CC Sabathia was just surprised Nick Jensen Jersey , not realizing why the crowd gave him a prolonged ovation in the fourth inning of a superb outing.
Playing a team with a winning record for the first time this month, the New York Yankees beat the Washington Nationals 3-0 Tuesday night for their 10th win in 12 games.
In a matchup of division leaders, Harper gave the Nationals a scare when he fell to the ground in pain after getting hit on the right elbow by a 90 mph pitch from Sabathia in the fifth inning. The 2015 NL MVP remained in the game but then came out after he was hit on the left foot by Dellin Betances‘ 89 mph slider leading off the eighth.
”I feel fine. Elbow feels OK, and the big toe just hurts a little bit,” Harper said. ”I already got an X-ray on the toe. I’m fine.”
Gregorius has had a ”That’s Life” season, following the song’s lyrics of ”You’re riding high in April, shot down in May.”
He hit .327 with 10 homers and 30 RBIs through the season’s first full month, slumped to a .151 average with one homer and five RBIs in May and began the night with no homers and one RBI in June.
”It’s just getting to know myself through that slump,” he said. ”I’m still not out of it.”
He drove a hanging curveball from Tanner Roark (3-7) into the Yankees bullpen in right-center during a two-run second that also included Austin Romine’s sacrifice fly. It was just the second home run for Gregorius since April 27.
He sent a fastball into the right-field second deck leading off the sixth for his fourth multihomer game, third this season. Gregorius has hit 11 of his 13 long balls in homer-friendly Yankee Stadium. New York leads the major leagues with 105.
”When Didi’s at his best,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone explained, ”he’s into the ground – his feet really drive into the ground.”
A big league-best 43-19, New York was coming off a 7-2 trip. Sabathia (4-1) allowed four hits over 5 2/3 innings in his first outing against Washington since 2009 and lowered his ERA to 3.27. He is 11-0 in 17 regular-season starts following a Yankees loss since the start of the 2017 season.
Fans applauded at length in the fourth when the video board informed fans the strikeout of Michael A. Taylor was Sabathia’s 1,500th since joining the Yankees for the 2009 season. The 37-year-old left-hander’s three strikeouts raised his career total to 2 Womens Kris Russell Jersey ,893.
”I didn’t know what was going on, and Ro told me turn around,” Sabathia said, referring to Romine.
Only then did Sabathia toss the ball to the dugout as a keepsake. Boone wasn’t surprised by Sabathia’s obliviousness to his own exploits.
”For being a superstar and everything, he’s so not into himself,” Boone said.
Chad Green, Betances and Aroldis Chapman finished up, with Chapman completing the five-hitter for his 18th save in 19 chances.
Harper, who leads the NL with 19 homers but is hitting .215 since May 1, had been hit by a pitch just once previously this season and had not been dinged twice in a game since Aug. 16, 2013, at Atlanta.
”Kind of worried me when he started walking off the field,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.
A free-agent-to-be, Harper had walked in his first two plate appearances.
”It just hurt Authentic Mike Cammalleri Jersey , so trying to walk down the first base line, there was no point,” he said. ”No ill feelings at all.”
MURPH’S BACK
Nationals All-Star second baseman Daniel Murphy made his season debut after recovering from right knee surgery on Oct. 20. He was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts as the designated hitter and did not hit the ball out of the infield.
”His timing could have been a little bit off,” Martinez said. ”He’s going to be fine.”
FAMILY FEUD
Bob Boone, father of the Yankees manager, is a Nationals executive and rooted against his son.
”They pay him,” Aaron Boone said. ”My boys are actually with my mom and dad in San Diego right now. They flew in today, so it’ll be a split household. I know my mom will be pulling for me. And my boys will be pulling for me, that’s for sure. So that’s fine. Somebody in the house can cheer for the other team.”
GREAT GRAB
Taylor made a terrific catch on the warning track to snag Neil Walker’s drive with a runner on in the fourth, sliding into the wall with both legs. Taylor stole second two innings later, then was called out on a replay review.
RESTING
Washington gave 19-year-old outfielder Juan Soto his first game off since his major league debut on May 20. He is hitting .328 with three homers and eight RBIs.
MOVING AROUND
Brandon Drury shifted to 1B from 3B in the second game of Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s doubleheader.
”Adding some versatility to his game certainly, yeah, puts him in a better position to be able to help our club again at some point,” Boone said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: RHP Luis Cessa will get a few more rehab starts. The 26-year-old right-hander Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Jersey , sidelined since mid-April by a left oblique strain, allowed two runs over 1 2/3 innings for Class A Tampa on Monday night.
UP NEXT
RHP Sonny Gray (4-4, 4.81 ERA) starts Wednesday night for the Yankees after allowing two runs and three hits over seven innings to win at Toronto last week. RHP Erick Fedde will be broug The Tennessee Titans plan to release running back DeMarco Murray.
The Titans announced their intentions Thursday, when general manager Jon Robinson said in a statement that Murray ”was a pro in every facet and we wish him and his family the best moving forward.”
Murray ran for an AFC-leading 1,287 yards and nine touchdowns to make the Pro Bowl in 2016, his first year with the Titans. He ran for 659 yards and six touchdowns last season as Derrick Henry gradually took a bigger role in the running game.
Murray, 30, dealt with a knee injury late in the year and missed the Titans’ final regular-season game and two playoff contests. He was due to make a $6.25 million base salary in 2018, and the Titans wanted Henry to take over as their lead running back.
Henry, the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner and a second-round draft pick in 2016, rushed for a team-high 744 yards last season.
The Titans acquired Murray in a March 2016 trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. Murray had spent one year with Philadelphia after playing four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. Murray was playing for Dallas in 2014 when he won the NFL rushing title and was voted Offensive Player of the Year.
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