The Yankees misplaced to the Cardinals on Saturday evening in St. Louis, 1-Zero, and the successful pitcher was making his first profession MLB begin outdoors of a Yankees uniform.
It was most likely a little bit bizarre to see, however after six years and 98 appearances with the Yankees, Jordan Montgomery got here out and threw 5 scoreless innings earlier than being pulled as a precaution as a consequence of cramping. (It was ridiculously scorching and humid, so the information wasn’t precisely a shock.)
The one run of the sport really got here within the first inning. NL MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt, who had doubled, scored on a Nolan Arenado single. That is what the Cardinals’ pitching employees — led by their latest acquisition — would wish.
The Cardinals transfer again into sole possession of first place within the NL Central, taking a one-game lead over the Brewers. The Cardinals have received a report six in a row.
Nonetheless, the larger story right here can be Montgomery and his former staff.
One of many final strikes to be made on commerce deadline day was the Yankees buying and selling lefty Montgomery to the Cardinals. It was a little bit of a head scratcher because the Yankees regarded to commerce for ranging from a younger age. (They added Frankie Montas, however there have been others as Luis Severino is on the 60-day injured listing.) And whereas they did get an attention-grabbing participant again in heart fielder Harrison Bader, he presently has a boot and hope to return. someday in September.
Clearly, it is too early to name the transfer a mistake, however Montgomery made it repay on Saturday, and the Yankees are typically on a roll. (By the way, the final time the Yanks misplaced 1-Zero was on August 7, 2020, nearly two years to the day, in a highway sport towards the Tampa Bay Rays.)
This loss is the fourth in a row and is now the longest shedding streak of the season. It isn’t nearly this collection. Going again nearly a month, for the reason that Yankees received on July eighth, they’ve gone 9-15, with three of these wins coming towards a nasty Royals staff. Their AL East lead continues to be within the double digits, so they do not look like in any hazard there. The Yankees nonetheless have the perfect report within the AL at 70-38, that means they’re nonetheless on tempo to win 105 video games.
Via this lens, we’d level out that ebbs and flows are fairly frequent by way of the 162-game grind that could be a Main League Baseball season. Even the best groups of all time have gone by way of lulls, even when they had been small.
Trying on the Yankees proper now, although, the rotation is skinny and the offense is fairly heavy — and doubtless too reliant on Aaron Decide. The bullpen is struggling to cope with the losses of Chad Inexperienced and Michael King, whereas Clay Holmes has been ineffective for some time just lately.
Contemplating the above, this statistic should not come as a lot of a shock:
The Yankees had been 14-Four by way of June 18 in one-run video games (a tip of the hat to Katie Sharp). Since then, I am 7-11 in such contests. It is a statistic that tends to even out over the long run, or in web baseball, regress to the imply, and that is precisely what appears to be occurring.
To reiterate, this might simply be a stretch down the stretch, however the developments are definitely worrisome from the Yankees’ viewpoint.
