{"id":1453,"date":"2021-07-29T09:14:04","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T14:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/?p=1453"},"modified":"2021-07-29T09:14:04","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T14:14:04","slug":"series-xi-featured-matchup-new-york-black-yankees-miami-cuban-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/2021\/07\/29\/series-xi-featured-matchup-new-york-black-yankees-miami-cuban-giants\/","title":{"rendered":"Series XI Featured Matchup: New York Black Yankees @ Miami Cuban Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Preview here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the season has gone as anticipated for these two teams. At 25-17, the Black Yankees<\/a> lead their division and have a dominant offense and a top-end pitching staff. At 18-24, the Cuban Giants<\/a> are … mediocre at best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miami welcomed Martin Dihigo <\/strong>back to the lineup after a long injury absence in the series opener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Game 1: Red Ruffing @ Tommy Bridges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Both teams had 2 hits in the first inning, but neither scored, with Red Ruffing <\/strong>striking out Manny Machado <\/strong>and Will Clark <\/strong>with 2 on. Ruffing fanned 6 through the first 3 innings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2-run homerun from Mickey Mantle<\/strong> in the top of the 4th opened the scoring, putting New York on the board. Eric Davis<\/strong> followed with a solo shot, and the Black Yankees led, 3-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miami’s Tommy Bridges <\/strong>was chased from the game in the top of the 7th, allowing a 2-out, opposite field, 3-run shot to Babe Ruth<\/strong>. Eustaquio Pedroso <\/strong>relieved him, but perhaps a batter too late?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruffing finally gave up a run in the bottom of the 7th when Robin Yount <\/strong>took him deep to center for a solo homerun. The Black Yankees’ righthander kept trying to get out of the inning, but errors by Willie Randolph <\/strong>and Derek Jeter <\/strong>(his first of the year) prolonged it, eventually bringing Jose Canseco <\/strong>to the plate with 2 outs and the bases loaded. Ruffing got the slugger to popout to Don Mattingly <\/strong>at first base, preserving New York’s lead at 6-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each team would score once more: Davis’ second homerun of the game, and an RBI from Yount, for the final score of 7-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was one of those rare games where a team makes 4 errors and wins–Mattingly had 2 miscues in addition to Randolph’s and Jeter’s, but Miami, who left 11 runners on base, were unable to capitalize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruffing moved to 5-0 with his 7 innings, allowing 1 run and striking out 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NYY 7<\/em><\/strong> (Ruffing 5-0) @ MCG 2<\/strong> (Bridges 3-1)<\/em>
HRs<\/strong>: NYY – Ruth (16), Mantle (5), Davis 2 (13); MCG – Yount (2)
Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Game 2: Dave Righetti @ Camilo Pascual<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Camilo Pascual<\/strong> is the current ERA leader in the WBL, at 2.26 while Dave Righetti<\/strong> has struggled a bit, with a 2-3 record and an ERA just over 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Schmidt <\/strong>led off the top of the 3rd with a double, and Thurman Munson <\/strong>singled him to third, extending his hitting streak to 18 games. Derek Jeter<\/strong> was able to drive in the first run of the game with a single, but that was all the Black Yankees could muster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The score stayed 1-0 through 6 innings, until, in the top of the 7th, Munson singled home Albert Belle<\/strong>, extending the lead to 2-0 and chasing Pascual from the game. Alex Colome<\/strong> gave up an infield single to Don Mattingly<\/strong>, pinch-hitting for Willie Randolph<\/strong>, and a 2 run double to Jeter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dellin Betances<\/strong> relieved Righetti in the bottom of the 8th, loaded the bases (single, walk, hit batsman), and was relieved by Ralph Citarella<\/strong>, who walked in Miami’s first run with four straight balls to Gary Sheffield<\/strong>. A pinch-hit single from Jim Thome <\/strong>added another run, closing the gap to 4-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pascal ended up being charged with 3 runs in 6.2 innings, but 2 of those were allowed in by Colome. Still, the loss drops him to 4-2 on the year. Righetti picked up the victory with 7 shutout innings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NYY 4<\/em><\/strong> (Righetti 3-3; Citarella 7 H; Lyle 5 Sv) @<\/em> MCG 2<\/em><\/strong> (Pascal 4-2)<\/em>
HRs<\/strong>: none
Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Game 3: Rube Waddell @ Waite Hoyt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rube Waddell <\/strong>comes into the game with great numbers, including a 3.19 ERA, but only a 2-3 ERA. Waite Hoyt<\/strong>, on the other hand, is 3-1 with an ERA almost exactly a run higher than Waddell–another reminder that W-L is a team metric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derek Jeter <\/strong>led the game off for New York with a homerun to left field, but a Manny Machado <\/strong>sacrifice fly and a wild pitch from Hoyt put the Cuban Giants up 2-1. Alejandro Oms <\/strong>drove home Carlos Moran <\/strong>in the 2nd, extending the lead to 3-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the top of the 3rd, Waddell motioned for the trainer to come out, and had to leave the game with an arm injury. This could be a challenge, as Miami is running out of bullpen arms. They brought in Clay Condrey<\/strong> initially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Condrey did well until Eric Davis <\/strong>took him out of the yard in the 4th, tying the game at 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gary Sheffield <\/strong>got the first hit of his WBL career with an RBI triple in the bottom of the 4th, effectively ending Hoyt’s day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis brought the Black Yankees level all by himself in the 6th: a walk, a steal of second, a steal of third, and trotting home on Manny Sanguillen<\/strong>‘s fly to right field. That gave him 20 steals on the season: imagine what he’d do if he played fulltime!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eustaquio Pedroso<\/strong> walked in a run in the top of the 8th, putting New York up again by one run, 5-4, but Miami would fight right back with Sheffield delivering his second hit, a solo homerun into the left field stands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so we headed to extra innings. New York has the clear edge, with Miami having to stretch each reliever to their limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The top of the 11th brought Thurman Munson <\/strong>to the plate for the first time, after Mike Schmidt pinch-hit for Sanguillen. Munson led off the inning with a double down the right field line, which both extended his hitting streak to 19 games and put the go-ahead run on second base. Miami brought in Aroldis Chapman<\/strong>, who promptly whiffed Jeter, Babe Ruth<\/strong>, and Mickey Mantle <\/strong>to preserve the tie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge is where the Cuban Giants go next: Chapman needed 23 pitches to get out of the inning, and clearly has at most one more inning in him. Not even: Don Newcombe <\/strong>relieved Chapman with 2 outs and 2 on, but he got Munson to fly out to get out of the 12th inning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was all that was needed. Will Clark <\/strong>led off the bottom of the 12th against Dellin Betances<\/strong> with a single. Jose Cardenal <\/strong>came on to pinch-run, and a walk to Machado moved him to second. He scored on a single by Jim Thome<\/strong>, sending Miami home with the win, 6-5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took 7 pitchers, with Newcombe finally earning the win–his first on the year–with 3 pitches. But it’s likely to mess up the Cuban Giants’ rotation for a few days. After the game, Waddell was put on the DL, with Miami recalling Marcelino Lopez <\/strong>and waiving Edwin Encarnacion<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NYY 5 <\/em><\/strong>(Betances 0-1)<\/em> @ MCG <\/em><\/strong>(Newcombe 1-4; Pedroso 1 BS)<\/em>
HRs<\/strong>: NYA – Jeter (3), Davis (14); MCG – Sheffield (1)
Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Game 4: Ron Guidry @ Marcelino Lopez<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Cuban Giants will turn to the recently recalled–like, yesterday–Marcelino Lopez<\/strong>, hoping to earn a series split. It’s a tall order against one of the better arms in the league, Ron Guidry<\/strong>, who comes into the game with a 4-3 record and a 3.41 ERA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It did not begin well: Willie Randolph <\/strong>led off the game with a triple. But Lopez recovered, and got out of the inning without any damage. The game was a struggle for Lopez: he labored through five innings, giving up 7 hits and 3 runs, which was surely better than expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guidry, on the other hand, was sailing through five, striking out 4 and allowing only 2 hits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem was that Miami’s bullpen was totally gassed, so Lopez was left to fend for himself. Ultimately, he recovered and e did well, completing 7 innings–and 119 pitches–before giving way, still trailing by 3 runs. It got a little worse: Jose Mendez <\/strong>came in, and with 2 outs in the 9th, had to be replaced with elbow pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Machado put Miami on the board with homerun in the bottom of the 9th against Guidry, but that was all they could muster, losing both the game and the series, 3-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NYA 3<\/em><\/strong> (Guidry 5-3) @ MCG 1<\/strong> (Lopez 0-1)<\/em>
HRs<\/strong>: NYA – None; MCG – Machado (9)
Box Score<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Series Notes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jose Mendez <\/strong>hit the injured list after the series, with Sandy Consuegra <\/strong>returning to Miami to help the beleaguered bullpen. Marcelino Lopez <\/strong>is likely to get more innings to see if he can help out at the big league level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alejandro Oms <\/strong>went 6-for-19 in the four games for Miami, and was really the only consistent bright spot for them offensively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For New York, Thurman Munson <\/strong>extended his hitting streak to 20 games, going 6-for-13 in the series. Derek Jeter <\/strong>went 5-for-15 with 4 RBIs, and Eric Davis <\/strong>was 4-for-11 with 3 homeruns and 4 RBIs. Babe Ruth <\/strong>saw his average drop to a season low of .337, going hitless over the final 3 games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preview here. Overall, the season has gone as anticipated for these two teams. At 25-17, the Black Yankees lead their division and have a dominant offense and a top-end pitching staff. At 18-24, the Cuban Giants are … mediocre at best. Miami welcomed Martin Dihigo back to the lineup after a long injury absence in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[951,943],"tags":[251,229,534,217,547,529,265,1012,235,545,918,246,212,717,550,216,226,371,841,539,215,225,244,1019,230,211,548,564,231,544,236,227,232,528,531,242,530,234,258,247],"class_list":["post-1453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-series","category-game-recaps","tag-albert-belle","tag-alejandro-oms","tag-alex-colome","tag-aroldis-chapman","tag-babe-ruth","tag-camilo-pascual","tag-carlos-moran","tag-clay-condrey","tag-dave-righetti","tag-dellin-betances","tag-derek-jeter","tag-don-mattingly","tag-don-newcombe","tag-edwin-encarnacion","tag-eric-davis","tag-eustaquio-pedroso","tag-gary-sheffield","tag-jim-thome","tag-jose-canseco","tag-jose-cardenal","tag-jose-mendez","tag-manny-machado","tag-manny-sanguillen","tag-marcelino-lopez","tag-martin-dihigo","tag-miami-cuban-giants","tag-mickey-mantle","tag-mike-schmidt","tag-new-york-black-yankees","tag-ralph-citarella","tag-red-ruffing","tag-robin-yount","tag-ron-guidry","tag-rube-waddell","tag-sandy-consuegra","tag-thurman-munson","tag-tommy-bridges","tag-waite-hoyt","tag-will-clark","tag-willie-randolph"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1453"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1567,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453\/revisions\/1567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbl.dmlco.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}