Stumblin' Along 6/28 '26
Winston
Winston
- Yanks Week 14 Notes
- YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is Crimson Crowbar’s Winston because we’re sticking with the MLB ‘06 The Show theme this baseball season.
Honestly, I don’t remember this song a lick, but it says it was on the soundtrack.
On to the ball…
Game 75
- On a Saturday afternoon in the Bronx, the Yankees go up 1-nil in the 1st inning thanks to a Paul Goldschmidt solo home run out of the 3-hole. Will Warren can’t hold the lead for too long, as Cincinnati gets to him in the 3rd with some shaky outfield defense from Jose Caballero and Jasson Dominguez not helping the cause. By the 5th inning, the Yanks go down 6-1 in a game in which Max Shuemann records the 3 outs on the mound in the 9th. The Yanks get blown out 10-2.
Game 76
- On Father’s Day, Elmer Rodriguez is back in Pinstripes, getting the start after being called up to give Gerrit Cole and the starting rotation another day of rest. The rookie right-hander gets himself into and out of early trouble in the first. Ben Rice gives the Yankees a 1-nil lead in the 3rd by striking his 22nd home run of the season. Rodriguez would give the lead right back in the next half-inning, starting with a leadoff walk that would culminate in a Cincinnati 3-run shot. Despite Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Jasson Dominguez each stealing a pair of bases, the Yankees’ offense couldn’t muster another run. The highlight of the sloppy game was Jazz misplaying a routine ground ball, which Caballero then overthrew to the backstop, giving the Reds a Little League triple. Yanks lose 5-1.
Game 77
- The Yanks travel to Detroit to take on the Tigers in a 3-game set. With Gerrit Cole on the hill, New York scores first in the 2nd inning on an Ali Sanchez RBI double. After giving up a lead-off double in the 2nd, Cole strikes out the side. Unfortunately, in the 3rd inning with Jose Caballero in the outfield, the starting SS takes too direct a route on a line drive, which turns into a triple. The Tigers capitalize, scoring 3 runs in the 3rd. In the 4th inning, Jazz Chisholm causes a 15-minute delay when he starts playing with the 2nd Base camera in the sand. In the 5th inning, Jazz comes out onto the field with a lollipop. He then strikes out in his next at-bat. Amed Rosario hits a 2-run shot in the 7th to cut the deficit to 5-3, but the Yanks fall short to lose their 3rd straight.
Game 78
- With Carlos Rodon on the mound, Detroit scores two runs in the 2nd inning on a wild pitch and a base hit. After causing a stir with the lollipop in the field, Jazz Chisholm Jr. scored the Yanks’ first run of the 4th, and hit a clutch 2-run home run to give the Yanks a lead in the 6th. Rodon would exit in the 6th, allowing 3 runs to score in 5.1 innings, but would earn the victory as the bullpen effort of Fernando Cruz, Brent Headrick, and David Bednar combined for 11 outs without yielding another Tiger run. Yanks win 4-3.
Game 79
- Facing the back-to-back American League CY Young winner, Paul Goldschmidt hits his 4th leadoff home run of the season. The veteran 1st Baseman then blasts his 2nd home run off Skubal in the 3rd, which lands over 425 ft. Yanks get 6 innings of 2-run ball out of Ryan Weathers, who earns the win thanks to a 6th inning 2-run shot by Jasson Dominguez. The Yankees get outhit in Detroit, but leave with a series win thanks to the 3 home runs off Skubal.
Game 80
- In a Thursday matchup in Fenway Park to begin a 4-game set, the Yankees score first in the 1st inning when Goldschmidt leads off with a double and scores on a Dominguez base knock. Yanks take a 2-nil lead in the 4th when Caballero goes over the Green Monster. Cam Schlittler, who was scoreless through 4 innings, gets no help from his defense. Austin Wells lets a pop-up drop in front of home plate in the 2nd and Amed Rosario allows a ground ball to go through his legs in the 5th. Boston takes advantage of the poor fielding as Schlittler is on the hook for 4 runs, none of them earned. The offense gets runners on in the 7th and 9th, but only puts together one run as they fall to the Red Sox 6-3.
Game 81
- Boston’s Wilson Contreras gives Sox a 1-nil lead in the 1st. He later takes Will Warren over the Green Monster in the 3rd to make things 4-0. All the while, the Red Sox have some meatball lefty pitcher with a mustache throwing a perfect game through 5 innings. The benches cleared in the 5th inning when Contreras took exception to Warren throwing inside while his hands were hanging over the plate. Nothing happens, just a lot of looking around, even though all the bullpen guys come running onto the field. Spencer Jones breaks up the perfect game with a bloop single in the 6th. Yanks don’t score a run until the 8th, but by then the game was already over as Boston wins 6-1.
Game 82
- Gerrit Cole immediately gives the Red Sox an early lead when Yoshida hits a leadoff home run on his 2nd pitch of the ballgame. Sox go up 2-nil in the 2nd on a solo shot by Seigler, then 4-nil in the 3rd on a 2-run double by Contreras. The Yankees’ offense doesn’t get its first hit until Max Shuemann hits his 1st home run of the season to dead center, but it’s a solo shot - the only run they’d score all Saturday. Bloody England would score more goals than the Yankees scored runs, as they drop 3 straight for the 2nd time in a week.
Next
- The Yankees need to play cleaner baseball if they want to avoid an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the last-place Red Sox. Aaron Judge’s sheer power can typically overcome a ton of their bad fundamentals, but they don’t have the luxury of making too many mistakes at the moment. They don’t really have any quick fixes until the trade deadline, just have to hope Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice can get out of their mini-slumps over the next week or so, while the starting pitching gets back on track too.
Around the Majors
- Taylor Ward of the Baltimore O’s is in the midst of an all-time boring historic season at the plate. The Orioles’ leadoff hitter has shown absurd discipline by only swinging at a league-best 14.6% of pitches thrown out of the strike zone. Ward is also only swinging at 51.5% of pitches inside the strike zone, so his swing percentage is at a league-low 33.5%. A year removed from hitting 36 home runs with the Angels, Ward has sacrificed his power ability to get on base. Although he only has 5 home runs with Baltimore this season, Ward has walked the 3rd most in the MLB.
- Royals’ southpaw pitcher Daniel Lynch IV should be put on trial for attempted manslaughter after drilling his third baseman, directly in the cojones from just a couple of yards away. The victim, Nick Loftin, was forced to leave the game. Just an all-time cup check, brutal.
- The Rangers may be the team to emerge from the AL West, as the Mariners have failed to build upon their division lead. Texas is currently on a 3-game winning streak, with some good hidden metrics, including the best record in the AL in 1-run games (14-10), and the most wins (20-16) against teams with winning percentages above .500 in the American League. Leading their efforts are their starting pitchers Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. The pair of veteran righties have had a good month of June, combining to go 6-2, tossing 60.2 innings with 70 strikeouts and a 3.59 ERA in 10 starts.
- This week, Derek Hill made one of the nicest home run robberies in baseball this season. Juan Soto was on track to hit his 18th home run of the season until the Phillies’ CF went up and over the Citi Field fence. It would’ve been a Web Gem if ESPN still had any sense to show baseball highlights in the summer on Baseball Tonight, but instead we’ll just get year-round NFL and NBA coverage because that’s who they’ve partnered with for billions.
- Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong doesn’t want the month of June to end. The Cubs’ star CF has hit a scorching hot .375 this month with 10 homers, 5 doubles, and 2 triples. PCA has firmly made his case for a 2nd straight All-Star appearance and currently leads the MLB in WAR (5.0).
- Dalton Rushing got into a bit with Shohei Ohtani this week when he objected to the star pitcher using a challenge. The umpire overruled the catcher and accepted Ohtani’s request, which was correct as the pitch was overturned to a strike. Rushing would later get an earful from the pitcher in a later mound visit. Even his Dodger teammates can’t stand the 25-year-old catcher’s antics, which makes him a great postseason villain to root against.
