New York Gets Shutout By Mike Minor, Texas
Every great streak at some point comes to an end and on Labor Day that is exactly what happened to the team that wears the pinstripes.
That will be the final answer to the question: How many consecutive games did the 2018-19 Yankees manage to avoid being shut out? “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
On Monday, the historic streak that began over a year ago -- on July 1, 2018 -- came to a quiet, abrupt conclusion. The below-.500 Rangers visited Yankee Stadium, waited out a two-hour, 52-minute rain delay and blanked the Yanks, 7-0, to end what had been the second-longest stretch without being shut out in the Modern Era.”according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
The credit belongs to Texas ace Mike Minor, who held New York scoreless through 7 1/3 innings, scattering five hits and striking out five. It was a classic case of how elite pitching can silence even the most prolific offenses.”according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
“He’s obviously been a great pitcher for them all season,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Just his presence on the inside part of the plate, fastball-cutter combination, flashing the changeup too and occasionally going to the outer half of the plate. It’s just a good pitcher on top of his game tonight, and we weren’t able to mount much against him.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
Minor only learned of ending the Yankees' streak after the game, replying, "That's pretty cool." “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
“Me and [catcher Jose] Trevino mixed it up pretty well,” Minor said. “We mixed every pitch. I thought when they felt we were going to stay on one side of the plate, we went to the other side. We didn’t get into any patterns. I felt like we attacked.””according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
It wasn’t for a lack of effort, however. The Yankees made a push against the left-hander in the bottom of the eighth, putting two runners on with only one out. Just a day before, New York had entered that same frame trailing Oakland, 4-0, before scoring five runs in two innings to pull off an eventual walk-off win. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
But with the Yankees staring down a 6-0 deficit after the Rangers posted four runs in the top of that inning, whatever luck might have played a role in helping them maintain the streak up to this point simply ran out. Texas reliever Shawn Kelley entered the game and quickly ended the threat, retiring two of New York’s best hitters, DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge, with just seven pitches. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
“Anytime we don’t score or have a good offensive showing, it’s always a little bit surprising, just because our guys are so good,” Boone said. “But it happens. When a good pitcher is on top of his game, he can make it tough on you.”
“He’s nasty, man,” said left fielder Clint Frazier, one of four Yanks to be held hitless by Minor. “His fastball plays up, which means that it might say 92, but it feels faster than that. And then he obviously threw every pitch that he wanted in every count that he wanted. He came out on top. They came out on top.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
Only twice during the streak were the Yankees kept scoreless into the ninth inning. Both times they were down to their final out. But each time -- on Aug. 4, 2018, vs. Boston and July 13, 2019, vs. Toronto -- New York notched back-to-back hits to score the run it needed to preserve the streak. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
The Yanks were unable to pull off the hat trick Monday, though they had an opportunity when Mike Ford -- Sunday’s walk-off hero -- hit a two-out single in the ninth. But Luke Voit, the next man up, came out swinging at the first pitch and grounded out to bring the streak to its conclusion. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
During the run, there were 368 shutouts in the Majors, including 12 thrown by Yankees pitchers, and every other team in the big leagues was shut out at least three times.”according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
The record holders will remain the 1931-33 Yanks, who scored at least one run in 308 consecutive games. And the team with the next-best shot to top them now is the A’s, who have gone 98 games without being shut out. “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
“It’s a credit to those guys and just how consistent they’ve been, [and] as a group, how tough they are to get through on a daily basis,” Boone said of his team. “I guess, eventually, unfortunately, that would probably fall, but I think it speaks to just how good of a group they’ve been over that time.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/yankees-shutout-streak-ends-at-220-games
Meanwhile, Texas was on the other end of the spectrum in the opening game of the three game series.
It was good to see left-hander Mike Minor back in the All-Star form he flashed all through the first half of the season. On Monday afternoon, Minor was dominant, allowing five hits over 7 1/3 innings as the Rangers blanked the Yankees, 7-0, at Yankee Stadium after a two-hour, 52-minute rain delay. “according to https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/mike-minor-rangers-shut-out-yankees
The Yankees had gone 220 consecutive games without being shut out, a stat that Minor only learned about after the game ended. “according to https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/mike-minor-rangers-shut-out-yankees
“That’s pretty cool,” Minor said.”according to https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/mike-minor-rangers-shut-out-yankees
“It helps when you have your best pitcher on the mound,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said about the shutout. “I felt what he did today against a pretty good lineup -- the way he executed pitches and moved back and forth. He started off with breaking balls when he needed to and finished with fastballs in on them. He just got a lot of weak contact, punched guys out. He made it look easy.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/mike-minor-rangers-shut-out-yankees
In his previous two starts, both against the Angels, Minor allowed 10 earned runs in 12 1/3 innings, but Monday’s outing was a different story. The lefty’s changeup, four-seam fastball, slider and knuckle curve were crisp and the Yanks did not put a runner in scoring position between the first inning and the eighth, when he left the game. At one point, Minor had retired 16 of 17 hitters, though the left-hander ran out of gas after allowing two hits in the eighth. “according to https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/mike-minor-rangers-shut-out-yankees
“He’s nasty, man,” Yankees outfielder Clint Fraizer said of Minor. “His fastball plays up, which means that it might stay 92, but it feels faster than that. And then he obviously threw every pitch that he wanted in every count that he wanted. And you know, he came out on top. They came out on top. It was a great game by them, and obviously we have to come back tomorrow and try to do to them what they did to us.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/mike-minor-rangers-shut-out-yankees
Minor said he was able to work well with rookie catcher Jose Trevino, who homered in the fifth inning and is expected to get his share of playing time behind the plate. Minor admitted that he shook off Trevino at times early in the game, but he said that they got on the same page soon thereafter.”according to https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/mike-minor-rangers-shut-out-yankees
Me and Trevino mixed it up pretty well,” Minor said. “We mixed every pitch. I thought when they felt we were going to stay on one side of the plate, we went to the other side. We didn’t get into any patterns. I felt like we attacked.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/mike-minor-rangers-shut-out-yankees
Texas' offense made sure that Minor had more than enough support to win his 12th game of the season, hitting three home runs in the victory. Delino DeShields highlighted the scoring in the eighth inning by hitting a three-run homer off New York left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. that put the game out of reach. “according to https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/mike-minor-rangers-shut-out-yankees
Although they are not in playoff contention, Minor was encouraged by the way the Rangers played against one of the best teams in the game. This month will be a big test for Texas, as it will face all teams with winning records during September, with the exception of Baltimore.”according to https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/mike-minor-rangers-shut-out-yankees
“We kind of know where we are right now,” Minor said. “If we are going to be good next year or many years from now, then we have to go through those things. We have to play them and play them well. We have new guys, new faces. They have to show us what they have. We have to play those teams next year if we are going to make it to the playoffs. The message has been brought to our attention.” “according to https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/mike-minor-rangers-shut-out-yankees
New York and Texas will play game two of their three game series on Tuesday where James Paxton will look to help New York bounce back from their shutout loss to Texas in the opener.