PAIN AND ABLE
After Monty leaves with elbow tightness, Sanchez HR lifts Yanks over ’Stros
HOUSTON — Eight innings before Ken Giles punched himself in the face, the Yankees were dealt a blow of their own, as Jordan Montgomery was forced to exit after the opening frame with tightness in his left elbow. Montgomery’s injury put a damper on the team’s stunning 4-0 victory over the defending champion Astros on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park — which featured Gary Sanchez pummeling a hanging breaking ball from Ken Giles 423 feet over the centerfield wall for a dramatic three-run homer that snapped a scoreless tie with one out in the ninth. With runners on second and third, A.J. Hinch should’ve intentionally walked Sanchez — who has five homers in his last eight games — to load the bases and pitch to the less accomplished Aaron Hicks.
But Hinch didn’t — and Sanchez made him pay.
As Giles was walking off the mound, the crazy closer hit himself in the chest, threw a right hook to his own face and smashed a bat when he got into the dugout — a combination of moves that would make Mike Tyson proud.
“I made a horrible pitch,” Giles said. “He deserved to hit it over the fence. That’s how it goes.”
Montgomery is headed back to New York on Wednesday morning and will visit with team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad and undergo an MRI. The 25-year-old expressed optimism, hoping to only miss one start. “Just going to stay positive,” Montgomery said.
But given the team’s already lengthy injury history this year, Bombers fans are programmed to expect the worst.
“Certainly concerned,” said Aaron Boone, who didn’t want to speculate, though the manager does expect that Montgomery will likely at least require a stint on the 10-day disabled list. “We’ll get some answers and hope for the best.” Montgomery required just seven pitches in a 1-2-3 first, but his velocity was down to 88 mph, and he reported feeling some discomfort to pitching coach Larry Rothschild. His body language was bad. “We didn’t mess around at that point,” Boone said. Domingo German replaced Montgomery and gave the Yankees four scoreless innings, matching Justin Verlander, who was simply sensational. Verlander went on to tie his career-high with 14 strikeouts over eight shutout frames. “You got a glimpse of what he’s capable of,” Boone said of German. “He went through them pretty easily. He was really on top of his game, and that’s what we needed.” German was acquired by the Bombers in the Nathan Eovaldi deal. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015 and was non-tendered at the end of the year before being brought back on a minorleague deal and added to the 40man roster in 2016. German had a solid year as a starter at Triple-A Scranton in 2017 and made seven appearances for the Bombers out of the bullpen. He also had a strong spring in 2018. In five appearances so far this season, German is 0-1 with a 3.77 ERA, striking out 18 in 14.1 innings. Now, he’s the probable candidate to take Montgomery’s next turn on Sunday against the Indians. The Bombers certainly don’t have much in the form of rotation depth. Luis Cessa is currently on the DL with a left oblique strain. A.J. Cole has starting experience, though he struggled in Washington. Also, David Hale just came back on a minorleague deal. As for the prospects, Chance Adams has been inconsistent at Triple-A Scranton, while Justus Sheffield has dominated at Double-A Scranton, but he’s still two levels away. Brian Cashman searched for a rotation upgrade in the offseason, but didn’t find any of the prices to his liking. The GM has the prospects to make something happen before the deadline, but for now it seems like German is going to get a chance to show what he can do, as the Yankees wait to see how much time Jordan Montgomery will need to miss.