The Yankees are struggling offensively. The Yankees do not hit with runners in scoring position. The Yankees have been too homer-reliant. All three of these tenets are true, especially since the injury bug swept through the Bronx and left them more vulnerable than they’ve been in several years.
All of their wins and losses are decided by one or two runs. They get excellent pitching, but regardless of the quality of the opposing starter, they struggle to put runs up due to their middling healthy power
options and their struggles with RISP. Since June 18, they have been batting an absolutely dreadful .170 in these situations, by far the worst in baseball. They are also striking out a league-high 29.4 percent in these spots, limiting opportunities for productive outs.
This game was going like all the others. They squandered three massive opportunities with runners in scoring position off Bryan Woo early on before going down in order in three consecutive innings. Now trailing 1-0 after one measly run scored off a sharp Ryan Weathers, they got one more chance in the seventh and didn’t let it go to waste. Two unlikely sources provided two great pieces of hitting to small ball their way to a four-run inning and a 4-1 win.
Weathers started this one out looking to continue the good vibes he’s had on the bump lately and quickly retired the first two he faced before jumping ahead 0-2 on Julio Rodriguez before throwing four straight balls and walking him. Things might’ve gotten hairy with a Dominic Canzone grounder that hit the second base bag if not for a stellar barehanded play by George Lombard Jr., who continues to be a savant defensively.
Woo’s always done well against the Yankees, but it was a struggle to put up a zero in the first. A one-out walk by Ben Rice and a two-out double by Luis García Jr. set things up for Jazz Chisholm Jr., who worked a nine-pitch at-bat that included a 400-foot foul ball, but he flew out to the warning track in left-center field. Woo threw 32 pitches, allowed three batted balls of at least 101 mph, and didn’t get a single whiff, yet didn’t allow a run. Maybe the fact that he threw the five hardest pitches of his entire career that inning helps.
An infield single and a two-out walk to Weston Wilson gave Seattle a chance with a runner in scoring position in the second, but a nice stab by García at first on a Colt Emerson grounder ended a lengthy top of the second. Lombard led off the second with a single but was stranded after Taylor Ward’s leaping catch robbed Ryan McMahon of extra bases and the rookie was gunned down by Cal Raleigh trying to steal his first MLB bag.
A much quicker 1-2-3 third inning by Weathers gave the offense another chance to work off Woo, who they continued to get good swings off of. Austin Wells just yanked a long foul ball before grounding out, and Trent Grisham doubled into the corner at the end of a long at-bat, but the RISP woes continued as Rice struck out and Heliot Ramos grounded out to strand the runner.
Both offenses had their chances in the first few innings as the two starters labored, but once they got in a groove, neither threatened. Weathers retired 10 in a row, while Woo went from throwing 73 pitches in three tough innings to coasting through the final two, settling in after looking doomed early. Two struggling offenses certainly looked the part on Tuesday night.
By the laws of the game, someone had to score first, and the first blow was struck in the sixth on an opposite-field home run by longtime Yankee killer Randy Arozarena, one of the only hitters not currently loathed in Seattle for lack of production. After a week full of balls dying on the warning track, seeing a swing like that get out felt like a bigger gut punch than we actually saw on the scoreboard. Weathers departed after walking Dominic Canzone, finishing 5.2 strong innings but being in line for the loss.
Tim Hill got the last out of the sixth before Seattle went to their bullpen, going to Jose A. Ferrer against the top of the order, who went down quietly. Hill got through the seventh quickly in what’s been maybe his best outing since April, allowing the offense to wake up in the seventh. García roped a leadoff double off Michael Rucker and was singled to third by Chisholm. Lombard struck out, Spencer Jones walked to load the bases with one out, and you just sat there wondering if they could finally break through. McMahon, likely still steaming from the robbery earlier, answered.
His two-run single made it 2-1 and chased Rucker. With two on and one out, Eduard Bazardo gave up a first-pitch blooper to Wells that Ward seemed terribly positioned for, setting up Grisham for a two-run knock of his own to left field to make it 4-1. Rice and Ramos stranded the remaining runners, but the offense finally did their jobs.
Brent Headrick was the first to come out and protect the newfound lead, doing so expeditiously. Seranthony Dominguez got this game to the ninth with a weird 1-2-3 inning that saw Chisholm overturn a strikeout before getting picked off a solid 15 seconds later. That’s been his season in a nutshell. Lombard also worked a long, 12-pitch at-bat for good measure.
David Bednar came on for the save against the heart of the order with a three-run cushion. He K’d J-Rod, allowed Canzone to reach on an infield single, got a nice force out from Jazz on a redemption play, and K’d the once-MVP candidate Raleigh to lock down his 17th consecutive save. With the loss by Boston, the Yankees are now three games clear of their rivals to the north, but would need a favor from the lowly A’s to gain ground in the AL East.
The Yankees go for the series victory tomorrow night at 7:05 pm in the middle game of this three-game set against the Mariners. It’ll be Will Warren against Bryce Miller on ESPN.
