Batting Cleanup: Things Are Not Going As Planned

Batting Cleanup
Written By Will Harris
Jamo’s face says it all (Noah K. Murray / AP)

Jamo’s face says it all (Noah K. Murray / AP)

Game 1: Yankees Lose 5-2

Both teams limped into the series, but the Red Sox took control of it early, never looking back from a 3-run home run that Rafael Devers hit in the top of the first inning.

King of Anything

Mike King was not great in this one. He pitched into the sixth which was nice, but allowed 4 runs and dug the Yankees into a hole early when he allowed back-to-back hits with two outs in the first, the second of the two being the aforementioned home run by Devers.

He settled in nicely after that, allowing just one hit in his next 4 innings, and was removed in the top of the sixth after Bogaerts (who would later score the 4th run charged to King), singled.

The Vibes Were Immaculate

I did not expect to put a title like this in a write-up of a loss, but here we are.

In the top of the fourth, Mike King struck out the side against Hunter Renfroe, Marwin Gonzalez, and Christian Vazquez to post the seventh immaculate inning in the history of the Yankees (first since Dellin Betances threw one in 2017) and the 94th in baseball history.

For reference, an immaculate inning is more than three times less common than a no-hitter, but four times more common than a perfect game. Maybe we should be celebrating Mike King the way we celebrated Corey Kluber (I do not mean this).

Aaron Judge is the Lone Productive Offensive Player

Maybe I shouldn’t say he’s the only guy who is productive, but he sure is the only guy who’s slugging right now. The Yankees had 8 hits in the game, but only one went for extra bases. See below.

Please Hit the Ball in the Air

When you don’t hit the ball in the air, this happens.

I really am getting very tired of this double play nonsense. This is not a sustainable way to play baseball. I don’t blame Boone. I don’t blame Cashman. I have not yet nailed down the extent to which it is appropriate to blame the deadened baseball. I do blame, in large part, this group of guys who used to lift the ball and get extra base hits who know hit the ball on the ground ALL THE TIME.

The Yankees strung together a couple of hits after Judge’s homer and ultimately scored a second run on an error, but that was it for highlights in this one.

Tired of the Narrative

Twitter loved it on Friday when David Cone pointed out that the Yankees had 14 strikeouts and 1 walk just as the game ended. They acted as if he had pointed something out that was new and novel and that if the Yankees could just figure out how to walk more and strike out less they would solve their offensive problems.

The Red Sox struck out 10 times and DID NOT WALK AT ALL in a game in which they faced Mike King, Lucas Luetge, and Nestor Cortes. The Red Sox pitched Nathan Eovaldi, Hirokazu Sawamura, and Matt Barnes, all of whom they thing are very good. The Red Sox were 9-36 (.250) in this game. The Yankees were 8/34 (.235). Frankly, those aren’t that different. The real difference is the Red Sox got two hits with RISP and BOTH went for extra bases (3R HR, 2R 2B), and the Yankees went 0-5 with RISP and 7 of the 8 hits they had in the entire game were singles.

SLUGGING WINS. NOT SLUGGING LOSES. The Yankees scored 2 runs despite getting 8 hits. The Red Sox got one more hit and interestingly enough it accounted for the ENTIRE DIFFERENCE IN RUNS SCORED IN THE GAME. The Yankee lineup is not bad because guys strike out. The Yankee lineup is not bad because guys don’t walk (in fact, last night was likely an aberration as we know these guys walk a lot). The Yankee lineup is bad because nobody in it is slugging because they refuse to hit the ball in the air. Let’s not scapegoat other stats or act like this is hard to understand. It’s very simple.

Game 2: Yankees Lose 7-3

I’ll spare you the gritty details, but the video below contains ALL of the scoring the Yankees did on Saturday night.

There Was a Lot to Like… Until There Wasn’t

Honestly, for much of this game the Yankees looked really good. Taillon pitched 5 scoreless innings, and wasn’t even getting hit very hard. The game went to the top of the sixth with the Yankees up 2-0, and it looked like another classic win from this 2021 team. The old 3-2 or 2-1 win that they grind out with great pitching. Of course, because we cannot have nice things, the pitching imploded in the sixth.

After he got Danny Santana to start the inning, Jameson Taillon allowed two singles and a double to the next three hitters, and suddenly the game was tied. Taillon left and the game ended up in Jonathan Loaisiga’s hands. Hunter Renfroe’s infield single brought Marwin Gonzalez (cheater) to the plate, and he doubled down the line to score Rafael Devers and put the Red Sox ahead. Even still, it was only 3-2 Boston.

Gleyber’s sac fly off Garrett Whitlock tied the game in the seventh, and the Yankees brought in Chad Green, another trusted reliever for the eighth. Chad picked a bad time to have his second bad game of the year (that’s kind of how having a bad game works). With one runner on and two outs in the inning, Chad allowed 2 doubles and a homer which turned a 3-3 game into a 7-3 game. That was it.

The Yankees did not post another hit the rest of the way, and that was it.

Game 3: Yankees Lose 6-5

Immediately Bad

Domingo Germán got to pitch on his eponymous day, but things started off pretty poorly. Although he got Danny Santana to fly out to Brett Gardner to lead off the game, he promptly lost the good will he had garnered recently with some fans by allowing Alex Verdugo to hit a fastball to Mars. 1-0 Boston.

Haven’t You Heard It’s Hot Gary Summer? #HOTGARYSUMMER

Just as I predicted (and gave myself credit for) the Yankees hit Garrett Richards hard, right from the jump.

Their 4 hits in the first came consecutively, with singles by Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, and Gio Urshela loading the bases for Gary Sanchez. Gary, because he is an elite hitter, ripped a double into the corner in left to put the Yankees up 2-1 and send Domingo back out to the mound with the lead. Check it out, it ruled.

Richards did ultimately strike out the side (DJ, Gittens, Clint), but the Yankees did the damage we needed them to do. Gosh I love slugging instead of… not slugging.

Gary got another hit in the bottom of the third because he’s an elite hitter (Gio and Judge also got hits), but Gleyber grounded into a double play and Gittens struck out, so the Yankees could not add a run. Just hit homers. Ugh.

Just Enough

The Yankees threatened again in the bottom of the fourth, when Gardner and DJ walked following Miguel Andújar’s single to center to load the bases. Aaron Judge came to the plate and scorched a ground ball up the middle. Marwin Gonzalez made a nice play to field it and flip to Bogaerts who was covering second, but the Red Sox could only manage one out, and the Yankees scored to take a 3-1 lead. Please hit the ball in the air next time, but thank you for scoring. Gleyber grounded out with runners on first and third to end in the inning, but the lead grew.

Take the Good With the Bad

Domingo Germán was good on Sunday. He allowed just 3 H and 1 R over his 5.2 IP, and lowered his season ERA to 3.12. He did not factor into the decision.

Lucas Luetge came into the game to finish the sixth after Germán walked Bogaerts with two outs. He got Rafael Devers to strike out looking, which was sick. In the seventh, Luetge came back out, and I expected things to remain sick. They did not. Luetge walked Hunter Renfroe and then allowed a homer to Marwin Gonzalez and the score was tied before the Yankees committed an out in the seventh.

After the homer, Luetge struck out Enrique Hernandez, got Christian Vazquez to ground out, and got Bobby Dalbec to pop out to Chris Gittens in shallow right, but the damage was done and the teams went to the bottom of the seventh tied.

Until It Gets This Bad

The Red Sox sent up Christian Arroyo to pinch hit for Danny Santana against Wandy Peralta in the top of the 8th. This happened. I don’t know whose fault this is, but not catching that ball in inexcusable.

Two productive outs later, Arroyo scored and the Red Sox took a 4-3 lead. Just horrible. Can’t play like that when you can’t score.

Rally?

Nah.

Clint Frazier singled to right to put the tying run on base in the bottom of the eighth. He was stranded there as Miguel Andújar and Giancarlo Stanton (PH) struck out to end the inning.

Rally?

Yeah.

The Red Sox brought in UConn’s Matt Barnes to face the top of the lineup in the bottom of the ninth. DJ grounded out to second, and then Barnes wisely walked Aaron Judge. Gleyber Torres came to the plate with Judge on first and ripped this double into left field that Alex Verdugo bobbled. The bobble allowed Judge to score, and the game was tied.

Gio Urshela followed up the double with a strikeout on a ball in the dirt, leaving it all up to Gary Sanchez.

The Red Sox walked Gary because he is an elite hitter, which put the game in the hands of Chris Gittens. The Yankees countered with Rougie Odor.

In a 3-2 count, Matt Barnes threw this pitch, and somehow got it called a strike. The Yankees were robbed by the umpires again. Bases should’ve been loaded for Clint.

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This is, at least, the second loss this year (Robbie Grossman) that I am willing to pin directly on the umpires. No one else is allowed to be this consistently bad at their job without any danger of losing it. It’s astonishing that this is still going on when we have the technology and the appetite to fix it. Is the “human element” really so important that we should tolerate these guys consistently altering the outcomes of games with blown calls? You’d have a lot of trouble convincing me of that.

Swept

Luis Cessa managed to get two outs in the top of the 10th, but a single by Xander Bogaerts with runners on second and third put the Red Sox up for good at 6-4.

Clint Frazier got hit leading off the bottom of the 10th, but Miguel Andújar hit into a double play, because this team is addicted to hitting the ball on the ground.

Tyler Wade came up with two outs and hit a soft ground ball just to the left of first. Marwin Gonzalez attempted to flip it to Bobby Dalbec to end the game, but threw it toward the Yankee dugout, allowing Odor to score and bringing DJ LeMahieu to the plate.

Did I mention this team is addicted to hitting the ball on the ground? DJ hit a ground ball up the middle to Marwin Gonzalez, and that ended it.

Will Harris
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