About Last Night: Dodgers 8, Yanks 4

by Paul Semendinger

June 3, 2023

***

BOOM!

Out.

Smack.

BOOM!

That's how it started.

And it was over before anyone got comfortable.

The Dodgers scored early and often. In the first inning, the Dodgers banged out eight hits and scored six times.

And that was that.

Quick Stats:

• Mookie Betts - 2nd consecutive two homer games (He went 4-for-4 with 3 runs batted in.)

• Josh Donaldson (back from the IL) homered twice

• Giancarlo Stanton (back from the IL) homered

• Gleyber Torres hit in his 12th consecutive game

• The Yankees managed only five hits in the game

Big Story:

The first big story was that some big Yankees bats came off the injured list for last night's game. These guys were supposed to provide some offense. And they did! Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson combined for three of the Yankees' five hits. Their three hits (two from Donaldson) were all homers. The only other Yankees to get hits were Gleyber Torres and Jose Trevino.

Tommy Kahnle also returned. He pitched one inning, allowing a hit and a walk, but no runs. He struck out one batter.

Player(s) of the Game:

Mookie Betts - 4-for-4, 2 homers, and a walk

Notable Performances:

Clayton Kershaw won his 7th game of the year. This was the first time he defeated the Yankees in his career. He has defeated every MLB team except... the Orioles.

Better to Forget:

Luis Severino gave up 7 runs in four innings.

Greg Allen left the game with an injury. He also collided with Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a play in the outfield. (Imagine that... when guys play out of position, they run into each other. How many times have we seen this over the last season or two?)

My Take:

This one was over quickly. Luis Severino didn't have it, at all. He gave the Yankees four innings which is something considering how bad his first inning was.

It's great that Josh Donaldson hit two homers. But, that's my worry. I worry that he'll do just enough to stay in the lineup. He'll homer every ten days or so. He'll make a few good plays on defense. And he'll bat .221. I hope that the good that comes out of his return is that he does well enough that a desperate team will trade for him. At Triple-A, Oswald Peraza is batting .337 with 10 homers. Of course, the Yankees, brilliant in their thinking, as always, the team that puts players out of position in the big leagues all of the time, have kept Peraza at shortstop for the vast majority of games he's played in the minor leagues (where it would make sense to have players learn new positions).

Anthony Volpe (0-for-4) is at .268. He is! Oh, that's his On Base Percentage. His batting average is .190. Over the last 14 days, he is batting .093 (4-for-43). Forget about my point that he should be batting ninth. Can anyone, please, explain, with any logic, why he is batting seventh?! He hasn't hit for weeks and he's batting seventh?!

Because the Yankees only play Peraza at shortstop at Triple-A, there will be only one position for him to come to the big leagues and play - and that's shortstop. The Yankees can stay committed to Volpe for only so long. He's not getting the job done. Peraza is - he's screaming for a call-up. This entire situation has been handled very poorly by the Yankees dating back to last year. (In short, they called up Peraza last year and he sat on the bench. This year, Volpe won the job out of Spring Training. Peraza went to the farm, but instead of him learning to play second base or third base, or even left field (the Yankees have tried everyone else out there), they play him only at shortstop. Meanwhile, the Yankees have moved Volpe all over the lineup and have not been able to help him find his swing. He has been a mess for weeks. I fear, he'll soon be sent down. I also fear that once he's down, the Yankees will play him primarily at... shortstop creating the same logjam that's there right now.)

Trivia - Name the seven players who have played left field for the Yankees (so far) this year.

Next Up:

Gerrit Cole (6-0, 2.93 ERA) will face Michael Grove (0-1, 8.44 ERA) at 7:15 tonight. For fans who want to watch the game, this game will be on Fox. (Tomorrow's game will be on ESPN.)

They used to say, "You can't tell the players without a scorecard." Now you can't watch the Yankees without a TV Guide. This year, alone, they have been on YES, Peacock, Amazon-Prime, and Apple-TV. They have a TBS game coming up soon and a game on FS1. Have they been on WPIX? (I can't remember.) How is a fan supposed to follow a team if he can't even find them on TV?

Trivia answer: Oswaldo Cabrera, Aaron Hicks, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Willie Calhoun, Jake Bauers, Franchie Cordero, and Greg Allen. (Remember, the Yankees knew they needed a left fielder LAST year. They never got one. I remember hearing in December that "it's early." I was also told that in January and February. That tired phrase was used again in March and April. And May. It's now June and the Yankees, the once mighty Yankees, still don't have a left fielder.