Yankees: Aroldis rolls over in the ninth, Red Sox steal a win

The Yankees $86 Million Man couldn’t get the job done last night as the Red Sox eked out a win in the bottom of the ninth inning. Ouch, that one hurt.

The Yankees played winning baseball for three hours and fifteen minutes last night. Gary Sanchez had hit a two-run home run, the bullpen trio of Chad Green, Adam Warren, and Dellin Betances had pitched four effective innings to pick up Jordan Montgomery, who didn’t have his usual command and was lifted after four innings and 96 pitches.

Holding on to a slim 4-3 lead, Aroldis Chapman, the Yankees high-paid closer, entered the game and lost everything in the next twelve minutes sending his team to their Boston hotel with a heart-wrenching loss to open the second half of the 2017 season.

The bases-loaded walk delivered by Chapman to Andrew Benintendi ending the game was Boston’s first walk-off walk since Ted Williams in 1956 and the Red Sox first walk-off win in seventeen years.

Chapman, who can be wild in the strike zone but still effective, had no command of his pitches, all fastballs from what I observed. Wild outside to righties and inside to lefties, Chapman consistently hit 100 on these pitches that the Red Sox took for balls, leaving Chapman behind in the count.

More from Yanks Go Yard

Fittingly perhaps, the Red Sox did not hit a ball out of the infield. They didn’t need to as a costly error by the usually steady Ronald Torreyes allowed Mookie Betts to score the tying run, enabling Chapman to nail down the loss.

Inexplicably, neither Larry Rothschild, the Yankees pitching coach or Joe Girardi left the dugout to interrupt Chapman’s meltdown. Gary Sanchez, who normally wears a path out from home to the mound talking to his pitchers, was noticeably quiet as well.

The fallout looms large

Aside from the mental adjustment grappling with a tough loss, which the Yankees will need to make when they take the field today at 4:00 P.M., Yankees fans will notice a two game swing in the standings.

Instead of a 2.5 game deficit with a win, the Yankees are now 4.5 games behind the Red Sox and have slipped to third place, a full game behind Tampa Bay, who beat the Angels in Anaheim last night for their win in a row.

The Wild Card standings, you ask? Miraculously, the Yankees remain one of two teams qualifying, with both the Twins and Royals losing last night.

One thing is certain. The Yankees no longer have a chance to leave Boston Sunday night in first place.

In his post-game press conference, Girardi could not hide his frustration and disappointment, looking downcast as he spoke last night:

Bomber Bits and Pieces

As expected, Garrett Cooper, recently acquired in a trade with the Brewers, started at first base last night. Looking very impressive and eerily similar to Aaron Judge standing at the plate, that may be where the similarity ends as he took the collar with a couple of strikeouts.

Matt Holliday returned to the lineup but seemed to be a little “off,” seeing only 18 pitches in four at-bats with three strikeouts.

Starlin Castro is expected to return to the lineup sometime this weekend following two rehab games at Double-A Trenton.

Next: Yankees best bet won a game for Oakland last night

The New York Post is reporting the Yankees could give Chance Adams a shot to replace Michael Pineda in the rotation.

Luis Severino (5-4 3.54) starts for the Yankees today against Cy Young candidate, Chris Sale (11-4 2.75).

Home/Yankees News