Game 1: 8/5/21, 7:10 PM (Yanks win 5-3)
Yanks take game 1 thanks to another stellar star by Nestor Cortes. He has been remarkable all season dating back to last season, can’t ask for much better out of him. He tossed 5 innings of 2 run ball and was in command of the game. New York got on the board first in the 2nd courtesy of a Gleyber Torres sac fly giving them a 1-0 lead. Mitch Haniger would tie things right back up in the following inning with a sac fly of his own. In the 4th, lefty Kyle Seager would give the Mariners a lead with a short porch solo shot. Yanks would tie things right back up the next inning, Kyle Higashioka hit a swinging bunt to the pitcher with runners on 1st and 3rd and 1 out, thankfully it was soft enough to stay out of a double play and score a run.
Things would remain the same with the score being 2-2 until the 7th, Jarred Kelenic would lead off the inning against Chad Green and hit a booming solo shot to give Seattle a 3-2 lead, Seattle with a good 1-2 punch in the bullpen probably thought this one was over. Seattle reliever Paul Sewald who is having a great season would blow this one in the bottom of the 7th, after retiring the first 2 batters of the inning he allowed back to back singles by Judge and Stanton followed by a majestic 3-run homer by Joey Gallo, his biggest moment as a Yankee thus far to make it 5-3 and that’s all they needed. Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman would close this one out although running into some trouble but didn’t allow a run. Green picked up the win and Sewald took the loss.
Game 2: 8/6/21, 7:10 PM (Yankees win 3-2)
What a game by the bullpen as this was a complete bullpen game from the start. The Yankees used the most pitchers in a non-September game in MLB history.
Pitcher lines:
Peralta: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Ridings: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Rodriguez: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Holmes: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Leutge: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 2 K
Loaisiga: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Britton: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Green: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Abreu: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Offensively, Yanks couldn’t put together anything against M’s starter Marco Gonzales who threw 6.2 scoreless innings. Yankees were down 1-0 in the 8th, Judge was able to knock in the tying run on a sac fly, Stanton would then ground into an inning ending double play, but he made up for it. After JP Crawford hit a go ahead RBI single in extras, Stanton would swing at the 1st pitch he saw and like a game tying RBI single with 2 outs erupting the near sell out crowd. After a good inning by Abreu, the old man, Brett Gardner would line the game winning single walking it off and turning into the hero. Abreu got the win and Kenyan Middleton took the loss. What a win.
Game 3: 8/7/21, 1:10 PM (New York wins 5-4)
5 in a row! Yanks come back down 4-1 to take the series against Seattle behind an encouraging start by Andrew Heaney. Heaney got off to a rough start giving up 4 runs in the first 2 innings but tossed 4 straight scoreless innings to finish his day. It was important for Heaney to give the Yanks some length with how taxed the bullpen has been lately and he did just that. In the bottom of the 1st, Judge would mash a solo shot to cut the deficit to 2-1, until the Mariners would tack on 2 more in the 2nd to make it 4-1 Seattle. It would stay 4-1 until the 6th, when New York put their rally caps on and scored 4 in the frame, huge confidence booster. Rougned Odor would smack a 2-run homer just over the short porch to inch the Yanks closer cutting the deficit to 4-3. Higashioka would then hit a ground rule double bringing in the tying run.
After a LeMahieu single sent Higgy to 3rd, Anthony Rizzo would hit into an inning ending double play but the run would score on some great base running by DJ, it became a tag play at 2nd and he stood in a run down allowing the go ahead run to score, I guess you could say Rizzo did his job. Holmes, Rodriguez, and Loaisiga would pitch the final 3 innings and they put up 0’s across the board. Heaney picked up his 1st win as a Yankee and Anthony Misiewicz picked up the loss.
Game 4: 8/8/21, 1:10 PM (Seattle wins 2-0)
Seattle snaps New York’s 5 game win streak and salvages the finale. The Yanks finish their home stand with a 5-2 record which is what you want. Luis Gil in his 2nd major league start was again, picture perfect. He tossed 5 scoreless innings and striking out 8. He looked super sharp and impressive throughout. The Yankees offense? Not impressive at all today. They had just 6 hits and Gleyber Torres had 3 of them… Gallo, Gardner, and DJ had a hit each. Overall, Yanks were 0-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded all 11 baserunners they had. Abysmal performance. The bullpen was good again, Peralta, Ridings, and Abreu all threw scoreless innings. Leutge unfortunately got some very bad fielding by Odor at 3rd base as he made a critical error in the 8th, allowing the Mariners to score 2 runs… I can’t blame Leutge at all on this one as Odor simply has to make the easy play. This was not a pretty game by the Yankees but it’s hard to complain when they have the best record in baseball since July 4th and since the trade deadline a week ago. Leutge got the tough loss and Sewald picked up the win.
My thoughts:
Great series and great home stand overall. Hard to complain about the game 4 loss but it was a very winnable game, Yanks just didn’t deserve to win it with how bad the offense was and Odor’s fielding. Whatever you move on from games like that. The Yanks have come alive over the last month, flexing the leagues best record since July 4th. They have cut off a lot of games due to the Red Sox struggling to win any games, Rays hold just a slim 6 game lead over the Yankees now in the division race. Yanks are 1.5 games back of the 2nd wild card race, things are getting interesting now. Keep winning.
What’s next?
Seattle has an off day as they fly back to Seattle to welcome in the lowly Texas Rangers for a 3 game set. The Yankees head to Kansas City, to take on the horrible Royals in what should be a 3 game sweep starting Monday night.
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