Yankees Drop a Brutal Three Game Set to the Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds came to Yankee Stadium to face off against the Yankees in a three game set. The Yankees got off to an early lead in game one when Anthony Rizzo hit a two run single in the first inning. Josh Donaldson hit an RBI single in the second inning to make it 3-0. Gerrit Cole got the start for the Yankees. Cole was electric in this one. He had all of his pitches working and was masterful. Cole threw seven shutout innings with eleven strikeouts. Michael King came on and threw a 1-2-3 eighth inning. It looked like the Yankees were on their way to an easy victory as they were handing the ball over to Clay Holmes with a 3-0 lead in the ninth. Holmes has been the best reliever in baseball so nobody was expecting what was about to unfold. Holmes came on and could not find the strike zone. He gave up a walk, a single, and hit a batter to load the bases with no outs. Holmes then gave up an RBI single to Tyler Naquin to make it 3-1. Holmes then drilled the next batter to make it 3-2. Holmes was then pulled with the bases loaded and nobody out after giving up two runs. This outing from Holmes was utterly shocking. Wandy Peralta came on to try and get the Yanks out of the jam. He recorded two ground ball outs, but then he gave up a two RBI single to Jonathan India to give the Reds a 4-3 lead. The Yankees were unable to plate a run across in the ninth as they dropped game one by a score of 4-3. This stunning loss was the worst loss of the season.
Luis Severino got the start in game two of the three game set. The Reds took an early 1-0 on an RBI groundout by Joey Votto. Sevy fell apart in the second when he gave up back to back to back homers to give the Reds a 4-0 lead. Severino was pulled from the game with an apparent injury. Hopefully the injury is not serious because Severino has been so great this season, and he’s already battled some brutal injuries in his career. It would be soul crushing for Sevy to have another serious injury, so let’s hope he’s back soon. J.P Sears came on in relief of Severino. The Yankees got on the board in the third. Anthony Rizzo hit a grounder to second that got under the glove of India to score Gallo and give the Yanks their first run. Later that inning Gleyber Torres hit an RBI single to make it 4-2. Then with the bases loaded and two outs Isiah Kiner - Falefa hit a bases clearing double to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead. In the top of the fifth Joey Votto tied the game on an RBI double. Later in the fifth Tyler Stephenson gave the Reds a 6-5 lead with a sac fly. J.P Sears came back out for the sixth inning and got the first two outs of the inning. Then Albert Abreu came on for the final out. He then got the first two outs of the seventh. Wandy Peralta got the final out of the seventh. Aroldis Chapman tossed a scoreless eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth Giancarlo Stanton hit a game tying homer. Clay Holmes came on for the ninth. He wasn’t his normal self, but it was an improvement from his previous outing. He was having trouble locating his pitches, but he bore down and pitched a scoreless inning. The Yankees did not score in the bottom of the ninth, so the game went to extras. Michael King did a great job in the tenth. He got out of the inning without allowing the runner to score. The Yankees headed to the bottom of the tenth with a chance to win the game. With DJ Lemahieu on third, Alexis Diaz threw a wild pitch. DJ came home to score and win it for the Yanks. This 7-6 win tied the series for the Yanks.
Nestor Cortes Jr took the ball in the rubber game of this three game set against the Reds. Luis Castillo got the start for the Reds. The first run of the game was scored on a sac fly from Brandon Drury in the fifth. The Yankees tied it up in the bottom of the sixth from an RBI groundout by Giancarlo Stanton. Nestor’s night ended after seven incredible innings with one earned run. Jonathan Loaisiga made his first outing since coming off the IL. He came on for the eighth. Loaisiga struggled. He gave up a go ahead single to Joey Votto and then a two RBI single to Kyle Farmer. Loaisiga was pulled with two outs, and Abreu came on for the final out. The score was now 4-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth. In the bottom of the eighth Aaron Judge hit a solo home run to make it 4-2. Later that inning the Yanks tied it up on a clutch two run homer by Gleyber Torres. Torres continues to be one of the most clutch players in baseball. Albert Abreu came back out for the ninth in a tie game. Abreu drilled the first batter, but he did a great job recording three straight outs to keep the game tied. The Yanks were unable to walk it off in the ninth, so the game went to extras.
Lucas Luetge came on for the tenth inning. He gave up a go ahead double to Joey Votto and then an RBI single to Tyler Stephenson. Then Luetge gave up another RBI single to Donavan Solano to make it 7-4. In the bottom of the tenth Matt Carpenter drilled a two run shot to bring the Yankees within one run. Then with runners on first and second and two outs DJ Lemahieu came up. He smoked a ball to centerfield, but it was right to the center fielder so the game was over. The Yankees dropped the final game of the three game set by a score of 7-6. The Yanks dropped a series to the putrid Cincinnati Reds in embarrassing fashion. This was by far the worst series of the season for the Yankees. The Boston Red Sox come to the Bronx this weekend for a three game set and the final series before the all star break. Hopefully the Yankees can put together a good series against the Red Sox heading into the all star break.
By : Riley Briggs