Sanchez error leads to 7-run inning, Indians slow Yankees
NEW YORK — Gary Sanchez failed to catch a foul popup that led to a seven-run fifth inning capped by Andres Gimenez’s threerun homer, and the Cleveland Indians routed the Yankees 11-3 on Saturday to slow New York’s playoff run.
“Definitely a play there that I’m used to making, especially this year. I thought I’ve been very good catching those flies,” Sanchez said through a translator. “I think this is the first one I missed this year but just a bad read there with the fly ball.”
Franmil Reyes hit an RBI double off Albert Abreu in the big fifth inning and a two-run homer in the sixth against Andrew Heaney.
Yu Cheng put the Indians ahead with a second-inning homer off Luis Gil (1-1) and added a two-run double in the fifth against Abreu. Jose Ramirez hit his 34th homer in the eighth against Heaney.
New York has 13 games left and began the day a halfgame ahead of Toronto for the second AL wild card. The Yankees dropped 11⁄2 games behind wild card-leading Boston.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the foul popup was a play Sanchez had to make.
“He just missed it,” Boone said. “Obviously, any time a popup to the catcher right
behind home plate, it has that backspin, so it kind of comes back but catchers are usually prepared for that.
“Gary’s actually usually good with popups. I think he probably got a little to upright and didn’t move enough as it kind of worked its way back to the field but yeah you got to make that play.”
A day after the Yankees won the series opener 8-0, they fell behind 10-0 by the sixth inning on Don Mattingly Bobblehead Day. The former Yankees captain was a six-time All-Star but missed the playoffs in all but one of his 14 big league seasons.
Sanchez failed to tag out the Mets’ Jonathan Villar last weekend when Joey Gallo’s throw reached the plate 20 feet ahead of him, then was criticized by manager Aaron Boone after failing to prevent
two costly wild pitches in Thursday’s 3-2, 10-inning loss in Baltimore.
Sanchez overran a foul pop behind the plate by Oscar Mercado in the fifth inning on the sunny afternoon, misreading the backspin as the ball fell on the dirt behind the plate. He was charged with his sixth error.
The Yankees have made 92 errors, fourth-most in the major leagues.
Mercado slammed his bat in frustration thinking the at-bat was over but returned to the plate and was hit by a pitch.
“I think I got under it too much and when the ball is coming down it has backspin and I wasn’t in a good position to catch it there,” Sanchez said, “but you got to put it aside and the next time it happens you got to find yourself in a better position and make that play,”