EXTRA-BIG HIT
Urshela could be back soon; Boone mulls 6-man rotation Giancarlo lifts Yankees over Orioles in 11 innings
Gio Urshela was on the field Friday, but the third baseman was only there for pregame workouts. He missed his second straight game with a sore left wrist, but the Yankees are hopeful he will be able to play again this weekend.
“The MRI was fine, not much there. So that was encouraging. He got treatment yesterday then came in, did some swinging today, played catch and did some defensive stuff out there, so he’s still day-to-day right now,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before Friday night’s series opener against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium. “So we’ll see where we’re at as far as (being in the) lineup potentially tomorrow, but we’ll kind of evaluate at the end of the day today and see how he feels from the work he was able to do today.”
Urshela injured the wrist falling on it after making a play in Anaheim earlier this week. The third baseman has played in just 90 games this season because of a hamstring strain, a reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine and also testing positive for COVID-19. In 90 games, he is hitting .263/.302/.426 with 11 home runs and 41 RBI.
SIXTH MAN
With a stretch of 20 straight games without a day off staring them in the face, the Yankees are looking at using a sixth starter during this homestand.
“We are considering inserting someone you know, possibly in that Toronto series, a sixth man,” Boone said of the Blue Jays series, which starts on Monday. “But we’ll see how the next couple days unfold and see where we’re at.”
Luis Gil, who posted a 0.00 ERA in three starts in August for the Yankees, is an obvious candidate for that. The 23year old who threw 15.2 innings without allowing an earned run and striking out 18, would be on turn to start Wednesday.
FINDING HIS WAY
Since coming off the COVID-19 IL, Gary Sanchez has hit .194/.237/.306 with a home run and a double. So Friday night, the catcher found himself starting in the No. 9 spot for the first time in his career.
“Well, I think since coming back from COVID I think he’s been kind of finding his way a little bit offensively, finding the strength a little bit,” Boone said. “I thought he had maybe his best at bat since coming back on ... Tuesday where he had the homer. He hit a ball good to right center.
“He’s been hitting eighth, he’s been hitting seventh,” Boone added when asked if he had to talk to Sanchez about dropping in the lineup. “We have a great lineup. And, like you said, somebody’s got to hit everywhere and I am trying to create a little bit of space. And we have three lefties in there today. So just trying to create some spacing there. And I look at it as we got a potential wrecking machine in the nine hole tonight.”
RECOVERY
The Yankees are currently in the process of evaluating the flood damage from the remnants of Hurricane Ida that affected their Double-A players and staff, who had their vehicles and possessions stored at TD Bank Ballpark when the storm hit.
A Yankee spokesperson said the team “will be engaged,” in helping the players and staff recover from the damage suffered when the ballpark and parking lot were submerged in the flood waters.
“I mean, that’s sad, rough,” Boone said. “The players and coaches and staff that are on the road, their cars and a lot of their belongings were impacted, as many people from whether it be Louisiana on through the Northeast that were impacted by the storm.
“So obviously something that sad to see you hate to see. Unfortunately it’s part of life sometimes. I saw a picture earlier today of the field looking really good today, which is encouraging. But hopefully this is something that doesn’t have a devastating impact on what’s been a great situation in Somerset.”
Some of the organization’s top prospects, including pitcher Luis Medina, shortstop Oswald Peraza and catcher Josh Breaux, have all been playing in Somerset and it has been the preferred stop for major leaguers rehabbing this year.
Somerset outfielder Isiah Gilliam tweeted about the damage
“We lost everything,” he tweeted, later explaining that many players keep their possessions in their cars at the stadium while on roadtrips.
It doesn’t always have to be a bomb. Giancarlo Stanton hit a hard ground-ball single up the middle in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Yankees rallied to beat the Orioles 4-3 at the Stadium on Friday night. The Yankees (78-56) pulled out their ninth walk-off win this season and their second straight after losing four in a row. It was the 49th game the Yankees have pulled out by two runs or less this season.
And this was one they really had to win.
The Orioles (41-92) came into the game with the worst record in the major leagues. The Bombers are just 9-5 against them. By comparison, the Rays, who lead the division, went 18-1 against the lowly Birds this season.
With the win, the Bombers remained 6.5 games behind the Rays in the American League East and maintained their 1.5game lead over the Red Sox for the top AL Wild Card spot.
It was Stanton’s second hit of the night, his first being a 424-foot bomb to left-center field in the fourth inning that marked his 26th homer of the year. That was the first hit the Yankees got off Orioles starter John Means. DJ LeMahieu brought in the second run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly.
It was Stanton’s eighth career walkoff hit and his second of the season. He also had the game-winning, walk-off hit on May 9 against the Nationals.
“The bigger moment, the bigger you’ve got to step up,” said Stanton, who has reached base in 27 of his last 28 games.
With one out in the bottom of the 10th, LeMahieu singled to drive in Tyler Wade to tie the game. It was the first run the Yankees had scored in five innings against the Orioles bullpen, which came into the game with the worst ERA (5.44) in baseball.
Joey Gallo popped out on a foul ball to third base and the Orioles brought in Dillon Tate to face Aaron Judge. The slugger lined out to first base to send the game to the 11th.
Clay Holmes worked around a Ramon Urias lead off single to get the
Bombers to the bottom of the 11th tied at 3-3.
The Orioles got their game-tying run against an unlikely foe.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Jonathan Loaisiga had a changeup hang and former Yankees prospect Jorge Mateo smacked it into the leftfield seats to tie the game at 2-2. Arguably the Yankees’ most reliable reliever this season, Loaisiga had not allowed a home run since May 7. It was just the third he had given up this season.
That spoiled yet another strong start from Nestor Cortes, who is forcing his way into the Bombers’ playoff plans. Cortes allowed one run — a Trey Mancini home run in the sixth — over 5.2 innings pitched. He struck out a career high-tying seven for the third time this season.
After giving Jorge Mateo a one-out walk in the ninth, Aroldis Chapman struck out Kelvin Gutierrez and Austin Wynns to get the Yankees into the bottom of the ninth tied.
While Yankees manager Aaron Boone talked about keeping the pressure on the Rays for the division title, the Bombers are also looking ahead. They are thinking about how to line up their roster for October. Before Friday night’s game, Boone said they are likely going to insert a sixth starter into the rotation this week as a way to keep their starters’ arms fresh down the stretch. Already fans and analysts are debating the Yankees starters for a potential Wild Card and division series Game 1.
Cortes doesn’t factor into either of those spots, but he certainly could be an effective option out of the bullpen or as an opener.
Since taking over a rotation spot because of injuries to Domingo German and Corey Kluber, Cortes has been a crucial part of holding the Bombers’ rotation together. In nine starts, he is 2-2 with a 2.83 ERA.
“He’s awesome, fun to watch,” Yankees’ fellow lefty Jordan Montgomery said. “He just goes out there and competes, trusting the stuff there is everything for strikes and puts us in a good position most of the time.”