Welcome to Box Score Banter, your daily dose of the previous day’s games, with a preview of what’s to come. All season stats mentioned are entering yesterday’s games.
The No-Hitter that wasn’t
Yankees 4, Brewers 3
| IP | H | ER | K | BB | |
| Burnes | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
For more than 10 innings, the Yankees were their truest selves, wrung out by Corbin Burnes for eight innings and Devin Williams for another. If not for the heroism of Gerrit Cole and his own seven scoreless frames of work, it would have made for the ninth no-hitter against the Bombers in their 121-year history. But Joel Payamps and Milwaukee weren’t able to finish the job. Before Oswaldo Cabrera broke up this extra innings attempt at a no-hitter, the Brewers had three pitchers, a few amazing defensive plays, and 10.1 innings involved in keeping the bid alive.
Burnes gave his best performance of the season, and his third of 8+ IP. Even with a Cy Young-hopeful season starting off on the wrong foot, Burnes has still shown flashes of greatness throughout the year. Most notably so in the Bronx on Sunday afternoon, as he danced from one side of the plate to the other, keeping the ball low. The Yankees swung at 17 pitches that weren’t his cutter, and managed to put two in play. The result dropped his season ERA to 3.47.
As things went to extra innings, the Brewers failed to score in the top of the tenth— a near-death sentence for teams in the new ghost runner world that we all (regrettably) live in. Luckily for them, even with new pitcher Abner Uribe coming to the mound after closer Devin Williams finished off the ninth for Milwaukee, the Brew Crew remained determined to keep this fantastic feat going.
Things continued to go smoothly even as Uribe allowed a base runner around two strikeouts looking, which brings us to perhaps the climax of this ever-climaxing game. With two men on and two out, Anthony Volpe stepped to the plat and hit a long fly ball deep into right-centerfield of Yankee Stadium. Brewers outfielders Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer both tracked the ball through the bright afternoon sun, shading their eyes and seemingly not paying attention to their other surroundings in the outfield.
As the runner from second started to round third, both Frelick and Wiemer continued to converge at the point of the ball, heading on a path destined to impact. And just as it seemed the game may be won, Frelick catapulted off one foot, leaping off the chain link fence, and snagging the ball in a seemingly impossible effort that did include his shoulder colliding directly with Wiemer’s jaw. And then, as Wiemer lay on the warning track, bleeding and grabbing at his mouth, Frelick leapt up victoriously and began happily racing toward the infield.
Man, what a game baseball is.
And still with this amazing team effort, the no-hitter ended the following inning, as the Yankees tied Milwaukee, before the game was tied again on a two-run shot by Giancarlo Stanton in the bottom of the 12th. Finally, New York achieved the impossible thanks to a Kyle Higashioka single that turned the game from a possible 11-inning no-hitter to a win for the Yankees. Anything is truly possible.
Other Notable Showings
Gold: Zac Gallen (9 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 9 K, BB)
Gallen dominated the Cubs in a complete game shutout on Friday, correcting course after a couple of rough outings. It was the first time this season that he’s pitched 8+ innings, and his seventh time allowing no runs in a start. All seven of these starts have also been at least six innings long. Talk about consistency!
Silver: Wilyer Abreu (5-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB)
Recent Red Sox call-up Wilyer Abreu achieved the elusive 5-for-5 game in an embarrassingly overmatched 13-12 loss against the Orioles on Sunday. Abreu has produced rather consistently this season since getting called up, and with the Red Sox falling out of playoff contention, he along with a few other youngsters should be getting consistent playing time for the rest of the season.
Bronze: Gerrit Cole (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 9 K)
As previously stated, Cole was dominant in his own right while the Brewers took a no-hit bid into the 11th on the other side of the ball. This accounted for his ninth start of the season where he threw at least seven innings, and his third of such qualifying starts where he did not allow a run. Although the Yankees are dead and buried for the season, Cole’s mastery has allowed them to win a few games they’ve had absolutely no business winning, as was the case on Sunday. So it’s safe to say he’s provided at least a few good memories in an otherwise forgettable year.
What’s Next
Monday, September 11
As our in-season Mondays begin to dwindle, let us gather and enjoy yet another abysmally, painstakingly awful set of Monday matchups.
Rays (RHP Tyler Glasnow) @ Twins (RHP Sonny Gray), 7:40 p.m. ET
What a fantastic duel! This must have been a gift from the Monday baseball gods themselves, giving us such a delectable treat like this. Enjoy it, because this is the only matchup that I’d actually choose to watch in tomorrow’s full slate of games. Glasnow has continued to dominate in a weirdly injury-prone season, as he leads his Rays to a first-round home series. Gray is doing his best on the north end of the country, keeping the Twins in a race to the playoffs as time runs out. Both have a DRA- at least 15 points better than the league average, so this would be a good one to tune into.
Rangers (RHP Dane Dunning) @ Blue Jays (RHP Chris Bassitt), 7:07 p.m. ET
Um, I guess this is a matchup that you could put on your TVs if you really wanted to! Tune in to watch a Rangers team in a complete free-fall and a Blue Jays squad that seems to be finally emerging from their late-August malaise. Dunning is sixth among Rangers starters in ERA, while Bassitt has had a relatively mediocre but reliable season for a very odd Toronto starting staff.
Marlins (LHP Jesus Luzardo) @ Brewers (RHP Brandon Woodruff), 7:40 p.m. ET
The Marlins made a push for the playoffs before a cliff dive in August got them down to their current chances of 30.4%. But they’re not completely out of the race for October, as they match up against the Brewers’ best starter, statistically, this season. Milwaukee is pretty much guaranteed a spot in the playoffs at this point, but Luzardo could give them a run for their money in Monday’s game as he enters the game with the best starter’s ERA for the Marlins.
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It's not Lopez's fault that the Twins offense can't back him, though.