New York Looks To Bounce Back In The Opener Against Detroit
After losing the finale to the Chicago Whitesox as well as the series New York will look to bounce back in the opener of a four -game series when they take on Detroit starting Thursday.
New York who is a member of the American League East and second in their division comes into the game with a record of 84-49 while Detroit who is a member of the American League Central comes into the game with a record of 53-80 and is fourth in their division. "according to http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/
J.A. Happ will get the start for New York. The left-hander comes into the opener with a record of 15-6 with a 3.80 earn run average. "according to http://m.mlb.com/player/457918/ja-happ Happ has won each of his first five starts for the Yankees, posting a 2.37 ERA. He is coming off six solid innings of two-run ball to defeat the Orioles on Saturday, walking one and striking out nine. "according to http://mlb.mlb.com/news/probable_pitchers/index.jsp?c_id=nyy He will oppose Detroit left-hander Francisco Liriano who comes into the opener with a record of 3-9 with a 4.82 earn run average. "according to http://m.mlb.com/player/434538/francisco-liriano Liriano will get a couple extra days’ rest, partly to keep Michael Fulmer on his normal schedule and partly to help Liriano try to shake his recent struggles. He’s 0-4 with a 6.88 ERA in four August starts, including five homers over 17 innings. "according to http://mlb.mlb.com/news/probable_pitchers/index.jsp?c_id=nyy
As stated above, New York lost their previous game to the Chicago White Sox.
The pieces had been set for a memorable moment as Giancarlo Stanton strode to home plate with the bases loaded in the fifth inning on Wednesday, representing an opportunity for the Yankees to break through in substantial fashion. The slugger saw just one pitch as the rally was extinguished in strange fashion, with Gleyber Torres tagged out sliding home on a wild fastball. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
So it went on another frustrating evening for the Yankees, who were unable to contain Ryan LaMarre's career-high four-RBI performance while landing on the wrong side of a 4-1 decision to the White Sox. New York dropped two of three games to open their week-long homestand, slipping to 7 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the American League East. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
You don't expect a perfect bounce to him and a perfect throw like that," Stanton said. "You can't look back at that. That's a play where if he's safe, it's a great job and if he's not, then you look at all the negatives about it. It's a good read. It sucks in that situation, but you can't expect a perfect play like that all the time. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
The battered Bombers appeared sluggish once again, unable to carry over the energy from Neil Walker's game-winning, pinch-hit homer one night before. Wednesday's effort seemed to be more on par with Monday's affair, after which manager Aaron Boone called out his team for the showing against the sub-.500 White Sox. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
"I walk in there [ticked] off every night when we lose, so it's disheartening whoever it is against," Boone said. "The bottom line is, you're going to have some bumps where you lose to a team that maybe you don't think we should lose to. That's always frustrating, and I think the losses stink. There's nothing better than shaking hands at the end of the day." "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
CC Sabathia compiled a quality start, scattering five hits and three runs over six innings, but departed on the hook for his first loss since July 9. LaMarre drilled a two-run double to right-center in the second inning, added a run-scoring double in the fourth and greeted Chad Green with a solo shot to right field leading off the seventh inning. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
"He hit some pitches I didn't execute," Sabathia said. "That's all I'm trying to do, is just go out and give the team a chance to win." "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
Bailed out by a fortunate bounce that permitted catcher Kevan Smith to cut down the sliding Torres in the fifth, Reynaldo Lopez limited the Yanks to a run on five hits over seven innings, picking up his fifth victory. Ronald Torreyes had cashed the Bombers' first run with a bases loaded, one-out single -- their only run of the series that did not score on a homer -- but Brett Gardner struck out and Stanton's chance was erased by the putout. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
"We are aggressive every time on the bases," Torres said. "I saw the opportunity to go score. I know it's hard, but the catcher and pitcher made a really good play. I feel bad for that." "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
Stanton crushed a few foul balls to deep left field but finished 0-for-3 with a walk as he continues to seek his 300th career homer. He said it was disappointing to lose the momentum of a strong road trip through Miami and Baltimore, during which the Yankees won five of six. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
"We were rolling, but it's two games," Stanton said. "We hit a lot of balls hard tonight. Can't ask for much more than that.""according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
SOUND SMART
This marked only the Yankees' eighth series loss in their last 40 series. The Yankees are 25-7-7 since April 19. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Aaron Hicks made a pair of sparkling defensive plays, including a diving grab to steal a hit from Avisail Garcia in the fifth inning and a catch at the wall to rob Yoan Moncada in the sixth. Garcia's ball had a hit probability of 76 percent and Moncada's was 71 percent, according to Statcast™. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
HE SAID IT
"We're beat up right now. I've got to be a staple in there and help try to push us through this hard time. We're all tired, all beat up, but everyone else is playing the same game. Just got to keep pushing through." -- Stanton, who has started 82 consecutive games "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/cc-sabathia-yankees-unable-to-slow-white-sox/c-292496564
As for Detroit's previous game, Like New York they also suffered a loss.
Five days ago, all that could stop Michael Fulmer was a pitch count. On Wednesday, all that could stop the balls the Royals hit off of him were the outfield walls and seats of Kauffman Stadium. "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
This is the conundrum the Tigers have faced all season with Fulmer, a former All-Star who looked a year ago like he could be Detroit's ace for years or the most attractive target on the trade market. After the Royals hit Fulmer for seven runs and seven extra-base hits over just 3 2/3 innings in Thursday's 9-2 Detroit defeat, Tigers officials and the flustered right-hander are left to figure things out again. "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
"I feel like all year, I've taken one step forward and two steps back," Fulmer said after Detroit's fifth straight loss. "I have a good game, and then I have a game like this. I think I just have to keep working on what we've been working on and try to get better next time." "according tohttps://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
Two years after winning American League Rookie of the Year honors, Fulmer fell to 3-10 with a 4.71 ERA. He's not the first Tigers ace to go through that sort of turnaround from rookie season to junior year. Between Justin Verlander's 2006 Rookie of the Year honors and his '09 emergence as one of the American League's workhorse starters, Verlander suffered a 17-loss season in '08. His 4.84 ERA that year remains the highest of his career. He struggled so much that year that future Hall of Famer Jack Morris wondered aloud if he was injured, an observation Verlander vehemently denied. The lessons Verlander learned from that season prompted him to change his workout routine and preparation. "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
Fulmer is healthy, he said, which is no small consolation. He missed five weeks with a left oblique strain before returning from the disabled list last weekend. Manager Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson were so encouraged by his 4 2/3 scoreless innings last Friday against the White Sox that they juggled the pitching rotation so that he could settle into a routine of pitching every five days. Instead of pitching at Yankee Stadium later in the week, he got the matinee in Kansas City, a team he has held down well for his whole career.
What ensued Wednesday would've been rough anywhere. Fulmer (3-10) retired Kansas City's first five batters and was a strike away from a clean second inning when Jorge Bonifacio caught a 97-mph fastball over the plate and lined it into right-center field for a two-out single. That was the last single Fulmer allowed; everything else went for extra bases, and generally went a long way. "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
Or, as Gardenhire put it, "They pretty much hit everything he threw. Fastballs, they jumped on them, they blooped them, they smashed them." "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
Adalberto Mondesi second homer in as many games, a two-run drive to right-center on a fastball at the knees, commenced the damage in the second. Alex Gordon's two-run homer to right field off a high fastball put the Royals in command in the third. Hunter Dozier's fourth-inning leadoff triple, a 110-mph line drive off the wall in left-center field off a hanging slider, opened a stretch of four extra-base hits in five batters before Gardenhire brought the hook with two outs. "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
"We gave him as long as we could, hoping he could get another out or two," Gardenhire said. "It just wasn't going to work out." "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
Fulmer was on a 90-pitch count but lasted just 71 pitches, 46 of them strikes, eight for base hits. The Royals hit five balls off him with an exit velocity of 101 mph or harder, according to Statcast . All the damage besides Dozier's triple came off the fastball. "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
"I don't think my slider was the best today," Fulmer said, "but they didn't really swing at it. I think they had a game plan of just sitting on the fastball. They knew I was going to throw it eventually. I got ahead of guys. I threw a lot of strikes. I thought my stuff was OK for the most part. I can live with the mistakes I made getting hit. But it's the good pitches that I thought I made in some at-bats, and they got hit, too." "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
Fulmer became the first Tigers starter since Nate Robertson a decade ago to give up seven or more extra-base hits in a game. "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
All that early damage resulted in a relatively peaceful afternoon for Royals starter Danny Duffy (8-11), who held Detroit to two hits over six innings of one-run ball. Duffy held the Tigers hitless after Mikie Matook singled home Jose Iglesias in the first. Mahtook added a solo homer in the ninth to continue his August tear. "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
INJURY REPORT
Adding injury to insult, the Tigers lost Iglesias from the game in the fourth inning after suffering what the team called a lower abdominal strain. Jim Adduci , who had been out of the lineup against the left-handed Duffy, entered the game at first base, with Niko Goodrum and Ronny Rodriguez shifting over a spot. More > "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
SOUND SMART
Fulmer fell to 0-4 with an 8.00 ERA in four career starts at Kauffman Stadium. He's 14-13 with a 3.79 ERA in his other 34 career road starts. "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
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JaCoby Jones made his second highlight catch in as many games since his return from the disabled list, racing into right-center field to make a diving play on Whit Merrifield's drive into the gap. The grab saved a run, preventing a baserunner ahead of Gordon's homer. "according to https://www.mlb.com/tigers/news/michael-fulmer-runs-into-trouble-vs-royals/c-292437190
First pitch is set for 7:05pm from Yankee Stadium. The game will be televised on YES. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/schedule/2018-08