The New York Yankees played a game they’d love to have back, as a ghastly effort paved the way to a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
- New York Yankees: 3 (10-6)
- Pittsburgh Pirates: 6 (7-9)
- Interleague, FINAL, Box Score
- PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
The New York Yankees watched their road record fall to 2-5 after dropping an ugly contest to the Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of 6-3.
Right off the bat, things immediately leaned towards the Pirates’ favor as leadoff hitter Jordy Mercer ripped a solo bomb of Yankees’ starter CC Sabathia. Not did Mercer become the first Pirates’ hitter to homer off Sabathia since Freddy Sanchez did on May 19, 2006, but it gave his squad a 1-0 lead.
Later that same inning, Sabathia, who entered play on Friday with a 1.47 ERA, served up a RBI single to David Freese on a slow dribbler to third after two hits by Andrew McCutchen and Josh Harrison.
Pittsburgh continued to throw water on the 36-year-old’s hot start, as Josh Bell smacked a two-run home run off Sabathia in the bottom of the second to make it 4-0 Pirates.
The Yankees attempted to claw back, as a Chase Headley double in the third and an error by Harrison in the fifth made it 4-3, Pirates, but Starlin Castro‘s error in the bottom of the seventh sealed the deal in the series opener.
With two outs, McCutchen lifted a high pop-up to shallow right field and as Castro settled underneath it to make a play, the ball simply popped out. Mercer ended up scoring then Freese ripped a single two batters later to put the Pirates up 6-3. They would later win by that same score after Tony Watson recorded the save in the ninth.
.@jordy_mercer leading the way.
? https://t.co/LUIrBZEJ4s pic.twitter.com/wYoRjqMu3u
— Pirates (@Pirates) April 22, 2017
Sliding into the weekend like:
? #YANKSonYES
? https://t.co/HtTG3JlocF pic.twitter.com/Ti3acUXx4D— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 22, 2017
We'll take it!
A miscue in right allows Jordy to score from first and gets your Bucs up 2!
5️⃣-3️⃣#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/FFJathyubB
— Pirates (@Pirates) April 22, 2017
An RBI knock by your third baseman and it's now 6-3 Bucs here in the 7th!
Keep on adding on!#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/swq7rF31uv
— Pirates (@Pirates) April 22, 2017
Pirates WIN!
Mercer & Bell go deep!
Freese drives in 2!
Bullpen nails it down!#RaiseIt -RI
— AT&T SportsNet™ PIT (@ATTSportsNetPIT) April 22, 2017
This Day In Yankees History:
On April 21, 1912, the Yankees and Giants raised $9,425.25 in a game dedicated to the survivors of the Titanic At the Polo Grounds, the Yankees lost by a score of 11-2.
What’s Next:
The Yankees and Pirates are back at it again on Saturday in the middle game of this three-game set at PNC Park.
Making his third start of the season for New York will be Michael Pineda, who’s looking to turn in a third-straight winning performance for the first time since April 13-24 of 2015.
Jameson Taillon will get the nod for Pittsburgh, coming off a start on April 16 in which he turned in seven innings of one-run (unearned) ball while striking out six against the Chicago Cubs.
First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET and can be caught on WPIX or on the radio at WFAN 660/101.9 FM.