By Paul Semendinger
April 23, 2024
***
About Yesterday Afternoon - The Oakland A's, of all teams, defeated the Yankees 2-0.
Quick Stats:
WP - Lucas Erceg
LP - Victor Gonzalez
HR - Zack Gelof (Oakland)
Big Story:
The big story, and in a way this can't be over emphasized, is that the Yankees, who started the season so well, so exceptionally, have, in essence, given all that back. The Yankees are 3-5 over their last eight games. And for much of that time, they haven't hit.
If the Yankees look up, they'll see that they are no longer in first place.
In 2022, the Yankees, for most of the first half, were a seemingly invincible team. Then they had a very bad second half (following by a boring and uninspiring 2023). This is beginning to feel like 2022 in microcosm. A great start, and then... frustratingly poor baseball. Now, it's too early to push the panic button, of course, but this team is starting to have that same feel - they start to go the wrong way, and they have no idea how to fix it.
Like I have noted a few times already this year, this was a game the Yankees should have won. Good teams win winnable games, bad teams don't. When your starting pitcher goes seven innings and allows but one hit and no runs, you need to win that game. The Yankees did not.
Player of the Game:
Former Yankee J.P. Sears. He went 6 innings, allowed three hits, walked one, and allowed no runs.
Notable Performances:
Carlos Rodon - 7 innings, 1 hit allowed, no runs
Mason Miller (Oak) - 1 inning, 3 strikeouts, 100+ MPH fastball
Zack Gelof - Game Winning Home Run
Better to Forget:
The Yankees have completely stopped hitting.
Anthony Volpe is 2 for his last 25
Aaron Judge is hitting .174 for the season. He has struck out 31 times in 23 games.
Anthony Rizzo is 3 for his last 22
Giancarlo Stanton is 3 for his last 17
I could go on, but, I can't.
My Take:
In Today's Tuesday Discussion our writers will share their thoughts on Aaron Judge. Are they concerned? Stay tuned! (Spoiler Alert - I am.)
Aaron Boone was tossed from the game for saying... nothing. A fan yelled at the umpire and he tossed Boone. That's completely unacceptable. Don't they have replays? It seems in the postgame comments that the umpire also had no remorse or even the ability to say, "I might have been wrong." The umpiring right now isn't good and it's situations like this that make it look worse. Here's an idea - when you make a mistake, admit it.
Great teams win their games against the bad teams. The Yankees have to be defeating teams like the A's.
Next Up - These two teams battle again tonight at 7:05 p.m. Marcus Stroman starts for the Yankees.
