Source: FanGraphs
For the second time in his young MLB career, Gary Sanchez had a two-home run game Monday night. The Yankees have lost both of those games. Anthony Swarzak played a large role in both losses. The worst. Monday’s final score was 7-5 Mariners. Pretty brutal loss, you guys. West Coast night games get bullet point recaps, so let’s get to it:
- Two Homers, Two Times: Sanchez is everything I hoped Jesus Montero would be. He opened the scoring with a first inning solo home run, then gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead with a two-run home run in the sixth. Sanchez is up to eight homers in 15 games since being called up. Starlin Castro hit a pair of solo homers as well, so, for the first time since 2012, the Yankees had two players hit multiple homers in a game. Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson did it to the Red Sox in 2012.
- Pineda’s Bad Pitch: Before the game Joe Girardi said Michael Pineda has pitched well of late, but when he makes a mistake, it gets hit a mile. Sure enough, Pineda threw a 3-0 cookie to Kyle Seager with two men on base in the fourth inning, and Seager hit it out of the park. The Mariners are one of the most aggressive 3-0 hitting teams in baseball, yet he laid it right in there. Predictable dinger is predictable. The homer gave Seattle a 3-2 lead, though Sanchez and Castro gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead in the top of the sixth. That didn’t last.
- Inexplicable: It is completely indefensible that Anthony Swarzak continues to pitch in high-leverage situations. The Yankees were up 5-3 in the sixth, but the Mariners had two men on base, and sure enough Swarzak served up a three-run home run in Mike Zunino. He’s now allowed ten homers in 28.1 innings. Girardi’s been doing this for weeks now, using Swarzak in big spots, and he keeps getting burned. This is inexcusable. It really is. The front office has to get Swarzak off the roster because it’s obvious Girardi’s not going to stop using him in close games. He seems oblivious to his awfulness.
- The Teases: Kirby Yates allowed a broken bat solo home run to Nelson Cruz in the eighth inning to give the Mariners an insurance run. All told, Pineda was charged with five runs in 5.1 innings and both Swarzak and Yates were charged with one run each. The Yankees, meanwhile, managed to get the tying run into scoring position with one out in the ninth, but pinch-hitter Mark Teixeira popped up and Gardner grounded out. Womp womp.
- Leftovers: Sanchez (three) and Castro (two) had multiple hits. Gardner (single, walk) was the only other player in the lineup to reach base twice … Sanchez threw out yet another runner. There have been only two successful steals against him in seven attempts. Dellin Betances was on the mound for both, and he can’t control the running game at all. Sanchez’s arm is the truth … the Yankees lost a game despite hitting four homers for the first time since last June. They hadn’t done it since 2012 prior to that.
Here are the box score, video highlights, and updated standings. Don’t miss our Bullpen Workload and Announcer Standings pages. The Yankees and Mariners will play game two of this three-game series Tuesday night. CC Sabathia and TBA will be on the mound. I hope TBA will be Anthony Swarzak, but alas, it is expected to be Taijuan Walker.
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