Media by Associated Press – New York Yankees’ Gerrit Cole pitches during the fifth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Detroit Tigers on Friday, June 3, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
There must be something special in the water for New York Yankees pitchers this week in Yankee Stadium. Gerrit Cole took a perfect game into the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 13-0 win over the Tigers Friday night at home. It came a day after teammate Jameson Taillon lost a bid for a perfect game in the eighth inning.
The two pitchers, who came up through the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, have been leading a fierce New York charge. The Yankees have won eight of their past ten games and now sit six games clear of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays. Here’s a look at some other things going on around Major League Baseball.
Manfred says leave it alone, already
Sixteen law students from Monmouth University appealed, in an 82-page argument, to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to overturn a missed call that cost Detroit Tigers Armando Galarraga a perfect game in 2010. Before instant replay was brought into the game, umpire Jim Joyce ruled a Cleveland Indians baserunner safe at first base when he had been thrown out by a step.
There have only been 23 perfect games recorded in MLB history. The last one came when Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez threw one in 2012. Manfred’s decision to not overturn the decision was he considered the matter settled by his predecessor Bud Selig.
It is so, Joe
The Philadelphia Phillies have lost seven of their past ten games and have fallen to 23-29 on the season. After entering the season with postseason ambitions, Philadelphia decided a change was needed after falling 11 games behind the New York Mets. The Phillies decided to fire manager Joe Girardi and replace him with bench coach Rob Thomson.
Girardi was in his third season as Phillies’ manager. He led Philadelphia to an 82-80 record last season but had never taken the Phillies to the playoffs. Girardi, who guided the Yankees to the 2009 World Series crown, has a career record of 1,120-935 as a manager but was 132-141 in Philadelphia.
Possible end of the road
Robinson Cano was optioned to the minors by the San Diego Padres on Thursday, but the 17-year veteran declined the assignment. Cano, a career .301 hitter, only batted .091 in 12 games with the Padres.
He had also spent 12 games with the Mets this season, where he batted .195. Cano is now a free agent, but it is unlikely he will catch on anywhere else.
Home runs on the decline
Baseball is a game where no one seems to know what they want it to be. There is constant complaining about the baseballs, how long it takes to game and what pitchers are able to do in order to grip them better. Once again, questions are being asked about what kind of baseballs are being used.
The number of home runs per game, which has fallen to .97 per game, puts the number of home runs hit at the lowest level since 2022. MLB saw a peak with the amount of home runs per game hit an all-time high of 1.9 during the 2019 season.
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