The Yankees were looking at their third chance to climb to a mere three games above .500 for the first time this season. But they ended up striking out again.
Their year of mediocrity had been on the upswing lately. But the Yankees went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 in all. The Giants ultimately took advantage when Mac Williamson delivered an RBI single in the 12th, giving them a 2-1 win Saturday at Yankee Stadium, bringing an end to their six-game skid.
So the Yankees, who had claimed five of their previous six games, fell to 49-48.
Trevor Brown greeted Anthony Swarzak (1-1) to open the 12th with a double to the rightfield corner. One out later, Williamson came through by grounding a single past a diving Didi Gregorius at short, breaking a tie that had held since Williamson’s homer in the fifth. That made a winner out of Santiago Casilla (2-3).
The Giants (58-39) had a golden chance against Dellin Betances an inning earlier. Angel Pagan was at third with two outs. Betances was going to intentionally walk Brandon Crawford, but he lobbed the first pitch over Brian McCann’s head and to the backstop.
Pagan, though, didn’t try to score. Betances then pitched to Crawford and got him to ground to second.
The Yankees had the bases packed with one gone in the 10th, but McCann flied to shallow left and Starlin Castro fouled out to right.
Both starting pitchers delivered quality outings. Ivan Nova threw 96 pitches across seven innings for the Yankees, allowing one run and six hits, fanning seven and walking two. Johnny Cueto threw 117 pitches in six innings for the Giants, allowing one unearned run and six hits, fanning nine and walking one.
The Yankees scored the first run of the game in the fourth. Gregorius reached on a one-out infield hit, a swinging roller up the third-base line. Up stepped Mark Teixeira, who was batting .185 and had been dropped to seventh for the first time since 2012.
“I gave him a heads-up today before he came in that he’d be hitting seventh,” Joe Girardi said before the game. “Obviously, he’s used to hitting up in the middle of the order. It’s not necessarily what we want to do, but we’re trying to take advantage of some guys that are swinging the bat really well.”
Teixeira had gone down swinging with one out and two on in the second. This time, he lined a single into right. Williamson let the ball get by him for an error, and Gregorius raced all the way around from first.
The lead didn’t last long. Williamson quickly redeemed himself against Nova, depositing a homer in the San Francisco bullpen beyond the fence in left-center to open the fifth.
The Giants threatened in the first three innings against Nova. But Brett Gardner helped with a sliding catch on Crawford to end the first. Gregorius’ strong relay to the plate cut down Williamson for the final out in the second. And Nova also escaped a first-and-third, no-out problem in the third.
Cueto, meanwhile, stranded two in scoring position in the third. The Yankees also had Aaron Hicks at second with one out in the seventh and at third with two outs. But Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury couldn’t cash him in against Javier Lopez.
..... - Newsday