The beginning of this game really doesn’t warrant a recap, but since it did in fact occur it should be at least mentioned. As a former college level baseball player I never understood or agreed with the act of “clearing the benches.” On rare occasions it may be warranted, to an extent, if one of your own players is being ganged up on by several members of the opposing team. This game saw its fair share of immature gamesmanship which led to the ejection of three Yankees; pitching coach Larry Rothschild, manager Joe Girardi, and starting pitcher Luis Severino. Long story short Severino drilled Donaldson in the first, Happ retaliated by hitting Headley in the top of the second and Severino then hit Smoak in the bottom of the second which caused the mini brouhaha.
There… I mentioned it. Now we can move on to the actual game, which was quite good.
After the dust settled from the testosterone fireworks of the first three innings the score was 3-1 Jays. As previously mentioned, Severino had been ejected from the game leaving Johnny Wholestaff to string together at least eight innings, and they did just that. After Jonathan Holder came in for Severino and gave up two runs in 1 1/3 innings of work, relievers James Pazos, Kirby Yates, Richard Bleier and Adam Warren held the Blue Jays scoreless through 5 2/3 innings. Dellin Betances was shaky once again and nearly coughed it up in the ninth, but Tommy Layne came in and cleaned up the mess and in the process made one of the most heads up plays I have seen a pitcher make in a long time (See The Highlight below).
Yankee bats where mostly quiet all game long until the Blue Jay’s Jason Grilli came in and attempted to close it out. Grilli entered in the ninth with the score 2 to 3 and he would not make it out alive. After a quick groundout by Chase Headley, Mark Teixeira summoned the Tex of old and hit a mammoth solo home run to left center that tied the game at 3. Didi Gregorius then hit an opposite field single which was followed by another tape measure, “might-bring-rain” shot by Aaron Hicks. After that the wheels on the Blue Jay bus started falling off. When it was all said and done the Yankees had managed to overcome the early exit of their starter and manager as well as a ninth inning comeback by the Jays to win the game 7-5.
It should be noted that by avoiding the sweep the Yankees are still technically in contention for a wild card spot. That being said, their chances are not good. In fact Baseball Prospectus’s Playoff Odds gives them a 0.0% chance of making the playoffs (in reality this is 0.1%). If however, the remaining games are as exciting as this one, it may be worth tuning in no matter if they are officially eliminated or not.
The Play: Hicks’s Go-Ahead Homer (+.419 WPA)
Top Performers
Yankees: Mark Teixeira (2 for 4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI)
Blue Jays: J.A. Happ (7.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 K)
Notes
– Reliever J.R. Graham was outrighted to Triple-A Scranton eliminating him from the 40 man roster. He last pitched in the big leagues in May of this year for the Minnesota Twins.
– Luis Severino was ejected for the first time ever in this game. The umpire who sent him to the showers was Todd Tichenor. It was the eighth time Tichenor has ejected a player/coach in the 2016 season, more than any other umpire in major-league baseball.
The Quote
“Gary, don’t pick it up.”- Tommy Layne referring to the ball he fielded to force the second out at home in the bottom of the ninth.
The Highlight: Layne Tags Home
Up Next
The Yankees will kick off a three game home series against their ultimate rival the Boston Red Sox tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. ET. A couple of weeks ago the Red Sox all but sealed the coffin on the Yankees’ 2016 season by sweeping that four game series.
The Yankees will look to Luis Cessa to get things back on what little track is left. In 2016, Cessa has thrown 58 innings for the big league club and 77 at Triple-A and there is a night and day difference in the results from each level. For the Yankees Cessa has a 2.3 HR/9 and a 5.8 K/9. For the Railriders he had a HR/9 of 0.9 and a K/9 of 8.0. That being said, the Yankees can live with outings like Cessa’s last one where he went six innings, giving up two runs while striking out 6.
Beantown will roll out David Price for the 34th time this season. Price last took the mound in Baltimore where he lasted seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits while striking out five. Price’s ERA (3.90) would make you believe he is having a down year, but if you take a look at his WARP – 6.6 thus far – you can see he is actually out-producing the 2015 version of David Price who put together a 6.3 WARP.
Photo: Dan Hamilton/USA Today Sports