Domingo German simply didn’t have it as the Yankees were blown out by the Mariners, 10-2, on Thursday night at The Stadium.
Takeaways
- The story of this game was German’s ineffectiveness. He gave up four runs in the first inning on four hits with the big blast coming on a Eugenio Suarez double that scored two. The second inning wasn’t much better, as he gave up solo shots to Kolten Wong and Ty France to put the Mariners up 6-0.
He’d give up two more home runs in the fourth before he was mercifully pulled. German lasted just 3.1 innings while giving up eight hits, 10 runs (eight earned), two walks while striking out just four.
It’s German’s second straight bad start. Back on June 16 against the Red Sox, German gave up seven runs in just two innings. His ERA jumped from 4.30 to 5.10 after Thursday’s start.
- Aside from German's struggles, Thursday’s game mirrored that June 16 matchup because of the poor defense.
In the third, Josh Donaldson scooped up a grounder and lost it in the transfer. The runner on first was safe at second and ran to third with German running to cover. Donaldson threw to the starter but he dropped it, allowing the ball to go into the Mariners dugout and a run to score. Anthony Rizzo would mishandle a grounder later in the inning and gave the Yankees their third error of the game.
- The Yankees offense continued to struggle Thursday. They were no-hit by rookie Bryan Woo -- who came in with a 7.30 ERA -- until Gleyber Torres’ single with one out in the sixth inning. Rizzo narrowly missed a home run in the same inning, but had to settle for a single after it hit off the top of the wall.
The veteran hitters in the Yankees lineup continued to struggle. Giancarlo Stanton went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. He is now hitting .073 (3-for-41) in his last 12 games. DJ LeMahieu finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and Donaldson finished 0-for-3.
Rizzo, at least, went 1-for-2 with two walk so it seems he's coming out of his slump.
- The Yankees would finally score some runs in the ninth inning. After a leadoff walk by Rizzo, Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a two-run shot to put the Yankees on the board, 10-2. The Yankees offense still continued to score runs. In the three-game series, the Yanks scored just nine runs.
- With German unable to give the Yankees length, the bullpen had to do most of the heavy lifting. Nick Ramirez gave New York 2.2 innings while giving up just two hits and striking out five. Albert Abreu went two innings, giving up a walk and a hit while striking out four batters.
IKF pitched the ninth. This was IKF's third appearance as a pitcher this season, and second time this week. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning and even picked up his first career strikeout, getting Suarez to swing on a 3-2 fastball in the dirt. IKF has appeared on the mound more this season than Matt Krook, Deivi Garcia and Randy Vasquez.