New York Yankees left fielder Oswaldo Cabrera reacts after striking out during the fourth inning of … [+] a baseball game, Sunday, Sept.10, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This was a weekend against the Brewers that seemingly epitomized the woes of the Yankees, trying desperately to at the least avoid their first losing season since 1992 — a time so long ago in baseball history that ace Gerrit Cole was two and Aaron Judge was an infant in Northern California.
Besides losing twice to the NL Central leaders in two of their ugliest showings of the season, especially in the late innings, the Yankees won a game that you could say “only the Yankees” because the way things are going at times, it is almost expected they might get no-hit at some point before the season ends in Kansas City.
Almost was Sunday until the Yankees emerged with a 4-3, 13-inning victory that was actually overshadowed by three things: being no-hit into the 11th inning, a memorable catch by an opponent to keep the no-hitter and most importantly for the ramifications of Yankee plans the revelation Jasson Dominguez’s season is over because of a torn UCL in his right elbow that requires the dreaded Tommy John surgery.
Being no-hit deep into a game at this point should not necessarily be a surprise considering the Yankees woke up Monday morning ranked 22nd in runs (602), last in hits (1,065) and tied with the Oakland A’s for the worst batting average (.225) and 10 points behind the Detroit Tigers for 28th. And beyond the dubious rankings coming in a weekend when the 1998 Yankees were honored for winning 125 games because they hit .288 amongst other things, the Yankees were held to 10 hits in the series, upping their total to 16 games with three hits or fewer.
If you think that’s bad put this in perspective with 19 games left, the Yankees matched the 1913 group for the most games with three hits or fewer. Those Yankees played in the Polo Grounds and spent their time sharing the space with the New York Giants hitting .237 and scoring 529 runs while losing 94 times – the Yankees’ last 90-loss season until 1967.
There have been a few close calls already, which also is hardly surprising.
On June 6 under the poor sky conditions, Lucas Giolito — now with Cleveland but formerly and briefly of the Angels — pitched six hitless innings for the White Sox before Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a single that fell in between two outfielders in the seventh. On Aug. 26, in Tampa Bay, the Yankees were no-hit into the sixth by Tyler Glasnow and had two hits.
Those are nothing compared to what unfolded yesterday, especially since two versions of an alert would be published. Yesterday, the Yankees struggled so much against Corbin Burnes, three alerts were published, and then another in the ninth and 10th until they finally got the hit.
If the Yankees wound up with the 1-0 loss, it would have been the first 11-inning no-hitter in baseball history, which is something you wouldn’t be surprised they were on the losing end of. Instead according to the Elias Sports Bureau they were the fourth team to be no-hit into the 11th and wind up with a win.
The last instance was June 14, 1965 when the Mets got one of their 50 wins when Johnny Lewis homered in the 11th at Cincinnati against Jim Maloney, who wound up with an 18-strikeout game. Before Lewis, Joe Adcock doubled to win it for the Braves in the 13th after Pittsburgh’s Harvey Haddix took a perfect game into the 13th on May 26, 1959. The first instance was Aug. 1, 1906, in Brooklyn’s Washington Park III when the Pirates got four hits and won a 13-inning contest.
The Yankees got their hit after Sal Frelick collided with the larger Joey Wiemer to make a terrific lights-out catch at the right-center field warning track to rob Anthony Volpe of a game-ending double in the 10th.
And this being 2023 Giancarlo Stanton’s tying two-run homer in the 12th and Kyle Higashioka’s game-winning double in the 13th, were afterthoughts because of the stunning news about Dominguez going from being scratched 15 minutes before first pitch before of right elbow inflammation to finding out he may not be back until after next summer’s All-Star break.
While four homers in eight games during September does not automatically guarantee stardom or a long-term solution, it seemed if anything it might have lessened the need for a center fielder.
Now it creates another need in the outfield because left field has hardly been solved and the Yankees would like to avoid playing Judge in center field on a frequent basis to get Stanton games in right field.
“I’m crushed for (Dominguez),” manager Aaron Boone said “He’s a young man and these things resolve themselves. It’s a matter of taking care of it now. This is something he should completely recover and bounce back from.”
The obvious answer for the Yankees to bounce back and fill the sudden vacancy could be spending big to land Cody Bellinger, who is parlaying a prove it deal with the Cubs into a larger contract because he is looking like the 2019 NL MVP. Of course the Yankees could have avoided all of this by simply signing Bellinger last winter like the Cubs did on Dec. 14.
The Yankees could have potentially helped their chances at getting Bellinger if they swept the Cubs in the final series before the break, a scenario which would have given them a 51-40 record. Instead they lost twice, got the hitting coach fired, stumbled badly out of the gate following the break and seemingly sparked the Cubs into contention for a wild card spot and an outside chance at winning the NL Division.
In the meantime, the Yankees head to Boston for a series that is hardly an MLB showcase, trying to rebound from their latest serious injury and attempting to avoid being on the end of lengthy no-hit bids and numerous wire service alerts about them.