From Steve Schaeffer:
As far as reliever Devin Williams is concerned, the Yankees’ loss on Wednesday night didn’t come down to one pitch in a nightmarish eighth inning.
“‘You missed four,’” Williams said he told home-plate umpire Brian Walsh before getting ejected after giving up his third walk, which forced in the go-ahead run in what became an 8-7 Astros victory at Daikin Park.
The Astros, who plated just one run through five innings against Yankees starter Will Warren, had come back from a 4-1 deficit. Jeremy Peña’s leadoff homer in the sixth chased Warren, and the Astros tagged Luke Weaver with another run in the sixth and one in the seventh.
Two things can be true. Devin Williams can be a choking loser, and Brian Walsh can be a terrible umpire who fucked Williams (and the Yankees) over repeatedly.
I don’t normally include TWO images, but it’s important to also share the strike that ended the game. Jazz had the count 3-2, with Stanton (who had already homered earlier in the game, with the Astros’ closer, Abreu, having already given up a three-run home run to Bellinger earlier in the inning) on-deck, and THIS is the pitch that struck Jazz out to end the game…
I mean, come the fuck on, ya know?
As knuckle curve joked last night, the umpire should get a ring if the Astros win the World Series.
So, yeah, the umpire fucked the Yankees, but Williams shouldn’t have been in that position at all, falling behind 2-0 to the #9 hitter with the bases loaded. Just awful. However, just as importantly, he shouldn’t have been ejected, as you have to like Williams against Pena a lot more than Doval against Pena.
Then Boone, right before HE got ejected himself for arguing about Williams’ ejection, made one of the Booniest moves of the season, deciding to bring in Doval with the bases loaded, which is just INSANE, as Doval, even when he’s GOOD, tends to be wild. Dude leads the Majors in balks, and you’re going to bring him with the BASES LOADED in the eighth inning of a one-run game? Doval gave up a one-run single, and then promptly brought in two more runs via a balk and a wild pitch. Just pure insanity.
Down 8-4, the Yankees then scored three in the top of the ninth, before it ended with that pathetic call on Jazz, with Stanton on deck.
So, all in all, shit was SO crazy in the 8th and 9th that I’m honestly not all THAT down on the team. It was bad that Cruz and Weaver both had bad games, and then Williams had his nonsense, but whatever, Cruz and Weaver have both been good lately. The Astros have good hitters. Sometimes they’ll get some runs. The Yankees also had PLENTY of opportunities to tack on more runs, and repeatedly failed to do so.
Boone pinch hit for Volpe in the ninth, so hopefully Volpe gets a day off again. He’s really killing them out there. Just an automatic out right now.
Wells, though, is showing signs of life. That’d be great if he could hit so Rice could play first base more regularly.
Featured image is the blown call that REALLY drove Williams nuts.