Yankees 14-inning debacle sees four players lost to injury or illness

Just eight games in, keeping a positive narrative about this Yankees season is becoming increasingly difficult.

The worst part about Saturday morning’s back-breaking loss to the Orioles (yes, the game began on Friday at 7:05 PM) is that the Yankees lost four separate players to a litany of injuries and ailments.

Just four innings into the 7-3 defeat, starting pitcher CC Sabathia left the contest with a sore right hip. Though Sabathia had given up three solo home runs by the time he exited the game, the 37-year-old looked pretty good.

However, after just 58 pitches, 42 of which were for strikes, the Yanks’ No. 3 shooter immediately headed for an MRI.

Then two innings later, third baseman Brandon Drury was forced to the clubhouse with a migraine and subsequent blurred vision.

Following a seventh-inning groundout, Tyler Wade barely made it back to the dugout before just about losing his lunch (something many fans felt deep into the night).

With reports of Wade struggling with flu-like symptoms since the season’s first series in Toronto, only time will tell when Wade is fully fit to re-enter Aaron Boone’s lineup.

And last but definitely not least, Gary Sanchez was helped off the field due to a right leg cramp in the 14th frame. Of all the maladies, Sanchez’s looks to be the least serious. But you shouldn’t expect to see him anywhere near the diamond for Saturday’s 1:05 PM start.

There’s also the potentially developing Aroldis Chapman situation. The closer warranted two mound visits from Boone and the team trainer; the second coming with two outs and two strikes in the ninth-inning. We await clarification on the matter.

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Yankees general manager, Brian Cashman, must have had a busy night, as many fans awoke to the news of Sabathia and Drury both hitting the 10-day DL. 

Even after Sabathia’s MRI results came back clean, the club is clearly being cautious, having called up right-hander Luis Cessa from Triple-A Scranton to replace CC for at least one start.

In addition, the club has recalled pitcher Domingo German, taking the place of the shellacked Jonathan Holder. The contract of utility man Jace Peterson was also purchased.

As I stated on Twitter, pulling out the victory would have been tremendous, as these are the type of games that bond 25-men, building momentum no matter the month of the season.

Unfortunately, we must continue to wait for that rallying moment. Because after five hours and 20 minutes, the only thing that truly came out of the defeat is that the Yankees now have eight players on the disabled list (Drury, Sabathia, Greg Bird, Billy McKinney, Clint Frazier, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ben Heller and Aaron Hicks).

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Aside from Didi Gregorius’ continued heroics and Aaron Judge’s magical leap at the right-field wall, the other positive to focus on is that Hicks could rejoin the major league team once he’s eligible to return on Tuesday.