Thoughts following Wild Card Series Game 2

Y'all enjoy that game last night? Nothing like a casual Wednesday night game that ends six hours after its scheduled start time. At four hours and 50 minutes, it was the longest nine-inning game in baseball history (regular season or postseason), and that doesn't even include two separate rain delays totaling 76 minutes.

There was a run scored in every inning except the third inning and both clubs made multiple comebacks. The Yankees erased 4-0 and 9-8 deficits. Cleveland erased 6-4 and 8-6 deficits. The win probability graph is a doozy:

"I’m 47 years old. I’ve watched a lot of baseball. I don’t know how you top that one," Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch. "The amount of back and forth, big moments and plays by different guys. With how long it was, I’m glad we don’t have to come back and play tomorrow.” 

The Yankees are now heading to the Southern California hub to play the Rays in the ALDS. That series begins Monday, which means you have four days off to sit back and revel in last night's win. I went to bed around 3am ET last night and the adrenaline was still pumping. Fun game. Would've been agonizing had the Yankees lost though. Let's get to today's thoughts.

1. The Gio Urshela Game. Gio has been a godsend since joining the Yankees last season and last night was his masterpiece. His Mona Lisa. Urshela had a hand in just about every critical moment, starting with a fourth inning grand slam that led to the bat flip you see at the top of the post. That's a real good "just stuck it to your former team" bat flip.

Cleveland acting manager Sandy Alomar Jr. made the right move in that spot, going to his ace reliever (James Karinchak) with the bases loaded and no outs, and truth be told, it was not a horrible pitch to Urshela. It was a 96 mph full count fastball at the knees. Urshela just beat Karinchak to the spot and hit that glorious grand slam halfway up the bleachers.

“I was trying to get a pitch to hit," Urshela told Bryan Hoch. “I worked it to a 3-2 count. I tried to put the ball in play, trying to get a sacrifice fly. Thank God I got the homer.” 

This game was so bonkers that the grand slam registered at +.229 WPA and it was only the fourth most impactful play of the game behind DJ LeMahieu's go-ahead single in the ninth (+.351), Jordan Luplow's game-tying double in the seventh (+.330), and Cesar Hernandez's go-ahead single in the eighth (+.242). It sure was my favorite play though.

Urshela's next big moment came defensively in the eighth inning. The Yankees had already allowed Cleveland to take the lead -- plenty more on that coming -- but they still had two on with one out and were threatening to tack on. That's when Carlos Santana hit a 108.7 mph -- 108.7 mph! -- ground ball at Gio, who did this (video link):

Unreal. An inning-ending double play with the game (maybe the season) on the line from his backside. Just unreal. I love Miguel Andujar. Miggy's forever cool with me. But there is zero -- positively zero -- chance he makes that play. Also, this is one of those plays win probability doesn't accurate capture. Only +.060? Nope. In context, it was a potential season-saver.

"It’s no secret. We all know what Gio is capable of," Aroldis Chapman told Dan Martin. "I really think he saved the game there. If the ball goes by him, at least one run comes in. It was an amazing play."

Because the grand slam and the double play weren't enough, Urshela also contributed to the go-ahead rally in the ninth inning. He took a first pitch slider for a strike, took an ugly hack through a second pitch slider to fall behind 0-2, then did that thing where he reaches down and digs the ball out of the dirt and gets a hit. It's uncanny. Look at this:

Off the bat, I thought it was a double play. It had that 4-6-3 look but it split the infielders and rolled into the outfield. That put two on with no outs and the rally continued from there. Gio went 2-for-5 with the grand slam and a game-saving defensive play. This goes into the annals of Yankees history as the Gio Urshela game.

"That was one of the best games I ever played in my life," Urshela told James Wagner. YUP.

2. Bad managing, bad bullpening. Not a good game for the bullpen and not a good game for Aaron Boone. Not a good game for either manager, really, but I don't care about Cleveland's decisions. Let's go through the managerial mishaps chronologically.

Sticking with Tanaka

I'll have more on Masahiro Tanaka's outing in a bit but Boone stuck with him way longer than I would have. I would've had Tanaka out after the first inning, honestly. Jordan Montgomery was warming and available to provide length, and Tanaka didn't look good at all after the rain delay. Tanaka tossing scoreless second, third, and fourth innings was a minor miracle.

Carlos Carrasco sat longer than Tanaka during the delay -- he went about an hour between pitches -- and he ran out of gas in the fourth inning. The Yankees ran his pitch count up in the first two innings plus who knows how many pitches he threw in the batting cage during the delay to stay warm? Carrasco's pitch count was in the 70s and running out of gas was an indication Tanaka might soon as well.

The top of the lineup was coming up for the third time in that fifth inning and Tanaka's pitch count was at 70. Given how shaky he looked in the first four innings, it was time to get him out of there. Asking him to face the top of the lineup a third time was really pushing it. Rather than go to the bullpen, Tanaka went back out, allowed a double and a walk, and Cleveland was in business. Way too long a leash. When in doubt, let your reliever start the inning fresh, especially against the top of the lineup.

Britton in the sixth

Boone's one smart move. Zack Britton is clearly atop the setup pecking order and rather than save him for the seventh or eighth inning, Boone went to him in the sixth, because that was the game's highest leverage moment (up to that point). Get those important outs, trust your offense to keep adding runs, then figure out the pitching later.

Chad Green didn't get hit hard in the sixth inning -- he gave up a jam shot bloop and a ground ball with eyes -- but Cleveland was threatening and the top of the lineup was coming up. With the Yankees nursing a two-run lead at the time, that situation was begging for their best reliever, and Boone went to him. Hooray for that. Thumbs up for this move, and not only because Britton got the inning-ending double play. Right pitcher in the right moment.

Wade running for Voit

Let's not take Luke Voit out of a high-scoring game in the seventh inning again, okay? I can see pinch-running in the ninth -- Mike Tauchman running for Giancarlo Stanton in the ninth was a no-brainer, Stanton running isn't a thing you want with the game on the line -- but in the seventh? Way too soon. The chances Voit would get another at-bat (in an important situation) were way too high. Gotta assume he'll hit again and the game will be close.

Sure enough, pinch-runner Tyler Wade's run didn't score, then his lineup spot came up in a critical situation in the eighth inning. Tie game with runners on second and third and two out. Of course Wade wasn't allowed to hit. Clint Frazier pinch-struck out on three pitches. I know coming off the bench cold to pinch-hit can't be easy, especially when you're not used to it, but Frazier was too passive. The first pitch fastball was right there. Take a hack at it.

Anyway, Mike Ford had to replace Frazier to play first base, so Boone burned four players in one lineup spot in the span of two innings to gain minimal tactical advantage. He took Voit's bat out the lineup, got about 15 minutes from Wade's legs and glove, used his top bench bat in Frazier, then had to put Ford at first. All that was avoidable. Keep your best players in the game in the seventh inning of a shootout, please and thank you. 

Loaisiga in the seventh

Adam Ottavino is so far out of the Circle of Trust right now that he's chillin' with 2017 Dellin Betances. Ottavino did not even warm up last night. The Yankees needed five innings from their bullpen, never had more than a two-run lead, and Ottavino never warmed up. Jonathan Holder warmed up. Montgomery warmed up. But Ottavino did not. Damning.

Britton made a mess in the seventh inning. He walked Carlos Santana and Franmil Reyes with two outs and that's on Britton. Decisions were then made. Cleveland pinch-hit Jordan Luplow for the molten hot Josh Naylor, who went 5-for-7 with three doubles and a homer in the series. Luplow annihilates lefties though ...

• Career vs. LHP: .275/.379/.603 (153 wRC+)
• Career vs. RHP: .193/.274/.316 (57 wRC+)

... and Naylor's hot streak was basically those seven at-bats. He hit .247/.291/.330 (68 wRC+) during the regular season, including going 12-for-55 (.218) in his final 20 games. Luplow is on the roster to crush lefties. I get the move, though I also understand Naylor's series to date made that a questionable decision. It is what it is.

At that point, Boone out questionable-moved Cleveland by bringing in Jonathan Loaisiga to face Luplow. I would've stuck with Britton, even with Luplow's splits. I know Britton walked two guys, but he was only at 24 pitches, and I trust him to get that important out over a kid like Loaisiga. Sacrificing Britton to get the right-on-right matchup there was too cute.

Also, if you must have the right-on-right matchup there, isn't that Ottavino's spot? I assume Boone was only going to remove Britton for one of two reasons: he was getting hammered or he ran into an extremely unfavorable matchup. That extremely unfavorable matchup was Luplow, who would've hit for either Naylor or Tyler Naquin two spots later.

That was a spot where Ottavino would've had two chances against righties (Luplow and the righty hitting Roberto Perez, the on-deck hitter) to get one out, then the Yankees could've pulled him from the game after the inning and skirted around the three-batter minimum. That was the spot for Ottavino. If he's not pitching there, I guess it's mop-up duty. Not great.

Anyway, Loaisiga got ahead in the count 0-2 on Luplow with two good fastballs, but then he hung a breaking ball and Luplow banged it off the center field wall for a game-tying double. Did I mention Luplow is a career .193/.274/.316 (57 wRC+) hitter against righties? Because he's a career .193/.274/.316 (57 wRC+) hitter against righties. Sigh.

Loaisiga in the eighth

This was, unquestionably, Boone's most egregious decision. It was worse than letting Tanaka face the top of the lineup a third time, worse than pinch-running for Voit with so much game remaining, and even worse than pulling Britton to get the right-on-right matchup against Luplow with Loaisiga. This was capital-B Bad.

With the scored tied 8-8, Boone sent Loaisiga back out to start the eighth inning with the top of the lineup looming again, all while Aroldis Chapman warmed in the bullpen. Loaisiga walked No. 9 hitter Delino DeShields Jr. on six pitches to begin the inning -- he was up 1-2 in the count and lost him -- then walked Francisco Lindor on four pitches to put two on with no outs. His pitch locations in that eighth inning:

Not all that close to the strike zone. The moment was too big for Loaisiga, it seems. At some point the pitchers simply need to do their job and get outs. The manager can't go out to the mound and hold their hand. But it is the manager's job to put his team in the best position to win and Boone didn't do that with Loaisiga in the eighth (or the seventh).

It was only after the back-to-back walks that Boone went to Chapman. If you're willing to use him in the eighth inning with two men on base, why not just let him start the inning? The eighth inning of a tied postseason game against the top of the lineup is not time to try to steal outs with a lesser reliever. You do that in May or June, not October.

Chapman's first pitch to Cesar Hernandez was a fastball in, likely a ball, and Hernandez poked it into left field. DeShields got a great jump and scored from second with ease. It wasn't a bad pitch by Chapman, just a bad result. A bad result in a situation that shouldn't have existed in the first place. Gio Urshela's incredible double play saved the Yankees from further damage, but yeah, Loaisiga starting the inning was colossally dumb.

I'll get into this more in a day (or two), but the bullpen isn't looking so great right now. Ottavino is persona non grata and there are no in-series off-days going forward. Even if they wanted to, the Yankees wouldn't be able to use their starters as relievers like the 2019 Nationals, 2018 Red Sox, and 2017 Astros. The lack of off-days makes it tough. At some point Ottavino and yes, Loaisiga too, are going to have to get big outs. It didn't happen last night and the Yankees won anyway. Not sure that is sustainable moving forward.

3. Tanaka's messy start. I don't know how much of Masahiro Tanaka's poor start had to do with the rain but I have to think it had some effect. MLB completely botched the delays. The decision to start the game was MLB's call. The league handles all weather decisions during the postseason, not the home team or the umpires, and they screwed up bad.

Tanaka took the mound in the bottom of the first inning in a steady rain, then threw only 11 pitches before the second delay. Within those 11 pitches he gave up a run on back-to-back doubles, including one on a splitter that spun right out over the plate to Jose Ramirez. Was it just a bad splitter, or was it the rain? We'll never know. I'm going to blame the rain.

The (second) rain delay was 33 minutes and Tanaka never looked right after that. The first three batted balls he allowed after the delay: 96.2 mph, 108.5 mph, 108.8 mph. Rockets. A single and another double stretched Cleveland's lead to 4-0 in that first inning. It was the first time in nine career postseason starts that Tanaka allowed four earned runs. I blame MLB and the rain.

Tanaka threw 40 sliders and 37 of everything else (19 fastballs, 13 splitters, five curves) last night and was all over the place. Out of the zone, in the middle of the plate, pretty much everywhere except where he wanted the ball. His pitch locations:

Too many pitches over the heart of the plate and too many non-competitive pitches way out of the zone for easy takes. When Tanaka is at his best, everything is on the edges of the zone. He's a battler, and he managed to give the Yankees three scoreless innings following that rough first inning, but it wasn't pretty, and the rain must've played a role in that.

"You get the ball from the umpire and it’s already soaking wet," Tanaka told Ken Davidoff. "You’re not really able to throw in that situation, I would say. At that moment you’re just kind of trying to not let your concentration go away, trying to focus on the game."

I'm not gonna lie, after the four-run first inning (and again after Cleveland took the lead in the eighth), I was worried that would be Tanaka's final start as a Yankee, and I don't want him going out like that, with a forgettable performance hampered by the weather. Fortunately, Tanaka will get to make at least one more start as a Yankee. He doesn't deserve to go out like he would've last night.

4. Rapid fire thoughts. It almost feels like an afterthought given everything else that happened but man, DJ LeMahieu is a magician with the bat. He fell behind in the count 0-2 to Brad Hand in the ninth inning -- Hand held opponents to .138/.167/.241 line with a 60.0% strikeout rate after getting ahead 0-2 this year -- then reached out and poked a slider back up the middle for the game-winning hit. It had an expected batting average of .190. I love big exit velocity as much as the next guy, but well-placed is better than well-struck ... Big game for Giancarlo Stanton, who hit a solo homer to get the Yankees on board, drove in another run with a sacrifice fly, and drew two walks as well. Fun fact: Stanton has gone 5-for-20 (.250) with three homers and six walks (.393 OBP) in seven postseason games the last two years. That'll play. Giancarlo's starting to look dangerous in the box again ... Under-the-radar moment: Brett Gardner's nine-pitch leadoff walk in the sixth. Fouled away three 3-2 pitches before Triston McKenzie threw ball four. That set up Gary Sanchez's wind-aided go-ahead two-run homer. Gardner saw 31 pitches in his five plate appearances, including seven against Hand in the ninth. He struck out, sure, but it was a battle against a very tough lefty and Hand had less in the tank when facing the next few hitters ... The Yankees drew 12 walks last night -- 12! -- the most in a nine-inning postseason game in postseason history. Cleveland's pitchers threw 211 pitches in nine innings. Up and down the lineup, the quality of the at-bats were so good this series. Even the outs are a hard-fought ... The Yankees beat up on Shane Bieber, the American League's best pitcher this season. They also did damage against James Karinchak, arguably the best reliever in the game, and they made a ninth inning comeback against Hand, who blew zero saves during the regular season. The Yankees scored 22 runs in two games -- they scored 21 runs in the five-game 2017 ALDS -- against not only the best pitching team in the American League (Cleveland led the AL with a 3.29 ERA and MLB with a 3.55 FIP), but against the best that team had to offer. Bieber, Karinchak, and Hand were charged with 10 runs in 5.1 innings. Hell yes ... Aroldis Chapman has indeed brought his new splitter into the postseason. He threw one to Jordan Luplow in an 0-2 count (video) and one to Oscar Mercado in an 0-2 count (video). Statcast classified the Mercado pitch as a slider but you can see the splitter grip:

Chapman shook off to get to that splitter. The splitter is officially A Thing now. It's a real weapon he is willing to use in games, even when the stakes are high ... And finally, just in case you're wondering about the next few days, the Yankees have an optional workout at Progressive Field today, then they'll travel to San Diego. They have an off-day Friday and workouts scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Petco Park. The ALDS begins Monday. Can't wait. "When we’re playing at our best, we can beat anybody, but I would also caution that we haven’t done anything yet. This is just a stepping stone for us," Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch. 

(I'll have a post either Friday or more likely Saturday with some between-series thoughts, so send your mailbag questions to RABmailbag at gmail dot com. We can get into previewing the ALDS after that. Let's catch our breath and enjoy this win a little bit first.)