Zack Britton

Voit’s Two Home Runs Lead New York Yankees Past Angels

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New York Yankees, Luke Voit

Luke Voit had two solo home runs to extend his hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 34 games as the New York Yankees took down the Angels 7-5.

Milestones for the young fellas

Mike Ford and Thairo Estrada each had milestones at the plate on Tuesday.

Ford hit his first career home run in the fifth, over the high wall in right-center at Angel Stadium. Estrada collected the first two hits of his career, going 2-for-4.

Despite no RBI’s, Brett Gardner went off for a huge four hit night. His first hit came in the third inning, a triple to right-center. In the fifth, he singled to left before doubling to left-center in the seventh. In his final at-bat, he was just a home run away from the cycle, but instead singled for a second time.

Gleyber Torres also added two hits and an RBI, and Mike Tauchman and Tyler Wade each had a hit.

Green needs to go

Chad Green is struggling. A lot.

He managed to load the bases, then proceeded to give up a grand slam on a change-up right down the middle to Justin Bour. His ERA is now 16.43. Green needs to work out his problems in AAA, because he keeps getting put in low-leverage situations then quickly makes them high-leverage situations b y giving up runs. He continues to have an inability of getting outs.

Luis Cessa relieved Green and pitched the remainder of the eighth scoreless, and Zack Britton pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save of the year.

Chad Green came in for German, after he pitched 6 and 2/3 great innings.

He gave up just four hits and walked one, giving up a lone run. He threw 99 pitches and struck out five, throwing first pitch strikes to 14 of the 25 batters he faced.

German got nine swings and misses, and worked seven ground-balls and eight fly-balls. The young right-hander picked up his fourth win of the season, and sits near the top of the American League in ERA at 1.75.

Jonathan Loaisiga was brought up Monday night and was expected to start Tuesday, but was pushed back and will start on Wednesday.  Felix Pena will likely start for the Angels. Game time is at 10:05PM (ET) on MLB Network, YES, and Fox Sports Go.

 

Austin Romine Saves The New York Yankees From A Devastating Loss

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After the New York Yankees surrendered a 5-0 lead in the eighth, Austin Romine brought out the heroics. He hit a hard ground-ball that just got through the left side to tie it up in the bottom of the inning. After zeros in the ninth for both sides, we went to extras. Zack Britton pitched a scoreless inning in the top half of the tenth, before Romine walked it off with a gapper to right-center.

Green and Ottavino ruined Paxton’s game

James Paxton was fantastic yet again. Over six innings, he allowed just three hits with no runs scoring, striking out 12. He was the 11th pitcher all-time to punch-out 12 in consecutive scoreless appearances (per Yankees PR).

Paxton had a whopping 20 swing-and-misses, the second straight start he did that. He also threw 15 first pitch strikes to 22 batters.

But, the bullpen had no plans of continuing that success. This is a classic example of Murphy’s law; what could go wrong did go wrong.

Chad Green came in relief, and it took him just 12 pitches to load the bases with two singles and a walk.

Green was pulled immediately, and Adam Ottavino came in. This is where it got ugly.

They say that bases loaded with nobody out is the worst possible scenario for a reliever. And this time, it did not go well for Ottavino.

Adalberto Mondesi knocked in two on a double, right before Alex Gordon smacked a three-run home run. This tied the game up at five, for about thirty seconds. Hunter Dozier hit a solo home run on the very next pitch, making it 6-5 Kansas City.

And magically, the Yankees pulled it out with the help of Romine.

Clint Frazier needs to chill

Clint Frazier can’t stop and won’t stop mashing. This dude murdered one over the visiting bullpen in the fifth inning for a three-run shot.

The Yankees also got a run in the first and the second. DJ LeMahieu scored on a wild pitch after a lead-off double in the first, and Romine knocked in the other run in the second.

Overall, the Yankees are incredibly lucky to have won this ballgame. Every sign pointed towards them losing after the eighth, but they proved their resilience. They are also lucky to have a guy like Austin Romine as the back-up catcher. He is definitely good enough to have a starting job on a big-league club, but the Yankees want him and he wants the Yankees.

The Yankees now trek way west to Anaheim to take on the Angels on Monday with a 10:05PM (ET) start. JA Happ gets the ball for the Yankees against old cross-town rival Matt Harvey, now on the Angeles after being dumped by the Mets and not resigned by the Reds.

New York Yankees: Clint Frazier With Another Nice Game But Yanks Fall to Royals

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New York Yankee’s left fielder Clint Frazier had a solid two hit game, but didn’t get much support from his teammates as the Yankees fell 5-1 to the Royals.

Frazier was the only bright spot on offense

The Yankees had just four hits on the evening, and Frazier accounted for two of them. He singled in the fourth and the ninth.

The other two hits came from Aaron Judge and Luke Voit. Voit’s average isn’t climbing too fast, mainly because he is consistently getting one hit a game, no more and no less. His average currently sits at .219. He’s reached safely in every game this season, with an OBP of .342.

Gleyber Torres was responsible for driving in the Yankee’s lone run on a sacrifice fly in the first.

Mike Ford made his MLB debut on Thursday, batting seventh as the DH. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, and a fly-out in his first at-bat.

Another good start for German

Domingo German continued to impress on Thursday over six strong. He allowed three runs, and struck out nine. He’s beginning to trust his stuff more, and that’s why he’s been so much better than last year. He gave up two home runs, which is slightly concerning, but still got more ground-outs (five) than fly-outs (four).

Jonathan Holder came in to relieve German, and got hammered. He gave up two runs and only got one out before Britton had to clean-up his mess.

He gave up two hits, but Chad Green managed to (barely) work a scoreless inning, ones that haven’t been to frequent for him so far this year.

Joe Harvey came in the ninth, and gave up the first run of his MLB career. It wouldn’t matter, as the Yankee’s put up another zero in the bottom of the inning to end the game.

Game two of the series begins on Friday at 7:05PM on YES and Fox Sports Go. CC Sabathia gets the ball for the Yankees against Jake Junis of the Royals. Junis was the pitcher that hit Judge last year, putting him on the then called disabled list.

New York Yankees Get Back on Track With 4-0 Win Over White Sox

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Just a day after giving up 12 hits in a rain shortened loss, the New York Yankees pitching staff shut it down by allowing just one hit as the Yankees beat the White Sox 4-0.

Welcome back big fella

After health issues, CC Sabathia made his season debut and was excellent. He pitched just five innings as the Yankees didn’t want to stretch him, but gave up just one hit. He struck out three and walked nobody in his 62 pitches.

CC had the slider working well, getting all three strikeouts with it. He did what he does best by working for soft contact and trusting your defense. The one hit he gave up was on a cutter that was a bit to up in the zone.

In conclusion, a great return for the lefty here in his final season.

The bullpen finally decided to show up on Saturday, pitching four no-hit innings. Domingo German came in for two innings of relief and was credited with the win.

Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman had the eighth and ninth innings respectively, each pitching 1-2-3 innings and picking up a strikeout.

A balanced offense

For once, the offense was pretty balanced on Saturday. The Yankees had seven hits and each one came from a different player.

Going into the bottom of the seventh, the game was actually tied but the Yankees changed that by putting up a three spot. They used some small ball as Luke Voit had a pinch hit RBI single, followed by a sacrifice fly by Kyle Higashioka and a suicide squeeze by Tyler Wade.

In the eighth inning, Aaron Judge punched one into the seats in right for a short 335 foot home run to make it 4-0, that being the final score.

The rubber match between the White Sox and the Yankees will be on Sunday at 1:05PM. The game will be on YES Network and FOX Sports Go. Masahiro Tanaka gets the ball for the Yankees against Carlos Rodon of the White Sox.

 

New York Yankees: Pitching is Kryptonite So Far

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New York Yankees, Aroldis Chapman

The New York Yankees are definitely not off to their best start, as they sit 5-7 with a nine game homestand approaching. The Yankees are down just one reliever, but their all-star caliber bullpen has been awful so far.

3.97

That’s the current Yankee bullpen ERA. That’s about two earned runs per nine innings too high. With four all-star level pitchers healthy in Chad Green, Adam Ottavino, Zack Britton, and Aroldis Chapman, Ottavino has been the only one with success, an ERA of 1.29 in seven innings pitched.

Chad Green is the most worrisome of the four. His ERA is at nine and has already been charged with two losses, including one against Houston.

Zack Britton has an ERA reaching towards five and has a loss too. Chapman is at 3.60, with his velocity still down a bit, but is expected to increase. His accuracy has improved from last year, only issuing one walk in five innings. His K/9 rate is still sky high at almost 13, which is obviously a good sign.

Though not one of their best relievers, Jonathan Holder has struggled, too, with an ERA of 5.40. He is a key guy in their bullpen, normally used in high-leverage situations in middle innings or extra innings.

The only real positive out of the bullpen so far is that Luis Cessa is pitching well. The Yankees are hoping this continues for him and the team. Remember, he is out of options so for him to go to AAA he must clear waivers.

Happ’s ready to bounce back

After a poor start on Wednesday by James Paxton, his ERA dropped to 6.00. Following him in the rotation is another starter whos’ ERA is in the sixes: JA Happ.

In two games, Happ is 0-1 and has pitched just eight and a third innings. This could potentially cause bullpen problems due to them having to pitch more than they should.

Last time out, he gave up five hits and two runs to the Orioles in a personal no decision, but a win for the team.

Friday against the White Sox would be the perfect time to get back on track and put one in his win column, as well as the team’s.

 

New York Yankees: Late Rally Falls Short as Yankees Swept by Astros

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New York Yankees, DJ LeMahieu

With the New York Yankees trailing 7-2 entering the eighth, Luke Voit led a late game charge by hitting a two run home run, followed by an RBI double by DJ LeMahieu for his third hit of the game. Quickly after, Clint Frazier hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field that was just feet from leaving the yard. This brought the Yankees to within one.

But, the Yankee bullpen didn’t help any. Zack Britton gave up a run in the bottom of the inning, killing the rally. The Yankees came up with nothing in the ninth, losing to Houston 8-6.

Paxton roughed up

It didn’t take long for the Yankees to get on the board. Brett Gardner hit a leadoff home run off Collin McHugh, the Houston starter. But the bottom of the inning was all Houston, with a home run by Jose Altuve and an RBI triple by Yuli Gurriel. Then, Carlos Correa doubled in a run in the third, before the Astros pulled away.

The Yankees scored a run in the top of the fourth thanks to a sacrifice fly by DJ LeMahieu, but come the fifth, Jose Altuve homered (again), as well as a home run by Carlos Correa. An infield single by Jake Marisnick would make it 7-2, and Paxton was pulled in the midst of it.

In 4+ innings, Paxton gave up eight hits, five runs, and struck out five while walking three. He threw 95 pitches and gave up two home runs. Paxton got first pitch strikes to 13 of his 21 batters faced. He got just one ground ball all night, meaning he was quite off.

LeMahieu is proving the haters wrong

A lot of people said that DJ LeMahieu can only hit in Colorado. So far, he’s told those people otherwise. He is hitting .410 so far with 16 hits in 39 at-bats.

He is currently second in AL average, only to Tim Anderson of the White Sox who comes in town on Friday.

Game one against the White Sox is at 7:05PM on YES Network and FOX Sports Go. JA Happ gets the ball for the Yankees against Lucas Giolito of the White Sox.

New York Yankees Blow Late Lead in Loss to Astros

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New York Yankees, Zach Britton

The New York Yankees led 3-1 while going into the seventh inning against the Houston Astros, but a two-run double from Robinson Chirinos tied it up at three. The runs came off Zack Britton, but the loss was charged to Adam Ottavino who gave up a run in the eighth. The Yankees had one last chance in the ninth, but lineouts to right by Aaron judge and Giovanny Urshela and a pop out by Brett Gardner sealed the loss for the Bronx Bombers.

Judge getting his power

Aaron Judge hit a line drive home run to right for his third homerun in as many days. He went 2-for-3 as he also added a single. He hasn’t struck out since Saturday, which is a huge positive.

Clint Frazier kept up his hot bat on Monday, going 2-for-4 and clanking a line drive off the wall in left for an RBI. Since being called up, he is 9-for-21 and that includes going 0-for-3 and 1-for-3 in his first two games.

The other RBI came from Luke Voit on an RBI single. Despite under .200, he has been very productive at third in the order with two home runs and nine RBIs.

Masahiro Tanaka isn’t a pitcher; he’s an artist

For the third straight game, Masahiro Tanaka was fantastic. Tanaka threw six innings and just 78 pitches, 50 of which were strikes. He only struck out three, and gave up just three hits and one run. He was also able to get nine groundouts, something that the splitter and the slider make you do.

Tanaka’s one run given up was a 448-foot bomb by Jose Altuve who used all 5’6, 165 lbs of him to get that one as far as it went.  That was just the first home run given up by Tanaka this season.

The bullpen wasn’t great on Monday, Britton gave up two and Ottavino gave up one. The run off of Ottavino was on an infield single, and Carlos Correa beat it out with his lightning speed. The two runs off of Britton was from a deep double, which unsurprisingly Britton was unhappy about.

Game two of the series will take place on Tuesday at 8:00PM (ET) with Jonathan Loaisiga taking the ball for New York against Gerrit Cole of the Astros. The game will be on ESPN, YES Network, and FOX Sports Go.

New York Yankees Finally Put Together Some Offense in Win Over Baltimore

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New York Yankees, Gleyber Torres

Just four days ago, the New York Yankees finished dropping a three game series against the Orioles at home. Now on the road, the Yankees finally pieced together some offense and beat the Orioles by a score of 8-4.

Gleyber Torres led the way

Gleyber Torres put together a game he won’t forget. Torres went 4-for-4 with two dingers and four ribbies.

His first time up, he roped a 1-1 splitter to left field and gone for a solo homer. His next time up, he cracked a double.

The third time he came to the plate, the Yankees were trailing 4-2 in the sixth inning, shortly after catcher Gary Sanchez had a homer himself. Torres took an 0-2 fastball to left for a three run home run to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead. Torres also had a single in the eighth, and if he had another plate appearance, he would need just a triple for the cycle.

In the ninth inning, first baseman Luke Voit popped a 1-2 sinker into the seats for a three-run bomb, putting the Yankees up 8-4 to seal the deal.

Something that is worrisome about the game is the fact that Aaron Judge went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. He isn’t getting a ton of friendly calls behind the plate, but nonetheless he shouldn’t be striking out as much as he has been. Like we said yesterday, it’s all about situational hitting.

Big Maple’s first Yankee win

Getting a no decision in his first Yankee game, James “Big Maple” Paxton picked up his first Yankee win on Thursday against the Orioles.

Paxton pitched 5 1/3 innings while giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out nine and walking two. Paxton threw 99 pitches and threw first pitch strikes to 14 of his 25 batters. He got eight of his nine strikeouts on variations of his fastball, and was hitting 96 MPH consistently on the radar gun with the four-seam.

Once Paxton was finished, Tommy Kahnle came in for 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, followed by Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman with scoreless innings to close it out.

Reminder: We’re only seven games into the season. The Yankees are 3-4, but the Astros (who we play next) are 2-5 and the Red Sox are 2-6. Plus, the Cubs are also off to a 1-4 start. Those four teams area handful of the World Series favorites.

Fans just need to patient. The Yankees will heal, and they will win games.

The Yankees actually have Friday off with the whole home opener, next day off thingy. So the Yankees and the O’s finish off this three game series on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday’s game will be at 7:05PM on YES Network and Fox Sports Go. MASN may be available dependent on where you live and which TV provider you have, and that is another way to watch.

JA Happ gets the ball for the Yankees against the Orioles’ Dylan Bundy. That will be a rematch of this past Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

 

The New York Yankees Beat The Tigers as Gardner and Sanchez Homer

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New York Yankees, Gary Sanchez

In a low scoring affair, New York Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German threw five solid innings and Gary Sanchez and Brett Gardner each hit solo home runs to beat the Detroit Tigers by a score of 3-1.

Seven combined hits

The Tigers and the Yankees combined for just seven hits all game, and just two came from the Tigers. Both of them happened to come off the bat of Jordy Mercer, who went 2-of-4.

The Yankees had five hits, two of which left the yard. Sanchez and Gardner each had solo shots, and Gardner also added a single in the first.

Greg Bird had a single to left field, but Tigers outfielder Christin Stewart bobbled it and Luke Voit put the wheels on and scored from first after a walk in the third inning.

Judge doubled in the seventh inning, but was stranded there, unable to build on the lead.

Aroldis Chapman came in to lock it down in the ninth, pitching a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout to end it.

The Yankees four big relievers that are healthy right now pitched on Monday, and each did a great job. Chad Green, Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, and Aroldis Chapman were each scoreless in one inning of work, and Britton was the only one that allowed a hit.

German did what was asked of him

Domingo German went out there on Monday with relatively low expectations, but pitched a solid game. In five innings, he only gave up a hit and a run, the run being charged on another Gary Sanchez throwing error. It did look like Gleyber Torres just missed the catch and Sanchez was just stuck with the error, so it’s not really his fault.

German only threw 77 pitches, but struck out seven while throwing first-pitch strikes 62 percent of the time. He got three of his seven strikeouts on curveballs, two of his seven on sliders, and two of his seven on fastballs. So basically, there was a lot that was working for German.

Though his pitches worked well, his accuracy and composure were poor. He walked five batters on Monday, and a 7:5 strikeout to walk ratio is really bad. He needs to keep practicing his accuracy and find more strategies with Gary Sanchez to get the ball to spots he can hit and the batters can’t.

Game two of the series against the Tigers continues on Tuesday at 6:35PM on YES Network and Fox Sports Go.

Masahiro Tanaka is scheduled to make his second start of the season, while Jordan Zimmerman will do the same for Detroit. Zimmerman was dominant last time out against the Blue Jays, allowing just one hit in seven innings.

 

 

Three run first inning powers New York Yankees to Opening Day Win

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New York Yankees, Yankees, Luke voit

It didn’t take very long for New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit to prove haters wrong.

After back-to-back singles by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, Voit cranked a low slider on a 3-1 count into Monument Park for the Yankees first three runs of the game and season, and it led them to a 7-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

That home run was Voit’s only official at-bat, he took walks in two other plate appearances and was also hit by a pitch. His hit-by-pitch actually resulted in an RBI, as the bases were loaded. Aaron Judge was the only Yankee with multiple hits, a single to right and an infield single. All Yankee batters besides leadoff hitter Brett Gardner had a hit, but Gardner did have a walk.

Greg Bird went 1-for-4 on the game, with three strikeouts and a home run into the Yankee bullpen. Miguel Andujar had a single to CF in the seventh and an RBI sacrifice fly early on. Andujar, however, did have a throwing error in the fourth inning.

A quality start for Tanaka:

Masahiro Tanaka got his 2019 season off to a good start, giving up six hits, two runs (one earned), and fired five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings of work. Only throwing 83 pitches, the Yankees didn’t want to stretch it with him as the team doesn’t play again until Saturday.

Tanaka was throwing his slider and splitter well and for strikes. All five strikeouts were swinging, including him striking out the side in the second inning using mainly offspeed pitches. Most outs came from his slider or splitter, and he only threw a few curveballs all game.

Tanaka faced 22 batters and threw first-pitch strikes to 12 of them.

Ottavino showed out in his first game:

Adam Ottavino had no New York jitters. He came out to relieve Tanaka in the sixth inning with two outs to strike out Rio Ruiz, then came back for the seventh inning getting two more strikeouts and a lineout to Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop, who got a hit in his first game as a Yankee.

Zach Britton and Aroldis Chapman came in for the eighth and ninth innings, and each pitched scoreless innings despite both giving up a hit.

The two teams don’t play on Friday but will continue the series on Saturday at 1:05PM on YES Network, ESPN+, or FOX Sports Go. The probable starters for the game are Nate Karns and James Paxton.