About Last Night: CLE 7, NYY 5

By Ethan Semendinger

October 18th, 2024

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A baseball fan would say this was a great game. Not me. I'm a Yankees fan. This was a terrible game.

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Quick Stats -

• Winning Pitcher: Pedro Avila (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

• Losing Pitcher: Clay Holmes (2-1, 2.45 ERA)

• Save: N/A

• Home Runs (New York): Aaron Judge (2), Giancarlo Stanton (3)

• Home Runs (Cleveland): Kyle Manzardo (1), Jhonkensy Noel (1), David Fry (2)

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Big Story - Even though the Yankees were able to secure wins in Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS, concerns surrounding the offense have been clear and obvious.

Fans have been asking for things to change. And, going into Game 3, the Yankees made changes in the line-up and on the field.

The first change was moving Giancarlo Stanton from 5th in the line-up to 4th in the line-up. The second change was putting in Jon Berti at first base over Anthony Rizzo. The third change was putting in Jose Trevino at catcher over Austin Wells.

With a left-handed pitcher on the mound, Aaron Boone went to his most right-handed favored line-up.

Here was the Yankees line-up for Game 3 as they looked to take the first game in Cleveland:

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Player(s) of the Game - (Only because I have to award it to somebody)

• Tommy Kahnle: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB's, 1 K

Notable Performances -

• Aaron Judge: 1-5, Run, 2-Run Home Run, 3 K's

• Giancarlo Stanton: 1-3, Run, Solo Home Run, 2 BB's

• Anthony Volpe: 1-3, 2 Runs, 2 BB's, 1 K

Better to Forget -

• Clarke Schmidt: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 2 K's

• Ian Hamilton: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB

• Tim Mayza: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB

• Luke Weaver: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 K's

• Clay Holmes: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER)

• Juan Soto: 0-4, Run, 1 BB, 1 K

• Jazz Chisholm: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 K, Didn't Hustle to First in the 10th

• Jon Berti: 0-4, 2 K's, Two misplayed balls at first base

• Anthony Rizzo: 0-0, BB, Two misplayed balls at first base

• Jose Trevino: 1-2, RBI, Couldn't throw out any runners

• Austin Wells: 0-2, 2 K's, Couldn't hit with runners on 2nd and 3rd and 0 outs in the 9th

(Verdugo gets a pass for his 1-4 night because of a couple good defensive plays, and Tim Hill gets a pass for only facing 1 batter.)

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The Game - Today's game recap will be written in half-inning segments of my thoughts.

Top of the First: Gleyber Torres has become a transformed hitter after taking control of the lead-off spot late in the season. He worked a great at-bat. Then, Juan Soto was given an automatic strike (on a questionable decision) before NEARLY hitting a gapper- caught by Lane Thomas to save an early run. Aaron Judge looked poor at the plate, swinging at stuff not close to the zone. Giancarlo Stanton worked a good walk, but Jazz Chisholm was called out on a questionable strike three. The Yankees first inning woes continued.

Bottom of the First: Clarke Schmidt worked himself into trouble early issuing an early walk to Steven Kwan and surrendering a hit to Kyle Manzardo. Yet, after a quick conference, he was able to get Jose Ramirez to strike out, Josh Naylor to ground out (on a good snag by first baseman Jon Berti), and Lane Thomas to strike out. It was a great fight by Schmidt to get through the inning and quiet the crowd in Cleveland.

Top of the Second: Jon Berti struck out swinging to start the inning, but Anthony Volpe worked a walk to keep damage on against Matthew Boyd. This would prove crucial, as Alex Verdugo hit a ground-ball double that bounced over Josh Naylor's head at first base. On the play, Dylan Rocchio was called for obstruction on the tag at second base (Verdugo would've been safe anyway), yet the Yankees were not awarded a free base...in direct contrast to the Tim Hill-Dylan Rocchio play from Game 1. It wouldn't matter though, as Jose Trevino came through with an RBI single to score Volpe and bring Verdugo to third. This would've been amazing, if not for Trevino getting thrown out on the bases. That was a rally killer. Gleyber Torres ended the inning with a flyball to left, which may have been able to be a sacrifice fly had Trevino not made a big mistake. I'll take the 1-0 lead, but the darn baserunning has been terrible for the Yankees this series (and all season).

Bottom of the Second: The Yankees pitchers continue to be great. Clarke Schmidt worked a good 1-2-3 inning, though it was helped a great lot by Alex Verdugo tracking down a flyball on the warning track to prevent a extra base hit. After that, Andres Gimenez grounded out and ran into Jon Berti, and Austin Hedges also grounded out to end the inning.

Top of the Third: Well...that inning did not bring me joy. When I see Soto-Judge-Stanton coming up, I'm hoping for something to happen. Instead, there were 3 weak groundballs. That won't win ballgames.

Bottom of the Third: Well...crud. The Yankees lead is now gone after a Brayan Rocchio single (Steven Kwan flyout) and Kyle Manzardo 2-run home run. Luckily, the walk to Jose Ramirez didn't come around to hurt the Yankees because Josh Naylor struck out and Jose Ramirez got thrown out at second base on a steal...wait? They called him safe? Even after the review? Why even have replay if it doesn't correct the call? The fix is in for Cleveland. Anyway, Lane Thomas grounded out to end the inning.

Top of the Fourth: Well...that's 6-up, 6-down for the Yankees bats. Groundout, strikeout, groundout for Chisholm, Berti, and Volpe. NEXT!

Bottom of the Fourth: If one thing has been working for the Yankees, it is their pitching. Even though he has surrendered two runs, Clarke Schmidt has been good and is also keeping the ball down- mostly. Three groundouts in the 4th around a 2-out double. I'll take it.

Top of the Fifth: That's 9 outs in a row against the Yankees bats. They really let Matthew Boyd off the hook by giving up 3 innings of easy outs. Hopefully the Soto-Judge-Stanton trio does better in the sixth against what is likely to be the bullpen.

Bottom of the Fifth: My favorite player this game is Clarke Schmidt. He keeps going after the Guardians and getting good results. This was his last inning though - Boone brought in Tim Hill to finish off the inning- but, even with the slight mistake, the home run ball, Schmidt didn't allow much damage. It would have been nice if he could have pitched deeper into the game.

Top of the Sixth: The Cleveland Guardians have gone to the bullpen. I am going out on a limb saying that this will not work. Their bullpen has been overworked recently, and they are not as good as their stats would say. Even so, Soto-Judge-Stanton did not work, again. That's 12 in a row...

Bottom of the Sixth: Bringing in Ian Hamilton, after pitching just 1.1 innings since the end of September, is a great way to manage if you're up by 10, or down by 10. Not in a 1-run game. Hamilton walked Lane Thomas and then got Daniel Schneemann to groundout to first that was misplayed by Berti (that had to be challenged) as Thomas moved to second. Hamilton also hurt his ankle on the play when covering first and twisted it again on a stay-warm pitch during the challenge. So, with his injury replacement, Aaron Boone went to Tim Mayza. Forget what I said before about Hamilton. Bringing in Mayza in a 1-run game with a runner on second is managing as if you're up or down by 10. Lane Thomas would steal third on Mayza and then Andres Gimenez would drive him home on a single to give Cleveland a 3-1 lead. Austin Hedges would then work a walk before Brayan Rocchio popped out to Jose Trevino. Steven Kwan ended the inning with a groundout. The Yankees are still in this, but they will need some late-inning magic.

Top of the Seventh: At least the Yankees didn't go down 1-2-3 this inning. Anthony Volpe has been having really good at-bats this postseason. That's a good sign. However, it is clear the experiment with Berti and Trevino didn't work. Anthony Rizzo and Austin Wells should both come into this game now.

Bottom of the Seventh: Why did Aaron Boone bring Tim Mayza back out? Oh, to allow him to walk the lead-off hitter before going to Tommy Kahnle. That's why. Aaron Boone has shown, yet again, he doesn't know how to manage a bullpen. Lucky for Boone, however, Tommy Kahnle is a great reliever and was able to escape the inning without further damage allowed to Cleveland.

Top of the Eighth: Nothing else mattered from this inning besides Juan Soto working a walk to get Hunter Gaddis out of the game, to allow Aaron Judge to face off against Emmanuel Clase. AND THEN AARON JUDGE HIT A MASSIVE 2-RUN HOME RUN TO TIE THE GAME! ... AND THEN GIANCARLO STANTON HIT ONE HIMSELF TO GIVE THE YANKEES A 4-3 LEAD! OH MY GOODNESS. LETS GOOOOOO!!!

Bottom of the Eighth: I 100% agreed with keeping Kahnle in. And Kahnle did great getting two outs, even while allowing a double. And, I 100% agreed with taking him out and bringing in Luke Weaver, who walked Steven Kwan (I was okay with this) and getting David Fry on a checked-swing strikeout. 3 OUTS TO GO!

Top of the Ninth: The Yankees had a great top of the ninth. Anthony Volpe worked a great lead-off walk and then Alex Verdugo hit a bouncing ball that almost got into the outfield to bring Volpe to third...wait? Here were my thoughts in the moment: "Gimenez got to it? VOLPE IS GOING TO THIRD? Oh goodness. He's in a run-down. Well, there goes this inning. WAIT. Jose Ramirez dropped the ball? Volpe is safe? Verdugo got to second? WOW. THAT'S AMAZING!" But, Austin Wells struck out next. Gleyber Torres then gave the Yankees an insurance run with a great sacrifice fly and then Juan Soto was called out on a hesitant strike-three call by the home plate umpire (who did a terrible job tonight).

Bottom of the Ninth: It's all on Weaver now. To start, Anthony Rizzo wasn't able to make another play at first (IF HE CAN'T MAKE ANY PLAYS, HE SHOULDN'T BE PLAYING DEFENSE!), but the Yankees escaped after a Josh Naylor broken-bat groundout to Luke Weaver, who quickly converted it into a double play. Then, with two strikes, Lane Thomas hit a double high off the center field wall. And, then Jhonkensy Noel pinch hit and delivered for Cleveland, hitting a TOWERING bomb to tie up the game. Andres Gimenez would then strike out to bring us to the 10th.

Top of the Tenth: Aaron Judge was unable to deliver to start extra innings, but Giancarlo Stanton worked a walk (and was pinch-run for by Jasson Dominguez). Then, Jazz Chisholm nearly came through with a high bouncing groundball...if not for Andres Gimenez, who made a huge play to get Chisholm at first. So, with two outs and first base open, the Guardians intentionally walked Anthony Rizzo to face Anthony Volpe...who struck out. DARNIT.

Bottom of the Tenth: Clay Holmes was the right call. But, a single, sacrifice bunt, and Steven Kwan groundout wasn't three outs...and David Fry then hit a walk-off home run. The Yankees lost what could've been an instant classic. The series is now 2-1. I am sad.

Goodnight, Yankees fans.

See you tomorrow...or, I guess, later today, for Game 4

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Next Up - The Yankees will play the Guardians in Game Four of the ALCS, starting at 8:08 PM on TBS. Luis Gil (N/A) will face off against Gavin Williams (N/A) in a match-up of two pitchers who have yet to be used at all this postseason. This game is a MUST WIN for both New York and Cleveland. The Yankees need to shake off Game 3. The Guardians need to build off Game 3. We'll see who is able to take control. For now, though, LETS GO YANKEES!

(I am posting this video to remind us of a better time, and also because I love Hideki Matsui and wanted/needing something good to watch after that game.)