Yankees Walk Off Nats, 4-2
The Yankees drew a two-out walk and hit a two-run home run with… wait for it… two outs in the bottom of the 9th to hand the Nats their third loss in four days, 4-2.
Cory “Don’t Call Me Roger” Abbott got the start and tossed two scoreless innings, issuing a walk and striking out two. Gerardo Carrillo, who began the 9th with two groundouts, took the loss.
No watchlist players were in the starting lineup. Here’s a look at how they did coming off the bench or in from the ‘pen:
- James Wood pinch-ran for Derek Hill in the 3rd and scored a run, then manned CF and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.
- Jake Alu took over 3B duties from Ildemaro Vargas in the 5th and flew out in the 7th.
- Israel Pineda followed Riley Adams behind the plate in the 5th and connected for a single in the 7th. He threw out a runner to end the 8th inning.
- Evan Lee pitched the 6th and allowed a hit and a walk but no runs while fanning one.
- Jeremy De La Rosa subbed for RF Stone Garrett in the 7th and struck out in the 8th.
- Drew Millas pinch-hit for DH Lucius Fox and flew out in the 8th.
The Nats return to West Palm Beach this afternoon to host the Marlins. MacKenzie Gore is expected to make his second start. The game can be heard on MLB.com (do you have to ask? Yes, it’s the Miami broadcast).
while Wood’s results were not noteworthy, he does not look over-matched or uncomfortable at the plate.
Fox on the other hand has never shown me anything with a bat in his hands.
likewise, I’m not seeing it with Lee. while his curve has massive movement it’s coming in at 79-80 and his other pitches don’t seem to compliment it nor are they good enough on their own
We’ve talked about this before but I hope Fox has been prudent with his $6 million signing bonus because it doesn’t look like he will ever sniff the majors again.
Fox is a total deer in the headlights in an MLB batter’s box.
Speaking of utility candidates, I just looked at the stats of Leonel Valera, and his AA stats with the Dodgers last year sure make him look like more of a competent hitter than Fox or Downs. He strikes out at a frightening rate (33%) but had extraordinarily good luck with his contact otherwise, hitting .290 at AA. Across A+ and AA, he had 18 homers, 13 doubles, and an eye-catching 7 triples, plus 33 SBs, so apparently he can fly. This will be his age-23 season.
Baserunning was a problem again. It’s long past time for Martinez to get it fixed.
Did Nick Banks retire or get released? He doesn’t seem to be among the NRIs in big-league camp.
From what I can see, Nick Banks declared free agency last November and it does not look like he has signed (either with the Nats or any other team).
Wood looked fine at the plate. Smoked a grounder that got turned into a 3-6-3 GIDP. It happens. But he kind of alligator armed Bader’s triple with two outs, and that resulted in both Yankee runs over the first 8 2/3 innings. He got there, but didn’t finish the play. I wonder if he heard footsteps from the RF.