OK, OK. SU gets it that the play by Austin Wells last night trying to stretch a double into a triple with 2 outs was a boneheaded play that they teach in Little League. You don’t make the 1st or 3rd out at 3rd base. We all know that. Especially in the 8th inning.
But last night, the Yankees were determined to show everyone that they cannot hit Drew Rasmussen at any time – be it regular season or now the playoffs. Despite having faced him a million times, they pride themselves on not figuring anything out or anything new. Maybe try and run up the pitch count and get him out of the game? How many hitters swung at the 1st pitch? That’s fine. The Red Sox have not figured out Cam Schlittler in the same way.
However, what Wells’s play really shows is the lack of discipline by the Yankees year after year under Aaron Boone. SU is a long-time fan and I watch many games. Seriously: have we not seen Jazz Chisholm or Caballero not make dumb baserunning plays all season long? Caught stealing, picked off 1st, picked off 2nd? At really bad times? Errors in the field by many players? Runners thrown out at home due to bad reads by the 3rd base coach? Boone is a players’ manager – he will defend them all the time and there are no apparent repercussions for making dumb plays. It is part of the team’s culture.
What Wells did is what many of his teammates have done all year. Again, it was not a smart play. Does SU think the next hitter was going to knock him in? Stanton? No way. For SU, that softens the blow. This was their first hit of the game – in the 8th inning. Wells had lined out to deep right field earlier and he has been hitting well for a few weeks now.
Game over – we move on. For the Yankees, the goal now is to not make Freddy Peralta look like Cy Young in game 2 on Monday night. And you have to expect Rasmussen is lined up to pitch a game 4 (if needed) on Thursday. The Yankees put the ball in play against the Red Sox. We will see if they can make the adjustment at Tropicana Field. If they want to win this series, they need to do that at least once.
SU will not hate on Wells. And I think he will respond in game 2.
Agree 100%. A total bonehead play but the Yanks were not winning that game. Wells will have a chance to redeem himself tomorrow. Trusting the Yanks will not be one hit again and make the Mets look even more incompetent than they are.
If Yanks lose Monday I expect Stanton to go on DL and Judge to be back in the lineup.