Tag: Anthony Rizzo

Bader hits a 3-run homer in the 8th inning as the Yankees rally late to beat the Orioles 6-3

NEW YORK (AP) — Harrison Bader hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning and the New York Yankees rallied for a 6-3 victory Monday night over the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a four-game series between AL East playoff contenders.

Anthony Volpe scored the tying run in the seventh on a wild pitch by All-Star reliever Yennier Cano (1-1) before the Yankees completed the comeback ahead of a postgame fireworks show.

Giancarlo Stanton opened the eighth with a hard single off Cano, and Anthony Rizzo followed with a single against Danny Coulombe.

Gleyber Torres hit a two-run homer and scored the go-ahead run from first base on Giancarlo Stanton’s fifth-inning single, leading the New York Yankees over the Baltimore Orioles 8-4.

Sarah Langs, a beloved member of the baseball community who has Lou Gehrig’s disease, was honored at Yankee Stadium on the 84th anniversary of Gehrig’s famous “luckiest man on the face of the Earth” speech.

Jordan Montgomery beat the Yankees for the second time since they traded him last summer, pitching the St.

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected for the fifth time this season, tossed for arguing balls and strikes in the top of the third inning of a game against the St.

After showing bunt on the first pitch, Bader drove a 1-1 sweeper into the left-field seats for his seventh homer.

“I was only going to play it for one pitch probably there and then he did the rest,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Got a hanger and did good things with a hanger.”

Bader lifted his arms to celebrate the 415-foot drive as he rounded first base.

“It was cool,” he said. “The Bronx showed up tonight with the energy and we’re right in the middle of the season, right in the thick of it. So to get a win for them is great. I just wanted to round the bases, go back to my team and play defense and finish that game off.”

Bader has been on the injured list twice this season, for an oblique injury that delayed his 2023 debut until May 2 and a hamstring injury that cost him 16 games. The Yankees are 26-12 when he plays, and the New York native hit his first career go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or beyond.

Bader’s clutch drive came after he popped out on the first pitch with two on in the sixth against Baltimore starter Tyler Wells. After that, Bader got a pep talk from injured Yankees captain Aaron Judge in the dugout.

“It was a really good reminder from him, which I appreciate tremendously,” Bader said.

Volpe and Kyle Higashioka hit back-to-back homers in the fifth to start the comeback before Volpe scored on a headfirst slide in the seventh.

Tommy Kahnle (1-0) stranded former Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks in the eighth to keep it tied. Clay Holmes struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save, capping 4 2/3 scoreless innings from the New York bullpen, which lowered its major league-best ERA to 2.83.

The second-place Orioles lost for the fifth time in six games and are three games ahead of third-place New York in the division standings.

Baltimore had 12 hits, matching its total from a three-game series against Minnesota, but also struck out 11 times.

“We had 12 hits and only scored three runs,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We had multiple opportunities to extend the lead a few times and that’s disappointing, but they just beat us with homers tonight.”

All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman had three hits for Baltimore, including an RBI double, after announcing he will participate in the Home Run Derby next week in Seattle.

Cedric Mullins had a run-scoring bloop single and Ryan O’Hearn hit an RBI single as the Orioles opened a 3-0 lead through three innings against Domingo Germán.

Coming off the fourth perfect game in team history at Oakland last week, Germán allowed three runs — two earned — and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. He threw 32 curveballs after throwing the pitch 51 times against the Athletics.

Germán got a hand from the crowd when he headed out to the bullpen to warm up and received a nice ovation when he exited. Between innings, clips of his perfect game played on the videoboard.

“It meant a lot,” Germán said through a translator. “It was good to see all the fans showing support like that.”

Wells allowed two runs and five hits in six innings.

HAMLIN KICKS OFF HOPE WEEK

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who was resuscitated with CPR in a game against Cincinnati on Jan. 2 and cleared in April to resume football activities, was honored as the Yankees began their 14th annual HOPE Week events.

Earlier in the day, Hamlin participated in CPR training with several Yankees. Wearing a Babe Ruth jersey, Hamlin threw out the ceremonial first pitch along with former Fordham softball player Sarah Taffet and both participated in the exchange of lineup cards. Like Hamlin, Taffet was also resuscitated during a game in October 2021.

HICKS RETURNS TO BOOS

Hicks returned to the Bronx for the first time since the Yankees released him on May 25 and went 1 for 4.

He heard boos before each at-bat and fans booed during a brief tribute video before the Yankees batted in the second.

Before the game, he expressed his appreciation to the Yankees with an Instagram Story that read:

“Thank you to the Yankees organization for 8 years. I was blessed to be able to represent the city of New York.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: All-Star OF Austin Hays (bruised hip) and rookie INF Jordan Westburg (sore left hand) were held out of the lineup. Both players are feeling better, and testing on Westburg did not show a fracture.

Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (left rotator cuff strain) threw his second bullpen since going on the injured list June 8.

UP NEXT

Baltimore RHP Kyle Gibson (8-5, 4.66 ERA) opposes Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt (3-6, 4.37) for the second time this season Tuesday afternoon. Gibson allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings May 25 in New York.

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July 4, 2023
Michael Harris hits 2 HRs, Braves beat Guardians 4-2 for ninth straight win

CLEVELAND (AP) — Michael Harris homered twice and Bryce Elder, one of Atlanta’s eight All-Stars, pitched 6 2/3 solid innings to lead the Braves to their season-high ninth straight win, 4-2 over the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night.

Harris connected for solo shots in the third and fifth innings off Guardians rookie Gavin Williams (0-1). Atlanta’s No. 9 hitter is batting .416 (37 of 89) with seven homers and 16 RBIs in his last 24 games.

Marcell Ozuna also homered for the Braves, who have won 17 of 18 and 24 of 27. Atlanta, which has had three winning streaks of at least eight games, improved MLB’s best record to 57-27.

Yainer Díaz had his first career two-homer game and Jeremy Peña added a two-run shot in his return from injury to lead the Houston Astros past the Colorado Rockies 6-4.

David Fry had a game-ending hit and the Cleveland Guardians stopped the Atlanta Braves’ nine-game winning streak with a 6-5 victory in 10 innings Tuesday night.

Seattle center fielder Julio Rodríguez and right-hander George Kirby, Tampa Bay shortstop Wander Franco and Houston outfielder Kyle Tucker were added to the American League All-Star roster as injury replacements and Pittsburgh closer David Bednar was picked for the National League team.

Logan Gilbert struck out seven pitching a five-hit gem for his first career complete game, Mike Ford homered during a four-hit performance, AJ Pollock added a late two-run shot, and the Seattle Mariners beat the San Francisco Giants 6-0 for their fourth straight win.After striking out Mike Yastrzems

Elder (7-1) didn’t give up a run until Amed Rosario’s two-run single in the seventh. A.J. Minter came on and got out of a two-on jam and Nick Anderson retired Myles Straw with two on in the eighth. Raisel Iglesias worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 15th save.

REDS 3, NATIONALS 2

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joey Votto hit a two-run home run to end an 0-for-21 slump, Ian Gibaut pitched out of a jam in the sixth inning and Cincinnati beat Washington for its fifth win in six games.

Votto homered in the fourth off Jake Irvin, depositing the ball just inside the visiting bullpen in left-center field and driving in Elly De La Cruz. It’s his fourth home run in 12 games this season since returning in June.

Luke Weaver (2-2) picked up the win by allowing two earned runs on six hits in five-plus innings. He was spared a 10th consecutive no-decision — or worse — when Gibaut got through the sixth, allowing just one hit, striking out Corey Dickerson and inducing a flyout from Derek Hill.

Catcher Tyler Stephenson drove in the Reds’ other run with an RBI single in the second. Fresh off being named an All-Star for the first time, closer Alexis Díaz picked up his 24th save.

Jeimer Candelario hit his 12th home run of the season, a solo shot in the fourth inning for Washington. Irvin (1-4) struck out three and allowed six hits.

MARLINS 5, CARDINALS 4

MIAMI (AP) — Nick Fortes hit a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning and Miami rallied to beat St. Louis.

Marlins pinch hitter Yuli Gurriel tied it in the seventh with a two-run double against reliever Andre Pallante (2-1) after two straight walks. The Marlins then inserted the speedy Jon Berti to pinch run for Gurriel, and Berti scored on Fortes’ ground-ball single.

Marlins reliever Tanner Scott worked a scoreless eighth to preserve the lead, and A.J. Puk got the final three outs for his 14 save of the season.

Paul DeJong had broken a 2-2 tie in the sixth with an RBI double for the Cardinals. Willson Contreras was 3 for 4, finishing a triple shy of the cycle.

Huascar Brazoban (3-1) got the last two outs of the seventh for the win.

YANKEES 6, ORIOLES 3

NEW YORK (AP) — Harrison Bader hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning and New York rallied to beat Baltimore.

Anthony Volpe scored the tying run in the seventh on a wild pitch by All-Star reliever Yennier Cano (1-1) before the Yankees completed the comeback ahead of a postgame fireworks show.

Giancarlo Stanton opened the eighth with a hard single off Cano before Anthony Rizzo followed with a single against Danny Coulombe. After showing bunt on the first pitch, Bader drove a 1-1 sweeper into the left-field seats for his seventh homer.

Tommy Kahnle (1-0) stranded former Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks in the eighth to keep it tied. Clay Holmes struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save.

The second-place Orioles lost for the fifth time in six games and are three games ahead of third-place New York in the division standings.

BREWERS 8, CUBS 6

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Newly signed Jahmai Jones hit a pinch-hit, three-run double in his first big league appearance since 2021, helping Milwaukee rally past Chicago.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning, Jones hit a line drive on the first pitch from reliever Anthony Kay that one-hopped off the center field wall and scored Raimel Tapia, Christian Yelich and Owen Miller, tying the game at 6.

The Brewers completed their comeback from a six-run deficit in the eighth inning with an RBI single by Willy Adames and a sacrifice fly by Miller — both off Mark Leiter Jr. (1-2) — to take an 8-6 lead.

Brewers All-Star reliever Devin Williams allowed a double by Nico Hoerner and a walk to Ian Happ in the ninth, and then struck out All-Star Dansby Swanson to earn his 18th save.

Joel Payamps (3-1) pitched a perfect eighth inning for Milwaukee.

The Brewers won their third straight game and remained tied for first place in the NL Central with Cincinnati. The Cubs have lost three straight and seven of their last eight.

ASTROS 12, RANGERS 11

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — José Abreu and Chas McCormick had back-to-back RBI doubles in the ninth inning and second-place Houston Astros recovered after giving up an eight-run lead.

Abreu and McCormick also homered earlier for Houston, which took three of four against its instate rival to move within three games of the division lead. It is the closest the Astros have been in a month after trailing by as many as 6 1/2 games.

Kyle Tucker, who hit Houston’s majors-best eighth grand slam in the second for a 6-0 lead, led off the ninth with a single against Rangers closer Will Smith (1-3), who had only his second blown save in 16 chances. Abreu and McCormick then followed Alex Bregman’s deep flyout with their doubles.

The Rangers had their only lead on Corey Seager’s sacrifice fly that made it 11-10 in the eighth.

Bryan Abreu (3-2), the fifth Houston pitcher, allowed that run in the eighth before Ryan Pressly worked the ninth for his 18th save in 21 tries.

TWINS 8, ROYALS 4

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Edouard Julien hit a pinch-hit, solo homer to start a five-run eighth inning and Minnesota went on to beat Kansas City for the seventh time in eight games this season.

Carlos Correa had four hits from the leadoff spot and Byron Buxton drove in two runs with sacrifice flies for the Twins.

The Royals had tied the score in the top of the inning on a solo homer by Nick Pratto off Brent Headrick (2-0), the first batter he faced.

Kansas City reliever Taylor Clarke (1-3) surrendered five runs and five hits and retired just one of the seven batters he faced.

The Royals have lost 11 of their last 12 games in Minnesota.

MARINERS 6, GIANTS 5

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Julio Rodríguez hit a two-run double in a four-run ninth inning against All-Star closer Camilo Doval, and Seattle held on to beat San Francisco.

J.P. Crawford broke a 2-all tie with a sacrifice fly against Doval. Rodríguez’s double made it 5-2, and Teoscar Hernández added an RBI single with two outs as the Mariners handed Doval his worst outing in the majors.

Andrés Muñoz (2-1) pitched eighth to get the win. Doval (2-3) had his third blown save in 27 chances this season.

Rookie catcher Blake Sabol homered twice and drove in all five runs for the Giants. He launched a three-run shot with two outs in the ninth to bring San Francisco within one. Pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores singled before Paul Sewald struck out Brandon Crawford to end it.

PADRES 10, ANGELS 3

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Blake Snell helped keep All-Star sluggers Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout in the ballpark, and Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer that sent disappointing San Diego to a big win.

Trout left with an apparent left hand or wrist injury after fouling off a pitch while leading off the eighth inning. He immediately shook his arm. Angels manager Phil Nevin and a trainer came out to check on the superstar and he left the field.

Ohtani wasn’t able to add to his major league league-leading 31 home runs. He walked twice. Trout, who has 18 homers, walked, had two singles and drove in a run.

In perhaps the biggest at-bat of the night, rookie reliever Tom Cosgrove struck out Ohtani on three straight pitches with two runners on in the sixth, one batter after Trout hit an RBI single to pull the Angels to 4-2.

Snell (5-7) held the Angels to seven hits while striking out seven and walking four in five innings.

Jaime Barria (2-4) allowed four runs and five hits in five innings, struck out five and walked none.

DODGERS 5, PIRATES 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Max Muncy hit his 18th homer of the season, and Los Angeles got Dave Roberts his 700th win as the Dodgers’ manager.

Jason Heyward and Miguel Rojas had RBI doubles to help the Dodgers bounce back after dropping the last two games in a weekend series at Kansas City.

Caleb Ferguson (5-3), the second of six Los Angeles pitchers, got the win. Evan Phillips worked the ninth for his 12th save

Mitch Keller (9-4) gave up five runs (four earned) in five innings and struck out seven. The Pirates have dropped three straight as they left nine on base and were 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

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July 4, 2023
AP source: Rizzo, Yankees agree to $40M, 2-year contract

A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that first baseman Anthony Rizzo is staying with the New York Yankees, agreeing to a $40 million, two-year contract

NEW YORK — Anthony Rizzo is staying with the New York Yankees, agreeing Tuesday to a $40 million, two-year contract, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement was subject to a successful physical.

Rizzo gets $17 million in each of the next two seasons, and the deal for the first baseman includes a $20 million team option for 2025 with a $6 million buyout. Rizzo had opted out of his previous contract with New York, giving up a $16 million salary for 2023.

Since joining the Yankees at the 2021 trade deadline, Rizzo had provided needed left-handed power for New York and has taken advantage of the right field short porch at Yankee Stadium.

Now 33, Rizzo hit .224 with 75 RBIs and had 32 home runs for the fourth time in his career. While the Yankees led the major leagues with 254 home runs, just 77 were by left-handed batters.

His agreement is the first major offseason move for the Yankees, who are attempting to re-sign star right fielder Aaron Judge.

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November 15, 2022
The New York Yankees Encounter An Unsolved Mystery In Houston Astros Pitching

Houston Astros Chas McCormick (20) reacts as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run … [+] against the New York Yankees during the second inning of Game 3 of an American League Championship baseball series, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

During a replay challenge to see if Jose Altuve was safe on a routine groundout, those in charge of playing music at Yankee Stadium whipped out the theme song from “Unsolved Mysteries”

The haunting tune preceded the hit NBC show that ran for nine seasons while being hosted by Robert Stack, whose voice led into the show by saying “Perhaps You Can Help Solve a Mystery.”

Through three games of the ALCS, the Yankees are enduring their own version of “Unsolved Mysteries” against the Astros about why despite holding the AL’s second-best record, they are getting dominated by Houston’s standout pitching staff, the one who has shirts reading “No, No, No, No-Hitter and “Framber Valdez’s 2022 Quality Start Tour.”

Through the first three games, the Yankees are putrid 12-for-94 (.128) with 41 strikeouts. They are one game away from being swept out of the ALCS for the first time since hitting .157 and striking out 36 times against Detroit in 2012.

By comparison when the Yankees were competitive against the Astros in 2017 and 2019, their averages were better. In the six-game loss in 2019, the Yankees batted .214 and in the seven-game loss two years earlier, the Yankees batted .205.

In this series, New York has seen 449 pitches from seven pitchers. Perhaps the most astounding stat involves Cristian Javier’s success against the Yankees.

On June 25, Javier threw 115 pitches in seven hitless innings to combine with Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly on the first no-hitter for some people’s baseball attending life. On Saturday, he threw 52 pitches before Giancarlo Stanton doubled, making it 168 pitches in 10 1/3 innings against Javier at Yankee Stadium this year.

As you would expect, the mood inside the silent Yankee clubhouse was somber with the theme of trying to get everyone going or enough players rolling. It was most certainly a contrast to the environment of Tuesday when the Yankees celebrated modestly before boarding the plane to Houston.

“We’ve got a lot of talented individuals in this room and just haven’t been able to get everybody clicking,” Aaron Judge said.

New York Yankees designated hitter Matt Carpenter (24) reacts after striking out against the Houston … [+] Astros during the seventh inning of Game 3 of an American League Championship baseball series, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

“Our backs are against the wall now,” Anthony Rizzo said. “As a competitor and as a baseball player, it sucks, but tomorrow we have another game. Obviously, this isn’t ideal, but we just have to win tomorrow. It sucks tonight, it’s going to suck, it’s going to sting, but tomorrow we have to figure out a way to win.”

“I think they’ve attacked the zone,” third baseman Josh Donaldson said before the YES Network postgame panel opined, he was guessing at pitches. “They have good stuff. They have good arms over there. Can’t take anything away from those guys, but we just need to be better.”

Rizzo was the fourth leadoff hitter of the postseason which seems like the sign of a team struggling to find it at the plate. Judge batted leadoff for the first two games of the ALDS and coincidentally after Alex Rodriguez said on FOX the slugger should not bat leadoff, Gleyber Torres moved there for four games before Harrison Bader did it in Game 2 of the ALCS and Rizzo led off for Game 3.

When a team is going as poorly as the Yankees are these days, it hardly takes much to quiet a loud environment.

The moment occurred about 30 minutes into Game 3.

First Judge ran in front of Bader in right-center resulting in an error for the center fielder when Gerrit Cole was one out away from getting through the second.

New York Yankees center fielder Harrison Bader drops a fly ball hit by Houston Astros Christian … [+] Vasquez as he avoids right fielder Aaron Judge (99) during the second inning of Game 3 of an American League Championship baseball series, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Associated Press

Three pitches after the error, ninth-place hitter Chas McCormick got enough of a 1-1 fastball.

At first McCormick thought the ball went foul but then he saw Rizzo give a look of “here we go again” and realized the 335-foot poke bounced into the right field seats. And when McCormick experienced that realization, the Astros did their celebration known as the “Chas Chomp”, a new celebration featuring enthusiastic and exaggerated clapping that was started by Houston fan Scott Agruso who attends game wearing an alligator suit.

“It’s cool. I like how my teammates are into it now. Around the bases I see them always chomping,” McCormick said. “It fires me up, and I said before in case I hit a home run, I’m going to round third base, hit the chomp a couple of times to my teammates.”

The chomp was enough to create a feeling of doom for the Yankee fans. Nearly 90 minutes later, Game 3 seemed to be officially over when Cole loaded the bases, exited and Lou Trivino allowed a sacrifice fly by Trey Mancini and a two-run single by Christian Vazquez, whose fourth-inning homer off Zack Britton was the series-clinching run for Boston over the Yankees in Game 4 of the 2018 ALDS.

As virtually anyone who follows the postseason knows, only one team ever rallied from a three games to none deficit. The struggling offense gets its first attempt at solving the mystery of Houston pitching and joining the 2004 Red Sox as the second team to do so 18 years and three days after Boston made history at Yankee Stadium.

“You always want to be your best,” Judge said. “I wouldn’t say as I go, we go. We’ve got a lot of individuals on this team that can carry the club. I’ve got to step up and do my job. I haven’t come up with the big hit. Missed a couple the other night. But we’ve still got a lot of ballgame in us, and just got to take care of business.”

In less than 24 hours, the Yankees will either take care of business to live to see another day or lament everything that went wrong towards the end of a season where they held the best record in the AL until Aug. 11.

Larry Fleisher, Contributor

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October 22, 2022