Rookies Take The Opener As Jordan Montgomery Takes On Luis Castillo In The Bronx
I don't remember the last time I saw two rookies take the mound on the same night. That will be the case when New York opens up a set with Cincinnati.
Two rookies go toe-to-toe as New York left-hander Jordan Montgomery takes the hill against Cincinnati right-hander Luis Castillo in the first game of a two-game set between the Reds and the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.
Montgomery, making his 19th start of the season, is 4-2 with a 3.63 ERA in his last 11 starts after starting the year 2-4 with a 4.11 ERA. He registered his first loss since May 29 in his last outing, surrendering a season-high six earned runs on seven hits in six innings in the Yankees' 6-1 loss to the Twins on Wednesday.
Castillo hasn't allowed more than four runs in a start this season, including 6 2/3 scoreless frames at Arizona on July 8. He allowed four runs on four hits over six innings in his last start, against the D-backs, on Thursday.
Yankees designated hitter Matt Holliday is familiar with the Reds from his time in the National League Central with the Cardinals. He's faced Cincinnati 138 times in his career, his second-most-faced opponent (147 games against the Pirates), and slashed .320/.392/.514.
Castillo's faring much better against left-handed batters than right-handers, contrary to conventional belief. The Reds' rookie is limiting lefties to a slash line of .197/.263/.451, as opposed to .259/.348/.468 against righties.
Scott Schebler found himself battling for the National League home run title back on the morning of June 24, but it's been a struggle for the Cincinnati right fielder since then. Over the last 30 days, Schebler has seen his numbers dive down in all his Statcast power metrics (barrel, hard-hit and "productive contact" rates), while also missing on slightly more of his swings (28 to 30.4 percent).
New York had an off day Monday before opening up a pair of games at Yankee Stadium against Cincinnati.
As for New York's last game, they finally won a series in Seattle against the Mariners after six weeks.
isn't a great feeling when you win a series after not being able to win them?
It's been a long six weeks for New York who hadn't won a series since June 9th when they swept Baltimore but all that changed on Sunday in Seattle as they beat the Mariners.
Clint Frazier hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth and four relievers combined for shutout relief to lift the Yankees to a 6-4 win over the Mariners at Safeco Field on Sunday. With the win, New York remains 2 1/2 games back of the Red Sox in the tightly contested American League East and a game up on the Royals and the Rays for the first AL Wild Card spot. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
"Especially going into an off-day, we can build on this," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Obviously we've been struggling for awhile and started out [after the All-Star break] on a road trip, and being able to have a positive road trip is a good sign, to me." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
Frazier's double to left field off Mariners reliever Tony Zych capped off a three-run inning for the Yankees, who reclaimed the lead after the Mariners poured on four runs in the fourth inning. In the sixth, Chase Headley and Todd Frazier worked back-to-back walks and Ronald Torreyes singled to load the bases for Brett Gardner, who lined a single into left field for a RBI, tying the game at 4. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
New York's offense was supported early on by the long ball, as Gardner launched a leadoff home run in the first off Seattle starter Yovani Gallardo, and Didi Gregorius hit homers in the second and fourth, the first multi-home run game of his career. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
Gallardo was able to limit the damage to just the three solo home runs and left with the lead. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
"It was the second pitch of the game. It was actually a pretty good pitch, he just went out and got it and pulled it," Gallardo said of Gardner's homer. "It was just one of those things where you try to make a pitch to get back in the count and he hits it out of the ballpark. The other two pitches [to Gregorius] were mistakes." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
Yankees starter Caleb Smith took a no-decision in his first Major League start, and Chad Green (1-0) picked up his first Major League win after striking out three batters in 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Aroldis Chapman earned his 11th save despite finding his way into trouble in the ninth inning by allowing two hits. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
Mariners reliever James Pazos took the loss, as he was charged with all three runs in the sixth. Gallardo finished with a no-decision in his first start since returning to the Mariners' rotation, allowing five hits in five innings. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
"Down 3-0, I thought our guys did a great job to battle back," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "Got some big hits, just not enough. It kind of came down to a battle of bullpens today, and theirs was a little bit sharper than we were in the sixth inning." "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
Gardner put the Yankees on the scoreboard quickly, launching a leadoff home run in the first inning. It was a tough opening at-bat for Gallardo, who made his first start since June 17 after being relegated to the bullpen due to a string of poor outings. "according to tohttp://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
Held to one hit through three innings, the Mariners tagged Smith for four hits and a walk the second time through the lineup in a four-run fourth to erase a 3-0 deficit. Seattle loaded the bases with none out on singles by Danny Valencia and Robinson Cano, and a walk to Nelson Cruz. Ben Gamel continued to torment his former team with a two-out, two-run single to right. Guillermo Heredia then chased Smith with a two-run double. "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
The Yankees challenged that Gardner was safe at first base in what was ruled an inning-ending double play in the fourth. The replay crew overturned the original call, determining that Gardner beat Cano's throw to first to keep the inning alive. It didn't amount to anything, as Clint Frazier flied to center field in the next at-bat, stranding runners at first and third. "according to tohttp://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
"Probably because of the season that [Aaron Judge] had has had, a lot of our guys' seasons have been overlooked to this point. I understand how that happens, but yeah, Didi has been big. He hadn't had much success off of Gallardo going into it, but I still felt like it was a good matchup for him, and it turned out to be. I mean, he's had a really good start to the second half." -- Girardi " "according to http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/243811384/gregorius-c-frazier-help-yanks-beat-mariners/
With the series win, New York has a record of 51-46 and is now 2.5 games back of their American League East rival Boston.
As for Cincinnati's last game, they lost 6-2 against Cleveland and dropped to 41-48 and are sixteen games back of National League Central Milwaukee.
After sweeping the Blue Jays over the weekend, the Indians extended their winning streak to four games on Monday night, as Carlos Santana belted two homers to power the Indians over the in-state rival Reds, 6-2, at Progressive Field to retain the Ohio Cup. "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
In a makeup game of a postponed May 25 contest between the clubs, Santana smacked his 11th and 12th homers of the season -- first from the left, then from the right side of the plate -- to win the 2017 Ohio Cup Most Outstanding Player Award. Roberto Perez delivered the go-ahead RBI double in the fifth, and Michael Brantley and Bradley Zimmer each contributed sacrifice flies in the first and fifth innings, respectively. Zimmer later added an RBI single in the seventh. "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
.Monday was the fourth time in Santana's career that he has homered from both sides of the plate in the same game. The other three times were on Sept. 13, 2011, July 27, 2014, and June 12, 2016. In addition, this is the fourth time an Indians player has homered from both sides of the plate in the same game this season, with Jose Ramirez doing so twice, once on June 17 vs. the Twins and again on July 2 against the Tigers. Francisco Lindor also accomplished the feat during the Indians' third game of the season against the Rangers. "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
"Carlos is an intriguing player because he always has good at-bats," Josh Tomlin said. "I know his average might not look as sexy as the .300s, the .280s or whatever else, but he puts up good at-bats, he gets on base, he plays every day. So I mean, that says a lot, and the aspect of the team is what he does, what he brings to the field every single day -- ready to play, ready to play first base, DH, whatever [Indians manager Terry Francona] asks him to do." "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
"Yeah, that's good, because he's always been that way," Francona said on Santana getting hot in the second half. "He doesn't wear down. It's like the more at-bats he gets, the better he is. That's really welcome because he'll play a huge part in us going forward." "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
Tomlin picked up his seventh win of the season, and his third win in as many starts, throwing six strong frames. He allowed two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out six on 72 pitches. Andrew Miller and Cody Allen combined to go three scoreless innings to close out the ballgame. "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
Both of Cincinnati's runs came on solo homers off Tomlin. The first came in the fifth by Scooter Gennett (No. 18), and the second came in the sixth by Zack Cozart (No. 12). "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
"I think it was just the execution of pitches," Tomlin said. "That's a pretty good hitting team over there. I think the two pitches I didn't execute were hit for home runs and the other ones were hit pretty hard in the gap somewhere and our defense made great plays on them." "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
I just thought a couple balls got up over the plate in the first inning," Adleman said. "Most of the rest of the game I was able to keep it down and get a lot of my pitches to the corners. I pitched to some weak contact as well, and I got a little rhythm going and got us into the fifth, sixth inning relatively unscathed." "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
After the Reds tied it up in the top of the fifth thanks to Gennett's blast, the Indians responded in the bottom half of the frame. Adleman walked two of the first three batters he faced, setting the stage for Perez with one down. A nine-pitch battle between the two ended in the Tribe's favor, as Perez scorched a 107-mph -- per Statcast™ -- RBI double off the wall in center to give the Indians the lead. The next batter, Zimmer, drove in the Tribe's third run with a sacrifice fly to left. "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
"That was a good at-bat," Francona said of Perez's double. "He fouled off some pitches, he stayed alive, he laid off some balls out of the zone. And then he drove one, not the other way, but to the right-center-field side. That was a really good swing. When he does that, he's so much better a hitter than at times when he gets a little pull happy." "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
After Miller pitched only one time in the last six days, Francona opted to bring in the lefty for the top of the seventh. In his last relief appearance on Saturday, Miller allowed a game-tying solo homer to Toronto's Justin Smoak. But this time, Miller was lights out, going two scoreless innings and striking out two. The only blemish on Miller's line in his two innings of work was a bloop single by Devin Mesoraco. "according to http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/244198358/indians-carlos-santana-homers-twice-vs-reds/
Jordan Montgomery has a record of 6-5 with a 4.09 earn run average. Montgomery lost his first start since May in his last outing on Wednesday at Minnesota, allowing six runs on seven hits in six frames. The rookie left-hander is 4-2 with a 3.63 earn run average in his last 11 starts. He will go up against Cincinnati right-hander Luis Castillo who has a record of 1-3 with a 3.86 earn run average. Castillio gave three first-inning runs and four overall in a loss to Arizona on Thursday. He made a mechanical change after the first, by not pulling himself on the right side to righty hitters and opening his shoulder. "according to https://www.mlb.com/gameday/reds-vs-yankees/2017/07/25/491593#game_state=preview,game_tab=,game=491593
Which rookie will execute and give their team the best the chance to win? Will the New York offense be able to get to rookie Luis Castillo? Will the Cincinnati offense be able to get runs off Jordan Montgomery who had a rough start his last outing?
First pitch is set for 7:05pm. The game will be televised on Yes.