The Yankees lost, 9-5, on Tuesday, as their last relievers couldn’t keep the Guardians off the board in the 12th inning after Clay Holmes, Jake Cousins and other members of the bullpen succeeded at doing so between the fifth and 11th frames.
Cleveland first took a one-run lead off Tim Mayza with an RBI double from Lane Thomas. Brayan Rocchio then followed with his second perfectly placed bunt of the night before Steven Kwan grounded a ball to first. DJ LeMahieu could have stepped on first base before throwing to second for a double play, but he immediately went to second, eliminating any chance of doubling up the speedy Kwan.
From there, things officially turned ugly, though the Yankees played some bad baseball throughout the night.
With Michael Tonkin in, José Ramírez plated a run with a single before David Fry got a triple past Juan Soto with the bases loaded. The Guardians added a ninth run for good measure when LeMahieu could not record an out on a Jhonkensy Noel grounder.
By that point, the masses had already begun to clear Yankee Stadium with their team outs away from its third straight loss.
Much earlier in the night, Luis Gil made an early exit of his own, leaving with a trainer by his side in the fourth inning.
The Yankees later announced that lower back tightness forced Gil’s early departure. He was seen at Yankee Stadium by Dr. David Trofa, the club’s orthopedic doctor, and will be reassessed on Wednesday. No imaging had been scheduled at the time of publication.
Fortunately for the Yankees, Gil is not dealing with an arm injury. He is a career-high 124.2 innings into his first full season back from Tommy John, and his workload has been a topic of conversation all season.
Gil, pitching on extra rest after last starting on Aug. 12 completed three innings while totaling three hits, three earned runs, six walks, three strikeouts and 78 pitches against Cleveland.
He allowed a solo home run to Rocchio, the No. 9 hitter, shortly before leaving the game in the fourth. The Yankees have now allowed 19 longballs to No. 9 batters this season. That’s the most in the majors and five more than any other team, per Stathead’s Katie Sharp.
The Guardians’ other runs off Gil came on a fielder’s choice in the second inning — a review showed Jose Trevino applying a late tag on a play at the plate — and a Daniel Schneemann RBI single in the third.
The Yankees started the scoring in the first, as a first-inning solo shot served as Soto’s 35th homer of the season, tying his career-high. Aaron Judge then went back-to-back off Guardians lefty Matthew Boyd, adding his league-leading 45th dinger of the season.
Judge drove in two more runs with a double in the bottom of the 12th, but the Yankees were in too deep of a hole at that point.
Anthony Volpe, who entered the night in a 6-for-61 skid, also had an RBI double in the fourth.
The Yankees had a chance to take the lead in the eighth when pinch-hitter Austin Wells lined a double to the top of the center field wall. However, Trent Grisham, running for Giancarlo Stanton, hesitated a few times on his way home from first and was thrown out at the plate. Meanwhile, third base coach Luis Rojas appeared to give Grisham a brief stop sign before waving him home.
WHAT ARE WE DOING ?
LIVE: https://t.co/aFNMXN4FiL #yankees #yankeestwitter pic.twitter.com/nC0bx9B9Af
— NYY UNDERGROUND (@NYYUNDERGROUND) August 21, 2024
With the series-opener over, the Yankees and Guardians will both start lefties on Wednesday. Nestor Cortes will take the mound for the home team, while Joey Cantillo will start for Cleveland.
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