By Ethan Semendinger
April 25th, 2024
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The Yankees bats really came alive for the first time in a week as they socked 3 home runs against the A's.
Quick Stats -
Winning Pitcher: Clarke Schmidt (2-0, 3.55 ERA)
Losing Pitcher: Joe Boyle (1-4, 7.06 ERA)
Save: None
Home Runs (New York): Aaron Judge (4), Anthony Rizzo (3), Juan Soto (6)
Home Runs (Houston): Brent Rooker (5)
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Big Story - In the last 10 games they have played going into last night, the Yankees were sitting on a 5-5 record. Across those games, the Yankees failed to score more than 5 runs in 7 of them, including their last 4 contests.
With that, the Yankees main starting line-up going into last nights game was hitting the following:
Anthony Volpe - .287
Juan Soto - .319
Aaron Judge - .180 (!)
Giancarlo Stanton - .233
Anthony Rizzo - .231
Gleyber Torres - .186
Alex Verdugo - .247
Jose Trevino - .250/Austin Wells - .086
Oswaldo Cabrera - .278
When there are only 3 guys with a batting average above .250, that's a worrying sign.
There has also been a distinct lack of power from the team. As a whole, they had just 23 home runs through 24 games. Through 24 games last year, the team had 30 home runs. (And that team was a disaster of an offense at years end!)
It's clear things need to change.
Here was the line-up for yesterdays late night game on Amazon Prime:
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Player(s) of the Game -
Aaron Judge: 2-5, Run, Home Run, 2 RBI's
Notable Performances -
Clarke Schmidt: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 6 K's
Luke Weaver: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's
Ian Hamilton: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's
Anthony Rizzo: 2-4, Run, Home Run, 1 RBI, 1 K
Juan Soto: 1-3, 2 Runs, Home Run, 2 RBI's, 1 BB
Anthony Volpe: 2-5, Run, Triple, 1 RBI, 1 K
Austin Wells: 2-3, Run, 1 BB, 1 K
Better to Forget -
Oswaldo Cabrera: 0-4, 1 K
Gleyber Torres: 1-4, 2 K's
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The Game - Clarke Schmidt has started to really become and showcase the talent and abilities of the 1st round draft pick pitcher that they signed in 2017. Though he allowed some baserunners (double, walk) in the first inning, he escaped the jam quickly and then kept the Oakland bats quiet through the next 4 innings. Across the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, Schmidt allowed just 1 walk and single.
Meanwhile, the Yankees bats took advantage of the 0-spot Schmidt was keeping the A's hitters too.
In the first inning, a Soto walk set the state for Aaron Judge...who proceeded to strikeout yet again. EXCEPT, the strikeout was reversed due to a called BALK on Boyle. Immediately afterwards, Judge took his next pitch over the right field wall for a quick 2-run lead. (And the A's quickly lost their manager for an ejection.)
The Yankees would put up pressure in the 2nd and 3rd, in both inning getting multiple runners on, but it took until the 4th for another run to be plated after an Austin Wells single and an Anthony Volpe triple (3-0, Yankees). Juan Soto quickly showed some situational hitting and brought in Volpe via sacrifice fly (4-0, Yankees) before the inning was over. Add in an Anthony Rizzo home run (his 2nd in 2 days) and the Yankees had a 5-3 lead through just over half of the game.
In the 6th, Clarke Schmidt found himself into some trouble and allowed a hit-by-pitch and double to end up in 3-runs via a Brent Rooker homer before the Yankees starting pitcher was pulled. Luke Weaver came in via relief and shut-down the Athletics through the 8th inning.
Meanwhile, the Yankees added another run in the 6th inning via a Juan Soto homerun (6-3 Yankees), and their final run in the 7th after 3 straight singles from Stanton, Rizzo, and Torres before an Alex Verdugo sacrifice fly (7-3, Yankees).
Ian Hamilton came in to secure the win in the 9th inning, shutting down the A's in 3 straight batters.
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Next Up - The Yankees (17-8) complete their home series against the Oakland Athletics (9-16) tonight with a game starting at 7:05 PM on YES. Nestor Cortes (1-1, 3.41 ERA) will be taking the mound against Alex Wood (0-2, 7.89 ERA) in a game that the Yankees need to win to secure a win over the 4 game series.
