Well, having arrived earlier in the preceding week to prepare for my personal residency at Yankee Stadium, I now took up my seat. I have decided to alternate between a seat in the 320 section and the 120 section both of which overlook homeplate. I tend to sit in these areas anyway but this year it is of particular interest to me, so that I can study this ABS (Automatic Ball & Strike system) which I have to admit to being somewhat prejudiced against as it seems to detract from the naturalness of the game and the autonomy of the umpires, but I shall do my best to keep an open mind over the next 13 home games.

An evening game against the weak pitching, weak fielding Colorado Rockies. Their hitting is good but is obviously boosted by the favourable conditions in Colorado. It would seem to me that in this game which began at 7.08pm New York time, a win is likely – and maybe even a sweep over the 3 games.

Top of the first and Colorado go hitless with a Jake McCarthy fly out to centerfield followed by both Cole Carrigg and TJ Rumfield striking out swinging. The pitchers tonight are Cy Young possible Cam Schlittler for the Yankees and Gabriel Hughes for the Rockies who started the game at 0-6.

In the bottom half of the first, DH Ben Rice was hit by pitch but this was followed by Cody Bellinger grounding into a 3-6 out, which took Rice out on the fielders’ choice. Tonight, one of the big news items is Aaron Judge returning from the Injured List (IL) and taking up his usual position in rightfield. We should expect him to take a little while to settle and so it proved as he struck out swinging. This was followed by a single from Luis Garcia Jr, who has done so very well since he arrived in New York. LF Jake McCarthy made a complete hash of the fielding play, first failing to collect it cleanly and then a terrible throw which led to two errors on the same play. Consequently, Bellinger scored and Garcia advanced to third. Colorado 0 New York 1

The inning ended with Yankees cf Spencer Jones striking out swinging.

In the 2nd, Schlittler once again took the Rockies down 1-2-3 with Hunter Goodman popping out to Ryan McMahon at third, Mickey Moniak striking out swinging and Kyle Karros being called out on strikes.

The Yankees didn’t achieve much in the second either. Jazz Chisholm Jr did hit a single into leftfield which evaded McMarthy, but then ss George Lombard Jr was called out on strikes despite challenging the call on the field which was upheld. Then, McMahon grounded into a 4-6-3 doubleplay to end the inning.

In the third, there was a swing (in every sense) in the other direction as Adael Amador hit a home run to the left of centerfield. Colorado 1 New York 1.

After that though the Rockies could not pick up the impetus and Schlittler once again took them down in order. Zac Veen struck out swinging, Ezequiel Tovar grounded out with Lombard fielding and throwing over cleanly to Garcia. Then, McCarthy, who was having a miserable evening, struck out swinging.

The Yankees were finding the Rockies pitching more problematic than expected – but we must note that their hitting has been pretty poor over recent weeks. In the bottom of the third, Austin Wells, their weakest hitter, struck out swinging, Ben Rice lined out to McMarthy, who for once gained himself some credit after his woeful start to the game, and Bellinger hit a grounder to first which was oh-too-easy for Rumfield.

In the 4th, Cam Schlittler produced another half inning that was as easy as A-B-C with a fly out, a line out, and a pop out gifted to him in turn by Carrigg, Rumfield and Goodman.

But the Yankees could not gain an edge in this game, which was tighter than I had been expecting. Judge hit a fly out, Garcia grounded out and Jones struck out swinging.

And so it continued to go, the pitchers had that momentum and the batters seemed to have no way of breaking down their dominance. Moniak struck out swinging, Karros hit a line out towards Jones and a further line out from Amador gave McMahon no difficulty at all.

But something had to give, and it did after Chisholm had led off the 5th with a soft pop out, Lombard hit a ground ball to Carrigg in centerfield and to earn a single. That was followed by a double from McMahon to rightfield which brought Lombard home. Colorado 1 New York 2

However, the Yankees didn’t build on that slender lead when a Wells fly out and Rice strike out swinging ended the 5th.

The Rockies did produce a single in the 6th, but they couldn’t put a run on the board. They started with Veen striking out, and Tovar hitting into a 6-3 ground out, before that single came. The single came from McCarthy who was seeking to earn his own redemption following his dreadful start to the evening. However, Carrigg struck out on a wild swing to bring the Yankees up again.

All-in-all, it is fair to say that Gabriel Hughes had kept the Rockies in the game and when he was replaced by Mark Manfredi in the bottom of the 6th it still looked like he was headed for an undeserved loss. Manfredi started well too, taking down the first three Yankees’ hitters he faced. Bellinger hit a fly out to right field. There was another strike out for Judge, and Garcia was called out on strikes.

The Yankees decided that 6 innings was enough for Judge and they brought in Heliot Ramos who has struggled for New York since he arrived at the trade deadline. Rumfield took a single off Schlittler at the beginning of the inning but Schlittler recovered well to take three consecutive outs to eliminate a possible threat. Goodman struck out swinging, Moniak popped out to McMahon at third and Karros lined out to Chisholm at second.

Reliever Jaden Hill came in for Manfredi, and immediately gave himself a problem when he walked Jones, but he recovered a little ground when Chisholm flied out to Carrigg. However, he then walked Lombard and it seemed likely that the Yankees would extend their lead. But then McMahon was called out, and Wells flied out to left field to that guy McCarthy. Still that narrow lead.

The Yankees were next to make a pitching change with Brent Headrick taking over from Schlittler. And if Schittler was good, so was the reliever. Amador flied out to leftfield. Connor Norby came in for Veen but was called out on strikes and the same fate awaited Tovar.

Norby’s role in the game was brief and short. The pinch hitter was lifted in the 8th to bring in Jordan Beck who moved into rightfield. It was another change, however, that saw the Rockies’ night come apart at the seams. They brought in Brennan Bernardino for Jaden Hill on the mound. And tonight was a bad night for Bernandino. First, he walked Rice and then gave up a double to Bellinger. Ramos hit a homer which cleared the rightfield wall Colorado 1 New York 5.

All of a sudden, it seemed like the game was over and just remained to be played out. But perhaps there was more. Next, Garcia hit a single to rightfield. The smart move was to get Bernardino out of there, and that was exactly what they did. Blas Castano was brought on to replace him and hopefully tidy things up.

Jones struck out swinging. Chisholm hit a single but tried to advance to second on the throw. He was called out and on review the play on the field was upheld. It did mean that Garcia had advanced to third and it seemed there was hope for at least for one more run. That hope faded when Lombard hit a simple pop up to second base to end the 8th.

And so the Yankees needed to stop the Rockies scoring 4 or more to end the game. Tim Hill has had an uneven season but this lead seemed wide enough to trust it to him. The inning began with McCarthy grounding out 4-3. The Colorado team challenged the play, but it was upheld. One out.

The Yankees took off Chisholm who looked uncomfortable and brought in Jose Caballero. Carrigg came up to bat and left swiftly as he grounded out to Luis Garcia, the Yankees first base man.

And then the flow of the game changed.

Hill walked Rumfield on 6 pitches and then on his 3rd pitch to Goodman, after a ball and a strike, he gifted him a home run on a flyball to rightfield. Colorado 3 New York 5

All of a sudden, it was clear that this was not going to be a good night for Hill and the Yankees now had to make a decision. This was now a save situation and the obvious option was to send in David Bednar – and so they did.

Bednar needed only to gain the final out. He pitched a third strike to Moniak which Wells didn’t handle cleanly, but he recovered quickly enough to throw the ball over to Luis Garcia to end the game.

The Yankees had found it more difficult than it needed to be and Hill’s difficulty nearly led to a Colorado comeback, but the “renegade” Bednar did more than enough to keep the Yankees rolling.

Yankees bt Colorado 5-3.