This was an excellent game and not because we won (That just
made it more enjoyable). The final score
was more of an indication that our bullpen was better than theirs. However, the score was 3-3 going into the
bottom of the 5th and 5-4 going into the bottom of the 6th.
What made this game great was that I could write a long time
about almost every AB in the game. It
was truly a chess game of pitch selection, adjustments and usually very good
pitches in excellent spots. Both teams did
a good job of controlling the strike zone at the plate and both teams made a
lot of very good pitches. How many times
did you say to yourself, great pitch only to also compliment the batter for
holding off on swinging at that 1-2 pitch that was just off the plate?
The game started with the Yankees seeming to just miss in a
lot of areas. We just missed 2 HR’s, Judge just missed catching the HR to RF which
beat him to the wall (not his fault), Stanton just barely missed beating the
broken bat throw from 3rd base with 2 outs and Stanton just missed a
line drive into left and it ended up a double We also had 2 doubles with a man
on 1st and less than 2 outs and missed scoring in each of those
times.
The Stanton play is one to dissect as we had 2nd
and 3rd and 2 outs and he had a 3-0 count on him. I am not a huge fan in giving the 3-0 green
light when there is an open base at 1B as the pitcher should not just groove
one. Further, it was the first swing of the
night for Stanton and he saw a fastball and 2 curves all for balls. Of course, the decision to swing was
exacerbated by a pitch that was pretty inside and he sawed off Stanton bat for
a bleeder to 3rd that highlighted how Stanton is not 100%
running. Stanton is not slow and he
labored down the line and was just barely out.
If he got out of the box faster or even if were later in the game and
had a “lather” going he probably beats that out even with him not at 100%. Poor decision and it didn’t work. Stanton is the one to blame for that as the green
light doesn’t mean you have to swing. BTW,
Stanton was up with 2 man on base 3 times; he walked the other two times and
then added another walk leading off the inning.
Paxton pitched OK, the Twins did a good job taking advantage
of his mistakes and the big one was the 0-2 pitch to Cruz, you simply can’t
catch that much of the plate on an 0-2 count.
Overall, you have to credit the Twins hitters as they were able to not
swing at some very tough pitches.
The part of the game that I didn’t understand and I am not
sure if Boone addressed it, but I didn’t like the way he handled the Ottavino,
Kahnle, Green grouping in the middle of the game. There is a man on 2nd and 2 outs,
Paxton had thrown about 80 pitches and Polanco, who had homered off Paxton was
coming up. This is not a lot of pitches
so you either allow Paxton to stay out there as he was still throwing fine or
you take him out before facing Polanco.
The Yankees were looking at the stats, as they should, and Polanco has
an OPS of .891 against righties and .728 against lefties. This is part of the chess game where you have
to ask yourself whether the fact the guy hit a HR off your pitcher that day is
more important than a season of stats? I
am not going to go crazy over the decision, but I was watching the game with a
friend and we questioned why not take him out right there and go to Kahnle
(Polanco is a switch hitter). Ottavino
was up and ended up being brought in AFTER Paxton allowed a single to tie the
game at 3. After Ottavino walked Cruz
after being up 0-2 (made bad pitches to go 3-2 and if he would have thrown the
3-2 slider on 1-2 or 2-2 Cruz would have chased it but after seeing so many he
was able to hold up his swing and walk.
Ottavino was then out of the game for Kahnle. Using Ottavino for one batter in a situation
that was a guy on 1b and 2 outs didn’t make sense to me. As it turned out we only got 1.1 innings out of
all 3 of them including Green. Poor use
of the pen there
Like I said earlier I could go through so many AB’s, but the
one AB to go through is the Torres AB in the 5th. Bases are loaded with 2 outs and Torres is up
against Duffey who came in and struck out Edwin on 3 pitches and then walked
Stanton on 4 pitches. Last AB Torres was
also up with the bases loaded and he swung at a low changeup and grounded into
what should have been a double play but Minnesota botched it. Torres swung at the first pitch again and
fouled it straight back. After being all
over the fastball, I think he was expecting a breaking ball and Duffy threw
another fastball for a strike. Down 0-2,
Torres took some tough pitches including a 2-2 pitch that was just off the
plate. He showed some great discipline
and then fouled off a slider for the 6th pitch of the AB before
ripping a 2 run double!
Sanchez who did not look good at the plate at all, swinging
at balls and taking strikes while also missing very hittable pitches struck out
to end that inning.
Some other quick notes:
Gardner hit a HR and you have to feel great for the guy. I have been the biggest supporter of Gardner
and always defended him to others and felt he was very underrated as well as the
best defensive LF in the game for many years.
That being said, who would have thought he would be batting 3rd
and playing CF for us in the playoffs in what many felt was his final year?
Gregorius did walk, but he still has looked poor at the
plate. The bat path has not been sharp
to the ball. He could hit a HR and still
pop out the other 3 AB’s.
Urshela did not finish the year well and he continued to
struggle hitting the ball weakly all 4 times.
Edwin being in the lineup was a huge plus. Even when he K’d he was on the ball; that is
huge for us. 2 doubles were very
important
Can’t get through this blog without talking about DJ. Yeah he dropped a pop up that was pathetic,
but 3 hits a double clearing the bases and a solo HR at the plate! BTW, I am convinced it was the 1B glove that
screwed him up there.
How about big 99? 2
diving catches and a bullet single to go along with 2 walks!
Sanchez had an excellent block and then a poor passed ball…he
is better, but don’t be lazy and don’t leave your throwing hand out in the open
as he just missed getting hit again. Oh,
he also made a nice play on a swinging bunt.
I am really happy the way we swung the bats (and didn’t
swing at too many bad pitches. Need to
get Didi and Urshela going; I would not play Didi against a lefty and I would try
Voit, you could also try Voit and rest Urshela, but one thing at a time.
A few other points:
·
I loved not having the box when watching the game;
it was so awesome to see the entire catcher/strike zone without something
superimposed. That being said, I don’t know
why they don’t show the replay almost every single time with the box??? That is what I would do.
·
Smoltz is really good, he is kind of like Cone
with a little less comedy.
·
I am not sure why the Yankees didn’t ask 1B for
help on the Judge called foul ball? He
didn’t touch it and Boone should have asked for help (can’t challenge). I believe it is treated differently than a
checked swing which can’t be overruled.
The ball tipped the catcher’s glove and then went off his shin pad so
the ump thought the tip was the ba
t
·
The ump did a pretty good job, the one really
bad call was a low pitch to Stanton
10 more to go!
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