HAPP, YANKS JUST AWFUL!
J.A. HIT HARD EARLY AND RALLY FALLS SHORT IN ALDS GAME 1
J.A. Happ doesn’t live up to hype and is forced to exit in third inning Friday night at Fenway as Red Sox deal first blow to Yanks in ALDS.
BOSTON — It didn't take long to figure out that J.A. Happ didn't have it Friday night. The veteran lefty could not command his fastball and struggled to get ahead of the dangerous top of the Red Sox lineup. With two on and one out in the first inning, Happ dropped a fastball low in the zone against Boston designated hitter J.D. Martinez.
The Red Sox slugger dug down and crushed a threerun homer over the Green Monster to stun Happ and send the Yankees scrambling. The Bombers fell flat against lefty Chris Sale and came up short against Boston's shaky bullpen, dropping Game 1 of the American League Division Series, 5-4, at Fenway Park.
“J.A. obviously got in a little bit of trouble in that first inning, just not having his real airtight command that he usually has, especially with the fastball,” Yankee manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously J.D. made him pay on a pitch down that he probably wanted to get a little more elevated there.
“And then being at the score and where we're at we were a little aggressive going to our pen. The pen did a great job to allow us to get back in the game and give us a chance, and we almost caught them.”
Almost, but not quite.
Friday night was a huge blown opportunity for the Yankees. Not only were the Bombers unable to capitalize on their many chances against Boston's shaky bullpen, but they lost with the pitcher that they thought gave them the best chance to hold this dangerous lineup in check. N o w, Saturday becomes a mustwin game for the Yankees, who do not want to return to the Bronx facing elimination from the the bestof-five series.
“It's very important,” Brett Gardner said of Game 2. “Obviously we want to win every game, but coming on the road playing the first two here, it's not easy. Now, this becomes a must-win game for us.”
If the Yankees are going to pull that off, they are going to have to do a better job of taking advantage of the offensive opportunities than they did Friday night. The Yankees went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. After scoring two, the Yankees left the bases loaded in the sixth on Gleyber Torres' strikeout.
“Yeah, we just have to capitalize in certain situations with runners on base,” said Aaron Judge, whose ninth-inning leadoff homer cut the Boston lead to a run. “They had pitchers all night working the edges; it's not easy. It's frustrating, but we just have to build off of that and get ready for tomorrow.”
It was more than the wasted opportunities at the plate; the Red Sox upset their plan heading into the series. Friday had been seemingly set up perfectly for the Yankees, who wanted Happ on the mound for this game because of his history.
This season, Happ made four starts against the Red Sox, pitching to a 1.99 ERA, striking out 29 in 22.1 innings pitched against them. In 21 career appearances against Boston, 20 starts, Happ had a 2.98 ERA over 117.1 innings pitched.
But maybe the Red Sox learned from that history, too.
He allowed five runs on four hits, including that first-inning three-run homer to Martinez. After giving up a leadoff double to Mookie Betts and a single to Andrew Benintendi in the third, Happ was pulled for Chad Green, who let both inherited runners score.
It was the shortest outing for a Yankee pitcher in the playoffs since Luis Severino could not get out of the first inning in last year’s wild card game and the shortest for Happ since he went just two innings May 16, 2016 with the Blue Jays against the Rays.
“No excuses, it’s the playoffs, I need to be sharper,” said an obviously frustrated Happ. “If I get another opportunity, hopefully I will be.”
The Yankees have to hope they can get this series to a Game 5 now.