Astros Bomb Bombers

The upstart Astros finished off the Yankees last night (San Diego Tribune)

It took the Yankees three years to get back to the playoffs--an eternity for baseball's most impatient organization and fan base--but just three hours to get knocked out.

New York losing last night's wild card contest completed their September collapse. Just a half-game out of first on September 8th, they went 10-16 the rest of the way, finishing six games back of the Blue Jays. With a slumping offense, leaky bullpen, and diminished rotation, New York limped to the finish line, losing six of their last seven to inferior Red Sox and Orioles teams. Had they won last night and advanced, they would have been easy prey for the well-rested Royals.

The Astros, on the other hand, were red-hot, having won 9 of their last 14 to close out the season. If LA's last-ditch comeback worried them, they didn't play like it. Houston had the look of a young, energetic team eager to move on, while the tired Yankees looked like they were ready to go home.

And so the surging 'Stros aswaggered into Yankee Stadium and blanked the Bombers, advancing to an ALDS date with Kansas City. Houston grabbed an early lead when Colby Rasmus led off the second inning with a home run and never looked back. The Astros added another in the fourth when Carlos Gomez, who'd done nothing of consequence since coming over in a deadline deal with the Brewers, also went yard, then tacked on an insurance run in the seventh. New York never recovered, making that 3-0 deficit look like a 13-0 hole by the end of the night.

Though both teams were top-five offenses in terms of runs scored and home runs, neither showed much signs of life last night. The oldest lineup and the youngest combined for just three runs and eight hits between them, and if two of those hits had stayed in the yard than it could have been a 1-0 game.

I'm still surprised New York lost, as everything leading up to this game pointed to a Yankees victory. New York was at home with its ace on the mound, facing a pitcher on short rest who'd been far less effective on the road. All the Yankees needed was six solid innings from Masahiro Tanaka and a big fly from one of their boppers, then they could turn the game over to their lights-out bullpen and take it from there.

Instead Tanaka was gone after five, yanked by Joe Girardi after just 83 pitches. Rather than take his chances with a tiring Tanaka, Girardi deployed stud relievers Justin Wilson, Dellin Betances, and Andrew Miller to keep the Astros at bay. Tanaka hadn't done much to warrant staying in the game, throwing just 49 of his 83 pitches for strikes and recording just one punchout after the first inning. Plagued by the long ball all year, he surrendered two more in the first four innings. Facing an Astros lineup that spanked 230 during the regular season in a park that favors the four-bagger, it was only a matter of time before Houston made Tanaka pay for at least one of his mistakes.

They didn't make him pay for loading the bases following the Rasmus homer--a couple hits there drives him from the game and gives Dallas Keuchel an early cushion. Not that the likely Cy Young winner needed it, as he was simply marvelous. Keuchel allowed just three hits--all singles--and one walk across six shutout innings while fanning seven. There were questions about his ability to pitch on the road (his road ERA was over two runs higher than his home mark) and on three days' rest, but he answered them both by silencing New York's bats.

 

The Yankee offense had been quiet lately--averaging just 3.73 runs per game over their final 26--but it had been nearly two months since they'd been shut out at home. To wit, it seemed as though their aging stars simply ran out of gas. It's clear that going forward, New York will need to start phasing out some of its older players and develop (or buy) more young talent in order to compete for a championship. Because as currently constructed, they're just too old to survive a long, grueling baseball season, which still has another month to go.

 

The Astros, meanwhile, remind me of last year's Royals. They're young, hungry, and while not the most talented, certainly have enough to get by. It wouldn't surprise me if they upset the Royals and possibly the Blue Jays on their way to winning the AL pennant. The future is bright for this Houston team, in October and beyond.

Napoli Bombs Tanaka, Yankees

Napoli follows through on his go-ahead home run (NYDailyNews)

With one flick of his wrists last night, Mike Napoli lined a missile into Yankee Stadium's right field bleachers that gave the Boston Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth, a lead that stood up when Koji Uehara closed the door on the Yankees 15 minutes later.

Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka was still in the game when Napoli stepped up to the plate with two outs in the top of the ninth, having just retired David Ortiz on a double play groundout into the shift. Tanaka had been terrific up to that point, his lone mistake coming in the third inning when David Ross took him deep to put Boston out in front 1-0. But the Yankees had quickly rallied with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame, setting off a classic game of tug-of-war between Tanaka and Boston's Jon Lester.

The score remained knotted at one into the ninth. New York's undisputed ace, who had already fanned Napoli twice in the game already, had the Red Sox slugger right where he wanted him. With a 1-2 count on a notoriously poor two-strike hitter, Tanaka was in the driver's seat, one strike away from calling it a night and getting out of the inning unscathed.

Looking to match power against power, the Japanese phenom reared back and fired his fastball in an attempt to blow Boston's bearded first baseman away. But at the last second Tanaka's 112th pitch of the night, a heater tagged at 96 miles per hour, darted back over the plate. Belt-high and on the outer half, it was the kind of mistake that Napoli crushes for a living, and he didn't miss it. He extended his arms and went with the pitch, driving it on a line towards Alfonso Soriano in right field. Soriano sprinted back, turned as if to expecting to play the carom off the wall, then watched the ball sail into the first row of seats behind the yellow W.B. Mason sign. Napoli's 10th home run of the season just did get over.

An exultant Napoli clapped his hands together as he rounded first. Tanaka's legs buckled on the mound. He looked on in abject horror, like he'd just witnessed one Bleacher Creature eating another. Napoli completed his trip around the bases, high-fived Stephen Drew at the plate and chugged back to the Boston bench, all smiles as he apparently shouted "What an idiot!" to his beaming teammates.

Somewhat surprisingly, Joe Girardi left the rattled hurler in to finish what he started. This time Tanaka finished the job, recovering to fan Drew on four pitches for his eighth K of the night. But it was one batter too late, and Tanaka trudged off the mound, knowing full well that he had likely cost the Yankees the game. For all their struggles this year, the Red Sox--armed with arguably the best closer in baseball--have not lost a game they've led after the eighth inning.

Sure enough, Uehara mowed down Carlos Beltran, fellow countryman Ichiro Suzuki (pinch-hitting for Soriano) and Brian McCann for his 17th save of the season. Lester earned the win for his remarkable performance: eight innings, five hits, a single unearned run and six strikeouts. Tanaka was the tough-luck loser, suffering his second straight loss and falling to 11-3 on the season despite the complete game effort.

The Red Sox will go for the series win as they wrap up their 10-game road trip tonight. With just one road series win in their last eight, their last coming in a two-game sweep of the Braves at Turner Field in late May, the Sox desperately need a turnaround performance from John Lackey, who was shelled by the Mariners his last time out and failed to make it through the fourth inning. Boston's bats will look to wake up against Chase Whitley, a rookie making his ninth career start. The odds appear to be in Boston's favor, which isn't something you've been able to say about them a lot this year.

April Awards

May is here, which means the first month of baseball is in the books. Thus, it's time to hand out some awards.

American League
Player of the Month-Jose Bautista
Joey Bats is back. The slugging rightfielder drew 30 walks last month, most in baseball, to fuel his AL-best .467 OBP and 1.065 OPS. He also went yard eight times, tying Jose Abreu and Justin Upton for the best AB/HR ratio in the sport, scored 24 runs, and reached base more times than any player in baseball.

Pitcher of the Month-Masahiro Tanaka
The highly touted Japanese rookie has been even better than anticipated for the Yankees, asserting himself as the ace of New York's staff. His 2.27 ERA, 2.96 FIP and 0.93 WHIP are all superb, as is his 11.6 K/9 rate and 7.67 K/BB ratio. He's pitched at least seven innings in four of his five starts (all of which have produced a Game Score better than 60) and recorded double digit strikeouts three times. The Yankees have to be satisfied with the early returns on their seven-year, $155 million investment.

Rookie of the Month-Jose Abreu
What a month it was for Abreu, who surpassed Albert Pujols' rookie records for home runs and RBI in the month of April, finishing with 10 and 32, respectively--most in the majors. The Cuban slugger also leads the sport in total bases, AB/HR ratio, and extra base hits, plus has the best slugging percentage in the American League.

Team of the Month-Oakland A's
Led by its dominant pitching staff and potent offense, Oakland rolled to an 18-10 record in April behind the best run-differential in the sport, putting them three wins ahead of every other American League team. Strong starts from Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, and Jesse Chavez have picked up the slack for A.J. Griffin and Jarrod Parker (lost for the season), helping Oakland maintain the league's lowest ERA. The lineup, which leads all of baseball in walks and has the second-highest OBP, has been boosted by Josh Donaldson, Jed Lowrie, Coco Crisp, Yoenis Cespedes, and Brandon Moss. The two-time defending AL West champs once again find themselves at the top of the standings and have put themselves in good position to three-peat.

National League
Player of the Month-Troy Tulowitzki
Tulo batted a scorching hot .364/.477/.727 in April to finish the month with the sport's highest OBP, SLG, OPS, and second best batting average (behind teammate Charlie Blackmon). The NL runs scored leader is also tops in bWAR, OPS+. and runs created. He's a big reason why the Rockies are tied with LA for second place in the NL West right now.

Pitcher of the Month-Johnny Cueto
Cincinnati's ace leads both leagues in ERA (with a microscopic 1.15) and innings pitched, as well as complete games, ERA+, and H/9. He also has a 0.77 WHIP, 3.57 K/BB ratio and is striking out more than a batter per inning. He's allowed just six runs in his six starts, all of which have lasted at least seven innings, and his average Game Score thus far is a 76.

Rookie of the Month-Chris Owings
Not a whole lot of NL Rookies contributing right now. Arizona's 22 year-old shortstop is batting a solid .313/.367/.398 with five doubles and four stolen bases. Along with Paul Goldschmidt and Mark Trumbo, he's one of the few bright spots on a disastrous Diamondbacks team.

Team of the Month-Milwaukee Brewers
The Brew Crew boast the best record in baseball at 20-8, largely thanks to their lights-out starting pitching and stellar bullpen work. Four of their five starting pitchers have ERAs below 2.90 (newcomer Matt Garza, at an even 5.00, is lagging behind) with Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Lohse, Marco Estrada and Wily Peralta all pitching like aces. The bullpen's been even better; backed by a perfect Francisco Rodriguez (0.00 ERA in 16 appearances) and near-perfect Tyler Thornburg (0.61 in 14), Milwaukee's 'pen has a 2.45 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 4.12 K/BB ratio. Offensively, the Brewers are getting production from multiple sources. Ryan Braun and Carlos Gomez are off to MVP-caliber starts, and they're getting plenty of help from Aramis Ramirez, Jonathan Lucroy, and Mark Reynolds.