The Yankees lost 9-5 on Tuesday as their last relievers couldn’t stop the Guardians from scoring in the 12th inning after Clay Holmes, Jake Cousins and other members of the bullpen did so between the fifth and 11th innings.
Cleveland took the lead by one run against Tim Mayza on a double by Lane Thomas. Brayan Rocchio then followed with his second perfectly placed bunt of the night before Steven Kwan hit a fly ball to first base. DJ LeMahieu could have walked first and thrown to second for a double play, but he immediately went to second, eliminating any chance of a double by the speedy Kwan.
From there, things officially went bad, even though the Yankees played bad baseball throughout the night.
With Michael Tonkin at the plate, José Ramírez singled in a run before David Fry tripled against Juan Soto with the bases loaded. The Guardians added a ninth run for good measure when LeMahieu failed to record an out on a grounder by Jhonkensy Noel.
By then, the masses had already begun to empty Yankee Stadium with their teams eliminated after their third straight loss.
Much earlier in the evening, Luis Gil also made an early exit, leaving with a trainer at his side in the fourth inning.
The Yankees later announced that lower back pain forced Gil to leave early. He was examined at Yankee Stadium by Dr. David Trofa, the club’s orthopedic physician, and will be reevaluated Wednesday. No imaging had been scheduled as of press time.
Fortunately for the Yankees, Gil is not out with an arm injury. He has worked a career-high 124.2 innings in his first full season back from Tommy John, and his workload has been a topic of conversation all season.
Gil, who received extra rest after his last start on Aug. 12, completed three innings while totaling three hits, three earned runs, six walks, three strikeouts and 78 pitches against Cleveland.
He gave up a solo home run to Rocchio, the No. 9 hitter, shortly before leaving the game in the fourth inning. The Yankees have now allowed 19 home runs to No. 9 hitters this season. That’s the most in the major leagues and five more than any other team, according to Stathead’s Katie Sharp.
The Guardians’ other runs against Gil came on a fielder’s choice in the second inning – a review showed Jose Trevino applied a late tag on a play at the plate – and an RBI single by Daniel Schneemann in the third.
The Yankees opened the scoring in the first inning, with a solo hit in the first inning that was Soto’s 35th home run of the season, tying his career high. Aaron Judge then hit back-to-back home runs off Guardians left-hander Matthew Boyd, adding his league-high 45th home run of the season.
Judge drove in two more runs with a double in the bottom of the 12th inning, but the Yankees were in too deep a hole at that point.
Anthony Volpe, who started the night with a 6-for-61, also had an RBI double in the fourth inning.
The Yankees had a chance to take the lead in the eighth inning when pinch hitter Austin Wells hit a double over the center-field wall. However, Trent Grisham, running for Giancarlo Stanton, hesitated a few times on his way back from first base and was tagged out at home plate. Meanwhile, third-base coach Luis Rojas appeared to give Grisham a brief stop sign before motioning for him to return to base.
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-NYYUNDERGROUND (@NYYUNDERGROUND) August 21, 2024
With the series opener over, both the Yankees and Guardians will start with left-handers on Wednesday. Nestor Cortes will take the mound for the home team, while Joey Cantillo will start for Cleveland.
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