YANKEES STILL ATOP AL EAST

The New York Yankees kicked off May with series against the Rays, Padres and A’s.

They lost 2 out of 3 against the Rays. The sole game they won was the first game of the series thanks to a combined 1-hitter by Max Fried, Devin Williams and Luke Weaver. Fried became the first to have six wins in the MLB. Paul Goldschmidt hit a 3 run home run making the score 3-0.

The Yankees were wining game two, 2-1 until Mark Leiter Jr. gave up 2 runs in the eighth inning. Austin Wells and Aaron Judge both hit home runs in this game but the Rays won 3-2.

Game 3, the Yankees were losing 5-0 until Cody Bellinger hit a 2 run home run in the sixth inning. But the Rays added two more runs in the seventh inning. The Yankees rallied in the eighth but were only able to score 3 more runs. Rays won 7-5.

The Padres series started off messy and it wasn’t just because of the off and on rain in game 1. Carlos Rodon pitched great despite two 28 minute rain delays. He pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings. The Yankees were winning 3-0 until Devin Williams came in to relieve Rodon. He walked two, gave up a hit and with the bases loaded Luke Weaver took over and gave up his first run of the season, a double by Manny Machado; followed by a RBI single by Xander Bogaerts. During the rally Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres manager were ejected from the game by the home plate umpire for questioning a strike. Padres won 4-3.

Game 2 went better for the Yankees as they won this one 12-3. Neither team scored a run until the fourth inning when the Padres went up 2-0. Clarke Schmidt allowed Manny Machado to score on a balk. But the Yankees tied the game with a solo home run by Aaron Judge and run by Cody Bellinger due to a throwing error. The Padres took the lead again in the seventh inning but the Yankees with help from Austin Wells scored 10 runs in the seventh inning. Wells hit a single and his first career grand slam and had 5 RBIs.

Game 3 went to 10 innings with Dylan Cease and Max Fried each only giving up 1 run. Cease pitched 6 2/3 innings, gave up one hit and struck out nine. Fried pitched 7 innings, gave up five hits and struck out eight. The two runs were home runs by Jackson Merrill and Cody Bellinger. Ian Hamilton walked 2 in the eighth inning before being replaced by Luke Weaver who allowed both runners to score putting the Padres in the lead. But Trent Grisham tied the game again with a 2 run home run, his 10th home run. In the 10th inning, JC Escarra was brought in to pinch hit for Oswald Peraza and Jasson Dominguez scored on a sacrifice fly to win the game.

The Yankees then headed to California to play a 3 game weekend series against the A’s.

Jason Dominguez hit 3 home runs in game 1 and had 7 RBIs. He became the youngest Yankee to hit 3 home runs in a single game. Paul Goldschmidt also had a home run in this game. Yankees won 10-2.

In game 2, Carlos Rodon gave up 4 runs on 2 home runs in only four innings. Aaron Judge hit 2 home runs, one of which was in the sixth inning when the Yankees rallied and scored 6 runs to take the lead. Fernando Cruz gave up a single, a double and a home run in the seventh inning to put the A’s back in the lead. In the eighth inning Ian Hamilton walked 2 batters again who scored when Tyler Matzek gave up a single and a double. The A’s won 11-7. Shea Langelier had 5 RBIs for the A’s. This was Judge’s 41st career game with multi home runs.

Wrapping up the weekend, Game 3, saw Ryan Yarbrough get the start as the Yankees figure out who will be their fifth starter. It was anticipated that he may only pitch a few innings before going to the bullpen but he was pitching well and the Yankees had an early league so he stayed in the game. He pitched 5 innings and gave up 2 runs and earned his first win.  Pitching for the A’s was former Yankee Luis Severino. He, on the other hand, did not pitch well. The Yankees took an early lead scoring 5 runs in the second inning off some singles, a walk, and a ground out. They added another run in the next inning off a single by Oswaldo Cabrera. The A’s scored their first run in the fourth inning off a single by Miguel Andujar. But the Yankees weren’t done.  They scored 5 more runs in the fifth inning. Ben Rice hit is first career grand slam and Paul Goldschmidt hit a RBI double. Goldschmidt had another RBI double and actually hit a total of  3 doubles in this game.  In the fifth inning JJ Bleday hit a solo home run but that was the end of runs scored for the A’s. The Yankees won 12-2. Also in this game, Aaron Judge had four hits, which put his batting average back above .400.

The Yankees will head to Seattle for 3 games against the Mariners before returning to back NY to play the Mets and Rangers. Then to wrap up the month of May, they will head back to the west coast for 3 series against the Rockies, Angels and Dodgers.

The Yankees currently lead the AL East with a record of 23-17. The Boston Red Sox are right behind them with a record of 22-20.