By: Matthew Kennedy
The Yankees playoff chances looked even slimmer following a split series with the Houston Astros and a three-game series loss to the White Sox.
Two Wins and Two Losses against the Houston Astros
The Yankees eked out a 4-3 victory after a big first inning in Game 1 with homers from Giancarlo Stanton and Billy McKinney. Stanton’s homer also brought Aaron Judge home. Anthony Volpe’s RBI-single brought home Harrison Bader in the bottom of the 6th.
Game 2 saw Luis Severino take the mound and suffer another difficult outing, giving up five runs in four innings. The biggest blow was a three-run homer from Astros catcher Yainer Diaz in the first inning. New York ended up losing 7-3 despite home runs from Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jake Bauers, and Stanton.
Nestor Cortes had a great outing in Game 3, giving up one run in four innings with eight strikeouts. The bullpen pitched the rest of the way, allowing only one hit with no runs. Bauers homered again, along with Gleyber Torres, and the Yankees won 3-1. Volpe also added an RBI sacrifice fly.
For Game 4, the Yankees scored 7 runs on eight hits and 12 walks, but that was not enough. Astros center fielder Jake Meyers had a career day, driving in 6 runs off two 3-RBI runs. Houston won 9-7.
New York’s playoff hopes grow smaller as they continue to struggle to win series, especially against division and league rivals as the end of the season creeps closer.
Three-game series loss to the White Sox
Yankee ace Gerrit Cole had a rare unsuccessful start in Game 1. He gave up four runs in the game and pitched into the 8th inning. A costly fielding error by reliever Tommy Kahnle allowed the bases to be loaded in the 8th inning, which Chicago used to their advantage driving in all three runners. The team lost 5-1.
Game 2 saw the Yankees play great on both sides, winning 7-1. Kyle Higoshioka and Judge each had a home run and Kiner-Falefa had two hits in five times at bat with two RBIs. Clark Schmidt, who has been coming into form as of late, pitched five and a third inning, giving up just one run while striking out seven. The bullpen pitched the rest of the way allowing no runs while striking out six.
In Game 3 the Yankee offense had a difficult time yet again. A second inning rally was thwarted when Kiner-Falefa was thrown out when attempting to steal second base. A solo home run off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton was the only extra base hit produced by New York in the game and the Yanks lost 9-2.
Luis Severino was called in the second inning to replace the starter Ian Hamilton and gave up four runs in two innings. MLB as of Thursday evening quoted his ERA over his last seven appearances as 11.71. His struggles over the past two months have contributed to the Yankees’ plummet in the division standings. The team was 10-14 since the break as of the conclusion of this series and looks ahead to their series against the Marlins with a sense of desperation.
