Yankees' Infielders Take Blame For Costly Botched Double Play Against Astros in Game 4
NEW YORK — You can't make a mistake like this and expect to beat the Astros.
Not in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, one loss away from getting swept.
The Yankees were clinging to a one-run lead in the top of the seventh inning on Sunday night. Their offense had finally shown up, pushing five runs across through the first six innings—that's after New York scored a grand total of four runs in the first three games of this series, three lifeless losses.
With one out and reliever Jonathan Loáisiga on the mound, New York needed one more ground ball to get out of inning unscathed, facing the most dangerous part of Houston's order.
The right-hander induced a sharp ground ball to second baseman Gleyber Torres, exactly what Loáisiga was looking for. Off the bat, it was tailor-made, routine for Torres as he fielded and flipped toward the second-base bag.
Instead of nestling into the glove of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the first out of an inning-ending double play, Torres' toss rolled into shallow left field, skipping off the shortstop's glove.
Torres was charged with an error on the play, an errant toss that allowed Jose Altuve to get to second base and Jeremy Peña to reach first safely.
"Both really fast runners, I think I rushed a little bit myself to make that play,” Torres said after the game. “I feel like it’s my mistake. Kiner tried to do his best, but I feel like, all season long, I do that play really easy. Tonight, it felt a little bit rushed.”
Unsurprisingly, Houston took advantage of the blunder. Yordan Alvarez promptly tied the game, ripping an RBI single through the right side to score Altuve from second base.
After New York called to the bullpen, bringing in righty Clay Holmes, the Astros took the 6-5 lead on a bloop single from Alex Bregman. The Astros went on to win by that score.
"I feel terrible in the moment because I know we can make the double play and finish the inning in that moment,” Torres added. “I made that mistake. I feel like I need to learn to be a little more in control in that situation. It’s a tough loss.”
Kiner-Falefa took some of the responsibility as well, assuring that Torres isn't at fault. Replays showed that Kiner-Falefa lurched for the throw at the last second, taking a straight route to the north side of the bag, rather than keeping his options open leading up to Torres' flip.
"It was hard, he threw it hard,” Kiner-Falefa told reporters. “Normally that one all year would be like a soft flip so we can turn it, but kind of rushed it a little bit and I didn’t have time to reach over. If I reached over, I would have maybe caught the ball, but I wouldn’t have been able to stay on the base, so I was still trying to take the option to still get an out. But it was too far for that, so it got by."
For Yankees fans that watched Game 3 of this series on Saturday, the defensive blunder was all too familiar. Harrison Bader dropped a fly ball in right-center field in the second inning of the game, nearly colliding with Aaron Judge. One batter later, Houston's Chas McCormick smacked a go-ahead two-run home run off Gerrit Cole.
The takeaway from the final two games of the ALCS is that the Astros are always ready to make another team pay for a mistake, consistently capitalizing when their opponents find ways to beat themselves. Sunday's loss was a product of more than just one defensive play, but it certainly stings when those in pinstripes could've gotten out of that inning.
New York's offense was held down the rest of the way, retired in order over the final three innings. They watched from the first-base dugout as Houston celebrated another trip to the World Series, bracing for what could be an offseason full of change in the Bronx.
MORE:
- Nestor Cortes' Magical Season Ends With Injury and Frustration
- Yankees' Josh Donaldson Doesn't 'Feel That Bad' With How He's Played in Postseason
- Aaron Judge Takes Responsibility For Harrison Bader's Costly Error in Game 3 of ALCS
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