Yankees 3, Giants 2
The New York Yankees saw their win streak snap on Thursday before welcoming the San Francisco Giants to town on Friday. With a three-game set looming and tasked with facing the two aces in the Giants’ rotation – Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto to be clear – the forecast for the Yankees was far from favorable.
However tunes were quickly changed once things got underway. The boys in pinstripes flurried Bumgarner with hits in the first inning, none bigger than the RBI double by Starlin Castro. Castro has made life miserable for Bumgarner in the past when he played on the north side of Chicago, and he continued his advantage over the 2014 World Series MVP Friday night. Castro went 3 for 4 at the plate against the Giants southpaw and looked rather comfortable.
Two runs weren’t all the Yankees would need in this outing despite a strong performance by Masahiro Tanaka, who kept things under control on the mound as the ace in the Yankees’ hand delivered a stout outing throwing six shutout innings, allowing just four hits, striking out four and issued two free passes on base on balls. Their usually shutdown bullpen slipped up slightly and put them in a precarious position. Dellin Betances yielded a run in the seventh inning after a wild pitch that scored Jarrett Parker. Then, one inning later, Andrew Miller let up the tying run off a double by Mac Williamson.
However, New York would prove valiant against their west coast visitors. After a single and a walk to start the bottom frame of the eighth inning, Austin Romine would deliver the goods off a fielder’s choice that turned into an error by Crawford, his third of the night. The run would score Chase Headley from second and after a quick inning by Aroldis Chapman, the Yankees would get into the win column with their 3-2 victory over the Giants.
The Play: Starlin strikes (+.145 WPA)
Things were tilted right off the bat with this double by Castro in the first inning. He would later advance to third after an error by Brandon Crawford, and it became clear from this point on that it was Starlin’s night to shine bright.
Notes
– Chapman notched his 20th save of the season with his lights-out performance. As he hits that mark, it’s now the fifth time he has had at least 20 or more saves in his Major League career, and he’ll now look to eclipse the 30-save mark for the fifth time in his career once that bridge can be crossed.
– Beltran went 2-for-2 on the night with two walks to finish the night without a single out made. His OBP was raised up to .347 and he’s now slugging a team-best .551, with no other player on the Yankees having a SLG of higher than .463.
The Highlight: Starlin shows off with his glove
Starlin Castro didn’t just excel at the plate. Oh no. The second baseman flexed his muscles in the field as well with this running catch in the top of the fifth inning off a blooper by Denard Span. Carlos Beltran also put himself on display in the field with an excellent throw out of Gregor Blanco at home.
Up Next
The Yankees face the Giants in the second game of this three-game weekend set on Saturday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. ET. Ivan Nova (7-5, 4.92 ERA) will oppose Jeff Samardzija (9-5, 4.05 ERA) on the mound.
Photo: Adam Hunger/USA Today Sports; Video: MLBAM