About Yesterday: Yankees and Rangers Split Twinbill

By Mike Whiteman August 11, 2024 Born on this day in 1907 was Lewis Norman "Bobo" Newsom. For the most part prior to 1961, there were only sixteen major league franchises - eight in both the American and National Leagues. The well travelled Newsom suited up for nine of them - and had five stints with Washington alone - over his 20-year career. He changed teams during the season eight times, and finished with a 211-222 lifetime record with a 3.98 ERA (107 ERA+).

Newsom's tenure with the Yankees was short but not insignificant. In July 1947 he was purchased from the Washington Senators to reinforce a pitching staff dealing with injuries. Bobo responded with some of the most inspired pitching of his career, going 7-5, 2.80 the rest of the way. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/newsobo01.shtml

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Bobo-Newsom/ On this day in 1964, the Yankees promoted 22-year old Mel Stottlemyre from Richmond of the International League, where he was 13-3, 1.42. He would make his Major League debut the next day, and go on to be a Yankee fan favorite for a long time. His 9-3, 2.06 half season of work helped the Yanks to the AL pennant, and he went on to a distinguished career during a rough spot in Yankee history, with 166 wins and a 2.97 ERA (112 ERA+) through 1974. Stottlemyre returned to the Pinstripes in 1996 as pitching coach, guiding the pitching staff over an era of six AL flags and four World Series championships.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/stottme01.shtml https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Mel-Stottlemyre/ Quick Stats: The Yankees are 69-49, second place in the American League East. They are a game behind the Baltimore Orioles. Big Story: A lot of baseball yesterday due to the Friday rainout. Thankfully, with the extra work, my boss has approved time and a half for my efforts. The Rangers are not a particularly good team this year, but the defending World Series champions are still a dangerous club to encounter, especially for a Yankee team battling the Orioles for AL East supremacy. The Yanks certainly had the pitching lined up the way they wanted - Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole starting both ends of the doubleheader. The first game went as planned - Rodon, Ron Marinaccio, and Tim Hill combined for a five-hit shutout and Austin Wells' four RBI effort led the team to an easy 8-0 win in the opener.

The second contest didn't go as hoped. It started out just fine, as Cole pitched well and into the sixth inning, allowing only a run in the fourth and striking out ten. The game was tied 1-1 when Aaron Boone pulled Cole and handed the ball to Luke Weaver. Going into the game, Weaver had a 2.81 ERA and has been perhaps the team's most consistent reliever this season. Except yesterday Weaver didn't have it. He only got one out and allowed five runs, including walking in a run and serving up a three-run homer by Corey Seager. His ERA jumped to 3.50. Boone next turned to Michael Tonkin, who coming into the game had a 2.42 ERA. An inning and a third later, Tonkin had yielded three runs himself, and his ERA went up to 3.38. Down 9-1, the Yankees added home runs by Giancarlo Stanton and Jazz Cisholm in the eighth inning to make the final score look a bit more respectful. Rangers 9, Yankees 4. Doubleheader split. OK. I guess. Notable Performances: Marinaccio - the 27th man on the roster for the day - thew two and a third scoreless innings in the first game, very valuable as he preserved the pen for the nightcap....Chisholm had home runs in both games....Rodon (13-7, 4.18) won his fourth start in a row...Gleyber Torres had RBIs in both games....Aaron Judge had three hits in the opener. Better to Forget: Anthony Volpe went 0-for-doubleheader, going hitless both games and striking out four times. They Said It: "She was pretty impressive. It was fun to see the amount of our guys who were star struck being around her" - Aaron Boone on the team's pregame visit from WNBA star Caitlin Clark. My Take: After the solid win in the first game, I really wanted the sweep. The split is disappointing, but hopefully the team will take the series with a win today. When you're battling for first place in August and playing a stretch of sub-.500 teams, you have to accumulate series wins. Austin Wells isn't just hitting well "for a catcher" - he's hitting real well - .349/.436/.523 since the All-Star break. There's a chance that the Yanks could have a gem behind the plate. In fact, the Yankee infield has a youthful look, with Wells (age 24), Chisholm (26) and Volpe (23) primed to be big parts of the team going forward. If Ben Rice establishes himself at first base, that could be a unit with a bright future ahead. How many of us saw that coming this season? Next Up: Go for the series win! Marcus Stroman (7-6, 4.10) takes the mound against Andrew Heaney (4-11, 3.98). Start time 1:35.