On Friday night, Yankees star Gerrit Cole was on the mound, but not on TV. Oh, the vagaries of the Yankees’ broadcast partners. Fortunately, this was the last time we will have a chance to watch the team adjust to the regular season, as the remaining spring training games will be broadcast on television.
The first pitch was slightly overshadowed by the announcement shortly before the game that the Yankees were choosing Deivi García for Triple-A Scranton / Wilkes-Barre, apparently signaling that Domingo Germán had won the fifth title. That, of course, does not mean the end of García’s chances in this season’s championships. After all, it is likely that he will have many opportunities to impress, as the teams will certainly take care of the inning loads that increase with the reduced season. Returning to the subject in question: this was a game without complications, but there was still action to recap.
Cole was scheduled to go up to 90 shots, and man, he looked sharp. The Baltimore hitters made him work early with a 17 shot first, but he settled in at a pace, allowing only two strokes and no runs at 5.2 working innings. Cole generated 12 whiffs in his 86 shots and hit five hits. Of some concern is the fact that he delivered 10 hit balls classified as hard, but this has been the book about Cole. The verdict: he looks ready to be the opening day holder.
On Aaron Judge’s first hit, he burned a rocket down the right field line in a 1-0 half-round sinker. He went to third place in a Brett Gardner one-two, and could have scored on a Giancarlo Stanton helicopter on the left field line, but with an impressive glove and a Rio Ruiz shot.
Cole had an unfavorable start to the second, as Tyler Wade made fielding mistakes in consecutive moves. To be fair, both balls were hit hard, but both were played what an MLB shortstop – especially a defensive specialist like Wade – should do. However, Cole saved his shortstop, inducing a pair of fly outs sandwiched around a Freddy Galvis strikeout.
In the bottom half of the frame, Mike Tauchman plucked a ball on the floor screamer out of the second base glove. Unfortunately, the Yankees’ next base runner would not come until the fourth, when Gary Sánchez made a bloop just beyond the second retreating baseman’s extended glove:
Tauchman took a step to put the runners in first and second place, but the threat ended when Wade lined up.
Looking at the score on the box, you may be inclined to think that this game was a comedy of errors. However, the official scorer seemed to have a personal vengeance against Wade and Yolmer Sánchez, as all four errors recorded by the duo could have been considered to be hitting.
Darren O’Day came to take the final from sixth place and made Maikel Franco look silly on a slide 30 centimeters from the plate.
Aroldis Chapman made it to the top of the seventh and promptly gave up on a shallow single fly for Rio Ruiz. Ramón Urías replaced him as a substitute runner and went on to second place in a quick wild field ball that went over Sánchez’s glove. Urías went over the top to score on a hunchbacked Austin Hays lining to the left, finally securing the first round of the game for either team.
Freddy Galvis then doubled down on the left field line to place the runners in second and third, without eliminations. Hays scored in another wild Chapman field, this time a fast ball that almost hit Chance Sisco, and that put the O’s in front, 2-0.
But wait, there’s more! Chapman completed the triad by throwing another wild shot, this one miles from the area to Yolmer Sánchez, marking third-place pinch-runner Jordan Westburg.
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After not allowing any hits this spring, Chapman’s command was absent all night, as he constantly dropped the ball quickly and missed in the zone with the slider on all three hits. He ended up eliminating Sánchez before leaving the game in favor of Nick Goody, who managed the last two eliminations to keep him 3-0.
Orioles extended their lead to 4-0 at the start of the ninth. Brooks Kriske allowed a double and walk for Nick Ciuffo and Richie Martin, respectively, but it looked like he could escape the self-inflicted jam by retiring the next two hitters. However, Chris Shaw chose the medium to score Ciuffo in second place.
Just like the night before, the Bombers tried to regain the game at the bottom of the ninth, with Gardner hitting a long double on the center of the field. Estevan Florial came to nip and advanced to third on Josh Breaux’s grounder before returning home on a Rob Brantly nubber for second. Tauchman tied his third walk of the night and was replaced by Thomas Milone, who came in second in defensive indifference. The Yankees carried the bases in four consecutive shots from Gray Fenter, but Andrew Velazquez hit in three shots to end the game.
The Yankees’ clubs have waited a long time to wake up, as they have gathered just five base runners in the first eight entries. Perhaps it is better that this game was not televised.
Join us tomorrow afternoon as the Blue Jays visit Tampa for the final spring training fight between the two clubs. Jhoulys Chacín will be the starter, as the Yankees do not want Jameson Taillon to face a rival so close to the start of the season; he will play a simulated game instead of. The first pitch is scheduled for 13.05 ET, with YES and WFAN broadcasting their TV and radio broadcasts.
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