Miserable Offensive Performance Leads to Yankees Opening Series Loss
Written By: Riley Briggs
Our beloved New York Yankees started their season off with a frustrating 3-2 loss in 10 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. This hyped up 2021 lineup seemed like the same old Yankees with their inability to come up with the big hit. The Yankees lineup is thought as the best in baseball, but went an abysmal 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position. DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton, Gio Urshela, and Jay Bruce all went hitless for the Yankees in this game. The Yankees had a multitude of opportunities to break the game open but never came through.
With a 2-2 ballgame in the bottom of the 7th, the Yankees had a chance to take the lead with bases loaded and one out, and Aaron Judge stepped to the plate. Judge hit into a double play and put an end to the Yankees rally. After walks from Gary Sanchez and Clint Frazier, the Yankees again had a golden opportunity to walk it off on opening day in the bottom of the 9th with a score of 2-2. Mike Tauchman pinch ran for Sanchez and immediately stole two bags. With Tauchman on third and the Yankees most reliable hitter at the plate, the game felt won. DJ hit a weak grounder and with Tauchman running on contact he was gunned down at the plate. The bombers still had a chance to win with Brett Gardner pinch running for Clint Frazier in scoring position and Aaron Judge at the plate with two away. Judge strikes out and leaves runners in scoring position which was the theme of the day. To start the tenth came Nick Nelson. He was dealing with a runner on second because of the dreadful rule change MLB instilled. He gave up a leadoff double off the right field wall which scored the game losing run. In the bottom of the 10th, the Yanks were completely overmatched by Julian Merrywether who took care of business by striking out the side to beat the Yanks. Although the Yankees took a depressing and avoidable opening day loss, there were many positives to take away.
The most controversial and talked about Yankee, Gary Sanchez had himself a day. He was the Yankees’ only source of offense with a 2 run homer and an infield single. Gary also caught a runner stealing and was blocking balls in the dirt. Another bright spot, Gerrit Cole seemed to work well with Gary. Gerrit Cole threw 5.1 innings with 5 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 8 ks. He looked sharp for his first outing, but he left a slider in the zone which led to a Teoscar Hernadez homer which tied the game at 2 apiece. Cole wasn’t perfect, but his stuff was sharp and he battled on the mound. A weakened Yankee bullpen was outstanding in the loss. With Aroldis Chapman serving a suspension, and Zach Britton injured the Yankees leaned heavily on their remaining bullpen arms. Chad Green, Jonathan Loaisiga, Darren O’Day, and Nick Nelson all got action and they were brilliant. They combined for 4.2 innings and only allowed 1 hit and 0 earned runs. The Yankee Stadium crowd was greatly appreciated since it was the first time the stadium has seen fans since game 5 of the 2019 ALCS. The crowd made its impact throughout the course of the game and was vividly heard even though it was only filled to 20% capacity. Yankees faithful even let out some boos against the 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts, Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees took a heartbreaking loss to start the season, but Gary Sanchez’s success was very encouraging.
Game two saw the Yankees take their first victory of the season. The Yanks beat the Blue Jays 5-3 in a pleasing fashion. The opening day struggles with runners in scoring position were less present in game two. Jay Bruce came up with a clutch two run single to extend the Yankees’ lead. DJ LeMahieu went 0-4 on opening day but had 2 hits with an RBI today. A struggling Aaron Hicks also knocked in a run. Aaron Judge looked good with two rocket singles. Gio Urshela, Clint Frazier, and Gleyber Torres all had hits as well. And the bomber's most polarizing figure, Gary Sanchez hit his second homer of the season. Corey Kluber made his first start in pinstripes and looked encouraging. His stuff was nowhere near perfect, but he was more than competent and executed some key pitches. The Yankees defense wasn’t a help to Kluber either. In the top of the third Sanchez tried to catch a runner stealing second with a runner on third, and the ball went into the outfield, and the runner from third came to score. But Marcus Semien’s solo homer was Kluber’s only earned run. A theme in the first game was the Yanks dominant bullpen. Today was no different with a great day from the pen highlighted by excellent performances from Chad Green and Jonathan Loaisiga. While Giancarlo Stanton went hitless for the second game in a row most of the other hitting issues of game one were addressed and improved on in game two. It was crucial for the Yanks to get their first win out of the way, and they did that much to the satisfaction of Yankees faithful.
Game 3 of the opening series was nothing but pitiful. The controversial Domingo German got the start for the Yankees. It was his first big league start since 2019 because he was serving his domestic violence suspension. German, coming off a fantastic spring training in which he was flawless looked to bring that same energy in this ballgame. Unfortunately, he looked flattered and uneasy on the mound. He made it three innings while giving up three runs on a solo homer and a three run homer. The Yanks bats were in no way a help to the struggling German. The bomber's bats were flat as could be. The timely hitting was nowhere to be found, and they struggled to get a rally going all game. Aaron Judge continued his struggles with runners in scoring position, and Aaron Hicks looked lost at the plate. The only Yankees’ run of the game came from an RBI groundout off the bat of Brett Gardner. The only bright spot of the game was Mike King. King delivered 6 shutout innings for the Yanks. After allowing two runners on in the 4th he was perfect for the remainder of the game. King proved himself to be a reliable option for the bombers either out of the bullpen or as a starter. The Yankees’ struggles have surprised to start the season. Their dangerous offense has been unbelievably quiet while their bullpen has been lights out.
The Yankee’ offense is nothing to worry about considering the dangerous hitters they have in that lineup, but it is rather frustrating for Yankees fans to get off to this slow start. Yankees fans have waited for the season to get going since Urshela lined out to Wendle in October, but this slow start has seemed to suck the life out of Yankee Nation. The Yankees will face the red hot Baltimore Orioles next as they look to Jordan Montgomery to get them back on the right track.