KANSAS CITY — Upon reflection, Aaron Boone would have liked to have been a bit calmer. But he didn’t think he was wrong, necessarily.
The Yankees manager lamented what he called a “bad rule” that led to him getting ejected in Monday’s 8-6, 11-inning win over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
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Boone got heated with plate umpire Pat Hoberg when he called a balk on reliever Jonathan Loaisiga in the seventh inning. That allowed Emmanuel Rivera, who had just stolen second base, to move to third base with the Yankees clinging to a 2-1 lead. Loaisiga, after taking signals from catcher Kyle Higashioka, stepped off the rubber, but Hoberg ruled that Loaisiga had made a pitching move before stepping off.
Technically, that’s a balk, but the intent of balk calls are to stop pitchers from deceiving batters, and there was no deception involved. YES analyst David Cone, a former pitcher, told viewers that he agreed with Boone — it’s a bad rule.
“I just felt like he rolled right into his step-off and it’s just such a bad rule that that’s a balk,” Boone told reporters. “I just felt like as he started up, he went into his step-off. I didn’t even see it on replay. It’s hard to pull up anything here. You’re watching everything on a delay. I was a little frustrated with a call the inning before [when Aaron Boone was called out at the plate even though replays seemed to indicate he was safe], and I just think it spilled over. Probably something I shouldn’t have done.”
The ejection was Boone’s 15th of his career his fourth this season. Hoberg also gave Boone his first managerial ejection in 2018.
“He started up and went into his step-off, which absolutely should be OK, but I just thought it was a little quick because he went into his step-off,” Boone said. “But, again, I haven’t see a replay yet.”
Here are five more Yankees observations:
Brett Gardner heating up: With a his 2-for-3 performance on Monday night, Gardner is hitting .282 over his last 18 games — lifting his average from .191 to .207. “I feel good,” Gardner said. “My typical patient at-bats, seeing a lot of pitches, trying to make pitchers work. I feel like I’ve been taking some better swings. Just continuing to work, continuing to try and do things to help the team win and still manage to get on base via the walk even when I’m not swinging. Just continue to battle up there.”
Interesting Luis Severino twist: The Yankees said Luis Severino will make perhaps his last rehab start Friday at Double-A Somerset. If they activate him afterward, a regular five-day schedule would set up Severino against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 18. Wouldn’t that be interesting? Severino hasn’t pitched in the majors since the 2019 playoffs, and he’d be thrown directly into Yankees-Red Sox.
Making history: With their four blown saves on Monday, the Yankees matched the most in a game since 1901, joining the Astros’ four blown saves on Sept. 28, 1995 at the Cubs (11 innings).
Smoked: Giancarlo Stanton’s double play in the first inning Monday was hit at 122.2 mph, matching the hardest-hit ball in play since 2015. It also matched his own 122.2-mph single in 2017. Stanton is responsible for each of the last nine balls put in play at an exit velocity of 120 mph or faster, a streak that dates back to July 8, 2018.
Up in the air: The Yankees will start Nestor Cortes on Tuesday against the Royals but don’t have a starting pitcher listed for Wednesday. So, that could mean yet another bullpen day. The Yankees won a bullpen game when Wandy Peralta was the opener on Friday. The Yankees need length from Cortes on Tuesday. He threw 86 pitches in his last start — his season-high.
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Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.