About Last Night: Nats 5, NYY 2

August 29, 2024

by Paul Semendinger

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About Last Night:

The Nationals won 5-2. They won 2 of 3 against the Yankees.

Quick Stats:

Winning Pitcher - Mackenzie Gore

Losing Pitcher - Carlos Rodon

Quick Recap:

Things did not go well for the Yankees to start the game. Leadoff hitter Gleyber Torres reached on a two-base error - man on second no outs. Juan Soto grounded out to second moving Torres to third. Aaron Judge struck out. Giancarlo Stanton popped out.

For a supposedly good to great team, the Yankees do not hit well in times when they should be able to score runs. I covered this a few days ago - this is where the "too many homers" idea came from. They don't hit too many home runs, but they have a difficult time scoring if they don't hit a homer.

The Nationals then scored two runs. Dylan Crews homered. James Woods singled. He stole second. He went to third on a wild pitch. He was then balked home. Amazing. Nationals 2-0 over the Yankees.

In the top of the second inning, Jazz Chisholm homered to make the score 2-1.

No bother, the Nationals scored two more runs right back. There was a one out bunt single. A stolen base. A single to left with Alex Verdugo throwing home (rather than to second base to keep the runner at first) where he had no chance to get the runner. A steal of third. Another hit. Another run. Then, two more stolen bases. After two innings, the Nationals led 4-1. They had also stolen five bases.

The Yankees responded by... not responding. Gleyber Torres struck out. Juan Soto struck out. Aaron Judge walked. Giancarlo Stanton struck out. (The Nationals' pitcher, by the way, MacKenzie Gore, came into the game with a 4.51 ERA.)

The next inning (after a half inning when the Nationals didn't score or steal any bases), the Yankees had runners on first and third and one out. D.J. LeMahieu came up and... hit into a double play. That will not help his .259 slugging percentage. (Yes, you read that correctly. Yet, he keeps being put into the lineup.)

The Nationals later got another run off three hits (two singles and an RBI double) to go up 5-1. Rookie Dylan Crews hit the run scoring double. The Nationals might have scored more but Nasim Nunez was watching the Yankees' base running drills and was caught off third after Crews' double. Still, after four innings, the Nats led 5-1.

The Yankees got a run in the fifth. Alex Verdugo singled. He advanced to third on two ground outs and Aaron Judge hit a soft single to right to score him. 5-2 Nationals...

The game stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth. There, the Nationals had what has to be one of the worst base running blunders by every runner in baseball history. Let's let the pictures tell the story:

That brought the Yankees to the ninth inning...

Anthony Volpe singled...

Jazz Chisholm walked...

Oswaldo Cabrera pinch-hit for DJ LeMahieu (in a similar situation the night before, Aaron Boone allowed DJ to hit - and he hit a soft fly for an out).

Cabrera lined out.

Alex Verdugo then grounded out to the pitcher.

Gleyber Torres struck out to end the game.

Player of the Game:

Mackenzie Gore - 6 innings, 2 runs... WIN

Notable Performances:

Jazz Chisholm: 2 for 3, HR, walk

Better to Forget:

Juan Soto: 0-for -4

Gleyber Torres: 0-for-5

Giancarlo Stanton: 0-for-4

Austin Wells: 0-for-3

Yankees: 1-for 13 with runners in scoring position

Yankees: 8 runners left on base

Other Thoughts/Notes:

The Nationals' starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore has a resemblance to Carlos Rodon.

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The Yankees are a team mostly of under-performing players. It's been that way for a long time. The two constants: Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman.

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Carlos Rodon has a nice enough over record, but too often he throws games like last night's putting the Yankees in a hole that is very hard for them to dig themselves out of. A stat was shared with me, I can't confirm it, but it claimed the Yankees have not come back from being down three runs in any game since April. If that's true, that's amazing and it speaks to the team's character and heart. They get down, they fold. If it's not true (listen we do a lot here, but we don't have time to check, in detail, every last stat), it sure feels like it's true. Maybe a reader can help us out. Is this true? What is true, is we see this a lot. The Yankees fall behind and then lose. Last weekend they celebrated the 2009 World Champions who had something like 40 million comebacks. (Don't check that stat, it's an exaggeration.)

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The 2004 Yankees, in sum, are a less mediocre team than a league of mediocre teams. This allows the Yankees to win games against poorer teams and because other more mediocre teams don't win, the Yankees remain in first place and in the pennant race. In the annals of baseball, the 2024 season, across the MLB, will not be remembered for quality of play. The Yankees are in first place, but that does not mean they are a good team. They are just less mediocre than lesser teams. (Still, if they win it all, they will have won it all. I hope they do. I just can't see this team putting it all together throughout an entire playoffs. They're way too inconsistent. I also have no faith that the manager, Aaron Boone, will make the correct decisions in any game's biggest moments.)

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This is one of those, "you see it your way, I'll see it mine" situations.

• August 27 - 9th inning, Yankees trying to come back, right-handed closer on the mound, Aaron Boone doesn't pinch-hit for D.J. LeMahieu with runners on base

• August 28 - 9th inning, Yankees trying to come back, right-handed closer on the mound, Aaron Boone pinch-hits for D.J. LeMahieu with runner on base

  
  

A person could say, "Aaron Boone learned from the night before."

Or a person could say, "Boone never really has a plan or a feel for the game. He doesn't have the courage of his convictions. He was critiqued for the non-pinch-hit last night so he listened to his critics. It was the same pitcher, almost the same situation. What changed in 24-hours (other than Boone's mind) to make pinch-hitting the right move one day over the other?" To me, this shows that Aaron Boone doesn't really have a feel for the game. He makes decisions that he hopes work, and, sometimes they do, of course, but he doesn't really have an overall approach or plan. Others may see it differently. Feel free to disagree.

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I never saw Willie Mays play. I have heard the stories of how sad it was to watch him play in 1973 with the Mets - a great player who was a shadow of his former self. As I watched D.J .LeMahieu foul a ball off and fall down, I thought of the 1973 Willie Mays. D.J. looked old and feeble. Watching LeMahieu is sad. He is no longer what he once was. And yet, he's in the lineup almost every game. Giving LeMahieu a fine send off would actually be the nice thing for the Yankees to do. As I mentioed yesterday, if his contract was so good because he was being paid the value of four seasons over six, then the money he's owed is moot. It's time. It's sad when this happens, but it's time.

Next Up:

The Yankees are off today. They'll play the St. Louis Cardinals Friday night. It's Aaron Judge Football Jersey Night. Marcus Stroman will pitch for the Yankees.