Attempt To Salvage Is the Task For New York Yankees In Game 4

The attempt to salvage one of the four games in Toronto is what the Yankees tried to do in Toronto last night. The attempt was led by Clarke Schmidt, who is being opposed by Chris Bassitt, the former Met (the Yankees play them next).

Schmidt has been very good and is a good person to lead this attempt, at times, for the Yankees, and he was mediocre on Thursday. The Yankees have been struggling and have relinquished the divisional lead to the Blue Jays on Wednesday. The Yankees have not been executing the needed fundamentals in their weeks-long slide. That was a bit different in this game. Do you believe fundamentals are important in baseball?

Lineups as Yanks Attempt to Avoid Sweep

The Blue Jays had Nathan Lukes as the center fielder, batting leadoff. He moved to left field in the ninth inning. George Springer was the designated hitter, batting second. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the first baseman, batting third. Addison Barger was the right fielder, batting fourth. Alejandro Kirk was the catcher and batted fifth.

Ernie Clement was the shortstop and batted sixth. Will Wagner was the third baseman and batted seventh. Bo Bichette pinch-hit for him in the eighth inning, and he stayed in the game to play shortstop. Davis Schneider was the left fielder and batted eighth. He was replaced by Myles Straw in the ninth inning. Straw played center field. Leo Jiménez was the second baseman and batted ninth. 

For the Yankees, Trent Grisham batted first and was the center fielder. Ben Rice was the first baseman and batted second. Aaron Judge was the designated hitter who batted third. Cody Bellinger was the center fielder and batted fourth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was the third baseman, batting fifth. Jasson Dominguez was the left fielder and batted sixth. Anthony Volpe was the shortstop and batted seventh. Austin Wells was the catcher, batting eighth. Oswald Peraza was the second baseman and batted ninth. Giancarlo Stanton pinch-hit for him in the eighth inning. DJ LeMahieu came in to play second base.

News and Notes 

The Yankees’ top prospect, George Lombard Jr., was selected for the Major League Baseball Futures Game. Interestingly, Lombard is a shortstop. In a couple of seasons, he will attempt to replace Volpe as the shortstop.

On Wednesday, the Yankees showed some spunk in erasing an 8-0 deficit. They eventually tied the game at 9. However, the fundamentals betrayed them in the attempt to win, so they need to improve there. Schmidt lasted only three innings in this start. He had forearm tightness. He was replaced by Clayton Beeter.

Judge was intentionally walked in the eighth inning. That was the fifth time in this series and the 23rd time this year that he has been intentionally walked. That ties him with Mickey Mantle for intentional walks in a season. Judge still has half a season to play.

Rounders

This is a teaching game for teams that struggle with fundamentals. So, the Yankees should attempt to play it. They should attempt anything that will help them. In Rounders, a coach pitches and a net catches. The players on the team play first base, second base, shortstop, third base, left field, center field, right field, in that order.

They rotate through those positions every time a batter makes an out. The right fielder rotates to the bench, the bench rotates to on-deck, and on-deck rotates to at-bat. If a player at bat safely reaches base, they stay there and run the bases. Players keep track of their runs, and you win by scoring the most runs. If the batter makes an out, they go to the first base defensive position.

Here is the trick, and it is good for the Yankees as they attempt to get out of this funk. If a player makes a physical error in the field, they rotate back one defensive spot; if they make a mental error, they rotate back two spots. Everyone wants to hit, so moving back defensively is not liked by the players. Every error in the field is a teaching moment, and the coach should address the entire team. It is thought that Rounders was a precursor to baseball. Rounders is more fun for the coaches than for the players.

Scoring Summary

In the first inning, Barger doubled and Springer scored. Toronto took a 1-0 lead. The Yankees were losing again. In the third inning, Grisham hit a solo home run. The Yankees tied the game at 1. In the third inning, Springer hit a two-run home run. Toronto took a 3-1 lead. In the fourth inning, Volpe singled and Dominguez scored. It was 3-2 Toronto. Then, on a wild pitch by Bassitt, Wells scored and the Yankees tied the game at 3, but it was not to stay that way.

Toronto answered back immediately in the fourth inning. Lukes doubled and Wahner and Schneider scored. Toronto took a 5-3 lead. In the fifth inning, Barger hit a solo home run. The Blue Jays led 6-3. In the top of the seventh inning, the Yankees scored two runs. First, Chisholm Jr doubled and Judge scored. Then Volpe grounded out and Bellinger scored. That made it 6-5, Toronto. In the ninth inning, Springer hit a two-run home run. That made it 8-5, Toronto. That was the final score.

Final Thoughts

This is a long article, but until the Yankees execute the fundamentals of baseball properly, any attempt to win will be futile. They took a step forward, but they need to play fundamentally sound baseball in every game they play. They take on the New York Mets, who are also struggling, in Queens, starting on July 4.