Tommy Kahnle won both his “MLB The Show” players league games on Friday night to keep his New York Yankees alive.
Tommy Kahnle, after starting the season 0-5, has thrust himself into the playoff picture. He’s still on the outside looking in, but he’s right on the cusp of leading the New York Yankees into the virtual postseason in the “MLB The Show” players league.
Game One
Game one was an absolute laugher for Kahnle. He faced off with Ryne Stanek and absolutely molly-whopped him.
Kahnle’s slow start was nearly a killer, but Stanek inexplicably dropped a flyball that would have been the third out of the first inning. Immediately after, Aaron Hicks launched a two-run shot to give Kahnle an early lead.
Kahnle’s pitching was phenomenal in this game. He struck out the side with Gerrit Cole and set the table for a major second inning.
In the second, Kahnle scored five runs. He led off the inning with a Luke Voit bomb, followed that up with a three-run bomb by DJ LeMahieu, and then hit an RBI double with Hicks.
Kahnle added onto the lead in the third. LeMahieu hit an RBI single, Aaron Judge hit a two-RBI double, and Hicks hit yet another RBI double.
If the pattern hasn’t become clear yet, Aaron Hicks is by far the best player in “MLB The Show.”
Stanek broke Cole’s no-hitter with a solo homer in the third. Adam Ottavino came on to mop up the decisive 11-1 win.
Game Two
Game two was the polar opposite of game one. Facing off against Jesus Luzardo, this game was an emotional rollercoaster.
Luzardo got on the board first with two solo shots in the first inning.
Kahnle struck back immediately. He hit a leadoff single with LeMahieu and launched yet another homer with Hicks.
Kahnle cannot stop hitting homers with Aaron Hicks pic.twitter.com/h7TG2f2Bxz
— Big Baby David (@BigBabyDavid_) April 25, 2020
Then in the second, Luzardo went back up by two with a homer by Austin Allen.
In the bottom of the inning, Mike Tauchman hit a pinch-hit RBI single to cut the deficit to one.
"THE SOCKMAN! How does he do it? " pic.twitter.com/7cvCaC4mTa
— Big Baby David (@BigBabyDavid_) April 25, 2020
Judge hit a sac fly to tie it at four and Giancarlo Stanton hit an RBI single to give Kahnle a one-run lead.
Kahnle turned to a shaky Aroldis Chapman to close it out. Kahnle just can’t throw strikes with Chapman. He loaded the bases with one out and just barely escaped the self-created jam.
Kahnle escapes with a 5-4 win over Jesus Luzardo pic.twitter.com/VzshLBAjWX
— Big Baby David (@BigBabyDavid_) April 25, 2020
Kahnle is now squarely in the playoff picture but he still has work to do. With only nine games remaining, it’ll be a tight squeeze to overtake the teams currently in the top eight.
But Kahnle seems to be on a roll so who knows? Anything can happen if he finds his way into the playoffs.