About Last Night: Yanks Self-Destruct and Lose

By Paul Semendinger

September 4, 2025

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Last night's game was on some streaming service (I couldn't care which one - to me they're all the same, they take games away from fans including myself). As such, this game summary comes mostly from the play-by-play as recorded on ESPN.com and the call from the radio.

I also missed the beginning of the game because I participated in a podcast with Mike Pinto, Bryan Hoch, Billy Martin, Jr., and Danny Mantle which was an absolute pleasure and honor to be part of. (My favorite part was when Danny Mantle stated that his favorite player was Roy White. Every person involved stated how much they admire Roy White as a person and ballplayer. "Class" and "Dignity" were words used to describe White.)

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Quick Stats:

• Will Warren: 5 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 4 strikeouts

• Anthony Volpe: 0-for-3, 3 strikeouts

• Devin Williams: 2/3 innings, 4 runs, LOSS

• The Yankees had 11 hits

• The Yankees also struck out 10 times.

The Game (in Short):

• After a quiet first inning for both teams, Giancarlo Stanton led off the second inning with a home run to give the Yankees the early lead. (Yankees 1-0)

• Following a one-out single in the fourth, Austin Wells homered. (Yankees 3-0)

• The Astros scored a run in the bottom of the 5th on a double, a single off the glove of Jazz Chisholm, and a sacrifice fly. (Yankees 3-1)

• The Yankees got the run back on a Ben Rice single, an Austin Wells double, and a Ryan McMahon sacrifice fly. (Yankees 4-1)

• But, the Astros came right back and made it a game in the bottom of the sixth. Jeremy Pena homered to end Will Warren's night. Fernando Cruz came in and gave up a Yordan Alvarez double. Alvarez went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out. Of note, the double by Alvarez seemed certainly playable by left fielder Giancarlo Stanton. (Yankees 4-3)

• The Astros tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning off Luke Weaver. Yordan Alvarez singled with two runners on. The Gamecast notes an error by Giancarlo Stanton that allowed the run to score. (Astros/Yankees 4-4)

• The Yankees went to Devin Williams in the bottom of the eighth and the results were predictable. He gave up a lead-off double, and in between two outs, walked three batters including Taylor Trammell with the bases loaded. It seems there were words from Williams to the home plate umpire. Williams got tossed. Aaron Boone came out and also got thrown out of the game. Camilo Doval came in and gave up a run-scoring single to Jeremy Pena. Then came a balk that also plated a run. Then a wild pitch for another run. (Astros 8-4)

• The Yankees made it exciting in the ninth. Ryan McMahon and Aaron Judge singled. Cody Bellinger then hit a homer to make it a one run game. But Jazz Chisholm took a called strike three to end the game. Astros 8-7

My Thoughts:

• Giancarlo Stanton's home run sailed way over the seats up onto the train tracks, a monster homer, while Austin Wells' just made it, landing in the first row. They count the same. (Well, Wells' was a two-run shot.) It doesn't matter how far they go out, as long as they go out.

• The Aaron Boone yelling at umpires act is tiring, boring, and to the point of ridiculousness. The umping wasn't good, from the little I saw on highlights, but Boone's act is over done. Maybe if he took his pitcher out after he loaded the bases with walks, the Yankees could have held on and won the game. It's always easier to blame others for one's own mistakes.

• Again, because I didn't see the game, I can't comment on how bad the umpiring was. Social media seems to say the umpiring was terrible. If so, that's on Major League Baseball. They need to demand better. Games should not be decided by a series of bad umpiring calls - and it seems, in part, at least, that this game was blown, at least partially, by the home plate umpire.

• Why Aaron Boone went to Devin Williams, and left him in to blow the game, is beyond my understanding. This happens time and time again. We can blame the umpire, but the umpire didn't give up the lead-off double to start the inning that gave the Astros the lead - Williams did. It went downhill from there.

• I know that many believe the Yankees are run completely by the stat guys who make all the decisions. Can the analysts possibly have any stats that say that Devin Williams should be pitching in the eighth inning of a 4-4 game? All the numbers I see, like the ones below, state that Williams should never be pitching in important spots. Who are these stat guys, and how do they have jobs, if they can't see the obvious? I have to believe that the decision to bring in Williams was Boone's. If not, the Yankees have huge problems organizationally. The only stat that could call for Devin Williams being brought into a close game is, "Well, he's been so so so bad in these spots that the law of averages says he has to be good."

• The book on the Yankees is always, "Let them beat themselves." They beat themselves again in this game. Again, a loss like this goes directly to the manager and the way he managed and the team's lack of executing good fundamental baseball. The umpire was bad, but he also didn't balk nor throw a wild pitch to let the game get way out of hand.

• What we saw (or listened to) last night was the way the Yankees have played against the good teams for the Boone Era. Some might make excuses for the loss, but games like this are a pattern and now an expectation from the fans. There is something fundamentally wrong with the Yankees' approach that makes blowing games in new and unbelieveable ways the expectation. That's also a problem.

• But, even with all that, the Yankees might still win the World Series. They have the talent. They're going to be in the post season. If they could just put it all together...

NEXT UP:

The series concludes tonight at 7:40 p.m. Carlos Rodon takes the mound for the Yankees.