Sanchez blasts pair but mates blow lead
SEATTLE — Forget Rookie of the Year. Gary Sanchez may make a play for American League MVP honors the way he’s tearing up the league.
That’s obviously a stretch, but that’s how well the rookie has played of late. Hours after being named the AL Player of the Week, Sanchez began his bid for back-to-back honors with a 3-for-4, two-homer, three-RBI night against the Mariners.
Sanchez’s second homer gave the Yankees a one-run lead in the sixth, but Michael Pineda and the bullpen were unable to hang on, coughing up three runs in the bottom of the inning as Seattle took a 7-5 victory in the first of three games at Safeco Field.
“It’s been unbelievable what he’s done,” Joe Girardi said. “The way he’s swinging the bat, the way he’s playing defense; he’s been extremely impressive.”
The loss dropped the Yankees seven games behind Toronto and Boston in the AL East, while their deficit for the second wild card spot grew to five games behind Baltimore.
Despite the Yankees’ dwindling postseason chances, Sanchez continues to inject life into the club as the hottest player in the league. “Obviously we’ve seen what he’s done in the weeks that he’s been here and he’s been really impressive,” Girardi said after learning of Sanchez’s award. “Well deserved. He’s swinging as well as anyone we have.”
Sanchez now has eight home runs this season, the most for any Yankees rookie in history through his first 19 career games. He became the first Yankees catcher since Thurman Munson in July 1976 – and only the second ever – to win Player of the Week.
“It’s hard to believe with the catchers that we’ve had here and some of the success that we’ve had here with the catchers,” Girardi said. “They’ve put up some big numbers. I think about guys that I played with or coached, I think about Jorge (Posada) and Russell (Martin), I think about Mac (Brian McCann). They’ve put up some pretty big numbers, and to never be player of the week, that’s unusual.”
Pineda had taken positive steps of late, posting a 3.00 ERA over his past six starts to bring his ERA below 5.00 for the first time all season.
But despite being handed leads of 2-0 and 5-3 thanks to Sanchez’s two homers and a pair of long balls by Starlin Castro, Pineda was unable to lock down a win. He put the tying runs on base with one out in the sixth, then after Tommy Layne got the second out, Anthony Swarzak came in and served up a three-run homer by Mike Zunino that put Seattle ahead by a run.
“He just didn’t have great command of his fastball,” Girardi said of Pineda. “We were trying to get him through six. Our bullpen has done a pretty good job. The problem was we couldn’t get Michael through six.”
Nelson Cruz added a solo shot in the eighth off Kirby Yates to give the Mariners an insurance run, while Edwin Diaz closed the game with a scoreless ninth, stranding the tying runners in scoring position for his 10th save.
Sanchez started things off with a solo home run in the first inning against starter Cody Martin. It was Sanchez’s seventh homer of the season – all since Aug. 10 – and the fifth in his last 22 at-bats.
Castro went deep in the second, doubling the lead to 2-0 with his 16th home run of the season.
Pineda was rolling along through three innings, getting double plays in the first and second to erase a leadoff walk and leadoff single. He struck out two Mariners in the third, giving him four through three innings.
Seattle put runners at the corners with nobody out in the fourth, but Chase Headley fielded Nelson Cruz’s grounder and threw home, catching Seth Smith in a rundown for the first out. It may have saved them a run, but Pineda followed with one of those mistakes Girardi mentioned before the game, throwing a 3-0 cookie that Kyle Seager drilled to center field for a three-run homer and a 3-2 Mariners lead. Martin delivered a shutdown inning in the fifth, holding the one-run lead. Then again, he didn’t have to face Sanchez in that inning.
The sixth was a different story. Jacoby Ellsbury hit a one-out single, setting up Sanchez’s second blast of the night, a two-run shot to straightaway center field that put the Yankees back on top before Pineda and the bullpen gave the lead right back in the bottom of the frame.
“I think he has confidence in his abilities,” Girardi said of Sanchez. “Maybe being called up a couple other times helped a little but where he got a chance to watch.
“He didn’t get a chance to play a lot, but he got a chance to be around the guys. Being around them in spring training probably helped. He had to earn his promotion and he did that.”