Following the Yankees AL East clinching win, the Yankees encountered the rookie Matt Moore and were taken care of easily in a 15-8 loss.
The Yankees sent Bartolo Colon to the mound to audition for a spot on the rotation for the postseason and tonight was not a good outing. Bartolo Colon lasted just 3 innings and gave up 7 runs, 5 earned in this disappointing start. The defeat was well in hand by the 6th inning as 11-0. The Yankees pitching and defense played as if they had spent all of last night celebrating the clinch of the AL East as the defense made 4 errors tonight, including 2 by Derek Jeter.
The Yankees notable prospects, Andrew Brackman and Dellin Betances made their debuts in tonight’s game. Andrew Brackman had a good outing as he went 1.1 innings and managed to escape a bases-loaded situation without giving up a run. The debut of Dellin Betances was far from smooth as he appeared to be nervous. He kept flying open and hooking the ball in on left-handed batters as he walked 4 and hit 1 batter over 0.2 innings. He ended up surrendering 2 runs without allowing a hit but was removed from the game before he could get the last out.
The Yankees offense looked foolish as the pitching prospect Matt Moore made his first career start in the majors and shined bright. Moore went 5 scoreless innings and struck out 11 with just 1 walk. He had veterans and rookies swinging through fastballs clocked as high as 97 mph and bowing out of the way of curveballs that landed in the strike zone to show his full repetoire.
Bartolo Colon has looked like a much different pitcher since the All-Star break. Earlier in the season, he was considered a savior of sorts as struggles by Burnett and Hughes were countered with shutout innings from the large righty that made some of the best hitters look at the movement of his 2-seam fastball. However the speed on his fastball has now topped at 89, earlier around 93-94, while it is also staying more over the plate than he would have liked. Colon has been getting hit harder and has not been as efficient with his pitches either. The 3rd starter for the Yankees postseason continues to be a mystery. The 3rd starter would not be as critical if we can depend on Sabathia and Nova but to have a postseason roster with the starting rotation with gaps is not a way to go into the postseason where one game could turn the tide of momentum in a short series.
Ryan Nakada
@adakannayr
