Two Historic Achievements Bring Quick Emotional Swings For Slumping New York Yankees

In a span of 22 hours, 20 minutes notable historical achievements highlighted consecutive games at Yankee Stadium Thursday and offered differing emotional swings.

At midnight, Josh Donaldson gave the Yankees the dramatic win they sought for what seemed like an eternity as the August swoon threatened to wipe out of the good vibes from a team whose record was 28-9 three months ago, 49-16 two months ago and 64-28 a month ago.

Donaldson’s drive into the right field seats marked the third grand slam in overtime (extra innings) when the Yankees trailed by at least three runs and capped a night when the team looked like it was headed for another dull loss.

During the 63-minute rain delay, manager Aaron Boone walked around and past meetings of certain degrees than heard some chants asking for a managerial change, then watched Aroldis Chapman go from being one strike away from escaping a bases-loaded jam to allowing three runs.

Then Boone watched Donaldson swing at a fastball and join Babe Ruth (1925) and Jason Giambi (2002) become the third Yankee to achieve the “ultimate grand slam”.

“The guys were pumped,” Donaldson said about 35 minutes after being mobbed at the plate. “I think just how the game progressed and how the back-and-forth battle happened there, and we were able to kind of come back there with our backs against the wall. I definitely think there was some release of some joy and some frustration over the past couple of weeks for sure.”

When Giambi hit his grand slam, 20 years, three months and two days ago, it was the moment that turned an early season slump a new free agent often experiences into a hot streak and came early in a big run for the Yankees.

“This is the setup we’ve been waiting for since we signed Jason Giambi,” Joe Torre said sometime after 1 am on May 18, 2002. “I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked when is he going to have his defining moment.”

The Yankees were hoping Donaldson’s grand slam would not only get him going in a rough first season but also be a defining moment in their turnaround from a skid that is now 13 losses in 17 games since July 30 and 23 defeats in 35 games since holding a 15 1/2 game lead following their 12-5 win at Boston on July 8.

If it was a turning point, the evidence was not present Thursday. The Yankees gave up the 11th five-hit game in the majors this season when George Springer doubled minutes into their 9-2 loss and followed with four more singles.

Perhaps more notable while it was the 401st instance of a leadoff hitter getting five hits, it was the fourth time a leadoff hitter did it playing designated hitter for an entire game. It first happened May 28, 1980 when Dickie Thon went 5-for-5 (four singles, one double) for the Angels against Texas, then again on July 28, 1991 when Hall of Famer Paul Molitor went 5-for-6 (five singles for Milwaukee at Minnesota and then most recently before Thursday when Luis Polonia went 5-for-5 (three singles, two doubles) for Detroit against the White Sox.

“He’s really good, and we love having him,” interim manager John Schneider said Springer produced the 104th five-hit game against the Yankees and joined Roy Howell as the only Blue Jay to achieve the feat against the Yankees. “He’s been great since he came back. He’s a spark plug at the top, and he really gets this offense going.”

Springer was at designated hitter because he is still working his way back from elbow inflammation, but he set up the Yankees for another rough night and gave the Blue Jays another chance to inch closer in a year where they are considered underachievers following a spring training when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. described last year as a trailer to the movie of storming to the AL East title.

“It’s just kind of one of those things, looking for something to hit and if I got it, put a good swing on it, and I was lucky enough to find a hole,” Springer said.

The hit parade spoiled home debut for Frankie Montas, the pitcher viewed as the trade deadline consolation when the Yankees were unable to get Luis Castillo. It was part of Montas allowing six runs in six innings to spike his ERA with the Yankees to 9.00 through three starts.

Springer’s historic hit parade consisted of a double to left field on a 1-1 96.5 mph fastball, single to center field on a 1-2 86.5 mph splitter, single to right field on a 89.6 mph cutter, single to left-center field on a 3-2 98.9 mph sinker and finally a single to right-center field on an 88.3 mph cutter.

“I faced him a lot when he was with Houston. He was in another world tonight,” Montas said. “He was hitting the ball pretty good. He got a couple hits that were pretty lucky. But what did he go, 5-for-5? That’s pretty good.”

Considering Springer hit four different pitches to five different locations, it is extraordinary as it was among 67 five-hit games since the start of the 2019 season.

And it added up to the emotional swings of jubilation at midnight to frustration by 10:30 pm for the Yankees.

“Right now, in the last 24 hours, it’s a little bit of a different vibe, different feel. But this is what we’re capable of every night,” Schneider said.

Schneider’s words about his team’s last two games are the kind comments the Yankees hope they can start making again sometime in the near future. In the mean time the search for a hot streak continues.