that keeps on giving . . .

Greg Joyce, Post:

Gary Sanchez reached back to catch a foul pop-up, only for the ball to drop behind him. 

That sparked an inning that dropped the Yankees out of a playoff spot with 13 games to go. . . .

[H]is error greased the way to a seven-run inning that sank the Yankees in a stinker of an 11-3 loss to [Cleveland] on Saturday afternoon in The Bronx. 

"He just missed it," manager Aaron Boone said. . . . "[C]atchers are usually prepared for that." . . .

On a day when they also lost Joey Gallo after three innings due to neck tightness, the Yankees (83-66) dropped a game further behind the Red Sox and Blue Jays, who both won. The Red Sox moved 1½ games ahead of the Yankees for the first wild card while the Blue Jays leapfrogged them into the second spot. . . .

The crowd of 39,088 gave Sanchez a Bronx cheer when he caught a foul pop-up by Austin Hedges for the [inning's] second out. But the next batter, ex-Met Andres Gimenez, pounded a three-run homer that put the Indians ahead 8-0.

Sanchez's misplay continued his rough couple of days behind the plate. On Thursday in Baltimore, Sanchez failed to stop two wild pitches (including one when the Yankees were one strike away from a win) in the ninth inning of what turned into a crushing loss to the Orioles.

Kristie Ackert, Daily News:

Oscar Mercado was already heading back to the visitors dugout at Yankee Stadium. But Gary Sanchez lost the high pop-up behind home plate in the fifth inning and that kept the door open for Cleveland. They cashed in on that error and beat up the Yankees in a devastating loss 11-3 on Saturday at the Stadium.

This is the second costly loss in a week for the Yankees, who were one strike away from sweeping the Orioles on Thursday when a wild pitch got past Sanchez as they went on to lose to the worst team in baseball. It's a missed opportunity for the Yankees (83-66), who dropped behind the Red Sox and Blue Jays in the race for the two Wild Card spots in the American League. . . .

Sanchez lost his starting job last season and ended up with just nine at-bats in six playoff games. . . .

"I'm here to help this team play every day," Sanchez said . . .

[I notice he didn't say "to help this team win"]

Luis Gil . . . wasn't able to get out of the fifth inning. . . . He had gotten one out and looked like he had Mercado too when the foul pop up dropped off Sanchez's glove.

After hitting Mercado [with his next pitch], Gil walked Jose Ramirez to end his day and the wheels came off.

Fellow rookie Albert Abreu gave up an RBI-double to Franmil Reyes and then hit Harold Ramirez before giving up a two-run double to Chang. Owen Miller singled in another run before former Mets prospect Andres Gimenez crushed a three-run home run . . .

Mike Lupica, Daily News:

The Owner Of The Yankees Needs To Finally Act Like The Owner Of The Yankees

The Yankees might surprise us one more time this season . . . if they can get to the Wild Card game . . .

But if they do fall short of the postseason, or get bounced out of it in a division round the way they did last season against the Rays, a team spending about $130 million less on baseball players than they do, then the Yankees will arrive at a crossroads when this season is over, if they haven't arrived at one already.

And then we find out what kind of an owner Hal Steinbrenner really is, and just how detached he is from his own fan base. . . .

[Lupica actually refers to Yankee Stadium as "the home office for the World Series", despite no World Series games being played in that ball park for more than 11 years; could someone tell Mike it's not 1953 anymore]

[T]he next month-and-a-half will go a long way to determining not just the future of Brian Cashman and not just the future of Aaron Boone, but the direction of this organization going forward. . . .

[I]f the 2021 Yankees don't play deep into October, if they don't get close to winning the dozen games that means they've won it all, then where are they, really, with the current vision of the team? Where are they with a program that never ever seems to have enough starting pitching, and has a plodding swing-and-miss offense that lacks both versatility and speed and even flair, and is joined at the hip with Giancarlo Stanton forever? . . .

One more Yankee thing:

Sanchez does know that the position of catcher requires him to actually catch, right?

[Sic]

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