Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Yankees' Paxton Pushing It At The Right Time

James Paxton throwing heat for the Yankees. Photo by Jason Schott.



James Paxton had a phenomenal August, and he kept it rolling in September, as he threw seven shutout innings to lead the Yankees to a 10-1 win over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Paxton came out firing, with the first five outs recorded coming via the strikeout, and he had 12 of those on the night.

The left-hander had a no-hitter going into the fifth inning, which was broken up by a single from Isiah Kiner-Falefa. He then retired the next seven Rangers he faced to end the night on a high note.

This was Paxton's seventh straight victory, as he won all six of his starts in August, which included superb outings against the Red Sox, Indians, and Dodgers.

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said Paxton was "unhittable," adding, "It was really good to see him continue to build on what's been a lot of momentum for him here in the second half."

Boone said "absolutely" this is what he's come to expect from Paxton, and, "we know he's capable of that, and feel like he's in a good place, not only physically, but I think, and just really being laser-focused on what he wants to do going into a game, and having his plan airtight. He's delivering - I think he's in a really good place, you know, in a lot of ways."

The Yankees, who were shutout on Monday for the first time in 220 games, had no trouble getting on the board in this one.

Gary Sanchez launched a bomb to center for a two-run shot off of Rangers starter Edinson Volquez in the first, which was the veteran right-hander's only inning of work.

Ariel Jurado relieved him and pitched four superb innings before it fell apart in the sixth.

DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge singled before Didi Gregorius hit a bomb to right field for a three-run shot, his 14th of the season.

On the very next pitch, Sanchez hit another homer, a solo shot, for his 34th of the season.

Edwin Encarnacion singled, and that was all for Jurado.

Jonathan Hernandez was next out of Texas' bullpen, and Brett Gardner greeted him with a blast to right for a two-run shot to make it 8-0 Yankees.

In the seventh, with ex-Met Rafael Montero in for Texas, Encarnacion capped his first game off the injured list with a two-run homer, his 31st of the season, to give the Yankees a 10-0 lead.

A NEW RECORD: Tuesday night's attendance of 33,711 pushed the Yankees' attendance for the season over three million fans for the 21st consecutive season (starting in 1999), a new Major League Baseball record.

No comments:

Post a Comment