By Tamar Chalker
June 14, 2024
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The Yankees entered Thursday afternoon looking for a four-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals in a series where they have dominated. The game quickly turned into a pitchers’ duel, as Nestor Cortes, Jr. was dealing for the Yankees and Alec Marsh took a no-hitter into the seventh for the home team. Despite this, the Yankees looked like they were going to pull off the sweep, but a rare bad inning from Clay Holmes allowed the Royals to take the 4-3 walk-off win.
Quick Stats:
Nestor Cortes, Jr: - Went seven innings and gave up two runs on six hits, two walks, and two Ks.
Alec Marsh: Threw a scoreless seven innings for Kansas City, picking up seven strikeouts and allowing one hit and two walks.
Anthony Rizzo: Got the Yankees going with his solo homer in the 8th. He was 1-3 on the day with a walk.
Juan Soto: 2-4 with a RBI.
Clay Holmes: Gave up two runs on three hits while getting just two outs. He is now 1-2 with a 1.80 ERA. It was his fourth blown save of the season.
Player(s) of the Game -
Juan Soto was the only player with multiple hits and his hit in the eighth inning gave the Yankees their only lead of the game.
Notable Performances -
Nestor Cortes had a solid outing, but it was overshadowed some by the incredible game Marsh was having.
Better to Forget -
Aaron Judge: Went 0-4 with 4 Ks.
My Take - This was a bummer of a loss, but there are some positives that can still be taken away from the game.
First and foremost, the Royal put together a solid game. They are having a strong season, currently sitting second in the AL Central with a 40-30 record. While the Yankees spent the last couple of days giving them a thrashing, the Royals were able to grind out the win.
Cortes put together a strong outing - it just wasn’t as good as Marsh's. After issuing a walk in the fourth, Bobby Witt, Jr. drove a pitch that dropped out of the zone for a single. It was a solid piece of hitting that gave the Royals the first real threat of the day. Vinnie Pasquantino followed with a 2-run double and the Royals had the first lead of the day. Cortes bounced back, but the Yankees’ offense had nothing through the first six innings.
The Yankees could have given into the impressive performance from Marsh, but they fought back and managed to take the lead. Even though they didn’t hold it - anytime the Yankees show late-inning fight like this, it gives me hope for a good post-season run.
Rizzo looks like he is on the way back after being given a couple of days off. His solo shot in the eighth didn’t just get the Yankees’ offense started (when they desperately needed it), but it was his first homer since May 10th. Rizzo also worked a full count in the second inning that resulted in a walk. He made Marsh throw 10 pitches in that at bat. Rizzo’s struggles of late are well-documented, but I think things are starting to look more optimistic for the Yankees’ first baseman.
The Yankees need to lock down Juan Soto for the future. I know I’m probably preaching to the choir, but his longterm addition could given the Yankees another dynasty level roster.
Luke Weaver gave up a couple of walks in the eighth, making things a bit interesting, but he was able to escape trouble and passed the torch to Holmes.
Things started to go south for Holmes when he allowed Drew Waters to reach on a soft grounder to first. There seemed to be a miscommunication between Rizzo and Holmes and that was enough to let Waters reach safely. He got the next out, but the botched play at first came back to bite him when Maikel Garcia connected with a game-winning double.
Next Up - The Yankees next stop on their road trip is a bit closer to home as they head to Fenway. It is hard to believe that we are halfway through June and just getting our first taste of Yankees-Red Sox baseball for 2024, but here we are.
The Yankees will send Luis Gil to the mound. The young phenom is 8-1 with a 2.04 ERA with 90 Ks over 75 innings of work. The Red Sox are hovering around the .500 mark, which is good enough for third place in the AL East as Toronto and Tampa have struggled this season. Boston is slated to send Brayan Bello, who is 6-3 with a 4.78 ERA over 11 starts. First pitch is at 6:30 pm in Boston.
Hamilton seemed fine before the trip to the IL, but maybe i remember incorrectly. i realize that was for covid and he is supposedly past it, but is there some health question? maybe they could shut him down for a bit and give Gomez an audition. it seems Kahnle is always gonna have a stinker here and there, but he is pretty good. i want to close my eyes every time Ferguson or Gonzalez pitch. it is extremely frustrating that we traded a good player for Gonzalez. I realize we have a LOT of infielders, but we should not be giving away useful players for nothing
curious what you like about Estevez. it has been maybe a week and …
sweeps are hard to come by. I'll take 3 of 4 all day!!
Let's all pump the breaks about Rizzo coming out of it. Let me see something between now and the end of the month, that he doesn't look hopeless at the plate. Plus his D is still suspect, he proved it again yesterday. As for an in-house replacement, T.J. Rumfield (the reigning MiLB GG at 1B) after a very bad 2 weeks, has his BA back over .300, and the one thing I like is, as he climbs the ladder, he improves his SLG%. Ben Rice at the plate has a bit of Greg Bird in him.
Luke Weaver should not be the 8th inning guy unless someone else needs a break. This bullpen is a mess. First I do, i…