Zach Neto is an All-Star caliber shortstop who’s also a stand-up guy, and he owned up to causing the miscommunication on the infield pop-up that plopped down between him and Oswald Peraza on the left side of the Los Angeles Angels’ infield to open the flood gates for the New York Yankees in the Halos’ latest ugly loss.
The play occurred in with one out in the ninth inning and the Angels leading 4-3, and it put speedy Jazz Chisolm on at first after Chisolm failed to hustle on the play. But Chisolm stole second, Austin Wells drew a walk, and a stunning double by Jose Caballero scored both runners for a walk-off Yankees win.
“It’s my fault,” Neto said in a piece written by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “The shortstop has priority over everybody, and I should’ve caught the ball. Just miscommunication. But I take full responsibility for that. I should’ve went over there and caught it.”
The play also speaks to the problem of moving a young player like Peraza around a lot, especially in the Yankee Stadium hothouse environment. He’s been stellar at second base, but manager Kurt Suzuki has been trying different infield configurations in an effort to figure out who belongs where.
“Just a miscommunication,” Suzuki said. “It was loud, and obviously one of them thought somebody called it, and then they both stopped going after it. That's a tough one.”
As bad as the play was, though, the real culprit in this one was Romano. It was his second blown save of the series against the Yankees, and many of the pitches he made last night weren’t competitive.
“It's baseball,” Romano said. “Stuff happens. When a guy gets on, just try to make good pitches after that.”
Romano opened the season with four straight saves and five scoreless innings, but now his ERA has ballooned to 8.44. Receiver Kirby Yates is close to his rehab assignment after having knee issues, and Ben Joyce is throwing to live hitters as he recovers from shoulder surgery last May. Suzuki was less diplomatic when he hinted at what might be coming.
“The last couple games have been tough,” Suzuki said. “He was really good to start the year, and then the last couple games have been tough. We’ll probably take a look at it and see what's going on.”
The manager didn’t make any excuses for his club, either, when it comes to coming back from a tough loss.
“I'm not going to sit here and say these didn't hurt,” Suzuki said. “It definitely stings. Our guys in there, they work their butts off, and to lose the game and close games like this, it's tough. But tomorrow's a new day. Forget about it. We’ve got a big league ballgame tomorrow.”