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Game 119 Recap: What if the Yankees keep winning?

Yankees 1, Blue Jays 0

The Yankees have 43 games left in the season and one could argue this was the game that the team could begin to make a push for the playoffs. After all, the teams the Yankees are chasing for both the division title and the wild card are inner division rivals Boston, Baltimore and Toronto. That’s not to say the Yankees have a good shot at making the playoffs, but they do have a shot… right? Especially if the youngsters continue to turn out like they did Monday.

Chad Green looked better than he ever has in a Yankee uniform. The 25-year-old right-hande had the best game of his short career going six innings, allowing two hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts. He put the Yankees in a position to win the game and his fellow green horns Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge applied just enough offense to claim the victory. Judge continued to shine as he drove in the only run of the game in the fourth inning with an opposite field double. Both Sanchez and Judge went 2-for-3 with a walk.

The pitching was the real story as Green, Adam Warren, Tyler Clippard and Dellin Betances combined for the shutout. The Blue Jays have one of the most formidable offenses in the game, but tonight you would have never known. Green allowed two hits and the bullpen only allowed one. They also notched a total 13 strikeouts against the Jays.

It seemed to be a forgone conclusion the Yankees were throwing in the towel this season and rightly so. However, aging players are slowly but surely giving way to hungry prospects. There is something to be said for starting guys who just want to succeed. Of course, every player out there wants to succeed – not just the young guys – but do they all want to succeed with the same sense of urgency?

Guys like Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Green – the starts of Monday’s game – are fighting to stay at the big league level and without knowing it are fighting to keep the Yankees in the hunt for October. It will be interesting to see how this series plays out and if Judge and company can continue their streak. I’m not trying to get ahead of myself, but the planner in me wants to ask the question. What if the Yankees keep winning?

 

The Play: Aaron Judge’s RBI Double (+.165 WPA)

 

Top Performers

Yankees: Chad Green (6 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 11 K)
Blue Jays: R.A. Dickey… I guess (5 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 1 ER)

 

Notes

– Chad Green’s eleven strikeouts in the game is a new career high for him.
– The Yankees are now 5 1/2 games back of the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East and five games back of the Red Sox for the second wild card spot.

 

The Quote

“It’s exciting. You love playing with your friends and we got a good group of guys here so it will be exciting to see what happens.”- Aaron Judge talking about playing with teammates from Triple-A.

The Highlight: Green gets out of a jam

 

Up Next

The Yankees will take on the Blue Jays in game two of the three game series tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium. The Blue Jays are fighting for first place in the AL East and are currently a half game ahead of Baltimore and 1 1/2 games ahead of Boston. The Yankees – while unlikely – are still somewhat in the hunt for October as they are only 6 1/2 games back. Regardless, this is a big series for both clubs.

The Jays will roll out Marco Estrada who has greatly outperformed his FIP this season. He has a FIP of 3.89 with a cFIP of 110 and an ERA of 2.95. This discrepancy is confirmed when you look at his DRA of 3.90. What does this mean? It could mean that Estrada is prime for negative regression. That being said his K/9 has increased dramatically over his last 7 starts (8.50 season average, 10.00 last seven starts).

Pineda will start for the Yankees who has been less than stellar this season despite a fairly high K/9 ratio of 10.40. If recent history is any indicator, Pineda – at best – will give up a couple of runs and last around six innings. Pineda has been prone to giving up the long ball as of late and the Blue Jays have the second most homeruns in the league with 169.

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