An MLB season unlike any other opened Thursday night at Nationals Park. Defending World Series champion Washington Nationals hosted the New York Yankees in Game 1 of this shortened 60-game season.
The Yankees wasted no time giving Gerrit Cole, his new ace, some running support. The offense put constant pressure on Max Scherzer and New York had a 4-1 lead when the umpires called for the canvas with one out in the top of the sixth inning. The rain never decreased and the game was called after a two-hour rain delay. The Yankees are 1-0 (scorecard).
Here are three conclusions from opening day when the Yankees beat the Nationals in a rain-shortened affair.
Cole dominates in Yankees debut
Adam Eaton, the second hitter Cole faced as a Yankee, hit a 406-foot home run to right field. Not a great start! However, Cole quickly calmed down. The $ 324 million man retired 14 of the 16 batters he faced after Eaton’s home run, and the two runners were hit by pitch and walk. Five of the 16 struck out.
Cole consistently missed his first two innings with his fastball, a classic indication that the pitcher is overthrowing, suggesting he was somewhat amplified in his first start as a Yankee. However, he soon calmed down and dominated in five innings, limiting the Nationals to an average tee speed of 89 mph on 11 balls in play. Weak contact all night.
Cole is the seventh pitcher to make his debut on the Yankees as a starting day starter, joining Jack Chesbro (1903), Sad Sam Jones (1922), Jimmy Key (1993), Roger Clemens (1999), Randy Johnson (2005) and CC Sabathia (2009). It is only the second Yankee that does not allow more than one blow the day of the inauguration. Luis Severino did it in 2018.
Great games for Judge and Stanton
Last season’s injuries limited Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to 120 games, including just 18 by Stanton. If the 2020 season had started on time, Judge and Stanton would have been on the disabled list on opening day. The judge was dealing with a rib fracture that dated from last September and Stanton injured his calf in March.
The closure gave both players time to heal and allowed them to be in the starting lineup on Thursday. Judge recorded the season’s first hit with a solid single to left field in the first inning. Two hitters later, Stanton took Max Scherzer deep for the season’s first home run and gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead:
The first homer of the new season was not cheap. Statcast says he traveled 459 feet and dropped Stanton’s bat at 112 mph. The judge’s bachelor wasn’t too far at 108 mph. They made very strong contact in the first inning.
His contributions did not end there. Judge doubled to left field in the third inning, scoring speedy Tyler Wade from first base. Two innings after that, Stanton threw a career touchdown single to the right with the bases loaded to stretch New York’s lead to 4-1.
Judge and Stanton went 4-for-6 combined with a double and a home run before the rain delay on Thursday. The rest of the Yankees were 2 for 16 and one of the two hits was a single.
Scherzer has the worst start to opening day
Five days ago, Scherzer was hit hard by the Phillies in an exhibition game, but then said he was not concerned.. “They hit me a little bit, but that’s good,” he said. I wasn’t worried either. A veteran pitcher like Scherzer knows what he has to do to prepare for the season.
On Thursday night, Scherzer had a very unpredictable start against the Yankees. The Good: 11 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings, including five strikeouts over the span of six hitters at one point. The Bad: Four runs won, or the same number he had allowed in his four previous Opening Day starts combined (four runs won in 28 1/3 innings).
Scherzer faced 26 batters before the rain delay and 10 made it to base. He allowed double-digit base runners in just four of his 27 starts last season. All four walks tied their season higher than last season, which they did only once.
