Yankees’ Streak Ends in Loss to Athletics
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Yankees seem to have a soft spot for Ryan Weathers, although their support played out in an unusual way during his latest game.
When the left-handed pitcher took the mound on Saturday night, the usually explosive offense fell quiet, and by the time they woke up, it was too late to change the outcome.
Weathers faced a tough challenge; his strong performance turned grim as the Yankees lost 6-4 to the Athletics, snapping a five-game winning streak. On his 107th pitch, he surrendered his third home run of the night, ending up with five runs against him.
The Yankees rallied in the top of the 9th inning—two outs and the bases loaded—scoring three runs thanks to three consecutive full-count walks by Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger.
But Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded out, sealing their fate.
Had the Yankees (35-23) capitalized better in the seventh inning while down 3-1, perhaps Aaron Boone would have opted to pull Weathers before Nick Kurtz’s two-run homer in the bottom of that inning.
Boone visited the mound right before Weathers’ turn to bat, but he decided to keep him in the game. Unfortunately, Weathers’ 94 mph fastball was hit hard by Kurtz, a left-handed batter, and sailed over center field.
Despite getting 10 strikeouts in 6 and 3 innings, Weathers was left hanging due to three home runs, including a two-run blast from Shea Langeliers early on, a solo shot by Tyler Soderstrom in the sixth, and that crucial two-run hit from Kurtz in the seventh. To make matters worse, offensive support was scarce.
This marks the eighth time in Weathers’ 11 starts that the Yankees scored two runs or fewer. They’ve averaged just 2.95 runs per nine innings while he’s on the mound.
This week, Yankees’ starting pitchers had plenty of run support, but that support vanished on Saturday, leading to their first loss in over a week.
Interestingly, Weathers became the first Yankees starting pitcher to allow two or more runs in his last nine games, which might partly be attributed to the Athletics’ sharp right-hander, JT Ginn.
Back in the seventh inning, still at a 3-1 deficit, the Yankees had a shot to tie or even take the lead with two outs and runners on first and second. But lefty relief pitcher Hogan Harris struck out Rice, ending the threat.
In a powerful start, the Athletics (28-30) jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Yankees might have dodged some bullets there, as four out of five pitches switched to play at high speeds, with Langeliers’ homer being particularly notable—it came off a 97 mph fastball right down the middle.
Still, Weathers managed to limit the damage following that rocky start; he pitched well in the second inning and cut down the hard-hit pitches to just a few more, despite the shots from Soderstrom and Kurtz.
The Yankees had a string of hits through the first three innings yet failed to convert on them, only forcing a walk in the fourth. A couple of errors helped them secure a lead, but they struggled to capitalize on other opportunities.
After Cody Bellinger tied the game with a walk, Chisholm singled, and a brief stumble by Henry Bolt allowed Bellinger to reach third. Then, when Paul Goldschmidt came up to bat, Chisholm stole second, but the throw went awry, letting Bellinger score to make it 2-1.
Despite Goldschmidt reaching base again, inches from capitalizing further, Ryan McMahon struck out, and Austin Wells, who showed promise early on, popped out to end the rally.
