Paying a lot of money for closers used to be ridiculed in sabermetric circles because replacement closers could usually be found, at least when save percentage was the determining metric. But then teams got better at identifying the Capital-C Closers, and managers got a little better at using them outside of traditional save situations, which kinda met the conversation halfway. Paying through the nose for a closer is a terrible use of resources if he’s only used for ninth innings with a lead, but high-leverage relievers who can preserve ties or record six outs can be a lethal weapon for a team that needs to squeeze out marginal wins in a low-scoring environment.
Alas, Tony La Russa came into this job with the express purpose of turning back the clock. When he’s not publicly criticizing his showman rookie for a breach of unwritten rules, he’s keeping his closer out of a tie game on the road, saving him for a situation that will never arrive.
Instead of going to Liam Hendriks in a 1-1 game in the ninth inning, he stuck with Evan Marshall, who had already lucked into three high-leverage outs the inning before. The Yankees tagged Marshall for one soft single and two solid ones with their first three batters to briskly, unceremoniously end what could’ve been a classic game, even in defeat.
OK, it was a classic game for the Yankees. Any game you walk off in the bottom of the ninth after turning a triple play in the top of the ninth qualifies as such. The game had a bunch of other crazy features that we’ll get to, but La Russa has a knack for making the conversation about him.
Because had Hendriks allowed three singles instead of Marshall, his inability to get the job would’ve been the focus, just like a good process bore bad results when La Russa replaced Carlos Rodón with Michael Kopech, who immediately gave up a home run that only qualifies as such in Yankee Stadium for the game’s first run. Maybe you could second-guess both decisions, but when he chooses very good players for important situations, there’s no fault to be found at the managerial level.
But when Marshall … what, the White Sox’s fifth-best reliever? … is counted upon to get all the high-leverage outs in the last two innings regardless of how he’s looking, the conversation can’t help but find the manager, because the manager has no better answer than to say he was saving his closer for a situation that wasn’t guaranteed. For added pain, La Russa mentioned that they were slow on the draw for getting somebody besides Hendriks involved.
Most managers wouldn’t have pressed their luck after the Marshall plan worked against considerable odds the inning before. Marshall replaced Kopech in a 1-1 game with runners on the corners and nobody out in the eighth, perhaps because he finally looked great his last time out, and he can keep the ball in the infield if that’s the guy La Russa thinks he has. I wouldn’t place that much faith in Marshall, but there’s a version of Marshall in the not-too-distant past who fit the bill.
Anyway, Marshall escaped with the help of friends and a foe. First, D.J. LeMahieu’s comebacker eluded Marshall, but bounded right to a shifted Tim Anderson, who fired home in time to get Miguel Andjuar for the first out. Luke Voit followed by hitting a rocket to the left side, but it was at a perfectly positioned Yoán Moncada. Brett Gardner decided to break for third instead of waiting for it to get through, and Moncada had an easy flip to second for the 5-4 double play that ended the inning.
A similarly hot shot to the left side blew up the White Sox’s next rally in spectacular fashion. Yermín Mercedes led off by taking five Aroldis Chapman pitches, four of which missed the zone. He was replaced by Billy Hamilton, but Hamilton couldn’t time the lefty before Leury García bunted him over. Fortunately, García tried to get a hit out of the situation himself, and his push bunt was far enough away from Chapman to force an awkward lunging, stumbling fielding attempt that didn’t get the job done.
That put runners on the first and second with still nobody out for Andrew Vaughn. He took a first-pitch ball from Chapman, then made Chapman prove he could throw a strike for 1-1. When Chapman tried a get-me-over slider on his third pitch, Vaughn put a good swing on it.
Unfortunately he didn’t get any lift on it. His 101-mph grounder was hit right to Gio Urshela, who took a couple steps to his right for the force at third, fired to LeMahieu at second, who completed the turn to Voit for the 5-4-3 triple play.
Those two half-innings were characteristic of just how difficult it was to score a run in this game. Carlos Rodón struck out 13 over six shutout innings, but Jordan Montgomery was his equal by striking out 11 over seven. They combined to make a very specific kind of history.
The teams could only score after they left the game, and only by unusual circumstances. Gleyber Torres greeted Michael Kopech in the seventh by working a 3-1 count — the Yankees’ first three-ball count of the game! — and did what he could to meet Kopech’s heat in a fastball situation. He did enough, sending a relative flare (97.7 mph) into the first rows of Yankee Stadium’s short porch for the latest unlucky opposite-field homer against the White Sox. Statcast said it wouldn’t have been a homer in any other park but they one they were in.
The White Sox had to wait an inning for New York’s starter to leave, but Jonathan Loaisiga was just as much a letdown after Montgomery’s brilliant outing. He walked a pinch-hitting Adam Eaton to open the inning. Eaton then took second on a wild pitch, and third with a bit of canny baserunning on Anderson’s slow chopper to the left side. Eaton held his position after taking a couple steps toward third, and his lack of motion drew no special attention from Urshela, who was charging it. But Eaton also didn’t shift any of his weight back to second, allowing him to restart toward third and take it without a throw.
Those 90 feet mattered, because it brought the infield in, and so Nick Madrigal had plenty of room to parachute a slider that was low and off the plate into short right field to tie the game. It was one of those at-bats that was terrible until it wasn’t, because Madrigal swing at four of five pitches, and none of them were anything close to a strike.
There was still only one out, and Yoán Moncada appeared to sustain the rally by dropping a line drive in front of Aaron Judge in right. But Madrigal got faked by Judge’s bluff and was forced out at second for the 9-6 fielder’s choice.
Over the course of two at-bats, he completed the final two legs of the Nick Madrigal Hat Trick. Well before the soft single on a crazy pitch and the TOOTBLAN, he panicked in the field and rushed himself into an error.
Two errors, actually. With one out and Miguel Andujar on first in the third inning, Madrigal first dropped Gardner’s line drive. That alone wasn’t an error, because he still had his choice of outs. Andujar had frozen like he should’ve, and was barely getting started toward second base, so Madrigal had an easy flip to force out the lead runner. Likewise, he could’ve collected the ball in time to get Gardner at first, and see if Andjuar might be confused himself to not commit all the way to second.
Instead, Madrigal clipped the wire on his internal clock that had it counting double time. He picked up the ball and fired wildly to first, so much so that not only were both runners safe, but both runners could also advance a base as Zack Collins chased down the ball by the first-base dugout.
That put Rodón in a jam he didn’t deserve, but fortunately another infielder had his back. When LeMahieu followed by hitting a bouncer to first base, José Abreu gloved the ball and quickly but calmly — Madrigal always forgets that second part — made an on-target throw home to beat Andjuar by a couple of steps. Rodón then did the rest himself, striking out Voit on three sliders, the last of which elicited a primal roar.
Rodón already had beast mode engaged from the start, when he struck out the first five Yankees he saw. His slider, which had been a late-arriving pitch for most of his starts this season, was with him from the first batter. He threw 32 of them, 22 of which found the zone, 20 of which were swung at, and 11 of which were fanned on. His fastball also had extra pop, averaging 96 and topping out at 99, and the changeup showed up for the third time through.
The combination resulted in a career-high 13 strikeouts with just two singles allowed. Under different circumstances, La Russa might’ve asked him to start a seventh inning, since he had thrown 95 pitches. Coming off an off day and with 18 games over the next 17 days, La Russa chose to not exhaust a starter who will be needed at full strength on normal rest the next two turns.
Rodón lowered his ERA to 1.27, but he didn’t get the win, because Montgomery was just as tough, and even more economical. He threw seven zeroes on just 90 pitches, 68 of which were strikes. Moncada continued his hot streak with a double and single off Montgomery, and Mercedes had a pair of flared singles, but nobody else in the lineup had an answer for a lefty. And because José Abreu went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in between Moncada and Mercedes, the Sox couldn’t post two consecutive productive plate appearances against Montgomery all night. The Yankees offered their own comical mistake when Gardner and Andujar nearly collided on a rather routine Andrew Vaughn fly in left center for a two-base error, with two outs in the sixth, but Yasmani Grandal came off the bench and found out why so many other guys were striking out.
All of the above contributed to a game that seemed like it would’ve gone 16 innings under the traditional rules, but thanks to La Russa’s overreliance on Marshall, we couldn’t even see what it looked like through 10.
Bullet points:
*Anderson’s slump extended to 0-for-16 after going hitless in four at-bats, striking out twice. That’s what it took for his average to fall below .300 (.298).
*LeMahieu, Anderson’s batting title rival, had an even worse night. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and his two non-strikeouts resulted in fielder’s choices at the plate.
*Moncada continued his habit of saving his best contact for the least favorable park. His 395-foot drive to the left center power alley only found the base of the wall. Still, he should’ve had a three-hit night if it weren’t for Madrigal.
Record: 26-17 | Box score | Statcast
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Yankees 2, White Sox 1: Tony La Russa makes everything about him - Sox Machine
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