Just a few days ago, the sky was falling in the Bronx. As the saying goes, though, the good thing about baseball is that there’s always a game the next day, always a chance for redemption. The Yankees have now redeemed themselves just a bit four straight times, putting together a winning streak as they work to erase the memories of a hellish 5-15 stretch. With the a few wins under their belt and a pair of sluggers on the mend, it’s starting to feel like things could be coming together for the Bombers.
Winner of the Game
Strong start from Jordan Montgomery today. The lefty racked up nine strikeouts against just one walk and three hits, yielding a lone run in 5.2 innings. That run was a result of some tough luck, as a single, an error, a sac fly, and a shallow pop up that found grass against a drawn-in infield pushed across Hanser Alberto. Montgomery otherwise relied on his curveball and sinker to keep the O’s off balance. He generated 15 swings and misses on just 72 pitches, easily his best mark this year.
Luke Voit has to qualify here as he won the game, though he did just loft a lazy fly ball to center field. With the runner-on-second rule, however, that was more than enough for a victory, as a wild pitch had moved DJ LeMahieu to third base with no out in the tenth:
Luke Skieswalkoff. pic.twitter.com/N48CG3bP7z
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 12, 2020
Even if a fly out to center doesn’t look like much, credit to Voit for working a great at-bat and ultimately getting the job done on a good pitch from Hunter Harvey.
Loser of the Game
The Yankees pitched excellently today, and while the offense was poor, the lineup underwhelmed in something of a uniform fashion. Thairo Estrada unfortunately merits mention over the rest of the hitters, as he struck out in both his plate appearances, and was partially at fault for the aforementioned run-scoring pop up, as the second baseman failed to correctly read the ball and allowed it to fall just beyond the dirt. It’s hard to blame Estrada too much, as it was difficult for him to move backward in a way foreign to an infielder, but it was the play lent the Orioles their only run.