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The Yankees were in a prime position to beat Chris Sale again. It’s incredible that that’s true, but it is true all the same. It was right there for them with only three outs separating New York from a ton of good feelings coming out of the series with the Red Sox.
Then Aroldis Chapman happened.
He started the inning with a dominating strike out of Hanley Ramirez that made him look like the pitcher a team was willing to spend $86 million on. Rookie Rafael Devers launched a ball to the deepest part of Yankee Stadium to tie the game.
Joe Girardi decided he hadn’t seen enough from his closer and sent him back out there for the top of the tenth inning. The results were predictably bad. Something something, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results something something.
The Yankees also wasted an opportunity against Addison Reed with a sacrifice bunt, losing the DH, and pinch hitting Jacoby Ellsbury. That series will not be going on Girardi’s managerial highlight reel.
We should be talking about how Aaron Hicks was the star of this series. He made a diving catch on a ball in the gap off the bat of Eduardo Nunez to start the game and made another nice play just in front of the wall to keep another hitter from reaching base.
We should be talking about how Austin Romine tripled off Chris Sale and drove in Chase Headley to tie the game up after the Red Sox gave their ace a lead. We should be talking about how good Jordan Montgomery looked against a tough team a day after getting drilled in the ear with a baseball.
Instead the discussion is that the Yankees are now five and a half games behind the Red Sox in the AL East. Their closer looks incredibly shaky and their bats are still struggling to find that big hit. It’s disappointing and frustrating. They are still a game and a half up in the Wild Card, but they can absolutely hear footsteps behind them.
This game should have been a win. It wasn’t, and that really sucks.
The Yankees play the Mets tomorrow at 7:05 pm.