Yankees manager Joe Girardi knew he was putting young Chasen Shreve, just recalled from the minor leagues earlier in the day, into just about the most hard spot possible.
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Against the reigning World Series champions, no less.
The Royals churned through five relievers in their rain-delayed, extra-inning loss to NY on Tuesday night.
“I mean, it was really hard”, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of the mess Shreve inherited, which led to his first career major league save.
“With the off-day tomorrow, we felt let’s go ahead and see if we can’t give him a day today and a day tomorrow and at least get some of that inflammation out of there”, Yost said.
The Yankees took the lead when Brian McCann and Chase Headley singled off Joakim Soria (4-6) in the 10th. But after Soria walked Brett Gardner to load the bases, Ellsbury lined a single off Soria’s leg for his fourth hit of the game.
“I want to be that guy”, Shreve said of becoming a reliable late-inning arm before Betances. “I don’t know if I slipped or something, but I ended up on the ground”, Soria said. Judge had just one hit in his previous 20 at-bats before that homer. Kennedy is 3-0 with a 1.11 ERA in August, allowing four earned runs in 32 1/3 innings.
“We had a lot of opportunities we didn’t cash tonight and that’s going to happen”, Girardi said, “but I thought winning this one was really big”.
One out later, Morales lifted the game-tying sacrifice fly, seemingly sentencing the Yankees to a grim fate.
The Royals had Raul Mondesi and Jarrod Dyson, their two fastest runners, in scoring position with none out in the 10th but failed to score. The Yankees struck for a run in the fourth on consecutive doubles by Didi Gregorius and Starlin Castro, and threatened with a pair of base runners in the fifth. It the second game this month to be delayed by rain and then go into extra innings. It just wouldn’t stop raining from the fifth inning on.
Ian Kennedy was cruising against his former team through four innings, allowing only two hits while retiring 12 of the first 14 batters. He came home when Kendrys Morales, batting left-handed, singled through left side.
“I had enough energy so definitely I would have liked to go (back) out there, but you can’t do anything about the weather”, Tanaka said through an interpreter.
Fantasy Impact: Dellin Betances on the season has a 2.15 ERA with six saves and 110 strikeouts. But with the bases loaded and one out, Gary Sanchez smoked a liner that third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert snagged easily, and Mark Teixeira grounded out to the shortstop in a shift toward second base. He trotted home to knot the game 4-all when Morales lofted a sacrifice fly to center. “It’s been pretty sore”, manager Ned Yost said. The Yankees slowly crept back into the game, eventually tying it in the seventh. Betances would pitch two no-hit innings, but Girardi did not send him back for a third. They completely squandered a chance for insurance runs with runners on second and third, no outs, and old friend Chien-Ming Wang on the hill in the sixth. “We just couldn’t get it in”.
And frankly, there was only one reason Shreve, who had just been recalled from Triple-A Scranton Tuesday morning, was even in the game at that point: The Yankees and Joe Girardi had no one left.
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The Yankees, who trailed 4-0 after three innings before making their comeback, have won seven of their last eight series, including a season-high four straight on the road.
