Source: FanGraphs
Monday afternoon’s series opener against the Cardinals was not looking so good for a little while. Tie game in the late innings with a shaky and worn out bullpen? That’s usually a recipe for a disaster. Instead, the Yankees outlasted their bullpen and rallied for a 6-4 win in 12 innings. Let’s recap the Memorial Day victory, for America:
- Five Innings: For the first time in his three starts, Chase Whitley completed five full innings of work. He started the sixth inning as well, but a double, a single, and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with no outs to end his afternoon. Preston Claiborne (more on this in a bit) allowed two of the three inherited runners to score, so Whitley’s final line was three runs on eight hits in five innings. Not great, but it was so much better before that sixth inning. The Yankees need Whitley to start giving them some more length and this was progress.
- Strong Bullpen: Aside from Claiborne, who was brought into a real tough situation, the Yankees got some excellent work from their bullpen. Five relievers held the Cardinals to two hits and one unearned run in seven innings, striking out four. Dellin Betances chucked two innings — Joe Girardi said he didn’t bring him into the game in sixth because he was his eighth inning guy for the day, more or less — as did Alfredo Aceves, who wiggled out of some trouble with the help of his defense. David Robertson nailed down the save after Derek Jeter’s throwing error led to the unearned run. Seven innings of one-run ball from the bullpen? Didn’t see that coming.
- Strategy!: The Yankees manufactured their first three runs (Jacoby Ellsbury and Kelly Johnson singled in runs, Brett Gardner plated another with a sacrifice fly), but the 12th inning rally was an NL-fueled nightmare. Ellsbury led off with a walk, then moved to second with a steal against Yadier Molina. Lefty specialist Randy Choate plunked Brian McCann, then Yangervis Solarte bunted (!) the runners up despite Choate’s massive platoon split. Then, amazingly, Choate intentionally walked the lefty hitting Ichiro Suzuki. I don’t get it. At all. Anyway, Brian Roberts singled in the go-ahead run, then Alfonso Soriano (sac fly) and Brendan Ryan (single) brought home insurance runs. What a ridiculous inning.
- Leftovers: Roberts was the only Yankee with multiple hits, and the top five hitters in the lineup went a combined 3-for-21 (.143) with two walks … the Yankees went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position (yay!) but did not have an extra-base hit for the third time on the road trip (boo) … Jeter made the throwing error in the 12th and he almost made another one earlier in the game. Johnson bailed him out with a nice stretch at first.
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs has some other stats, and ESPN has the updated standings. The Yankees and Cardinals will continue this series on Tuesday night, when hometown guy David Phelps gets the ball against Lance Lynn. Another four-game winning streak would be swell.
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