Yankees run win streak to 4
YANKEES 2, ORIOLES 1 (10)
NEW YORK — Less than a week after Luke Voit said their postseason expectations were slipping away, Voit re-focused on getting ready for the playoffs. His sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th gave the Yankees a 2-1, walk-off win over the Orioles Saturday at the Stadium.
“Last week we felt like we couldn’t do anything right. Nothing was gonna happen for us to win,” Voit said. “Now I feel like any time any moment guys are coming up with big hits and like [Jordan Montgomery] today, I know he’s been struggling a little bit, and he was phenomenal today.”
The Bombers had lost five straight and fell to .500, but this last week was different. They won their last four straight games for the first time since Aug. 11-17 when they won six straight. The Yankees (25-21) no longer focused on the rearview mirror to try and keep the Orioles (20-25) from nipping
at their heels.
With the win, the Yankees were tied with the Blue Jays (24-20), who played the Mets later Saturday night, for second place in the division.
The Blue Jays come to the Bronx Tuesday to play three of the remaining seven games the teams have head-to-head in the last two weeks of the regular season. A top-six seeding in MLB’s coronavirus pandemic-expanded playoffs would go to the team that finished second, which would mean the difference between facing the Rays or A’s in the first round as a Wild Card or facing the Twins as a No. 5 seed.
“It’s nice to win a close game too because that makes you get ready for what the postseason is about and what you’re gonna have to do in certain situations,” Voit added. “Even if it’s getting the guy over or making a big pitch in a certain at-bat.”
Despite playing a sloppy game defensively — three errors — Saturday, the Yankees did get the big pitch and at-bat when they needed it.
DJ LeMahieu started the 10th on second base, per the 2020 MLB rules, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Voit got him home easily with a long fly ball to center. LeMahieu scored on a double and two sacrifice flies in the first inning.
Suddenly, the Yankees could even play small ball. It was the Yankees’ first win this season when they did not hit a home run. They were previously 0-9 in such games.
“Today was a find-a-wayto-win day and we leaned on our pitching, because they were really good at holding them down at every turn,” Aaron Boone said. “So we leaned on those guys heavily today, we needed all of it. Then we’re able to generate just enough offense today.
“The pitching is what’s kind of starting to really turn us around here,” the Yankees manager added.
Rookie right-hander Deivi Garcia was the stopper back on Wednesday night, when he put an end to the five-game losing streak. Going back eight games, however, Yankees starters posted a 1.97 ERA and held opponents to two runs or less.
Montgomery contributed to that on Saturday, allowing just one unearned run in 5.2 innings work, his longest start since 2018 Tommy John surgery. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out a careerhigh nine batters.
It was a dramatic turnaround for Montgomery, who came in having allowed six earned runs on his last two starts that totaled four innings pitched.
Montgomery was much more efficient this time around. He worked around a one-out single and walk in the first inning. The big lefty retired the next 11 straight. He bobbled D.J. Stewart’s bunt attempt to lead off the fifth, but got out of that inning unscathed.
Hanser Alberto led off the sixth with a single and reached second when Brett Gardner bobbled the ball. He scored the tying run on Ryan Mountcastle’s one-out single. Montgomery got Pedro Severino out before Boone came to get him for Chad Green. Montgomery was at just 72 pitches.