About Yesterday Afternoon: NYY 8, BAL 4

by Ethan Semendinger

July 5th, 2023

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Though a rainy 4th of July, the Yankees didn't let a minor start delay get them down as they beat the Orioles 8-4 yesterday.

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Quick Stats -

• Winning Pitcher: Clarke Schmidt (4-6, 4.43 ERA)

• Losing Pitcher: Kyle Gibson (8-6, 4.73 ERA)

• Save: N/A

• Home Runs (New York): Gleyber Torres (13), Jose Trevino (4)

• Home Runs (Oakland): Aaron Hicks (6), Adam Frazier (10)

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Big Story - With a week to go until the All-Star Game, the Yankees are sitting third in the AL East and have a very good chance to supplant the #2 team (the Baltimore Orioles) with a 4-game series against them and then a 3-game series against the Chicago Cubs (who sit comfortably below .500).

After a win on Monday, the Yankees moved to just two games behind the Orioles in the win column. And though they were still four games behind in the loss column, they also know the Orioles are up to play against the AL Central Minnesota Twins in their last 3 games ahead of the All-Star break.

With a week to go going into yesterday's game, the Yankees needed the Orioles to lose 5 of their next 6 while they need to win 5 of their next 6 to grab that 2nd spot in the AL East.

And the best way to help make that happen is to do so themselves.

This was their line-up to make that happen behind starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt:

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Player(s) of the Game - Only one player is worthy from yesterday

• Gleyber Torres: 2-4, Double, Home Run, 3 Runs, 2 RBI's, 1 BB, 1 K

Notable Performances - A few other solid showings across the team

• Clarke Schmidt: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER), 0 BB, 7 K's

• Ron Marinaccio: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB's, 1 K

• Wandy Peralta: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB's, 0 K's

• Tommy Kahnle: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB's, 1 K

• Jose Trevino: 1-3, Home Run, 1 Run, 1 RBI, 1 BB

• Harrison Bader: 1-3, Double, 2 RBI's, 2 K's

Better to Forget - Some hitless performances from young players

• Anthony Volpe: 0-4, 2 K's

• Oswaldo Cabrera: 0-4, 1 K

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My Take - The Yankees won and took advantage of sloppy play from the Baltimore Orioles yesterday. That's always a good thing and always exciting for a fan. I'm always happy when the Yankees win.

It was also a good all-around game for the Yankees. They didn't overly rely on the home run and instead scored via hits and productive outs. Gleyber Torres- who much to my chagrin loves to be too aggressive on the basepaths- even scored from 1st on a Giancarlo Stanton single. All good stuff when it goes right.

Add in a decent start from Schmidt (1 inning short of a quality start) and some solid bullpen work from most of their arms, and the Yankees got a good win against a team they'll need to beat a lot to make a statement in the AL East.

However.

I'm still hesitant to get hugely excited about the Yankees going into the All-Star break. Yes, I am excited they are winning (of course I want them to win!), but I also take a look at the team and see a lot of places that need help and need work.

This year the Yankees are being represented by Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole at the All-Star Game. Aaron Judge hasn't played a game in over a month (which goes to show you how good he is, as he was voted to start the game in the outfield). Gerrit Cole is 100% deserving as well.

But, where is everybody else? I read that Aaron Boone was petitioning for Gleyber Torres to make the All-Star Game roster. Yes, yesterday he had a great game. But, even after that great game, this year he is hitting just .248 and has a .745 OPS. Going into yesterday's games, Alex Bregman had a .245 AVG ad a .745 OPS. Nobody is clamoring that he is an All-Star snub. Those lines aren't good enough, that's it.

Anthony Rizzo is the top qualified Yankee in terms of OPS and his now sits at just .777 after a game where he went 0-4. That is now 6th best among AL first basemen.

It is also kind of upsetting that none of the Yankees relievers are getting to share any of the spotlight this year. The Yankees would not be nearly as good as they are without guys like Clay Holmes, Michael King, Wandy Peralta, Tommy Kahnle, and (really? here is a surprising name) Ian Hamilton. I feel bad that they don't get any of the credit for these wins. At least one of them should've been an All-Star.

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Next Up - The Yankees play game #3 of 4 against the Orioles today at 7:05 PM. It is a shame that the game will be on Amazon Prime, because that means I'm not even going to bother to try and watch. The Yankees will send out Randy Vasquez (1-1, 1.74 ERA) who always seems to be pitching behind a paywall, while the Orioles will send out Dean Kremer (8-4, 5.04 ERA). With a win the Yankees tie the Orioles in the win column and would be just two out in the loss column, and with that ERA discrepancy it should favor the Yankees.