Everything that could go wrong for the New York Yankees did as the ugliest game of the 2018 season ends in a Miami mauling, 9-1.
- New York Yankees: 1 (8-8)
- Miami Marlins: 9 (5-12)
- W: Jarlin Garcia (1-0, 0.86 ERA)
- L: Masahiro Tanaka (2-2, 6.45 ERA)
- Interleague, Final, Box Score
- Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
A night after the New York Yankees beat the brakes off of the Miami Marlins, the team from South Beach returned the favor in equally brutal fashion.
The Yankees made errors seemingly every inning and Masahiro Tanaka was roughed up for seven runs as a result. The bats were as quiet as a fish, as they were limited to just one run on a cold and miserable night in the Big Apple.
Highlights
Fishy Start
Before YES Network color commentator Al Leiter could get the words “if Tanaka leaves the ball up, it could be trouble,” out of his mouth, the Marlins offense jumped all over the Yankee righty for an early lead in the first.
The leadoff batter Derek Dietrich started the night with a single to right, advancing to second on a Miguel Rojas walk. The next batter, former Yankee Starlin Castro, smacked a ground ball single into left to score Dietrich to make it 1-0 Miami.
Then J.T. Realmuto hit a ground ball to shortstop that saw the normally sure-handed Didi Gregorius air-mail the throw to first to allow Rojas and Castro to score to make it a very early 3-0 Miami lead. Tanaka finally got the double play ball he needed, followed by another groundout to escape any further damage.
The Bad News Bears start continued for the Yankee defense in the second as another Yankee error led to yet another Marlin run. Cameron Maybin tried to lay down a bunt for a single, and did so successfully as Gary Sanchez’s throw went through Tyler Austin’s legs to allow Maybin to take second base.
After a groundout moved Maybin to third, Dietrich lined a single off the glove of Neil Walker and into centerfield that scored Maybin to extend the Marlins’ lead to four. Without question, this has been the sloppiest two innings of baseball that the Yankees have had all season.
Making matters worse, the Yankee offense collected five walks in the first four frames, but were unable to collect the key hit (or any hit, for that matter) off of the Marlins rookie lefty Jarlin Garcia.
Realmuto, Real Far
As good as last night’s victory felt, this game felt exactly the opposite. This fact was reinforced when Tanaka served up a three-run blast to Marlins backstop J.T. Realmuto that broke the game wide open to 7-0 in just the top of the fifth. However, it didn’t matter if the score was 1-0 or 7-0 with the Yanks inability to get a hit off of the rookie counterpart.
Welcome back J.T. Realmuto! He hits a 3-run home run to right in his first game of the season! Keep watching the @Marlins against the Yankees on FOX Sports Florida! #JuntosMiami #MLB pic.twitter.com/KiG3ZTdhi1
— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) April 18, 2018
No-No No More
It took until the fifth, but the Yankees finally put the no-hit bid to bed when Miguel Andujar drilled a double over the head of left fielder Derek Dietrich and off of the wall with one out. The double was the first hit that any New York team had recorded off of Garcia, as the youngster carried a six-inning no-hit bid when he faced the New York Mets earlier this year.
After Brett Gardner struck out as the second out of the fifth, Aaron Judge lined out to center as the Yankees were still unable to put a run on the board. If there was any comeback in the works, they would have to make it happen in the final four frames of the night.
It’s a Bullpen Game Now
Even as the Yankees got past the starter Garcia and into the Marlin bullpen, their offensive ineptitude continued to rear its ugly head as they were unable to capitalize on a one out, bases-loaded sixth. The reliever Tayron Guerrero loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a single, but proceeded to strike out Neil Walker and Tyler Austin to end the threat and the frame.
As for the Yankees bullpen, Luis Cessa was pitching in the eighth and was touched up for a run before departing with an apparent back injury. Chad Green came on in relief and immediately coughed up a Maybin sacrifice fly to bring the score to an abysmal 9-0.
One Bright Spot
The same guy who broke up Garcia’s no-hit bid ended up being the same man that ended the Marlins bid for a shut out. Miguel Andujar hit a two-out solo shot in the bottom of the ninth to put one on the scoreboard for New York, 9-1.
Yankees settle for a series split with Miami as Miguel Andújar nabs his first MLB home run. pic.twitter.com/zczwcNkghf
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 18, 2018
As mentioned earlier, this was by far the worst loss this team has suffered in quite some time. They amassed a total of just four hits on the evening: a night that simply could not end soon enough. Luckily, they have tomorrow off to gather themselves and hopefully get things turned around.
What’s Next
The Yankees have tomorrow off and will wait a day to welcome in the Toronto Blue Jays for a four-game weekend set beginning on Thursday night.
CC Sabathia (0-0, 4.00 ERA) comes off the disabled list to try and get New York off to a good start to this four-game divisional matchup. Toronto sends out Aaron Sanchez (1-1, 3.66 ERA) to the mound, coming off a start where he carried a no-hitter into the eighth against the Orioles.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM/EST and can be seen on WPIX and the MLB Network (for those out of market) and heard on WFAN 660/101.9 FM.
