It’s amazing how quickly a game can go from being in control to spinning at 100mph. Everything looked pretty good for most of the first half of the game. For most of the second half, the game looked more like the aforementioned car crash. The offense then somehow pulled the wobbly car out of a slide and managed to right it back on course.
The Yankees got on the board early with Rizzo’s solo home run in the first inning. Then quickly after that in the third, Judge hit his 40th home run of the season to score LeMahieu, who had walked. It was nice to see LeMahieu back on track after a disappointing season last year. Since he provides solid base skills, this allows Judge to deal even more damage when he hits a huge burst. In the bottom of the third inning, the Yankees led the Royals by three.
Through the first four innings, Gerrit Cole walked the Kansas City Royals hitters. In the first at bat, Aaron Judge hit a potential home run into right field off the bat of MJ Melendez. It was an amazing catch and helped ensure the game didn’t get off to a bad start for Cole. The Royals hitters were making good contact, but they weren’t making any consistent contact through the first four innings.
The wheels broke for Cole in the fifth inning. To some extent, he is not responsible for the results. The official scorers gave him five earned runs in the inning, but some of the blame lies with the Yankees’ defense. During that inning, he got two quick outs as trouble began to arise. Mikel Garcia scored his first Premier League strike when IKF grabbed a ball. Two more singles followed quickly after that to load the bases.
Whitt Merrifield then hit a single to score two runs. At this point, the Yankees were still leading three to two. Unfortunately for the Yankees, Salvador Perez returned from the injured list today. With runners on first and third base, he hit a huge home run to center field. It wasn’t a cheap shop – he got that whole 100 mph fastball. Here’s where you can hang Cole’s inning – the defense left him out there longer than he should have, but the ace should have shut the door after the initial stumble and he couldn’t.
On a positive note, Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Even better, it was a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout. Maybe there is some hope that he will finally start to become the regular Chapman. The Yankees could certainly use the old version of him with the injuries they’ve been dealing with.
For most of the game, there was a real risk that the game would slow down. They played much of the game in the pouring rain. Before the start of the eighth inning, after much messing around with the drying agents, the umpires finally removed the tarp. After a relatively brief rain delay, Albert Abreu pitched for the Yankees in the eighth. He has provided very good relief hitting since returning from the Rangers/Royals. That trend continued today when, apart from a single, he managed to keep the game within reach.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees began to threaten with a dribbler Rizzo and Torres singled. Josh Donaldson then hit a ball to Royals player Mikel Garcia, who couldn’t handle the ball. He reached for Garcia’s mistake. With the bases loaded, Andrew Benintendi came to the plate and hit a ground ball to first base, but was able to pull Nick Pratto far enough to right to reach. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was Benintendi’s first hit with the Yankees and it scored a run. With the bases still loaded, Aaron Hicks came to the plate and walked to tie the game. The baton was passed to IKF and he led off with a single to give the Yankees the lead for the first time since the fifth inning, with the Yankees up by one. With the bases still loaded, Jose Trevino hit a dribbler that scored another run but resulted in a groundout for him at first base.
DJ LeMahieu drew a walk to load the bases again. Judge then came around to load the bases with a big salami of epic proportions. With that home run, he has 41 home runs, tied for the most home runs by a Yankee before August — with two saves. Even better, that home run made it an 11-5 Yankees lead. After a few more singles, the inning ended on a Josh Donaldson popup. Wandy Peralta was brought in to pitch the ninth inning and, with some heartburn, was able to throw a scoreless ninth.
For most of the night, I’d say everything was crappy. However, a miraculous eighth inning managed to save my angry soul. In fact, I feel like my emotions have gone through a roller coaster of highs and lows. I went from the high of Aaron Judge giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead to the low of Cole giving up the fifth. Then another top as the Yankees regained the lead in the eighth. With this win officially in the book, I can say that this was one of the most emotionally draining games. All’s well that ends well. I don’t know about anyone else, but I need a nap.
Field Score.
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