Man, it feels good to score runs.
The Yankees have gone 18-10 in the last month, but you wouldn’t guess it by looking at the lineup. They’ve been carried by great pitching, and they got that from their bullpen tonight, but not the starter. At least they followed my perpetual advice — score 10 runs and worry about the rest later. They did exactly that, putting up double digits in tonight’s 10-5 win.
We do need to talk about the start. I do not think that Will Warren is long for this rotation. Ryan Weathers has already impressed enough on his own, but another lackluster outing tonight makes the decision between the two of them ever easier. Two home runs in the first inning had the Yankees down 3-0 before they took a swing in anger, and yes, Trent Grisham needs to make this play, but Warren didn’t do himself any favors after.
George Lombard Jr. is an outstanding defender. He should not be the one responsible for that ball; that is Grish’s all the way but the Yankee center fielder couldn’t get into second gear, and the leadoff hitter was on board. Warren was visibly unimpressed by the effort, and did manage to pick up Grisham by getting out of the inning, but trouble continued from there.
Warren surrendered a third homer in the third inning, immediately after the Yankees had managed to scratch out a run and make the game a little closer. He was yanked after walking the first batter of the fifth inning. Four-plus innings, five earned runs — Randy Arozarena, who hit one of those first-inning bombs, came around to score after the free pass — and four walks against three strikeouts. He had no out pitch to lean on, nothing to offer when he really needed a whiff.
This is the fourth time in the last 10 starts that he has been charged with at least five earned runs. He is the fifth starter in this rotation, but even fifth starters have to be a little more reliable than that. That this happens at a time when the Yankee lineup actually woke up a little bit today makes everything worse. When Carlos Rodón returns I doubt we will see Warren start another game this year, barring further injuries to the roster.
Fortunately the Yankees were able to touch Mariners’ starter Bryce Miller, with Ryan McMahon driving a double in the second to open the scoring, even as he was thrown out at third to end the frame:
Funny enough, Mac would get hosed down at second in the sixth inning, after bouncing a ball off the wall in right. McMahon’s actually hit somewhat respectably over the last six weeks or so but we may need to talk about his baserunning.
Meanwhile, Spencer Jones continued to hit the ball well, driving in a trio with two doubles:
I think Jones is always going to struggle to find consistency, at least until he finds some way to shorten up his swing. With tonight’s effort he’s back over 100 wRC+, after the two doubles and being dotted on the jersey in the team’s big seventh inning. I do not enjoy the aesthetic of his game, but if he hits like this, you take it.
And to his credit, Trent Grisham made up for that centerfield snafu, with perhaps the two biggest hits of the game. One to get the Yankees within one:
And one to put them ahead:
Ben Rice followed up with a single of his own to give the Yankees lucky number seven, and three batters later Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked with the bases loaded, the fourth big PA by a Yankee lefty against the lefty reliever. That Jazz was able to take his walk after Heliot Ramos was IBB’d purely to get the lefty-lefty matchup must have felt even better for the onetime-slugger who has struggled all year.
Brett Headrick continued his dominance with his 52nd scoreless outing of the year, dominating the Mariners in the eighth for the second straight night. Headrick has thrown 24 pitches in this series, getting six outs, and beginning to feel a little like prime Dellin Betances, from the south side. Grisham added his third extra-base hit of the day, allowing the team to say “**** the closer”:
The Yankees have now won four of their last five series, even though I know it doesn’t quite feel like it. This was the first game in two weeks that it seemed they were in control of, clawing back right away after being down early, and the whole lineup contributing to pull ahead.
Another 10 runs might be a bit too much to ask tomorrow in the series finale, but games get a lot easier to win if you get on base and hit a bunch of doubles and homers. We wrap this series up with a day game, 1:35pm Eastern first pitch from Max Fried against Logan Gilbert for Seattle.
