NEW YORK — New York Yankees infielder Oswaldo Cabrera didn’t run from it.
“It is my fault,” he said.
Cabrera was talking about the key pitch clock gaffe he committed in the ninth inning of a 6-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Oswaldo strikes out on a pitch clock violation to start the 9th pic.twitter.com/ztmaLaPLIt
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 31, 2024
With a full count to lead off the inning, Cabrera waited too long to get back into the batter’s box and look toward closer Ryan Helsley, prompting plate umpire Ben May to call an automatic strike and end the at-bat.
In the moment after the call, the typically affable Cabrera was heated, complaining loudly to May. Manager Aaron Boone also left the dugout to get an explanation from May, and to get between him and Cabrera.
Batters “must be in the box and alert to the pitcher by the eight-second mark or be charged with an automatic strike,” according to MLB rules.
Cabrera said he needs to “get better in those situations.”
“I was just in time,” the 25-year-old said. “It’s tough to say if it was (a violation) or not. So, for that reason, just in time is not right. So, it’s completely my fault.”
Manager Aaron Boone said he hadn’t yet seen a replay to provide his own judgment of the umpire’s decision. Helsley wasn’t standing on the pitching rubber when May made the call. Instead, the right-hander was standing on the back of the mound. Boone said it didn’t matter whether Helsley appeared ready to pitch and that it was on Cabrera to engage with him.
Boone added that May told him “it was a violation and he had to call it.”
Cabrera said he was too busy watching the pitcher and trying to prepare himself to get a good pitch to hit in his next try.
“When I looked at the clock,” Cabrera said, “I had used up 10 seconds and obviously I was watching the bat and all those things. Like I said, it’s tough to see to make the decision.”
Boone said he’d prefer to see the rule enforced to its “spirit” than to its letter. But he didn’t make any excuses for Cabrera, either.
“We know the rules,” the manager said. “We’ve played with them now for a couple of years. It’s on all of us. Probably every umpire calls it a little bit different. Some miss some. They weren’t calling the no-stop balk today. You’ve got to adapt.”
After Cabrera’s strikeout, the Yankees still had a chance. Gleyber Torres flew out, but Juan Soto doubled and the Cardinals intentionally walked Aaron Judge to get to cleanup hitter Austin Wells. But Wells struck out to end the game.
In the eighth, Giancarlo Stanton, pinch hitting for center fielder Trent Grisham, provided some heroics. With the bases loaded, he doubled off the top of the center field wall, scoring all three runs to cut St. Louis’ lead to 6-5. Anthony Volpe rapped an RBI single earlier in the inning.
It all came after Will Warren continued his poor MLB debut season, giving up four earned runs in four innings to see his ERA balloon to 9.55 in five starts. Warren gave up a three-run homer to Brendan Donovan that barely cleared the short porch in the right-field corner in a four-run third inning. On Sunday, the Yankees will look to win the rubber match of the three-game series with lefty Nestor Cortes on the mound vs. righty starter Miles Mikolas.
The loss dropped the Yankees to 79-57, though they were still atop of the American League East. The second-place Baltimore Orioles trailed them by one game with a matchup at the Colorado Rockies looming Saturday night.
“It’s not been easy,” Boone said, “but we’re in a great position. We’re sitting atop of the division. Best record or right around there in the league. It’s definitely been a grind for us. But it’s right there for the taking. Excited for this final push and hopefully set ourselves up to get to play in October.”
But Saturday night, Cabrera will surely be thinking about his late-inning mistake.
“It was obviously a really bad situation to take my time,” he said.
(Photo: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
