After a wild night in Chicago, the New York Yankees make it six in a row as they halt the Cincinnati Reds on the road.
- New York Yankees: 10 (21-9)
- Cincinnati Reds: 4 (17-15)
- Interleague, FINAL, Box Score
- Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati, OH
At this point, every postgame seems to be a positive sentiment to the New York Yankees season. This postgame is no different.
The Yankees finished their last game in Chicago at 2:30 AM this morning and immediately made their way to Cincinnati. But what is fatigue? These Yankees don’t have that word in their vocabulary.
With a weakened bullpen, the Yankees were hoping for a strong start behind their ace Masahiro Tanaka. While he gave up four runs, he still held the lead for the Yankees in his seven innings of work on the mound.
The Yankees picked up right where they had left off, scoring right away off a two-run single from Gary Sanchez and an RBI single from Didi Gregorius.
While the Reds answered back with an RBI single off the bat of Joey Votto, Tanaka squelched the rally by getting a fly ball and double play.
After adding another run in the second, the teams traded zeros up until the fifth, when both added a single run to make it 5-2 in favor of the Yankees.
Then the floodgates opened. The Yankees added on five runs in two innings, including monster shots from Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday.
Gardy is ? in!!!
That's his 6th HR in his last 9 games and he pushes his hit streak to 11 games!
9-4 Yankees in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/DEoQQLAa7z
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 9, 2017
And it's Holliday's turn! The veteran puts us in double digits with a HR.
10-4 Yankees! pic.twitter.com/uuF6SR2Lk3
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 9, 2017
Despite the marathon of a game last night, the bullpen still came through. Tyler Clippard closed out the eighth inning without allowing a runner while Tommy Layne secured the victory for the surging Yankees.
A Peculiar 7th Inning:
The Yankees had a long night last night. The last thing they needed was the possibility of an injury.
In the top of the seventh inning, not one or two, but THREE batters were hit by pitcher Drew Storen.
Aaron Hicks led off the inning and became Storen’s first victim, taking a pitch off the foot. Gary Sanchez got hit in the arm a few batters later and the big blow came when Chase Headley took a 93 MPH fastball with the bases loaded.
The last player to hit three batters in one inning? That was Yankees legend Kirby Yates, who did it only last year.
Want another crazy fact? Chew on this tidbit from John Fay.
Drew Storen hits three batters in the seventh. In his first five years in the majors, he never hit more than three in a season. #reds
— John Fay (@johnfayman) May 9, 2017
This Day In Yankees History:
On this day in 2009, Alex Rodriguez returns from a hip injury and hits a home run on the first pitch he sees back. He would eventually help the Yankees capture a World Series trophy this year.
What’s Next:
On Tuesday night, the New York Yankees head into the middle game of a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Taking the mound for the Yankees will be veteran left-hander CC Sabathia, who has struggled heavily in his last three outings. CC has surrendered 17 earned runs in his last 14.2 innings pitched which includes five home runs.
The Yankees will be hoping Sabathia can put these recent struggles behind him and bounce back to the consistent pitcher they have seen over the past year or so.
For the Reds, Tim Adleman will take the mound who has had a decent start to the season thus far. In three starts, Adleman is 1-1 with a 4.22 ERA.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET on FSI and can be caught on the radio at WFAN 660/101.9 FM.