The New York Yankees received an unwanted reminder Saturday afternoon of how seemingly meaningless late-season games can suddenly become important for all the wrong reasons.
The Yankees will be without first baseman Anthony Rizzo on Sunday afternoon, when they finish tuning up for the playoffs by hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates in the regular-season finale for both clubs.
Right-hander Clarke Schmidt (5-5, 2.55 ERA) is slated to start for the Yankees against Pirates left-hander Bailey Falter (8-9, 4.26).
The Pirates locked up a series win Saturday afternoon, when they hit five homers in a 9-4 victory.
Despite the defeat, the American League East-winning Yankees (93-68) clinched the AL’s top overall seed hours later, when the AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians fell to the AL West champion Houston Astros 4-3.
But the Yankees likely weren’t in a celebratory mood due to the uncertainty surrounding Rizzo, who suffered fractures of the fourth and fifth fingers on his right hand when he was hit on the right hand in the seventh inning by Ryan Borucki’s 88-mph slider.
Rizzo initially remained in the game but was replaced at first base by Oswaldo Cabrera in the top of the eighth before X-rays revealed the fractures.
Manager Aaron Boone said it was too early to know if Rizzo could play in the postseason for the Yankees, who are scheduled to begin AL Division Series play on Oct. 5.
“We’ll see as the days unfold here what we have,” Boone said.
The injury continued a trying season for Rizzo, who will set full-season career-lows for homers (eight), RBIs (35) and OPS (.633). The Yankees went 29-33 without Rizzo from June 18-Aug. 31, when the four-time Gold Glove winner was sidelined with a broken right forearm.
Rookie Ben Rice and DJ LeMahieu got most of the starts at first base in Rizzo’s absence, but Rice was optioned to Triple-A on Sept. 1 and LeMahieu is on the injured list with a right hip impingement.
The victory continued an encouraging final weekend filled with potential glimpses at an intriguing future for the Pirates (76-85), who received a combined 9 2/3 solid innings from rookies Jared Jones, Paul Skenes and Mike Burrows in winning the first two games of the series.
Skenes, an NL Rookie of the Year contender, ended his season with two perfect innings before Burrows made his big league debut and earned the win after allowing two runs (one earned) over 3 1/3 innings. Burrows returned from Tommy John surgery this season and posted a 4.06 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings for Triple-A Indianapolis.
“A lot of people talk about our pitching and the depth and at times they forget to mention him,” manager Derek Shelton said of Burrows. “We feel that he’s still a big part of this.”
Schmidt took the loss in his most recent start Tuesday night, when he gave up three runs over 5 1/3 innings as the Yankees fell to the Baltimore Orioles 5-3. He has never opposed the Pirates.
Falter also took the defeat Tuesday after allowing four runs over five innings in the Pirates’ 7-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. He has never faced the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
