From Bryan Hoch:
Heliot Ramos beamed as he skipped around third base, thumping the front of his pinstriped jersey with his right hand. He’ll never forget his first home run as a member of the Yankees.
If that swing winds up carrying weight into the postseason, his teammates may remember it just as well.
Ramos pounced on a hanging Ranger Suarez curveball for a three-run homer that opened the floodgates in a 16-1 victory over the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
“It was super emotional,” Ramos said. “I’m an emotional guy; I’m always showing what I’ve got in my heart. It really feels good to produce for this team, to be a part of this team and get things done.”
The Yankees took three of four games this weekend to win the season series over Boston, 7-6. That serves as a tiebreaker to determine home-field advantage should the rivals – who faced off in last year’s American League Wild Card Series – meet again in the postseason.
“I didn’t realize the full-season series came down to today, too,” said Will Warren, who fired seven-plus strong innings for the win. “That was huge.”
Obviously, we all know that Warren deserves the featured image, as he was SHOCKINGLY good, and heck, you could easily argue that the Rafaela catch/trap should be the featured image, as that appeared to be the turning point of the game, but I just found Heliot Ramos’ celebration of his first Yankee home run to be absolutely fucking ADORABLE, so I had to go with him fucking skipping around the bases celebrating his big three-run blast over Ranger Suarez (who has looked downright hittable since he returned from the injury list).
Way too much of the discourse of the game is being made about the Rafaela catch being called not a catch, and I just think it is plainly preposterous, as the call was made on the field that it was a trap, and if you’re telling me that there is definitive proof that that ball didn’t touch the grass when his glove hit the ground, you’re full of shit. I think he likely DID make the catch, but it sure as fuck wasn’t REMOTELY definitive. So be mad at the umpire for making the initial trap call if you’d like, but the review wasn’t the issue at all. Same, as it turned out, with the Alonso foul ball. People all freaked out, and then eventually we saw that the replay made it impossible to tell one way or the other.
So people dwelling on this Rafaela thing is absurd. I GUARANTEE you that I would not be dwelling on if it happened to the Yankees. I’d be ripping the Yankees starter for falling apart when something didn’t go his way, like I’ve done repeatedly for various Yankees starters over the years (including a certain Mr. Cole during Game 5 of the 2024 World Series).
The Rays swept the Padres, and it kills me, because you KNOW the Yankees ain’t sweeping them in San Diego. So now we have to root for the Rays, who are somehow SIXTEEN GAMES over their pythag, to somehow blow some games this week to not lose pace. The Rays get some DECENT teams this week, home for the Mets for three, and then on the road in Texas for four (hopefully DeGrom pitches that series).
As an aside, I would also like for the Blue Jays and Orioles to not make the playoffs, please. ESPECIALLY the Blue Jays. Come on, Guardians, go on one of those weird winning streaks you guys always do!
Mitch Garver triggered a clause in his deal with the Yankees where they have to either call him up or offer him to other teams to see if THEY’LL call him up. I think Garver is garbage, but I hate Ali Sanchez so fucking much that I would still just promote Garver. We shall see what they do!
If the question is: did the ball touch the ground, then it is 100% definitive that it did.
If the question is: would he have made the catch without the ground hitting the glove, then – very likely.
Again, if the ball touching the ground is determinative, then he absolutely, unquestionably, obviously, clearly, visibly did not make the catch.
Not sure that SHOULD be the rule, nor that it IS the rule – but IF it is the rule, then there’s nothing for Red Sox fans to even discuss.
The rule is that he has to have full control of the ball before it touches the ground, to the point where it has to be clearly intentional that the ball was no longer in his glove.
Understood.
But… according to that definition, if a player catches a ball and stands there with it for 10 seconds and then another fielder barrels into him and he drops the ball (clearly unintentionally), then it’s not a catch?
Also… with a trap (as opposed to a short hop), the ball is often pretty much “in the glove,” isn’t it? Even if part of it is touching the ground?
Without better definitions of “control” and “in the glove”, the definition could mean almost anything!
I mean, here he clearly was in control of it and the ball never came out of the glove, so HOW it came out of the glove (intentionally or unintentionally) isn’t relevant, but if he had INITIALLY caught it with half of it on the ground, no one would think to call it a catch – and the ground was, in fact, what kept it in his mitt.
So I don’t see how the rule even addresses the questions raised here.
The Rays’ game-tying catch-no-catch-home-run yesterday is equally suspect.
This is fundamentally the wrong analysis.
The real question is how many fingers he had in the hole.
Tim Hill agrees.
Well done.
As the New York Yankees piled on in the eighth inning of Sunday’s 16-1 drubbing of the Boston Red Sox, WEEI radio play-by-play man Will Flemming suggested that Red Sox pitcher Jovani Morán throw at Yankees catcher Austin Wells and start a fight with second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who the announcer also derided as a “bush league player” who “plays the game the wrong way.”
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7551672/2026/08/30/red-sox-broadcaster-jazz-chisholm-rant/?redirected=1
saw that, lol. I’m not really one opposed to buzzing players periodically. It would also be hilarious to see Jazz (not Wells), get drilled.
It was 7-1 when Jazz stole the bases, not 17-1.
Last I checked, “trailing 7-1” counts as “playing the game the wrong way.”
Good point Veggie
Were they holding him on? If not I kinda agree it’s a bit of a dick move.
And frankly, I’m constantly bitching about the way Jazz plays, although not in the veiled racist way Boston homers do.
Since when does Boston veil its racism?
Yankees Prospect Yostin Pena Is Already Turning Heads at Single-A Tampa
Looking for the next hotshot Yankees prospect? Yostin Pena is certainly making a first impression.
https://www.si.com/mlb/yankees/onsi/yankees-prospect-yostin-pena-is-already-turning-heads-at-single-a-tampa-01m0n29qxbm9
promising. Dax is crushing it, too. Higher Walk rate than K rate
The issue with Pena is that the Cardinals voided his deal because they didn’t believe that he was really 18.
If he was 20 when he signed, a lot of this is a lot less impressive. Let’s hope that he’s actually 19 and not 21 (he’s had a birthday since he signed).
Re: Yankees prospects, while the talent is exciting, skepticism is nonetheless warranted, not by any fault of the prospects themselves. I found myself agreeing with this article – it synthesizes the frustration that I think a lot of us have felt ever since Boone arrived and Gary Sanchez fizzled.
https://www.startspreadingthenews.blog/post/perspectives-the-yankees-prospect-failures-should-not-be-simply-forgotten
Sure but for some of us it’s just fun to follow and think about a prospect. I think it’s unlikely that Yostin will ever be anything. There was Eric Duncan and Jesus Montero but there was also Robinson Cano. Volpe, Wells, and Dominguez have been disappointing, but they were never much in the first place. But what happened to Gary Sanchez and Gleyber both of whom looked like stars?
I agree, Bop – one big reason for skepticism is that young major leaguers fizzle out with bad coaches/managers like Boone and his staff. When you’re being guided by idiots, it takes outside coaching like Judge’s to succeed.
They’re prospects. Some sheik from Dubai pays millions for a well bred 2 year old that might not even get to the races.
The Yankees claimed right-handed reliever John Schreiber, a source told MLB.com. #Royals placed him on waivers over the weekend. The free agent-to-be ends his time in Kansas City with a 3.71 ERA across three seasons.
I didn’t think there was any way he would reach the Yankees. Great pickup. I assume Gil does down for him?
Sherman says he’ll report Tuesday when they can add him and someone else or add him, send Elmer down, add twoferTuesday.
Okay, that makes a lot more sense. Then we just have a week or so to see who goes down for Schmidt when Schmidt is ready. Is Gil the only one who is optionable?
Contreras to IL. MLBTR “ At this point, it’s unclear how severe Contreras’s injury is or how much time he is expected to miss, but it may have been lingering for a while. Back on August 12, Chris Cotillo of MassLive noted that Contreras was grabbing at his hamstring. Contreras has continued playing for the Sox since then but it’s possible the issue worsened.”
Sounds familiar.
In the meanwhile, that was an awesome win.
And an awesome series win.
And a pretty awesome run against AL East teams.
No Lombard yet
B Rice (L) DH
C Bellinger (L) LF
L García Jr. (L) 1B
A Rosario (R) 3B
T Grisham (L) CF
J Chisholm Jr. (L) 2B
S Jones (L) RF
J Caballero (R) SS
A Wells (L) C
In his last inning of play Wells hit 2 HRs and knocked in 4.
Will he be Over/under those totals the rest of the season?
Wells had 19(!) RBI through game 1 on Saturday; he added another 7 since.
Mets are beating the Rays 3-2 in the ninth; Senga walks the lead-off Rays hitter. I think we know how this ends.
EDIT: Mets hang on to win.
Sox-Mariners cripple fight goes to the bottom of the ninth with the bad guys down one.