(Not Quite) Instant Analysis: Yankees 5, Nats 3
Back-to-back late homers from Keibert Ruiz and James Wood went for naught when unlikely closer Matt Krook blew the save in the ninth
Blake Butera and the Nationals put their platoon matchup theory to the ultimate test Friday night. And they paid the price for it with another gut-punch of a loss, with their beleaguered bullpen again playing the starring role.
Leading the Yankees by one run thanks to back-to-back homers from Keibert Ruiz and James Wood in the bottom of the seventh, Butera gave the top of the ninth to Matt Krook, hoping the recently acquired left-hander could retire the lefty-heavy New York lineup instead of sticking with right-hander Clayton Beeter (who recorded the final out of the eighth). The move backfired in spectacular fashion when Krook surrendered a no-doubt, two-run homer to Jazz Chisholm Jr.
It was the Nationals’ fifth loss this season when leading after eight, and the fourth time they’ve given up a go-ahead homer in the ninth in their last 16 games. And it left their rookie manager admitting he may have to reconsider the platoon matchups he and the organization continue to prioritize.
“Yeah, 100 percent,” Butera said. “I’m sitting here wondering if that’s the right thing to do or not. Whenever you lose, or get beat that way, you definitely question what we’re doing. Sitting here talking with our group after the game tonight, we all believe the process was right and the outcome was not. We have four lefties in our bullpen, because we expect them to do well against left-handed hitters. And particularly against (the Yankees), with a left-handed-heavy lineup.”
“We believe in our process,” Butera added later. “And it feels like we keep getting burned.”
