CLEVELAND — The Yankees went with Isiah Kiner-Falefa over the rookie Oswald Peraza for the ALDS roster and Kiner-Falefa has continued his penchant for not being able to complete plays that he should in a 6-5 loss to the Guardians in Game 3 of the ALDS that brought the Yankees to the brink of elimination.
He went after Josh Naylor’s grounder in the first awkwardly and it turned into a run-scoring single and then with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, he made a good backhanded stop of an Andres Gimenez grounder. But with time to get Gimenez, Kiner-Falefa fired wide to first and Anthony Rizzo was unable to stay on the bag.
The play went for a single and extended the inning, and it came back to hurt the Yankees as pinch-hitter Will Brennan smacked an RBI single to make it a one-run game.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa fields Jose Ramirez’s infield single which loaded the bases in the ninth inning of the Yankees’ 6-5 loss to the Guardians. Shutterstock
Kiner-Falefa then threw to the wrong base on Myles Straw’s bloop to left that Oswaldo Cabrera overran in the bottom of the ninth. The throw to third allowed Straw to go to second.
“I’m disappointed in myself,’’ Kiner-Falefa said. “I had an opportunity to come up with some plays to help the team win.”
On the Straw play in the ninth, Aaron Boone said he was surprised Straw initially stopped and looked ready to go back to first, which is why Kiner-Falefa threw to third, thinking there was no play at second.
Boone and the Yankees have insisted the metrics they have on Kiner-Falefa indicate he is among the better defensive shortstops in the league, but he’s shown a tendency to make miscues in key situations.
Boone said he would use Kyle Higashioka and not just Jose Trevino behind the plate in the postseason. Higashioka got his first start in Saturday’s Game 3 against the Guardians with Luis Severino on the mound.
It was Higashioka’s second straight outing. Higashioka — who was 0-for-2 with a walk — was paired with Severino when the right-hander tossed seven no-hit innings against the Rangers in his final outing of the regular season.
“[Higashioka] swung the bat well the last month or two and earned some opportunities,’’ said Boone, adding catching Severino’s no-hit bid “didn’t hurt.”
Matt Carpenter struck out in his first at-bat since fracturing his left foot on Aug. 8 when he pinch-hit and struck out in Game 2.
“It certainly felt good to be back out there,” Carpenter said Saturday who did not get an at-bat Game 3, in which he did not play. “Would have preferred a different result, but physically I felt good, felt like I was seeing the ball well. … I felt ready. I felt prepared. Just wasn’t able to come through. Hope to get another chance.”
Carpenter’s first shot came in Game 2 of the ALDS, pinch-hitting for Trevino in the sixth inning with two on, two out and the teams tied at two. He fouled off a pair of pitches from former Yankees prospect and right-hander Trevor Stephan, working a 2-2 count before swinging through a splitter just under the strike zone to end the threat.
For now, Carpenter is relegated to pinch-hitting role. The Yankees have said they are open to inserting DH Giancarlo Stanton back in the outfield, but have not yet followed through on that. Carpenter has also worked out at first base, where he is blocked by Rizzo, and in the outfield, where he might be limited but is trying to at least make himself an option.
In the meantime, the 36-year-old will try his luck as a pinch hitter, a role in which he went 1-for-8 with a double, four walks and five strikeouts during the regular season.
Boone didn’t second-guess either of the moves that were somewhat questioned after Game 2.
Of Jameson Taillon, who allowed all three batters he faced to reach in his first appearance out of the bullpen, Boone said he “thought he threw he [heck] out of the ball,” noting Jose Ramirez and Oscar Gonzalez both reached on bloop hits, which impacted Taillon’s approach to Naylor, who doubled to center.
“He looked really good,’’ Boone said, also pointing out that Taillon was a better matchup against two lefty swingers in Ramirez and Naylor than Clarke Schmidt, who came in and finished the inning.
“[Taillon] was ready for it,’’ Boone said. “I thought it was the spot for him.”
And keeping light-hitting Tim Locastro in the game to hit for himself against Emmanuel Clase instead of going to the switch-hitting Aaron Hicks, Boone said, “I thought Tim had a good at-bat.”
