About Game Two: Yanks Lose 4-2

by Paul Semendinger

October 8, 2024

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About Last Night:

The Yankees had a 1-0 lead, but quickly gave it up and lost 4-2.

The Game Story:

Carlos Rodon came into the game fired up. He was Fired Up. FIRED UP! His first six pitches were strikes. He struck out the side to begin the game. It was a great start.

What wasn't great was the bottom of the first inning. Gleyber Torres walked. Juan Soto walked! Then Aaron Judge struck out, Austin Wells struck out, and Giancarlo Stanton grounded out. On his ground out, Stanton carried a piano, and three bags of cement along with 14 cinder blocks as he jogged to first. He should not be in the lineup. At all. The man can't run. Running is part of the game. (As if that isn't obvious.)

Through two innings, the Yankees' batters did a good job of working counts and getting Cole Ragans' pitch count up. If you can't beat a pitcher, and the Yankees struggle mightly against left-handed pitchers, one way to win the game is to make the pitcher throw tons of pitches early. The Yankees were doing that.

The Yankees finally scored a run in the third inning. Gleyber Torres walked. Juan Soto struck out. Aaron Judge flew out to the warning track in right field. (Everyone seemed to get excited by the flyout, but it wasn't hit especially well.) Austin Wells then singled. Giancarlo Stanton followed with a single off Bobby Witt's glove scoring Torres. Stanton hit the ball hard, but Witt slipped as he went for the ball. It was ruled a hit, and it scored a run. The Yankees had the lead.

It didn't last. With a 1-0 lead, the Yankees immediately gave the game back to the Royals. Salvador Perez led off the fourth inning with a homer. Yuli Gurriel then singled. A wild pitch and one out later, Gurriel scored on a Tommy Pham single. An out later, Garett Hampson had a two-out single to give the Royals a 3-1 lead. And that was all for Carlos Rodon. He came in fired up, but he lost it all quickly in the fourth. Ian Hamilton came into the game and then allowed a hit (and a run) to give the Royals a 4-1 lead.

From there, it became a boring game. After eight innings, the score remained 4-1. The Yankees, the Bronx Bombers, just don't seem to hit. At all. The Yankees hitters made the Royals' bullpen seem elite. Simply, it's not.

Jazz Chisholm homered in the ninth. It mattered little. The Yankees lost. 4-2.

Better to Forget:

• The Yankees left 8 men on base

• The Yankees went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

• In the series, the Yankees are 3 for 19 with runners in scoring position

My Takes:

I was not thrilled with the Yankees' decision to use Jon Berti as the first baseman. This is the same old Yankees - they think players are interchangeable. They aren't. Berti had played zero games at first base in his big league career. Asking a guy to play a position he's never played in a playoff game is foolish, at best. One must assume that Berti was put in because of his bat, the argument being that Oswaldo Cabrera cannot hit left-handed pitchers. Berti went hitless until he got a bloop single in the ninth inning. Also, Berti played very little during the season due to some injuries. When he did play, his OPS+ was 90. He was a below average hitter. That was the Yankees' grand plan for first base.

Aaron Judge is a superstar. No doubt. But, something seems to go wrong with him in the postseason. He looks awful. And this isn't the first time he's looked this bad in the postseason. Is he tired? Did the Yankees push him too hard during the season? He had one hit last night - an infield single. If Judge doesn't hit, in short, the Yankees usually don't win.

Announcers love to say, "Everyone in the stands is standing. They're all on their feet." And yet, when you see the game, plenty of people are sitting. It always makes me laugh. "45,000 fans, all on their feet..." and there, behind home plate, in the seats that aren't empty are fans sitting away.

I said it above, but Giancarlo Stanton cannot run. At all. He should not be playing. Hoping that he runs into a bad pitch and hits it out is not a good strategy. He clogs the lineup and the basepaths. I don't know if Jasson Dominguez can hit, but he can run and that gives the Yankees much more than Giancarlo Stanton does.

Early in the game, announcer Ron Darling said, "The Yankees have a great defensive infield." Really? Let's see, they had Jazz Chisholm learning third base, Job Berti who never played first base at first, and Gleyber Torres, who has never been known for his glove, all playing last night. I don't know what game he was watching, but Darling was certainly was not describing this team.

It's difficult to win when every time your team scores, you immediately allow the other team to score. That's how the Yankees have been playing in this series. That plus poor hitting with runners on base are sure fire ways to lose.

Giancarlo Stanton gounded into a double play to end the eighth inning. Bob Costas said, "It's not his fault." What? That might be the low point of announcing. Whose fault was it?

I am so glad Duke Ellis is on the playoff roster. He has also never played first base. I wouldn't be surprised to see him start a game there.

The Yankees used eight pitchers in the game. This is due to all the days off. Using that many pitchers makes baseball quite boring. It's also not the way the game is played during the regular season which is frustrating. There should be one off day in a five game series.

It's now a three game series - the first team to win two games moves on. It was "Right there in front of them," for the Yankees, now it seems less so. The Yankees might be the best team in the American League, but they are again showing that they are not a very good team. They just aren't. Sure, they might win, but we are not watching good baseball.

Next Up:

The Yankees and the Royals get another day off today (this is ridiculous) and play Wednesday night in Kansas City.