The Yankees scored eight unanswered runs and defeated the Rockies, 8-2, Friday at Yankee Stadium. >> Box score
Six takeaways from Friday's game
1) The Yankees trailed early after the Rockies jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but Edwin Encarnacion strode to the plate in the third with the bases loaded and quickly put the Yankees on top. Encarnacion was behind in the count 1-2 and got a good changeup from Kyle Freeland located down and away, but the right-handed hitter muscled it just over the wall in left for his 12th career grand slam. Only Albert Pujols, with 14 grand slams, has more among active players.
2) Encarnacion's grand slam came with the Yankees trailing 2-0, but it could have been much worse had it not been for a pair of outfield assists early on in the game. The Rockies had already scored twice while batting in the second and were threatening for more, with a runner on third and one out. Charlie Blackmon sent a fly ball out to Mike Tauchman in left, who caught it, came up firing and cut down Garrett Hampson trying to tag up and score. Then in the third, Ian Desmond singled to right and appeared to give the Rockies another scoring opportunity. It looked like the Rockies would have runners at first and second with two outs, but Aaron Judge threw behind Nolan Arenado, who got too aggressive with his turn around second, to end the inning and the threat.
3) J.A. Happ gave up eight hits and two walks over five innings, but only allowed two runs before giving away to Adam Ottavino in the sixth. Happ earned the victory and has now allowed two runs or fewer in all three of his starts in July. There was a brief moment of trepidation for Yankees fans as Happ got loose for the fourth inning. As the left-hander completed his warm-up tosses, Gary Sanchez alerted Yankees bench coach and acting manager Josh Bard and trainer Steve Donahue that the pitcher might not be right. But after a few more throws with Bard and Donahue watching from around the mound, Happ felt good enough to continue pitching.
4) Judge added a home run of his own in the sixth, his 11th of the season, to extend the Yankees lead to 8-2. Yency Almonte gave Judge a fastball right down the middle, and the slugger drove out well over the wall in right-center field. Judge finished the game 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and has homered in two of the last four games.
5) Tauchman was also impressive at the plate, starting in left field for the Yanks for the second game in a row. He had his first career three-hit game and made himself a nuisance on the basepaths, as well. In the fourth, Tauchman's check-swing down the left-field line barely made it out of the infield, but he hustled safely into second for a double before scoring on a D.J. LeMahieu single. Then in the eighth, Tauchman singled and promptly stole second base. The throw ricocheted away and allowed him to get to third, drawing the Rockies infield in. LeMahieu hit a ground ball to Arenado, but Tauchman scampered in ahead of the throw home for another Yankee run.
6) The Yankee bullpen neatly pieced together the final four innings of the win, with Ottavino and Stephen Tarpley combining to finish off the game. Ottavino struck out all three batters he faced in the sixth, while Tarpley tossed three scoreless innings to earn the save, striking out six batters.
Highlights
Parrot Power 💪🦜 pic.twitter.com/fX4fxT0R0g
- New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 20, 2019
And this one's homegrown. pic.twitter.com/2LfbuUtWPf
- New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 20, 2019
What's next
The Yankees and Rockies continue their three-game series on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. when Masahiro Tanaka (6-5, 3.81 ERA) takes the mound against Antonio Senzatela (8-6, 5.79 ERA).