Around the Empire: Yankees News - 10/15/19

ESPN | Jeff Passan: The Yankees suffered a crushing loss in Game Two of the ALCS on a walk-off home run by Carlos Correa in the eleventh inning. The Yankees got exactly what they wanted in a game started by Houston’s Justin Verlander; to be competing in either a close or tie game when Verlander gets taken out. From there, the Yankees' bullpen did their job, but the offense, who got one hit in the next four innings off of Houston’s relievers, did not. Aaron Boone did everything he could, using all of his big relievers, but when he ran out of high-leverage arms in extra innings, the Yankees lost their bullpen advantage and eventually the game.

SNY | Scott Thompson: Facing Gerrit Cole right now is the single scariest thing for an opposing offense. While the Yankees are looking forward to getting home-field advantage back, having to face Cole just might erase whatever advantage Yankee Stadium brings. However, just like Verlander, as tough as he is to face, there is a way to beat him and the. When facing guys like Cole and Verlander, you have to be able to take advantage of their rare mistakes. Yankee Stadium, with its short fences down the foul lines, could be the perfect venue to exploit those rare mistakes.

Sports Illustrated | Tom Verducci: The Yankees Game Two loss was haunted by Aaron Boone’s move to take out Chad Green and bring in Adam Ottavino in the fifth inning. The move was a simple matchup decision that turned horribly wrong for the Yankees as Ottavino let up a game-tying solo home run on his first pitch to George Springer. Ottavino is known for getting right-handed batters out, like Springer, and Springer is known to hunt fastballs, Chad Green’s go-to pitch. The team's analytics likely indicated this was the right move regardless of the rhythm Green was in. In the end, you can’t blame Boone for a decision that seemed reasonable but happened to backfire.