By Derek McAdam
May 18, 2023
***
The New York Yankees lost the third game of a four-game series to the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 3-0, as Danny Jansen hit a three-run home run in the 10th to give the Blue Jays their first win of the series.
Quick Stats:
W: Jordan Romano (3-2)
L: Wandy Peralta (2-1)
Gerrit Cole: 6+ IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 0 runs
The Yankees did not get a hit following Willie Calhoun’s 5th inning single
The Big Story:
Last night’s game turned into a pitching duel between Gerrit Cole and Chris Bassitt. Cole threw six shutout innings, while Bassitt threw seven. Both bullpens got into some trouble, including the Yankees loading the bases with two outs in the 8th, but they failed to score after Anthony Volpe struck out.
The Yankees also managed to commit three errors last night, coming from Cole, Oswaldo Cabrera and Volpe. While none of the errors really affected the outcome of the game (Volpe’s error wouldn’t have saved Jansen from hitting a home run), this is definitely a letdown to see on the scorecard, considered that it was the same as the number of hits the entire team had.
In the 10th, the Yankees failed to score the ghost runner from second, after strikeouts from Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo. Wandy Peralta pitched the 10th, but gave up the game-winning home run to Jansen.
From a pitching perspective, this was a fun game to watch. For those who are more into offense, this was not the game for you.
Player of the Game:
Jansen absolutely deserves this, as he was the source of the only runs scored in this game.
Notable Performances:
With the exception of Peralta, and it’s not entirely his fault because an error helped to extend the inning, both pitching staffs performed very well.
Better to Forget:
It’s best if the Yankee offense put last night’s game behind them and move on. Peralta would also like to forget that he gave up the game-winning home run, but he should have never been put in that position in the first place. A team won't win many games getting only three hits in ten innings.
My Take:
This was a frustrating game for the Yankees in several ways. First, having three total hits in 10 innings is never going to cut it. They did manage to work four walks, but could not get the runs in late in the game. Great pitching shut them down last night, but it wasn’t as if they did have some of their own.
It’s also frustrating to see that the team wasted a quality start from Cole, who had not been in top shape over his past couple of starts against the Rays. While it was not his best performance this season, he still managed to give the Yankees six shutout innings. To me, it doesn’t matter if he was on or not. The six shutout innings will be taken any day of the week.
But it didn’t matter how well the Yankees’ pitching staff did, since they could not possibly have won the game with their offense literally giving them nothing to work with. And I can’t even criticize Aaron Boone for the pitching decisions he made.
Clay Holmes got the Yankees out of the 7th, coming into runners on first and second with no outs. Michael King pitched the 9th, and worked into some trouble, but got out of it. Having not scored any runs in the 10th, you want your best available reliever to come in. Of course, that would be Peralta.
It’s tough to say if the team even has a closer at this point, so I can’t give anyone that title. But I do think that Boone made the right decisions in this case. Should King and Peralta have reversed innings? It’s tough to say, and at this point, it doesn’t really matter.
The only thing the Yankees can do from here is move on to tonight’s game and go for the series win. It’s only one game, and the Yankees have been playing better baseball as of late. Hopefully, it’s just an outlier.
What’s Next?:
The Yankees wrap up their four-game series tonight against the Blue Jays, with the game scheduled to begin at 7:07 p.m. EST. Nestor Cortes Jr. is set to start for the Yankees, while Jose Barrios is set to go for the Blue Jays.
