Less than 24 hours after their nightmare ending in Miami, the Yankees were lifeless in a 2-0 loss to the Marlins on Saturday afternoon.
Here are the takeaways…
-Likely still shell-shocked from blowing multiple huge leads on Friday night, New York appeared to let that affect its play on the field, especially in the first few innings.
–Trent Grisham did well by leading off the game with a walk before stealing a base to try and get the Yankees going in the first inning. However, it had unintended consequences. With two outs, Giancarlo Stanton scorched a single into left field that came off his bat at 111 mph. Normally that should be good for a run to score, especially with Grisham's speed, but the exit velocity allowed the ball to get to left fielder Kyle Stowers rather quickly and he came up firing towards home plate. Despite running on contact, Grisham was thrown out by a mile for the final out of the inning.
-What happened to New York in the second inning was less unfortunate and more egregious. Once again, the inning began with a leadoff walk, this one to Jazz Chisholm Jr. After Ben Rice flied out, Paul Goldschmidt popped out to second base. Inexplicably (as if Friday night wasn't bad enough), Chisholm was somehow doubled off on the play after Xavier Edwards quickly threw the ball to first base, beating a scampering Chisholm to the bag and ending the inning.
-After that, whatever chance the Yankees had to win the game seemed to completely go out the windows inside loanDepot park. New York played totally uninspired baseball from that point on in what was an easily winnable game. The only other offensive threat by the Yanks came in the fifth when Rice doubled and Goldschmidt walked with one out. It was quickly neutralized, though, after Ryan McMahon struck out and Anthony Volpe grounded out.
-New York finished the game with two hits and didn't have a single base runner since Goldschmidt's walk — a streak of 14 batters.
-The Marlins weren't much better besides Agustin Ramirez who tagged starter Cam Schlittler for two solo home runs — one in the first and one in the fourth. Other than that, Miami had a total of two hits as the combination of Schlittler and the bullpen set the offense down.
-Schlittler went five innings and allowed two runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out six and threw 92 pitches (58 strikes).
Game MVP: Agustin Ramirez
In a game devoid of much offense, Ramirez's two solo blasts provided all the scoring on Saturday.
What's next
The Yankees conclude their series in Miami with a Sunday matinee. First pitch is scheduled for 1:40 p.m.
RHP Luis Gil makes his season debut and will face off against Marlins RHP Edward Cabrera (4-5, 3.35 ERA).
