The New York Yankees defense fell apart in the 10th inning of their Game 2 ALDS loss to Cleveland on Friday.
Jose Ramirez was facing Jameson Taillon to lead off the top of the 10th and blooped a popup to shallow left. Not only was Oswaldo Cabrera unable to chase down the ball for the catch, but then Josh Donaldson cost the team a base with an errant throw to second.
That blooper ended up putting Ramirez on third base with nobody out in the 2-2 game.
The Yankees then brought their infield in to try to cut down a run at home, but that put them in poor position for what happened next. Oscar Gonzalez blooped a ball just past first baseman Anthony Rizzo into shallow right field to bring in Ramirez.
Had Rizzo been playing at standard depth, he probably would have caught the ball for an out.
The Yankees had a combination of bad placement with their fielders, an inability to chase down a few bloopers, and a bad throw that helped Cleveland break the tie and take a 3-2 lead.
Next up was Josh Naylor, who drilled an RBI double to center. But once again, the Yankees defense didn’t look so hot. Center fielder Harrison Bader misread the ball and took a poor route. He ran directly to his left instead of going toward the wall at an angle. Bader’s misread allowed the ball to sail well over his head.
Would Bader have been able to catch that ball with a better route? It’s hard to say. But what’s not debatable is that he took a poor route and made it impossible for himself to catch it.
The Yankees switched pitchers to Clarke Schmidt, who got out of the inning. Cleveland won the game 4-2 to even the series.
This is the postseason. If you want to advance, you have to play defense better than that.
More must-reads: