About Last Night: Reds 5, Yankees 4

About Last Night: Reds 5, Yankees 4

By Derek McAdam

July 3, 2024

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The New York Yankees lost the first of three games against the Cincinnati Reds by a score of 5-4 last night. Here is a recap of the game.

Quick Stats: W: Graham Ashcroft (5-4): 5+ IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

                     L: Luis Gil (9-4): 4+ IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

                     S: Alexis Diaz (18): 1 IP, 1K

HRs: CIN: Will Benson (9), Elly de la Cruz (15). NYY: Aaron Judge (32)

The Big Story: Luis Gil was looking to rebound from his previous couple of poor starts, and seemed to be off on a good foot early in the game. However the tides soon turned in the 4th. After a leadoff triple from Elly de la Cruz, Jaimer Candelario grounded out to second base, scoring de la Cruz and giving the Reds a 1-0 lead.

In the following inning, everything fell apart for Gil. Will Benson hit a two-run home run into center field to give the Reds a 3-0 lead. After allowing another baserunner, Gil was removed from the game and replaced by Caleb Ferguson, who then gave up a two-run home run to de la Cruz, extending the Reds’ lead to 5-0.

However, the Yankees did not go quietly. In the 6th, following a leadoff single from Judge and an Alex Verdugo walk, Gleyber Torres knocked in Judge with an RBI single, and was able to advance to second base on the throw. Ben Rice then delivered a two-run double down the right field line to cut the Reds’ lead down to 5-3.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Yankees inched closer to tying the game with a solo home run from Judge, his 32nd of the season, making the new score 5-4 Reds. However, the Yankees failed to gather any more momentum and failed to get another run across the plate.

Player of the Game: Judge just continues to hit the ball so well. The season he is having, especially the past two months, has been so entertaining to watch.

Notable Performances: De la Cruz was responsible for three of the Reds’ five runs crossing the plate, even though he struck out a couple of times. With the exception of Ferguson, the Yankee bullpen did a nice job of allowing the team to stay in the game.

Better to Forget: It was absolutely a night to forget for Gil. It was his third straight start in which he got hit hard and failed to give the Yankees any length.

My Take: I never like to see the Yankees lose, but it was nice to see the team have a little life in them after being down 5-0. The 6th inning was fun to watch, especially since the Yankees strung together a few hits to get some runs across the board.

Here are a couple of things I noticed from this game. First, I really like Rice at first base. Not only is he a very good fielder, but has put together some very good at-bats for the Yankees. He seems to be fairly disciplined and can work the count well. I’m not going to get ahead of myself and say he deserves to stay in the lineup once Anthony Rizzo comes back, because there’s still plenty of time to go until Rizzo comes back. But this may be his “audition” to have the spot come Opening Day next year.

Torres has also looked much better since he sat for a couple of games. He’s strung together some hits and pushed some runs across the plate. I was harsh on Torres last week, but maybe a reset was exactly what he needed. So far, it’s working.

Aaron Judge. What else can I say about him? He just continues to put up absolutely ridiculous stats at the plate and doesn’t seem to be cooling off any time soon. I found it appalling that the New York Post’s Joel Sherman said last week that Gunnar Henderson should be the AL MVP, especially with what Judge has been doing. And Henderson is having a fantastic season, but his stats don’t match Judge’s.

Now onto Gil. There’s a lot that can be said of the young starter, but I think his biggest issue right now is confidence. Before his slump, his body language didn’t change much when runners reached base. But over the past three starts, it almost seems as if he’s just not confident throwing pitches for strikes. And I can imagine it’s hard, especially as a young pitcher, to break past that feeling and move on to the next start after one bad outing. But I can’t imagine what it's like to have three of those in a row.

Like hitters, pitchers will go through slumps too. Hopefully, this is Gil’s slump for the season and he can rebound in his next start.

It’s a tough loss, but the Yankees just need to go back out there tonight and even this series up. They managed to split the Toronto series, but they haven’t won a series since they went to Kansas City. It’s time to turn that around.

What’s Next?: The Yankees will continue the series tonight at Yankee Stadium against the Reds. Andrew Abbott is scheduled to start for the Reds, while Carlos Rodon is scheduled to start for the Yankees. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and, yet again, the game will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video.