Even with one of baseball’s tallest players posted at the wall.
Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning that nicked the glove of a leaping Aaron Judge in right field, and the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Yankees 5-3 on Monday in a matchup between the top teams in each league entering the night.
”It should give us a lot of confidence,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. ”It’s good for our young guys that come into a place like this against a team like this, as good as they are, and play well.”
Johan Camargo homered early and Jesse Biddle pitched out of a late jam for the NL East leaders, who followed up a three-game sweep in St. Louis with their fourth consecutive victory. Atlanta (49-34) is 15 games over .500 for the first time since the conclusion of the 2013 season.
New York (54-28) fell a game behind first-place Boston in the AL East.
The 20-year-old Acuna also doubled and drove in three runs, four years to the day after the touted rookie signed with the Braves.
”First time here at Yankee Stadium,” he said through a translator. ”First home run at Yankee Stadium is very special to me.”
Judge hit his 23rd homer and second in two nights. Gleyber Torres had three hits and scored twice, but the rookie second baseman’s 10th error since he was called up April 22 helped Atlanta get started in the 11th.
Playing on the outfield grass, Torres booted Nick Markakis‘ leadoff grounder. One out later, Acuna lofted a 1-2 pitch from David Robertson (5-3) the other way. Judge, all 6-foot-7 of him, got in good position at the auxiliary scoreboard and jumped, but the ball glanced off the tip of his webbing and cleared the fence.
”Tough play. I want to make that play for D-Rob and I wasn’t able to come through,” Judge said. ”That’s all it is, just a little timing. If I time it up right I make that play. On that one, I was just a little late.”
Robertson slumped near the mound as an excited Acuna circled the bases with his seventh home run – third in the past six games.
”Man, when he hit it I thought it was an out, to be honest with you,” Robertson said. ”Playing here at Yankee Stadium, you see it happen all the time. The short porch gets you in right field.”
Robertson had faced 182 right-handed batters without giving up a home run since Adam Rosales connected off him on June 25, 2017.
A.J. Minter got three outs for his fourth save .
”He’s got a save in Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium. I mean, that’s pretty good for a first-year reliever,” Snitker said. ”And you can tell Bart Starr Jersey , he’s liking that situation, too. He doesn’t back down. He’s got a lot of confidence in himself.”
New York stranded 12 and went a season-worst 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position.
The Yankees had the bases loaded with one out in the 10th before Biddle (2-0) struck out Greg Bird and Austin Romine on seven pitches. The left-hander fanned four in two scoreless innings.
”These fans are pretty loud, and I was just trying to quiet them down,” Biddle said.
Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth for the Yankees, hitting a season-high 104 mph on the stadium radar gun to oohs and aahs from the crowd of 43,792. Dellin Betances retired slugger Freddie Freeman with runners at the corners to end the 10th.
Judge hit a pop-fly homer to right in the first and has gone deep in four of his last six games. Camargo answered with a leadoff shot in the third against rookie starter Jonathan Loaisiga, who was sent to the minors after the game.
Braves right-hander Anibal Sanchez allowed three runs in six innings.
ROSTER SHUFFLE
Loaisiga was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to open a spot for RHP A.J. Cole (neck strain), who will be reinstated from the disabled list Tuesday. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said there’s a good chance Loaisiga will return next Monday to start in a doubleheader at Baltimore.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
With the international signing period open, the Yankees landed the younger brother of ace pitcher Luis Severino. Rafael Severino is a 19-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic who will start out at the club’s academy there.
”Yippee. Sign me up for that,” Boone said. ”Definitely good to have another Severino in the mix.”
The elder Severino, who is 13-2 with a 1.98 ERA, leads the majors in wins and the AL in ERA. He said he was excited, and happily delivered the news to his kid brother.
”He was flipping out. He didn’t believe it,” Luis Severino told reporters . ”I think he’s going to be really good.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: Reliever Peter Moylan was placed on the 10-day DL with a strained right forearm and RHP Matt Wisler was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. OF Michael Reed and RHP Evan Phillips were called up from Triple-A. … Arodys Vizcaino (right shoulder inflammation) threw a bullpen and could come off the disabled list Tuesday. Vizcaino, who has 15 saves, has been sidelined since June 21.
Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (two strained hamstrings) threw a bullpen and is scheduled to make a rehab start Wednesday at Triple-A. He could rejoin the team early next week in Baltimore – perhaps in time to pitch in the doubleheader. … As a precaution, Romine (left hamstring) was out of the starting lineup for the second consecutive night. He entered at catcher in the ninth. Romine will likely start one of the next two games, Boone said.
Toronto’s Randal Grichuk put on a show for hundreds of friends and family that made the trek up to Houston to see him play just his third career game at a ballpark only about 35 miles from his hometown of Rosenberg, Texas.
Grichuk hit a two-run homer and made a huge defensive play, helping the Blue Jays beat the Houston Astros 6-3 on Monday.
”You can’t feel your body all game,” Grichuk said. ”You feel like you don’t need to stretch or get loose. It’s just as special for me as I know it is for my family.”
Toronto also got two homers from Curtis Granderson against Justin Verlander, but the night belonged to Grichuk in one special homecoming.
His soaring 471-foot home run, which clanged off the light pole above the train tracks on the left-field wall, came against Will Harris and made it 6-3 with two out in the eighth.
Grichuk then reached over the short wall in right field to rob George Springer of a homer with two on and no outs in the ninth.
”Those are the plays you dream of that you don’t really get too often Brett Favre Jersey ,” he said. ”But exactly what you hope for happened.”
Grichuk, who moved from center to right field in the bottom of the ninth, had his back to the wall when he reached between two fans with gloves to make the grab.
Springer stopped running and bent down in disbelief when he realized Grichuk had robbed him.
”Baseball can be pretty cruel,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. ”That’s a tough one. Right off the bat, I thought George got one. It carried and carried and carried and looked like he had to go pretty deep into the stands to get it.”
Granderson’s leadoff shot in the fifth tied it at 3. He connected again with two out in the seventh, belting an opposite-field drive off Verlander (9-3) into the second row in the Crawford Boxes in left field.
”I’m not a huge fan of the Crawford Boxes right now,” Verlander said. ”The one to right, I thought Curtis got pretty good. The one to left, I didn’t think he got that one very good. But it’s the ballpark we play in. It’s fair for all sides. I need to do a little bit better job.”
Verlander, who entered with a major league-best 1.60 ERA, allowed four runs and seven hits – both season highs – in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked two in his first loss since May 11.
Toronto’s J.A. Happ (10-3) yielded three runs and seven hits in six innings in his sixth straight win. Seung-hwan Oh worked the ninth for his second save.
Former Astro Teoscar Hernandez, who received his World Series ring in a pregame ceremony, had three hits and Justin Smoak drove in two runs as the Blue Jays won their third straight.
Alex Bregman homered in the Astros’ third loss in 18 games.
Hernandez singled with one out in the first before Yangervis Solarte drew a walk. Smoak’s two-out double lifted Toronto to a 2-0 lead.
Yuli Gurriel singled in Jose Altuve in the bottom half, and Bregman’s drive to the seats in left tied it at 2 with one out in the third.
Bregman also singled in Jake Marisnick in the fourth, but the Blue Jays tied it up again when Granderson sent the third pitch of the fifth inning into the stands in right for his eighth homer this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: RHP Joe Smith (right elbow inflammation) felt good after throwing a bullpen on Sunday and will throw one more bullpen before likely beginning a rehabilitation assignment this weekend.
Blue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez (bruised finger on right hand) has less swelling and discomfort and will start playing catch in the next few days.
WHERE DID IT GO?
Granderson hit a foul pop in the first inning that got stuck in the park’s rafters. Catcher Max Stassi threw off his mask and looked up as he waited for it to come down, but it never did. Bregman soon trotted to the plate and started looking up to see where it was, too. Verlander held his glove over the top of his head for a few seconds, jokingly protecting himself if it happened to drop near him. Granderson and the trio of Astros then laughed, and Granderson got back in the box to resume his at-bat.
”I still have no idea what happened on that,” Granderson said. ”I’ve never hit a ball that high before.”
UP NEXT
Charlie Morton (9-1, 2.77 ERA) pitches for Houston on Tuesday, looking for his 10th win. Morton allowed just two hits and one unearned run in six innings of a 5-1 win over Tampa Bay in his last outing. The Blue Jays have yet to announce their Tuesday starter.
AG-Clanforum
Thema drucken
29.11.2018 02:49
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