About Last Night: The Yankees Squeaked by the Royals 3-2

About Last Night: The Yankees Squeaked by the Royals 3-2

By Tim Kabel

October 10, 2024

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The Yankees won another exciting, one-run game to take a 2-1 lead in the 5-game series and are on the verge of winning the series and moving on to the ALCS. They have to win one of the next two games to do so. Ideally, they will wrap it up tonight with Gerrit Cole on the mound.

Quick Stats – 

·       Giancarlo Stanton now has 12 postseason home runs in 30 games.

·       The Yankees and the Royals combined to use 11 pitchers. (The Royals used seven of them.)

·      Yankees’ relievers have pitched 13.2 scoreless innings in this series.

·       Giancarlo Stanton stole his first base since 2020. Apparently, he saves them for leap years or presidential election years.

·       The Yankees have accumulated 22 walks in 26 innings in this series.

·       Luke Weaver had the first five-out save for the Yankees since Aroldis Chapman had one in 2019.

·       Five of the Yankees’ eleven runs in this series scored after walks.

The Big Story – 

This is the type of game the Yankees would have lost during the regular season. At least they would have done so during the second half of the season. Right now, they are finding ways to win, not finding ways to lose. It doesn't matter what they did during the regular season because as long as they find a way to win in the playoffs, that's all that matters. That is why they play the regular season: to get to the playoffs. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts, which is hopefully the end of the World Series.

Player of the Game – 

Giancarlo Stanton had 3 of the Yankees’ 4 hits and drove in 2 of their 3 runs. He also had their only stolen base, which almost caused Bob Costas to faint.  Apparently, the fountains at Kauffman stadium are Fountains of Youth, and Stanton was drinking from them.

Notable Performances –

Luke Weaver earned a 5-out save.  He has not allowed an earned run since becoming the closer.

Better to Forget:

Aaron Judge’s postseason struggles continued. In case you didn't realize that, Bob Costas pointed it out every 17 seconds, breaking it down into minute detail.

My Take –  

I have a few thoughts about last night's game and the Yankees in general, in the playoffs.

·       Aaron Judge is 1-11 so far in the postseason. He has struck out five times and walked three times. He has not driven in a run. I know there are people who are wringing their hands over this. Forgive me for not being one of them. He just put up perhaps the best season a right-handed hitter has ever had. He will undoubtedly win the Most Valuable Player Award. He has had a phenomenal career for the Yankees. He still has a long way to go. He hasn't been great in these three games. Relax; eat a cookie; take a nap and be patient.

·       I noted above that the Yankees have walked 22 times in this series. Last night, Oswaldo Cabrera walked 3 times. In postseason games, walks are important. They get runners on base. They use up pitches and help to wear down the opponent. Cabrera and Jon Berti have filled in nicely at first base during this series.

·       So far, Clay Holmes has been very effective in this series. I'm not suggesting that he should be returned to the closer role. He shouldn't be. However, if he continues to pitch this well, and the Yankees win the World Series, he may earn a contract with them for next season and beyond.

·       Although Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe are not tearing the cover off the ball, they are contributing and gaining experience. Wells looks more and more as if he will be the Yankees’ regular catcher for many years to come.

·       My prediction is that with tonight being an elimination game for the Royals, Gerrit Cole will turn in a dominant performance and win the game. This is the type of situation he is built for and the reason he came to the Yankees.

·       I have found the perfect replacement for John Sterling for next year, until he comes out of retirement again. No, it is not Ricky Ricardo. No, it is not Dave Sims. It is Bob Costas. In the eighth inning, he misjudged a soft liner by Vinnie Pasquantino, which Volpe caught and excitedly declared it was a line drive hit to centerfield. Earlier in the game, he gave a lengthy dissertation about payroll, explaining that if you took the payrolls of each of the remaining three teams in the ALDS besides the Yankees and added them together, they would only exceed the Yankees’ payroll by a small margin. I had a flashback to Mr. Farrell's algebra class in the ninth grade. Costas later said, when speaking of Tommy Pham, “have bat and gun-will travel." This was a reference to the 1950s western TV show starring Richard Boone, Have Gun- Will Travel. Costas quickly realized that it was not politically correct to reference bringing a gun to a baseball game and replaced gun with glove. We know that he can prattle on for innings at a time about trivial minutia and obsess over relatively minor topics. All he needs is a few show tunes to go along with his Snuffy Stirnweiss stories and the transition to the Yankees’ radio booth would be seamless. Poor Suzyn.

·       Realistically, the Yankees path to the World Series seems very clear and not particularly difficult. They should be able to wrap up this series against the Royals and then beat either the Tigers or the Guardians. Now, we all know things could go wrong quickly but there is reason for optimism.  Guarded optimism, but optimism, nonetheless. Hopefully when I write my next article for Saturday, the Yankees will already be in the ALCS.

Next Up-

Tonight, the Yankees will play the fourth game of the ALDS against the Kansas City Royals at 8:08 PM at Kauffman Stadium. Gerrit Cole, (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will face Kansas City’s Michael Wacha, (0-0, 6.75 ERA). Hopefully, Michael is out of whack-a, and it is the last game of the series.