Yankees' fantasy wild-card dreams take a hit with loss to Pirates
Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton walks back to the dugout after striking out in the ninth inning against Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher David Bednar during a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. Credit: AP/Gene J. Puskar
PITTSBURGH — The Yankees knew going into Sunday’s game at PNC Park that any tiny dream of a playoff run in the final two weeks of the season was pretty much fantasy baseball.
After winning their third straight on Saturday and moving to within six games of the final American League wild-card spot with 13 to play, the Yankees started Sunday with a 0.9% chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs. Baseball Reference had it at 0.3%.
Either way, an extreme long shot.
Famous Yankees fan Jomboy, who co-hosts the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast that includes a weekly spot with manager Aaron Boone, posted on Saturday night on social media: “WELCOME BACK TO THE DELUSION!!!”
To make a serious run, the Yankees were going to need a lot of breaks and a lot of help. What they didn’t need was a seventh-inning ground ball on Sunday that hit the third-base bag and became a double that drove in what proved to be the winning run in the Pirates’ 3-2 victory.
“Just part of the game, I guess,” losing pitcher Carlos Rodon said. “Baseball. Welcome to it.”
The Yankees, who had won 14 of 19, fell to 76-74. Their chances aren’t zero, but they are as close to zero as one can get.
Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton walks back to the dugout after striking out in the ninth inning against Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher David Bednar during a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. Credit: AP/Gene J. Puskar
“You never know,” Boone said before the game. “Strange things happen, right? We just want to play well. Handle our business, and if strange is in the cards, then great. But the biggest thing we want to do is control ourselves and hopefully continue to play really, really good baseball down the stretch, and we’ll look up and see where we are at the end.”
The Yankees would have to beat out two of the three teams (Texas, Toronto and Seattle) that are bunched ahead of them for one of the final two wild- card spots. The Yankees have six games left with the Blue Jays, beginning with a three-game series at home on Tuesday. They will not face the Rangers or Mariners.
It didn’t help that the Yankees were no-hit for the first five innings on Sunday by Pirates righthanders Colin Selby (two innings) and Andre Jackson (three) as they fell behind 2-0. Or that they managed only four hits all day.
Rodon retired the first six Pirates before Jared Triolo led off the third with a double off the right-centerfield wall. Liover Peguero made it 1-0 three batters later with a two-out RBI single.
Rodon recorded his 1,000th career strikeout when he fanned Ke’Bryan Hayes for the first out of the fourth. Two pitches later, former Yankee Miguel Andujar homered off the rightfield foul pole to make it 2-0.
The Yankees’ first hit was a single to right-center by Estevan Florial on the first pitch of the sixth. DJ LeMahieu followed with an RBI double inside the third-base bag.
Anthony Volpe tied it at 2 with a 417-foot home run to center in the seventh. It was the rookie’s 21st home run.
Then came the fateful bottom half. Rodon allowed a one-out double by Triolo but struck out Alika Williams. Jason Delay followed with a line-hugger to third base. Oswald Peraza was camped out deep and on the line, ready to snare the ball and make a long throw to first. It would have been a tough play, but it was doable with the catcher Delay running.
Instead, the ball hit the bag and skidded into foul territory down the leftfield line as Triolo scored to give the Pirates the lead.
“Unfortunate bounce there off the bag,” Boone said.
Rodon (3-6, 5.90 ERA) couldn’t believe it. His outing was over after he set personal Yankees highs in innings (6 2⁄3) and pitches (103) and tied his Yankees high in strikeouts (10).
The Yankees had a final shot in the ninth when Austin Wells drove a one-out double to deep center, but David Bednar struck out Volpe and Peraza to end that comeback dream.
And, most likely, any playoff run fantasy.
Right?
“Go out there and win some games,” Aaron Judge said. “We’re not out of it and we’re going to keep fighting.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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