Everything Is A Battle

It doesn't seem to matter who we are playing, but with all the injuries we will need to battle for all wins. 

Happ didn't pitch that well again.  2 runs in 4.1 innings isn't bad (4.15 ERA), but he didn't make it through the 5th as he had 88 pitches thrown and he wasn't throwing well.  His fastball was about normal and he was spotting it just OK, but his changeup was not moving as well as you want and at 86-87 it wasn't enough of a differential from his 92 MPH fastball.  When he threw it down the middle it was hit pretty well. 

Thanks to Judge's 2 HR's we were ahead 3-1.  All 14 of our runs in this series have been knocked via the HR.  That can be OK, but with so many key players out we will need some non HR's to knock in runs.

Holder came on in the 5th and was mediocre in that he allowed one of Happ's runs to score and then one of his was allowed on a bad play by Bird in the field.  First, I was very surprised that Holder started the 7th, I expected Green, Ottavino, Britton and Chapman to take the game from here.  Later, I learned that Boone, didn't want to use Britton 3 out of 4 days in a row; I can see that early in the year, but 3 out of 4 isn't so bad for only one inning.  Regardless, I would have used Green or Ottavino.  As it turned out, Holder hit Mullins and then allowed a single to Villar and Baltimore was in business with nobody out.  Ottavino was then brought in with 1st and 3rd and nobody out with the score 3-2 Yanks.  Chris Davis was brought in to pinch hit (an odd move as the guy hasn't had a hit in I believe 35 AB's (This year was 0-17 with 11 K's).  If you care the record is 46 AB's without a hit.  Anyway, miraculously, Davis hit a routine grounder to bird right on the line (almost foul) that Bird bobbled and then still tried to throw home and the runner beat the high throw.  A perfect throw most likely would not have been in time either, but once you bobble the ball you have to take the out. This was the 7th inning and it was the tying run not the go ahead, so you definitely take the out (probably do so even if it is the go-ahead as well).  After the bad play, it was 1st and 2nd nobody out and the game was tied.  After getting an infield pop up Baltimore stole 3rd on a very good throw from Sanchez that LeMehieu caught a little more out in front of the bag then you would like (more on this later).  The next guy hit a sac fly and we were down 4-3.

In the 8th, after 2 outs, Gleyber walked on 4 pitches and then LeMahieu lined a single to RF (he has been excellent so far).  Frazier came up and on a 2-2 count got a hanging slider that was right there and he didn't miss it for a 3 run HR!  Huge hit for him and the team.

Ottavino was still in and he was struggling in that his fastball didn't have much life and many of his sliders just didn't move (just spun).  He did walk the leadoff batter and then got 2 outs with the runner moving to 2nd base.  Green came in and on a 0-2 pitch hit the jersey of the batter for a very unfortunate HBP.  Fortunately, Chris Davis was up and actually hit the ball sharply but right at Bird for a short hop out. 

Chapman pitched the 9th for the save.

Some other notes:

• I mentioned the steal play where the ball was caught before the bag and then the fielder needs to reach back and tag the runner.  This happened on the play I wrote earlier at 3rd base and it also happened on a pickoff throw from Sanchez to Gleyber where he should have let the ball travel closer to the runner and we could have gotten an out.  Torres is usually good at that on straight steals almost catching the ball and tagging at the same time, but he didn't do it on the backhand (which is harder to do and why having a lefty first baseman makes it a lot easier to pick off a leading runner).
• Wade made a diving play up the middle where he hopped up quickly and made the throw to 1B in time.  It was by far the best play he has made in the field.  I was hopeful that maybe this would spark him at the plate as well, but he was 0-2 with 2 K's.  The Yankee brass keep talking him up, but he has not been able to hit at the major league level for us and as I have said many times, seems overmatched.  We will need him as I don't see any help on our roster right now.
• I stated the Happ was not sharp and that is true, but the HR he allowed in the first inning was not a bad pitch.  He put a fastball right on the outside black of the plate and while it was waist high, Mancini drove it to RF well.
• Bird made another weak play in the 4th inning as a ball was topped in between 1st and the pitcher and Happ got off the mound well but still had to go back (toward 2nd) to field the ball.  After gloving it he tossed it with his glove, instead of transferring it to the hand, and Bird never made it to the bag and it went as a throwing error (the runner went to 2nd). the throw didn't seem that bad, but the angle was not great to see if it went over the bag, but Bird was not decisive and ended up leaning toward fielding the ball rather than covering as he should have.  the reason why he would have to cover was that there was no play if Brid would have fielded the ball as Happ would never have been able to get to the base in time.  Bird didn't read it well.
• The Yankees had bases loaded and nobody out in the 6th inning and Sanchez got picked off of 3rd from the catcher.  Normally, I would be up in arms over this...especially after the boneheaded move Sanchez pulled at 2nd base the other night.  However, this time, Sanchez was not being lazy and was aware, but he simply stumbled on his way back and came off the bag.  He watched the play well and didn't get too far off and immediately went back, but he seemed to have caught his cleat either just before or on the bag which made him go over the bag into LF.  Terrible outcome for us, but it was a little unlucky.
• Boston lost on a walk-off single after almost having it happen on the previous play.  Betts threw a runner out at home on the previous AB, but the batter who hit the single continued to run to 2nd on the throw home so after the runner was out at home, Arizona still had a runner in scoring position; he ended up scoring the winning run on the next single.  It is sad we have to say that this was a heads up play to keep running just in case, but he did what he is supposed to do and it paid off.  Boston is now 2-8.