THAT’S GONNA HURT !
Yanks fall to O’s in 14 but injuries to CC, others may sting even more
Even the Mets had to find everything going on with the Yankees unfathomable on Friday night. Four more injured players – including CC Sabathia and Gary Sanchez – were forced to leave Friday night’s insane 7-3 marathon loss, on Bronx product Pedro Alvarez’s grand slam in the 14th inning.
Unlike their crosstown rivals, however, the Yankees came out of what could have been a disastrous night feeling like they received mostly fortuitous news on the injury front.
“I think we had a total of four guys coming out of the game. That’s huge, that’s tough,” Aaron Judge said just before 1 a.m. “But I’m glad that CC’s injuries, Sanchez’s injuries aren’t anything major. We just have to keep fighting. It’s early, so we just have to keep grinding.”
Of course, the proviso when making projections for teams entering any new baseball season usually includes some variation of the qualifier “as long as the starting pitchers stay healthy. . .”
For all of the injuries that already had befallen outfielders and others on the Yanks to open this season, none of them seemed particularly devastating as long as they weren’t attached to the names Judge or Giancarlo Stanton.
When Sabathia departed after pitching efficiently – despite coughing up a few solo homers, two to Manny Machado – over four innings (58 pitches), you knew immediately something had to be wrong with the Yanks’ 37-year-old clubhouse leader.
The Yanks announced minutes later that Sabathia immediately was headed for the MRI tube, and suddenly the questions that had GM Brian Cashman strongly considering adding another frontline starter all winter resurfaced anew.
Still, Sabathia insisted his tests came back “clean” and even said he hopes to not miss even one start.
“That’s encouraging, now that I know that I’m not hurt, that it was just tight maybe from the cold,” Sabathia said. “It was sore. I’ve never felt that spot before, ever, throwing a baseball. It was a little nervewracking, but to have the MRI come back clean is a good thing. Now that I know I’m
fine, I’ll be fine.”
For good measure, infielders Brandon Drury, who was experiencing headaches and blurred vision, and Tyler Wade (flulike symptoms) also departed the game in the sixth and eighth innings, respectively, while closer Aroldis Chapman required a medical mound visit -- but stayed in the game – after Sanchez and Boone noticed a velocity dip in the ninth.
“Gary was thinking he wasn’t throwing as hard or wasn’t warmed up properly. But we think he’s okay,” Boone said. “The doctor checked him and everything…He convined me enough to leave him in the game and finish the inning with his electric stuff. I don’t think it’s anything that big.”
Perhaps the biggest scare came in the top of the 14th inning, when Sanchez -- now off to a 2-for-32 start at the plate, hobbled off after clutching his right calf following an Adam Jones swing in the 14th.
“The doctor checked me, but he told me it was just a cramp,” Sanchez said.
Certainly, Cashman historically has been cautious when it comes to handling injuries, at least in recent years, as evidenced just last week by Aaron Hicks landing on the DL despite his objections after slightly straining his oblique on Opening Day.
Sabathia’s injury history – remember, he feared his career was over when he reinjured his troublesome knee last August in Toronto – suggests another at least brief stint on the shelf if the MRI revealed anything wrong beyond the right-hip soreness that forced him out of this crazy defeat, which evened the Yanks’ record at 4-4.
Earlier, Sabathia had been smoked for a solo shot by Machado into the second deck in right in the first and then for another blast into the visiting bullpen by the pending free agent infielder – and potential Yankee target – two innings later. Lefty slugger Chris (aka “Crush”) Davis also clubbed CC for a solo homer for a 3-2 game in the fourth.
The veteran lefty completed the inning with whiffs of Tim Beckham and Anthony Santander, making it wholly unexpected to see Tommy Kahnle warming quickly while the Yanks batted against Orioles starter Kevin Gausman in the home fourth.
Just like that, it hardly would have been surprising to see a Triple-A call-up – likely Domingo German or Luis Cessa — take Sabathia’s next turn or more in the rotation. Anything longer than that, the calls for Cashman to procure another viable rotation arm would start even earlier than anticipated.
But CC appears to be OK, as does Chapman, and Sanchez, making this loss, this night, much less disastrous for the Yankees.