A California Nightmare - Yankees vs. Dodgers (Game 2 Recap)
We’ve spent weeks finding parallels between this Yankees team and championship winning squads of the past. “Volpe is coming into his own like Jeter in ‘96.” “Stanton is gonna go Reggie on the Dodgers.” “Tim Hill is our Dámaso Marte.”
As it turns out, this group isn’t anything like those teams and is instead paying homage to the 2020 Yankees - a postseason in which no one hit aside from Stanton and the Bombers went down quietly in front of a clueless opposing fanbase (Tampa’s cardboard cutouts, Fans of the LA Dodgers).
For the second consecutive night, the Yanks faced a pitcher that many fans believed would be wearing pinstripes in 2024. As we all know, Ohtani deferred the entirety of his contract til after the planet explodes - which allowed the Dodgers to back up the Brinks Truck for Yamamoto - which then allowed Yamamoto to back up our colons with that weird torpedo he tosses around.
How fucking dumb am I to think that Rodon vs. Yoshi would somehow be an advantage for the Yankees? Thank god Roberts pulled him after 86 pitches, otherwise we’d probably be looking at 8 innings of 1 hit, 1 run ball while being subjected to that stupid Japanese breakfast feed 7 more times.
The aforementioned 1 hit and 1 run came via a solo blast from Soto, tying the game at 1 after Rodon allowed a homer to Tommy Edman the inning prior. If you thought this would allow Rodon to settle back into the game, you would be sorely mistaken.
With two outs in the 3rd Inning - Mookie single, Teoscar 2-Run bomb, Freddie bomb. For the second time this postseason, Rodon absolutely imploded in the first third of a game, giving the Dodgers all the run support they needed to defeat this offensively challenged iteration of the Yankees.
I don’t how this is still happening? I fucking love Judge and tried to bite my tongue on the issue for as long as I could but at this point, it’s just pathetic.
How does one of the best hitters in our lifetime come up this flat in the playoffs? Not only have I lost all confidence in his at bats, but I’m CERTAIN he’s going to strike out. He is consistently fanning at the 2 feet outside, off-speed garbage, then gets gassed by mediocre fastballs.
It feels like he’s coming up with men on every time - and just consistently leaving them stranded. I don’t know how you keep batting him third, we need Stanton in these spots or we’re going to get fucking swept.
The one positive to take away from this game is that the B-Tier bullpen guys pitched phenomenally and kept LA stuck at 4 when you assumed they’d blow the game open. Outside of Rodon and the Nestor debacle (did you see Tim Hill tonight?), the Yankees staff has overall done a great job against LA. If this continues and our offense decides to contribute anything at all, this series is far from over.
The Yankees apparently got that memo in the top of the ninth, when they decided to show their first and only signs of life of the evening. Soto single, (Judge Strikeout), Stanton RBI single, Jazz Single, Rizzo hit by pitch.
The bombers were set with bases loaded, 1 out, down 4-2.
Much like this Yankees rally, Anthony Volpe and Jose Trevino proved to be too little, too late on the respective sweeper and fastballs that retired the duo to end the game.
I’m fucking scared and sad, there’s no other way to put it. We pitched well enough to win both of these games, Stanton and Soto continue to rake - but much like Lindsay Lohan, we leave LA empty handed.
The good news is we have three in the Bronx to keep our season alive - starting with the shittiest dude in their rotation, a bullpen game, and then Cole back on the hill for Game 5. While we’ve forfeited any margin for error, these are extremely winnable games.
But let’s be real, it’s time to nut up or shut up. I know damn well we CAN beat this team but they have to fucking prove it. Boone needs to make the right decisions, Judge needs to get his head out of his ass, and the team has to show some serious balls for the first time this postseason.
Winning 4 of 5 is daunting, but it’s gotta start with 1. See you all in the Bronx Monday Night.
Go Yanks.
