by Dale Mather June 13th, 2023
*** About Last Night: The Yankees and Mets started the game with matching first inning solo home runs from Giancarlo Stanton and Brandon Nimmo.
After that, Luis Severino began to implode again, with a pair of balks and by allowing 2 runs in the 2nd inning and one run in the third. Clearly frustrated by the balks, Severino just didn't look right. Interesting also, both players who hit home runs, were hit on the elbow on their very next plate appearances. As Severino was allowing another run, the game had the feeling it was already over, but the Yankees had some life and magic in them.
Anthony Rizzo led off the 4th inning with a single and DJ LeMahieu followed him with a 2-run home run. IKF then hit a blooper that fell in between everyone, and eventually scored on an Anthony Volpe double. Jake Bauers then plated two runs of his own with a single and suddenly the Yankees were in the lead 6-5.
After the Mets tied the score in the bottom of the 5th, the bullpen came in and locked the door from a scoring standpoint. A sac fly in the top of the 5th inning from Josh Donaldson proved to be the game winner.
Quick Stats: Ryan Marinoccio picked up the win to pull even at 3-3 on the year.
2B - A Volpe 2
HR - G Stanton, D LeMahieu
RBI - J Donaldson, J Bauers 2, A Volpe, G Stanton, D LeMahieu 2
The Big Story:
Pitching was the big story from the good, to the bad, and even the ugly.
The good was a solid 4 1/3 innings of shutout baseball from the Yankees bullpen which used six pitchers to combine for 2 hits, 2 walks, 0 runs, and 4 Ks.
The bad was another rough outing for Luis Severino, who still looks like he has a lot more ramp up to do before he's back to his normal self.
The ugly would be the two balk inning which proved to be costly. (At least Richard Bleier can rest easy that his record of 3 balks in an inning in September of 2022 remains intact.)
Players of the Game: I'm going to have to give the awards to DJ LeMahieu and Jake Bauers. DJ delivered the 2-run home run that started the five run inning, and Jake Bauers delivered the final 2-run single in the same inning that gave the Yankees their 2nd lead of the game. (The other coming off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton in the top of the 1st.)
Notable Performances: Pick a bullpen piece, any bullpen piece, and you probably will have someone that performed worthy of mentioning. Ryan Marinaccio, Tommy Kahnle, and Michael King all pitched scoreless innings. King got the save for his 4th on the season. Jimmy Cordero, Wandy Peralta, and Clay Holmes all got in on the action with error free appearances as well(though Wandy wasn't himself and Clay Holmes had to come in a bail him out with two amazing strikeouts with the bases loaded.)
Better to Forget: The first 4 and 2/3 innings. Luis Severino wasn't sharp and had a hard time challenging hitters again. It still looks like Sevy is tipping and hanging pitches to opposing hitters. It also didn't help Severino much that Gleyber booted a sure double play either. My Take: There is no sustainability with the way the offense is playing, in addition to the odd lineups. The Yankees desperately need Aaron Judge and Harrison Bader back and contributing to this offense. It's very hard to catch the teams above you when you score 1 to 2 runs a game and then have one breakout game every so often . Consistency is how you win games. The Yankees need to get runners on and move them over. They don't attempt to steal enough bases and really need to get some practice in when it comes to bunting.
Next Up: The New York Yankees and New York Mets will finish the mini subway series tonight at 7:10PM as Geritt Cole 7-1 (2.84 ERA) will take on future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander 2-3 (4.85 ERA).
Can the Yankees finish a mini sweep?
