Voit homer lone bright spot for sloppy Yanks
BOSTON — If Luke Voit had played 80 games instead of 39 as a Yankee there is a chance he would be in the discussion with teammate Miguel Andujar for AL Rookie of the Year.
Voit’s two-run homer in the fourth inning of Sunday’s season-ending, 10-2, loss to the Red Sox in front of a soldout Fenway Park gathering of 36,201 was the only positive in a very sloppy defeat.
“This is the first time I got the opportunity [to play consistently],’’ said Voit, who hit 14 homers, drove in 33 runs and hit .333 after being acquired from the Cardinals on July 28. “Working with the hitting coaches and learning a lot. And I am finally getting a chance to play every day.’’
With those numbers and Neil Walker to serve as a backup first baseman, Voit has likely pushed Greg Bird off the roster for Wednesday night’s AL wild-card game against the A’s at Yankee Stadium.
“I am sure I will have butterflies,’’ Voit said. “I can’t wait for the chance.’’
Voit’s homer extended the Yankees major league record for home runs in a season to 267 .
Voit went 2-for-4 and he batted .419 (18-for-43) with seven homers and 16 RBIs in the past 11 games. The final Yankees game was among the worst of a 162-game schedule. Aaron Judge, Luis Cessa and Brett Gardner committed fielding errors that led to four unearned runs. The three errors are two shy of the season high, which is the five they committed against the Astros on May 29 in a 6-5 win in 10 innings.
Reserve catcher Kyle Higashioka was charged with a passed ball on a strikeout of Blake Swihart in the sixth inning.
Cessa had to leave the game in the first inning with a hip injury suffered when he got tangled up with Ed
uardo Nunez on a play at first base.
The Yankees finished the year 9-10 against the Red Sox, but won four of the final six. With 100 wins, Aaron
Boone is one of six managers in baseball history to lead his team to at least 100 victories in his first season as a manager joining, among others, Ralph Houk (1961 Yankees), Alex Cora (2018 Red Sox) and Dusty Baker (1993 Giants).
Boone’s original lineup for Sunday’s game had Giancarlo Stanton starting as the DH with the idea that Andujar would replace him. Boone hoped to get two atbats for each player. However a revised lineup had Andujar starting as the DH and a Yankee PR employee saying Stanton wouldn’t play at all.