Things go from had to worse for Boone's ailing Yanks
Boone says cruising Tanaka was out of gas
ATLANTA — You’ve got to hand it to the Yankees. Who else could return to work after an unscheduled five-day break and pick up precisely where they left off ?
Good grief. If this team can’t profess to be in serious peril, not with eight American League teams advancing to October, it sure can inspire a thousand memes of dread. For things continue to go absolutely dreadfully for Aaron Boone’s bunch.
Of course it wasn’t enough that they suffered a doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Braves Wednesday, 5-1 and 2-1 at Truist Park, extending their losing streak to five games following the respite prompted by the Mets’ COVID scare and bad weather. No, the low point actually occurred at a rare moment in Game 2 when the Yankees were actually winning, when Boone went to home plate umpire Mike Estabrook and alerted him that, as Chad Green jogged in from the bullpen to relieve a near-flawless Masahiro Tanaka, Brett Gardner would enter in left field to replace Clint Frazier, who would slide over to right field to replace ... Aaron Judge.
Yup, Judge in his first game back in action after yet another stint on the injured list, didn’t even last a full work shift — in a seven-inning contest! — before aggravating the right calf injury that placed him on the IL, a placement the outfielder lamented during his inactivity.
Hence a lightning-quick return to the IL is “possible,” Boone acknowledged, although the manager said the parties would have a better feel late Wednesday into Thursday.
Oh, and Green proceeded to serve up a two-run, game-winning homer to Braves stud Freddie Freeman, the cherry on this sundae of doom.
“We thought we had a pretty good chance to win two games,” Green said. “Unfortunately that didn’t happen.”
It didn’t happen because Game 1 starter Gerrit Cole suffered his first loss in a Yankees uniform and his first regular-season loss since May 22, 2019 as he gave up three homers over the first three innings while receiving minimal run support.
It didn’t happen because Game 2 starter, Tanaka, after not permitting a Brave to so much as reach third base through his five innings, requiring only 66 pitches, conceded to Boone that, “[T]he tank was starting to empty a little bit,” Tanaka said through an interpreter. “Basically, I told him, ‘I’m good with whatever you decide on.’”
Well, Tanaka has more than earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his toughness, so you can’t question his heart, and once a manager hears that from his starting pitcher, he really has no choice but to call on his relief corps, all the more so when everyone is rested. And Green has been terrific, and he gave up a two-out infield single to Dansby Swanson before the incredible Freeman worked his magic.
Nope, the blame — fully for Game 2, partially for Game 1 — rests with the offense, which totaled two runs in 14 innings and very well might find itself without Judge once more as DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres all rehabilitate their respective ailments. Just brutal.
“Losing sucks. We don’t like it,” Boone said. “We’ve got to play a little better.”
Following another off day Thursday, the Yankees play five games against the Mets over three days at Yankee Stadium, then welcome back the rival Rays, who got this snowball rolling. If they don’t pick things up — start hitting, stop getting hurt — the dread will only intensify as the questions about their October viability smolder.
Time to not pick up where they left off. The Yankees’ season depends on it.
Masahiro Tanaka had thrown just 66 pitches and retired seven straight batters when he was pulled after five scoreless innings in the Yankees 2-1, seven-inning loss to the Braves in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader in Atlanta.
It was a stellar performance from the right-hander, but his early exit was curious and when Chad Green allowed a two-run homer to Freddie Freeman in the bottom of the sixth, it was easy to secondguess Aaron Boone.
Both the manager and Tanaka, though, said Tanaka was tired after five innings and the move was necessary.
“I think Masa was running a little bit empty, even though his pitch count was low,’’ Boone said.
Tanaka had thrown 71 pitches in his previous outing, when he struggled against the Rays on Aug. 18 and Boone said he was ready to let Tanaka “go into the mid-80s” with his pitch count Wednesday.
“He emptied the tank a little bit there in the fifth and being a seven-inning game, it was a different scenario coming back [through the lineup a] third time,’’ Boone said.
Tanaka agreed after a conversation with Boone following the fifth.
Tanaka, through an interpreter, said he told Boone he was tired and “I’m good with whatever you decide on.”
Boone hoped to get an inning from Green and then go to Aroldis Chapman to salvage a split, but Freeman’s homer ruined that plan.
➤ DJ LeMahieu isn’t off the injured list yet, but Boone said the second baseman is taking positive steps toward his return from a sprained left thumb.
The manager said Wednesday that LeMahieu has been hitting off a high-velocity machine and could have live atbats this weekend.
“I’m really encouraged,’’ Boone said before the Yankees were swept in the twin bill.
LeMahieu has been sidelined since injuring the thumb on a swing on Aug. 15 and was expected to miss two to three weeks. By that timeline, LeMahieu could return by the end of the weekend or early next week.
With Gleyber Torres out with a hamstring injury, the Yankees went with Thairo Estrada at second and Tyler Wade at shortstop in the first game on Wednesday.
Torres, according to Boone, is also doing well in his rehab.
As for the other injured Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) has been throwing and hitting on the field and running “about 70 percent,’’ Boone said.
➤ The Yankees added to their catching depth by trading for San Francisco’s Rob Brantly in exchange for cash considerations, which turned out to be $1. The 31-year-old was put into the Yankees’ 60-player pool and sent to the alternate site in Scranton.
Brantly appeared in just one game this season before being designated for assignment by the Giants on Monday.
Boone said Kyle Higashioka is “getting real close” to returning to the Yankees from an oblique strain. With the Yankees in the midst of playing seven games in five days, they could activate Higashioka and designate Erik Kratz for assignment to free up space on the 40-man roster for an additional pitcher.
➤ On Tuesday, Boone said both Clarke Schmidt and Deivi Garcia were in play to pitch at some point this weekend. While Garcia is on the 40man roster, Schmidt is not and the Yankees would have to make a roster move to add him.