The New York Yankees defeated the Miami Marlins, 2-1, in extra innings on Tuesday night. Giancarlo Stanton made his return to Marlins Park, while Aroldis Chapman made an early exit due to injury. The Yankees are trying to hold on to the top Wild Card spot in the American League.
New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton received a warm welcome back to Marlins Park. Stanton paused before stepping into the batter’s box in his first at bat and acknowledged the crowd, many of whom were Yankees fans. He then ripped a single into left field that left the bat at 117.3 miles per hour.
Stanton finished the game going 2-6 with three strikeouts in the Yankees 12th inning victory. He entered Tuesday’s game having hit a home run in seven of the previous 13 games. Stanton spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Marlins before signing with the Yankees in the offseason. He has hit 299 career home runs, with 267 of them being hit as a member of the Marlins. Stanton will try to hit career home run number 300 on Wednesday night at Marlins Park.
The Yankees got a scare in the 12th inning when closer Aroldis Chapman motioned to be removed from the game. Chapman had pain in his left knee that became too uncomfortable to pitch through. Chapman has been dealing with issues in his left knee for an extended period of time in 2018. He threw just six pitches in the 12th inning on Tuesday night before exiting.
Chapman told reporters after the game that the pain was more intense than what he has been dealing with. Yankees manager Aaron Boone and trainer Steve Donohue met with Chapman on the mound before deciding to take him out. Chapman immediately went into the Yankees clubhouse to get testing done. The Yankees are expected to provide an update on his status before their game on Wednesday.
Chapman was also removed from a game on July 8th with the same kind of discomfort in his left knee. The flamethrower decided to skip the 2018 All-Star Game to rest his knee. He has been pitching through the pain since May, but the Yankees fear that there could be structural damage.
The knee pain has caused Chapman’s average fastball velocity to take a significant drop. Chapman topped out at just 97.1 miles per hour on Tuesday night, while averaging 96 mph in the six pitches that he threw. The 96 mph is the lowest that Chapman has recorded since the 2013 season when he was a member of the Cincinnati Reds. Chapman is 3-0 with a 2.11 earned run average in 50 appearances this season. He has recorded 31 saves for New York.
Yankees setup man, David Robertson was unavailable to pitch on Tuesday night as he reported right shoulder tenderness before the game. Right-hander Tommy Kahnle came on and closed out the game for the Yankees on Tuesday night. New York holds a 3.5 game lead over the Oakland Athletics and Houston Astros for the top Wild Card spot in the American League.
