Borderline Strikes Doom Nathaniel Lowe, Texas Rangers in Yankees Loss
Texas Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe probably regrets not taking the bat off his shoulder with two on and no outs in the eighth inning Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. But he had good reason – at least according to video evidence – not to swing.
The Rangers were down 1-0 to the New York Yankees at the time, but were threatening. Lowe, thrown out at the plate in the first inning, was facing Wandy Peralta with a chance to turn the game around.
Peralta started Lowe off with two balls, quickly getting behind in the count. A 91-mph changeup and 89-mph slider followed and both were on the edges of the strike zone. Both were called strikes.
Another slider down and away left the count full at 3-2. Lowe figured to get something to hit on the payoff pitch or draw a walk to load the bases.
He thought the latter happened after another changeup. Instead, another borderline pitch from Peralta was called a strike by home plate umpire Carlos Torres.
Lowe never once offered at any of the six pitches. The chart below from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News paints a picture of why Lowe didn’t.
Texas went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“That big hit just eluded us,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We had the right guys up there late in the ballgame, a couple of innings. You couldn’t ask for a better situation, but they pitched out of it. It’s baseball. We’ve been getting those hits.”
Adolis García followed the Lowe strikeout with a ground out and Josh Jung struck out swinging to end the inning. The Rangers also got the first two batters on in the ninth before that opportunity fizzled.
New York claimed the 1-0 shutout win to even the three-game series.
The Rangers (47-29) and Yankees (42-35) play the series’ rubber match Sunday at 12:35 p.m. CT with a pair of aces on the hill. Nathan Eovaldi (9-3, 2.80) goes for Texas opposite Gerrit Cole (8-1, 2.64).
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