For the most part, the New York Yankees have gotten off to a great start to their ALCS showdown with the Cleveland Guardians. The pitching has been almost uniformly excellent, a patient offense is walking almost as much as it strikes out and Juan Soto, Giancarlo Stanton and the gang are delivering enough timely hits to jump out to a 2-0 series lead.
One place that great start has not extended, however, is the basepaths, where the Yankees morph from one of the best teams in baseball into an elaborate Keystone Kops routine. New York ran into not one but two baffling outs on the bases in the Game 2 win at Yankee Stadium, prompting radio voice John Sterling to roast the team live on air. And unfortunately for Aaron Boone's sanity, they were back at it early in Game 3.
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Jose Trevino had just delivered in a big way, shooting a single into right field to score Anthony Volpe from third base and give New York a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. With runners on the corners and still just one man out, it looked like the Yankees were positioned for more ... until Trevino temporarily lost his senses.
seriously man what the fuck pic.twitter.com/3uUhv9zqQ7
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 17, 2024
Guardians starter Matthew Boyd didn't even use his best pickoff move to first, and yet somehow Trevino was frozen, not even able to offer an attempt back to the bag. Instead he got caught in a rundown, not even staying alive long enough to give Alex Verdugo a chance to dash for home. That's now three potential runs the Yankees have taken off the board for no other reason than just a lack of sense on the bases — Trevino runs like you'd expect from a catcher, and he's clearly not going anywhere in that spot. If New York falls in a close game, they'll have no one to blame but themselves.
