San Diego has quickly become the home of the grand slam in 2020 and Giancarlo Stanton wanted to feel comfortable in his new digs. Stanton and the Yankees steam rolled the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the American League Division Series 9-3 on Monday night. The Yankees offense and pitching staff remained hot after a sweep of the Wild Card Series in Cleveland.
The Yankee offense started the scoring right out of the gate with an Aaron Hicks RBI sacrifice fly to put the Yankees up 1-0. Gerrit Cole "toed the slab" for the Yankees and only had two blemishes. Randy Arozarena and Cole's arch-nemesis, Ji-Man Choi, homered off of Cole to account for all three of Tampa Bay's runs. Cole was not at the top of his game, but he still gave the Yankees 6 strong innings and he struck out 8 Rays.
The Yankee offense was lead by the long ball as Clint Frazier, Kyle Higashioka, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton all homered. The blast by Stanton was the proverbial dagger as his ninth inning grand slam turned a 2 run game into a 6 run game with one swing. The Yankees saw contributions come from nearly all spots in the lineup and that is a great sign for the future games. The Yankees did end up using Chad Green and Zack Britton in Game 1, but they avoided using closer Aroldis Chapman which could be a factor as the series progresses.
Game 2 will see a matchup of two young starters, which came as a shock to some. The Rays starter, Tyler Glasnow, was not the shocking selection as he has been one of the best pitchers in baseball during his tenure in Tampa Bay. Aaron Boone's decision to start 21 year old Deivi Garcia instead of Masahiro Tanaka raised some eyebrows. The Yankees essentially set their rotation to put Tanaka in a situation to clinch the series or to put the team up 2-1 in the series. Before Game 1 when the decision was announced, Tanaka could have been on the mound in Game 3 for a possible elimination game, but a Game 1 Yankee win took that out of the realm of possibility.
The matchup will see two starters who love their curveballs. Glasnow throws his curveball 34.8% of the time, while Garcia throws his 14.5% of the time. Glasnow and Garcia not only differ in size as Glasnow towers over the diminutive Deivi Garcia, but the two also differ in what they throw. Glasnow has success with only 3 pitches, an elite 4 seam fastball, a curveball, and a changeup. Garcia also has a 4 seamer, changeup, and a curveball, but he also offers a slider. The Yankees offense has seemingly found a way to lay off the elite curveballs of Shane Bieber, Carlos Carrasco, and Blake Snell so far this postseason. If the Yankees can continue this approach, they may be able to chase the 6'8 starter from the game before he reaches his 5 inning average.
Game 2 is important, but maybe not as important had the Yankees lost Game 1. This should help Garcia relax and feel less pressure in his postseason debut. The Yankees will have to continue to work the pitch count of Glasnow just as they have done to the previous three pitchers they have faced. If the Yankees can get into the Rays pen for a second consecutive day, it could cause Tampa to rely heavily on starter Charlie Morton in Game 3. The Yankees seemed focused and non-sentimental in their postgame press conferences after a tone setting Game 1 victory. Game 2 should be another classic battle of two AL East rivals.
Statistics courtesy of BaseballSavant.com
Make sure you follow us on Twitter @BombersBeat and @BomberBeat2 for up to the minute Yankees coverage. Also follow us on Instagram @Bombers_Beat. Go Yanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment