Yankees takeaways from Sunday’s 8-7 loss to Marlins, including Clay Holmes’ nightmare ninth inning
The Yankees were walked off by the Miami Marlins 8-7 in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at loanDepot Park.
Here are some takeaways…
– Gerrit Cole got the ball and made his 100th start in pinstripes. While the righty was a bit shaky, the Yankees provided him with an early lead. After Harrison Bader led off the second with a walk and advanced to second on a stolen base, Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined an RBI single to make it 1-0 Bombers.
An inning later, the Yanks added on as they made Eury Perez pay for another walk. With Aaron Judge on first, Giancarlo Stanton cracked an RBI double down the left-field line, giving the ace a 2-0 lead.
Cole cruised through the first two innings but found himself in some trouble in the third with two on and nobody out for the top of the Miami lineup. The righty almost danced his way out of danger but a two-out Luis Arraez single cut the lead in half.
– The Yanks came storming back in support of Cole, though, who clearly didn’t have his best stuff. Anthony Volpe crushed a two-run homer to deep left, for his 16th long ball of the season and his second this series.
Gleyber Torres manufactured a run with his legs an inning later, stealing both second and third and scoring on a wild pitch. Billy McKinney added another on a fielders choice, beating out a potential inning-ending double play, to make it 6-1 New York.
– Staked to a big lead, Cole allowed a leadoff single in the fourth, but a 4-6-3 double play helped him get out of the inning unscathed. He put up his first clean inning in the bottom of the fifth, picking up a pair of strikeouts in the process.
– Ben Rortvedt crushed the fourth home run of his big-league career, and just his first as a Yankee, in the sixth to increase the Bombers’ lead to 7-1.
– Cole returned for the sixth and Miami was able to scratch across another run against him, but the righty rebounded to finish his afternoon strong, stranding a pair in scoring position. Overall, he allowed two runs on six hits while walking two and striking out six over six innings. Cole continues to look like the likely favorite for the AL Cy Young award. He’s now recorded 18 quality starts, a 2.72 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 166 strikeouts on the year.
– Wandy Peralta tossed a scoreless seventh behind Cole but ran into trouble in the eighth. Kenyan Middleton entered and allowed an RBI double to Bryan de la Cruz.
– Clay Holmes received the ninth up four runs and he struggled mightily. A walk and two hits brought the tying run to the plate with the heart of the Marlins order coming up. The righty generated the comebacker he needed but a throwing error brought home two runs and allowed Josh Bell to reach.
Arraez then lined a two-run double down the right-field line tying things up at 7-7 and bringing Holmes’ day to an end. The closer recorded just one out and allowed four runs on three hits while walking one.
Tommy Kahnle entered and after walking de la Cruz, Jake Burger lined a walk-off single giving Miami the 8-7 win. The Yankees have now dropped three straight series and six consecutive rubber matches.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees continue their tour of the National League East as they head to Atlanta to start a three-game set with MVP-candidate Ronald Acuna Jr. and the Braves on Monday night at 7:20 p.m.
The Braves haven’t announced a starter yet, but New York will send out right-hander Clarke Schmidt (8-6, 4.23 ERA).
