Source: FanGraphs
Bah, that was an annoying game. One of the more annoying games of the season. The offense went back to sleep — turns out it’s not as easy to score when the A’s aren’t kicking the ball all over the place — in Monday afternoon’s 3-2 loss to the Orioles. Remember when the Yankees used to dominate at Camden Yards? Good times. Let’s recap this mess of a game with bullet points on the final day of the holiday weekend.
- Montgomery Struggles: Was the strike zone a little tight? Yeah, it was, but that’s not the only reason Jordan Montgomery needed 34 pitches to complete one inning, 56 pitches to complete two innings, and 73 pitches to complete three innings. O’s hitters fouled off 21 (!) pitches and eight of the 23 batters he faced saw a three-ball count. The big blow was Jonathan Schoop’s two-out, two-run double to right in the third inning. Starlin Castro’s error on Mark Trumbo’s weak grounder earlier in the inning set that up, but still. Sometimes the pitcher has to pick up his fielders, and Montgomery didn’t. Three of his last four starts have kinda stunk.
- Two Token Runs: The Yankees scored their first run on an Aaron Hicks sac fly only after Castro failed to score on a Didi Gregorius infield single. The ball deflected off the defender’s glove and rolled away from everyone, yet Castro didn’t score from second. He could have walked home. At least Hicks picked him up. The Yankees scored their second run in the seventh inning, on Aaron Judge’s league leading 17th dinger. It was a rocket into the center field seats. Love that guy. Two runs ain’t enough though.
- Sloppy Play: Really ugly afternoon on both sides of the ball. Castro didn’t score on Didi’s infield single. Brett Gardner was thrown out trying to go second-to-third on Gary Sanchez’s fly ball in the third. Castro misplayed the Trumbo grounder that contributed to two runs in the third. Sanchez ran right into the second baseman on Matt Holliday’s double play ball in the fifth rather than stop and make the defender come to him. Real lack of fundies on display.
- Leftovers: Nice work by the bullpen to keep it close. Jonathan Holder escaped the two on, one out jam he inherited from Montgomery and retired all five batters he faced. Chasen Shreve issued a walk in two otherwise flawless innings … Gardner (single, double) and Chase Headley (single, walk) were the only Yankees to reach base twice … Holliday made six outs in four at-bats (0-for-4 with two double plays) … even with Sunday’s nine-run outburst, the Yankees are averaging only 3.36 runs scored in their last eleven games. Gross.
Here are the box score, video highlights, and updated standings. The Yankees and Orioles will continue this series Tuesday evening. Luis Severino and Chris Tillman are the scheduled starters. Can the Yankees avoid their eighth (!) consecutive series loss in Camden Yards? I sure hope so. This is getting annoying, especially since this game snapped the O’s seven-game losing streak.
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