About Last Night: Yanks Lose to the Pirates 4-2

About Last Night: The Yankees Were Shanghaied by the Pirates 4-2

By Tim Kabel

September 28, 2024

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The Yankees clinched the American League East Thursday night. Their magic number to clinch the best record in the American League was two entering play last night. Any combination of two Yankees’ wins or Guardians’ losses would give the Yankees home field advantage through the ALCS. The Guardians lost to the Astros, so the magic number is now one. That is the only goal remaining for the Yankees in the regular season. Other than that, it is just about finishing up the season and staying healthy.  The pitching matchup today of Luis Gil and Paul Skenes is intriguing and should be entertaining.

Quick Stats – 

·       Aaron Judge now has 58 home runs and 144 RBI, which is his career high. He has a shot to reach 60 home runs. I think he will do it.

·       Jazz Chisolm Jr. stole his 40th base of the season yesterday. The last Yankee to steal at least 40 bases was Brett Gardner, who stole 49 in 2011. (I know Chisholm played more than half the season with the Marlins but, he still has the statistic and the talent.) Next season, the combination of Chisholm, Jasson Dominguez, Anthony Volpe, and Caleb Durbin if he's on the team, could make speed a real weapon for the Yankees.

·      The Detroit Tigers clinched a playoff spot yesterday for the first time since 2014. They could be dangerous in the postseason.

·       The Chicago White Sox lost their 121st game of the season, which is the most in MLB history. And they still have two games to play.

·      On September 27th, 1998, the Yankees won their 114th game of the season.

The Big Story –

The Yankees are wrapping up the regular season. They are trying to have the best record in the American League, which would guarantee them home field advantage throughout the ALCS. That would be extremely desirable.

Carlos Rodon's final start of the regular season this year was much better than his final start last season and he will now be pitching in the playoffs, after making 32 starts this season. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were rested last night, and the lineup clearly looks different without Judge. As long as he and Soto go into the playoffs healthy, the Yankees will have a decent chance of advancing.

Player of the Game – 

Jazz Chisolm, Jr. had two hits, two RBI and two stolen bases.  He is an excellent complementary player to Judge and Soto.

Notable Performances –

Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless seventh inning.  Hopefully, it was a harbinger of things to come and not an aberration.

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Better to Forget:

Anthony Volpe was 0-4 and has 3 hits in his last 22 at-bats.  Hopefully, he will be re-energized for the playoffs.

My Take –  

Despite the fact that the Yankees were very streaky and inconsistent this season and had long stretches of mediocrity, they have made the playoffs. Not only that, but they also clinched the American League East and could have the best record in the American League. I think that speaks more to the performances of the other teams in the league as opposed to any dominance by the Yankees.

There are two games left in the season. The Yankees have a few goals. First, they should definitely try to win at least one game, so they lock up the best record in the American League. If they wind up playing the Guardians in the ALCS, that could be very important. Second, they need to make sure that, if at all possible, everyone is healthy heading into the postseason.

The final goal is to carefully evaluate the players over the last two games so that any final roster decisions give the team the best chance to win in that first round.

Although it was desirable to avoid the wild card round of the playoffs, the Yankees need to ensure that the team is sharp and well-prepared headed into that first round on October 5th. They cannot afford to be flat and deliver a lackluster performance.

After not making the playoffs last year, the Yankees vowed that things would be different this year. Well, they are in the playoffs. Starting on October 5th, there will be a clean slate. None of what happened from March until now will matter. Let's get ready for some playoff baseball. The Yankees will have a sparkling new broadcaster for the playoffs, a lad named John Sterling.

This was my final game recap of the regular season. I enjoyed writing these articles for SSTN and I am grateful for the opportunity. I hope the readers found my articles to be interesting and that in addition to discussing the team, I made them laugh once in a while and brightened their day. I could ask for nothing more.

Next Up 

Today, the Yankees will play the penultimate game of the regular season against the Pittsburgh Pirates at 1:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. Luis Gil, (15-6, 3.27 ERA) will face Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, (11-3, 1.99 ERA). The Yankees will have to have schemes to beat Skenes.