Game 1: 7/20/21, 7:10 PM (Yankees win 6-4)
The Triple-A Yankees somehow win their 3 straight game as they take down The Phillies in Girardi, Gregorius, and Torreyes’ return to the Bronx. Domingo German wasn’t great, but kept New York on their toes as he allowed 2 runs over 4 innings. After Rhys Hoskins gave Philly a 1-0 lead with a monster solo shot in the 2nd, the Yankees would tie it on an RBI groundout by #2 overall prospect Estevan Florial off Phillies starter Aaron Nola. Philadelphia would take a 2-1 lead right back when Torreyes hit a booming double in the 4th running in Hoskins. In the bottom of the 5th, Yanks would tie it again due to an error by Gregorius scoring Greg Allen. Later in the inning, Brett Gardner would give New York a 3-2 lead off Nola. An inning later, Gary Sanchez would erupt the huge Bronx crowd with an absolute bomb doubling the lead at 4-2. In the 7th, Giancarlo Stanton would mash a laser homer sending the crowd into a frenzy making it 5-2 but Philly would get a run back on a Jean Segura RBI single off Zack Britton. In the 8th, Florial would mash his 1st career homer and the Yankees 4th homer of the game making it a 6-3 lead. Aroldis Chapman would come in to the get save and although he gave up a homer to Andrew McCutchen he looked like he was getting back to his spots and throwing even harder. He would give up the homer on a decent pitch low and inside fastball that Cutch just caught up to but he struck out the side as well. Overall he looked good. Luis Cessa would get the win for New York while Aaron Nola would get the loss for Philadelphia.
Game 2: 7/21/21, 7:05 PM (Yankees win 6-5)
The Triple-A Yankees do it again for their 4th straight victory! Yankees sent out minor league pitcher, Asher Wojchiechowski, who shockingly wasn’t terrible as he stranded a lot of baserunners but only gave up 2 runs through 4 innings. Philadelphia got off to a 2-0 lead when Segura blasted a ball to the left field bleachers on the 1st pitch of the game. In the 3rd inning, Bryce Harper hit a rocket double scoring J.T Realmuto. Phillies “opener” starter Spencer Howard, was great giving up only 2 baserunners in 3 scoreless innings. The Philly bullpen was bad for the 2nd straight night as in the 4th, New York would smack around reliever Chris Sanchez for 2 runs. Gleyber Torres started it off with another solo shot, his 3rd homer in 4 games, he could be getting hot. Later in the inning, the hero Greg Allen smoked an RBI double scoring Gardner who scored from 1st tying the game at 2. The speed on was display for the Yanks as they stole 3 bases in this game. Yankees would take the lead in the 7th, as Giancarlo Stanton had an RBI single scoring Florial as he got into scoring position by a stolen base. The blast came off the bat of none other then Rougned Odor as he crushed a 2-run homer into the 2nd deck in right field off Hector Neris. The Yankee Stadium erupted after this shot. Odor has been a pleasant surprise for Yankee fans as he continues to hit when it matters most in desperate times. Unfortunately a 5-2 lead wasn’t safe for long, as the combination of Britton and Nick Nelson were awful, walking 4 and giving up 3 runs to re tie the game at 5. Torres made an error in the inning which certainly didn’t help. The top bullpen arms weren’t available so they had to try to piece it together. Chapman did toss an easy scoreless 9th inning. Yanks had a chance in the 9th but ultimately didn’t score with the infield in, runner on 3rd, and 1 out as LeMahieu was nailed at home plate on a slow grounder by Odor. Brooks Kriske tossed a scoreless 10th with the runner at 2nd. In the bottom of the 10th, Odor bunted over the ghost runner on second to third. Fresh off the IL, Ryan LaMarre pinch hit for Gardner and hit a game winning RBI single off the wall scoring Sanchez sending Yankee fans home happy. Kriske would get the win for New York while Ranger Suarez took the loss. What a win!
My thoughts?
The more wins we get, the more pressure we put on 1st place Boston. With a bunch of injuries right now, the Triple-A Yanks continue to find ways to win using speed and small ball. They look a lot hungrier and more passionate coming out of the all star break which is awesome to see, hopefully this recent hot streak continues with huge games looming with Boston and Tampa Bay.
What’s next?
The Philadelphia Phillies head back home to take on the rival Atlanta Braves in a 4 game set. The New York Yankees take a short flight to Boston for 4 games, where arguably the biggest series of the year looms. This is such a huge series for New York, could really get into great positioning standings wise.
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