After a rain delay that prevented the start of the game for an hour and then multiple lights failures causing brief stoppages, the Yankees looked like they were mostly still waiting for the game to start, even after it did.
On the mound, Will Warren was coming of a scoreless outing against the Cubs in his last start, and while he wasn’t awful in this one, he wasn’t great. In his 5.1 innings, he allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk. All of the runs off him came in a frustrating sequence, where
he couldn’t get out of a jam despite having two outs.
That being said, the reason for the defeat fell much more on the Yankees’ offense. While they did have their chances, recording eight walks on the night, as a team the Yankees combined for just four hits, none of which came with runners on. While Tuesday night provided a glimmer of hope, the Yankees still only managed two in that game, and they followed that up with just one in this one.
A rainy, dreary game proved to be just that for the Yankees, as they fell to the Cardinals 3-1 on Wednesday night.
The teams traded zeroes for a while, but the Cardinals eventually broke through against Warren in the fifth. Blaze Jordan and Jimmy Crooks got Warren for singles to put two on, but Warren was on the verge of escaping the inning after Austin Wells successfully challenged a ball four into a strike three. However, JJ Weatherholt and Iván Herrera got Warren for a pair of two-out doubles, scoring three runs for St. Louis.
The Yankees didn’t do much against Cardinals starter Andre Pallante, but they finally got something going in the sixth inning. Ben Rice started things off with a walk and ended up on third after a wild pitch/catcher throwing error gifted him two bases. Luis García Jr. then knocked Pallante out after drawing a walk following an 11-pitch battle. George Soriano came in and hit Heliot Ramos with a pitch loading the bases. Over the next two plate appearances, the Yankees didn’t do a ton of swinging as Soriano continued to struggle to find the zone. In two consecutive full count situations, the Cardinals’ catcher Herrera challenged a pitch initially called a ball. The first one — to Spencer Jones — was overturned into a strike, but the second — to Jazz Chisholm Jr. — was indeed a ball, walking in a run to get the Yankees on the board. However, the Yankees couldn’t capitalize further with the bases left loaded.
After leaving a couple on in that inning, that became a bit of a theme for the Yankees going forward. They left more runners on in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. Paul Goldschmidt hit one to the warning track and Ben Rice drew a walk in the ninth, but that was the extent of any rally, as the Yankees dropped the game and series.
In his second career MLB game, George Lombard Jr. didn’t do anything as notable as his homer on Tuesday, drawing a walk, but also striking out with two on to end the eighth. However, he did make a couple very nice plays in the field, including this one in the third inning.
The Yankees will get tomorrow off before welcoming the Braves to town for a weekend series. Max Fried is expected to get the ball for the Yankees against his old team, while Atlanta’s starter hasn’t been announced at time of writing.
