Yankees Game 10: Opportunities given away in loss

Ineptitude with runners in scoring position continues to haunt the bats.

Seattle Mariners 3 – New York Yankees 2

The Seattle Mariners' ace opened the door for the Yankees but they were not going through.

Through the first three innings, CC Sabathia controlled the Mariners. Despite allowing a base runner in each inning, the Mariners were kept off balance and off the scoreboard. Against the Mariners ace, Felix Hernandez, the Yankees made him work, working walks and getting runners on base but futility with runners in scoring position has been a regular frustration with the Yankees offense.

After two innings with five base runners stranded, Mark Teixeira got on base in the third inning with a one-out walk. Carlos Beltran followed with a double to left center that hit the ground running, going all the way to the wall and allowing Teixeira to score from first base to put the Yankees ahead. The Yankees got two more base runners in the fourth inning but stranded them again. In the fifth inning, Carlos Beltran got his second double of the game and a walk by Chase Headley but a questionable strike three called on Didi Gregorius ended another scoring opportunity against King Felix.

In five innings, Felix Hernandez allowed one run on five hits with six walks and four strikeouts. In nine situations with runners in scoring position, the Yankees were hitless. The Yankees left a total of 10 on base against King Felix. The opportunities were there but the Yankees never grabbed it.

After four innings, CC looked to be strong but the fifth inning proved to be his undoing. Eight hitter Leonys Martin got a hold of a badly located slider and put it deep into the right field bleachers for a game-tying solo home run. Sabathia surrendered a single afterwards before getting two more outs, including a heads up play by Didi Gregorius and Chase Headley to get a runner at third wandering off the base but the hits to follow made it irrelevant. Robinson Cano hit a sharp single to center field, scoring the go-ahead run and Nelson Cruz added insurance with a double to left field that knocked Sabathia out of the game. Johnny Barbato continued his strong start to his major league career with 1 1/3 scoreless in relief.

In 4 2/3 innings, CC Sabathia allowed three runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out five.

After former Yankee Vidal Nuno silenced the Yankees in the sixth inning, the Yankees got a run from a reliable source today in the seventh. Against Nick Vincent, Carlos Beltran added his third hit of the game in a big way, going deep for a solo home run, his third of the game, to bring the Yankees within one.

For the eighth and ninth inning, the Yankees enjoyed a treat they hope to see many times this season as Dellin Betances struck out three of the four batters he faced and Andrew Miller efficiently struck out the side to keep the deficit at one.

In the ninth inning, against closer Steve Cishek, the Yankees made some noise and threatened. After getting two outs, Carlos Beltran hit a single to left field, his fourth hit of the game, a first for him as a Yankee. Starlin Castro followed with a deep single to right, putting runners on the corners. Unfortunately the runners were stranded in scoring position (a common struggle lately) when Chase Headley grounded out, ending today's game in defeat. In today's game, the Yankees were hitless in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position, leaving 14 on base.

Win – Felix Hernanez (1-1)

Loss – CC Sabathia (1-1)

Save – Steve Cishek (1) Notables

Mariners

*Leonys Martin – 1 for 4, R, Solo home run (2) in the 5th, RBI (4)

*Nelson Cruz – 2 for 4, 2 2B, RBI (5)

Yankees

*Carlos Beltran – 4 for 5, R, 2 2B, Solo home run (3) in the 7th, 2 RBI (7)

*Starlin Castro – 3 for 5

Current Yankees Record: 4-5