From Bryan Hoch:
Brent Headrick stood near the back of the mound, hands on his hips, as all of Camden Yards waited for a verdict. Pete Alonso had gone into full Carlton Fisk mode, hopping down the first-base line, expecting his towering seventh-inning drive to light up the scoreboard as a go-ahead home run.
Instead, the initial call was a foul ball. Alonso raised both hands to his helmet and howled, then did so again when replay angles proved inconclusive. Headrick told himself to bear down and focus on getting the out. He did, striking out Alonso swinging.
“I’m a pitcher, right?” Headrick said after the Yankees’ 5-3 victory over the Orioles on Wednesday night. “So from my vantage point, I thought it was foul. But yeah, I think it could have gone either way. It went in our favor.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he didn’t believe his team caught a break. While it was initially unsure, replay coordinator Brett Weber walked to the third-base line after the game to plot the path of Alonso’s drive. The conclusion: The initial call was correct, a foul ball.
“It’s a long strike,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “That’s what we all talk about. If they all counted, we’d have a lot of home runs – everybody in the world.”
Understandably, Alonso and his teammates saw it differently. Then the Yankees took advantage: George Lombard Jr. legged out a bases-loaded infield single, and Chisholm raced home with another run on a wild pitch, sparking New York’s third straight win.
I almost NEVER give the opposing team the featured image when the Yankees win the game, but come on, Pete Alonso gave such a hilarious reaction to the foul ball call, I couldn’t help but feature it here.
I was stunned that they didn’t overturn the call, but this morning, I saw an angle from the MASN broadcast, and damned if the thing didn’t look foul from that angle. So hell, maybe it WAS the right call!
In any event, great win. Want to hear something that will blow your mind? Since July 9th, the Red Sox have the best record in baseball, with a record of 26-11. The number two team during that span? The New York fucking Yankees, at 21-13.
How in the fucking WORLD does this team keep both A. sucking and B. winning? It’s inexplicable.
Anyhow, this was a great win, but they had to once again lean on the bullpen HEAVILY. They likely don’t have Headrick, Blackburn, or Bednar available today, so they’re probably fucked, but hey, two out of three ain’t bad!
About the Author
When does a guy like Cole feel justified about tearing into a guy like Warren for being ridiculously inefficient and burning out the bullpen?
In front of us? Never.
Behind the scenes? Maybe yesterday.
He’s just not that good. Maybe Cole should tear into Wells for not asking charge.
From Katie S —
George Lombard Jr. in “Late & Close” situations:
18 PA, 6 H, 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 BB
.353/.389/.589
**7th inning or later with team tied, ahead by one, or tying run on deck**
I like Lombard a lot but that’s kind of random. Take away yesterday’s hit for instance.
Yeah, I guess good for Lombard for not striking out, but a weak groundball doesn’t seem like he did some clutch hitting, ya know?
A hit is a hit, and they all look like a LD in the box score.
Another one of these days with a lot of rain in the forecast. Good chance it won’t start on time.
Man, it sounds like Judge might actually be truly getting on track to maaaaaaaaaaaaybe return this season.
He’ll be well rested, at least.
Unlike Headrick and Bednar.
If McMahon is seriously hurt, I want Garcia Jr. playing third base.
CF T. Grisham L
DH Ben Rice L
LF Heliot Ramos R
1B Luis Garcia L
2B J. Chisholm L
SS G. Lombard R
RF S. Jones L
C Austin Wells L
3B J. Caballero R
Cabby can enter for defense late in the game, or pinch run for Goldy, with Garcia moving over to first.
From Bryan Hoch —
Aaron Boone said there was no more clarity on a potential timeline for Giancarlo Stanton, who has been out since April 24 with a right calf strain.
“He had been [running], I think yesterday or the day before, did more bases,” Boone said. “But nothing new.”
As Boone noted on Talkin’ Yanks, I think they’re slow-playing Stanton now, waiting until after September 1st to activate him, because they don’t want to cut anyone (which makes perfect sense, honestly).
The issue is that when Judge returns, they’ll have to send down whatever reliever they add to the roster, because, again, otherwise they’d have to cut someone and I doubt they want to do that.
In the playoffs, you can get away with a 16 man bench for the Wild Card series.
If Fried is healthy, then the pitching staff would be…
10 Fried
9 Cole
8 Schlittler
7 Rodon
6 Weathers
5 Bednar
4 Headrick
3 Blackburn
2 Cruz
1 Hill
and if he’s not…
10 Cole
9 Schlittler
8 Rodon
7 Weathers
6 Bednar
5 Headrick
4 Blackburn
3 Cruz
2 Hill
1 Yerry, I guess? Gil, if he proves himself over the next month?
Judge is swinging a bat and hitting off a tee.
First pitch now scheduled for approximately 6:55.
The Rays lost.
Yordan is in the lead for the triple crown!
Also, we haven’t spoken about the Dodgers shitfest. First off, HA!, second, this is in line with the Astros’s cheating scandal