New York Post - 06.08.2019

New York Post, Tuesday, August 6, 2019

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Too close for comfort

Rosario

rising to

occasion at

right time

By MOLLIE WALKER

In what is a crucial month for the
Mets’ wild-card hopes, Amed Rosa-
rio has started August off on the
right foot.
The shortstop went 2-for-5 with
two runs scored and an RBI in the
Mets’ 6-2 opening-game victory of a
doubleheader with the Marlins on
Monday at Citi Field. He then ex-
tended his hitting streak to six games
in the nightcap — going 1-for-4 with
a run scored in a 5-4 win.
“Another solid game by him, he
continues to impress,” Mets man-
ager Mickey Callaway said after the
opener. “He continues to make
plays, plays that we haven’t seen re-
ally in the past, except for on occa-
sion. He’s making them consis-
tently now.”
After Jeff McNeil homered on
Robert Dugger’s first pitch of the
opener and the Marlins answered
with back-to-back doubles off Jacob
deGrom in the second to tie the
score, Rosario blasted the Mets’
second solo shot of the afternoon to
take a 2-1 lead.
He followed it up on defense in
the fourth, fielding a slow, bounc-
ing grounder from Harold Ramirez
and making the off-balance throw
to first for the out. There was no
shortage of effort from the 23-year-
old, as he ran out a soft bouncer to
short in the fifth for an infield hit to
jump-start a two-run inning.
After McNeil was walked in the
first inning of the nightcap, Rosario
singled to left to put runners on the
corners for Michael Conforto,
whose two-run single to left put the
Mets on the board early.
“Obviously, not just [Conforto]
but Rosie, what he’s done has been
ridiculous. He’s hot as a torch right
now,” said Pete Alonso, following
the second game. “There’s so many
different pieces, but everyone is re-
ally contributing now, it’s not the
same guy every single night.”
Rosario’s improvement comes at
just the right time, especially since
in June Callaway had discussed the
possibility of shifting him to center
field. After an abysmal April stretch
in which he committed seven er-
rors in six games, Rosario commit-
ted two errors in July and has been
strong in the field so far this month.
“He’s doing a great job on de-
fense, he’s been working hard and
then at the plate, he’s been uncon-
scious,” Callaway said. “He’s been
really good.”
In 26 at-bats this month, Rosario
has 10 hits and is batting .385.
[email protected]

Sanchez starting rehab Wednesday

By GEORGE A. KING III

BALTIMORE — They come

and go as often as regulars on the

Long Island Railroad, and All-

Star catcher Gary Sanchez is pre-

paring to return from the injured

list for the second time this week.

Out since July 24 with a

strained left groin, Sanchez is

scheduled to begin a minor

league rehab assignment

Wednesday.

“Wednesday and Thursday

with [Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-

Barre], catch both days and hope-

fully travel to us in Toronto and

be an active player,’’ Aaron Boone

said before his team beat the

morbid Orioles, 9-6, at Camden

Yards on Monday evening.

While the Yankees certainly

miss Sanchez’s power potential

(he leads the club with 24 hom-

ers) the combination of Austin

Romine and Kyle Higashioka has

been more than adequate filling

in for Sanchez at the plate.

Romine homered Monday and

the duo is hitting .293 (12-for-41)

with four homers and 11 RBIs

since Sanchez went down. From

June 23 to July 23, Sanchez ap-

peared in 21 games, hit one

homer, drove in six runs and hit

.118 (10-for-85) with a .370 OPS.

➤After the victory Monday,

Boone announced Jonathan

Holder will serve as the opener

for the first time this season. Re-

liever Chad Green has started

nine games this season, but threw

25 pitches as the opener in the

second game of Saturday’s dou-

bleheader against the Red Sox

and threw 24 pitches as the closer

Sunday night against Boston.

➤Out all season with shoulder

issues, Luis Severino is moving

closer to throwing off a mound.

According to Boone, the former

staff ace has one more flat-ground

session Wednesday. If that goes

well, the plan is for a bullpen ses-

sion Friday in Toronto.

➤CC Sabathia threw on flat

ground Monday for the first time

since landing on the injured list on

July 28 with right knee inflammation.

“See how he comes out of that, I

am assuming everything was good,’’

Boone said. “Then we will start

putting a plan moving forward.’’

YANKEES NOTES

By GEORGE A. KING III

BALTIMORE — Considering

tests done on injured body parts

belonging to Yankees players have

delivered brutal results, the club

was encouraged Gleyber Torres

and Gio Urshela didn’t have to

join the plethora of other Yankees

on the injured list Monday.

In fact, Torres was in the lineup

as the designated hitter against

the dreadful Orioles at Camden

Yards and Urshela, who wasn’t,

said he was ready to play. Torres

went 0-for-5 in the Yankees’ 9-6

win.

DJ LeMahieu and Torres have

been the Yankees’ MVPs through-

out the first four months of the

season and had Torres gone down

for an extended stretch

it would have been

devastating.

So, when the results

of an ultrasound test

came back without bad

news the Yankees’ spir-

its were lifted.

“[Sunday night] I felt

something different in

my body. In that mo-

ment I didn’t know

what it was exactly,’’ said Torres,

who exited that night’s 7-4 win

over the free-falling

Red Sox at the start of

the visitors’ eighth. “I

just tried to tell the

trainer and I went to

the hospital. I got a lot

of tests [checking] if I

had a hernia or some-

thing like that. I took a

pill [Sunday night] and

I feel so much better

right now.’’

Urshela, who fouled pitches off

his right knee and left shin in his

final at-bat Sunday, left the game

at the start of the ninth and had X-

rays taken, reported progress.

“It’s better than [Sunday] night,’’

said Urshela, who had the knee

wrapped, a bandage on the shin

and explained he felt the knee

more than the shin. “I never saw

that [two foul balls off the legs in

the same at-bat] before. It is the

first time it happened to me.’’

For a team that hasn’t had for-

mer ace Luis Severino and stud

reliever Dellin Betances all year,

Giancarlo Stanton limited to nine

games, Miguel Andujar to 12 and

put Luke Voit, Aaron Hicks and

Edwin Encarnacion on the IL in-

side of four days (July 31-Aug. 4),

losing Torres might have been the

injury that hurt the most.

Yankees dodge losing

Torres, Urshela to injury

GIO URSHELA

TAKING A DIVE: Aaron

Judge makes the defensive

play on a fly ball hit by the

Orioles’ Trey Mancini in the fifth

inning on Monday in Baltimore.

At the plate, Judge was 1-for-3

with a double. Getty Images