Yankees complain about lighting, tipped pitches after loss to Blue Jays
The New York Yankees were left wondering what happened after blowing a four-run lead against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, and a few players have some ideas as to what went wrong.
Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka believes the lighting at Buffalo's Sahlen Field played a role in a disastrous sixth inning that saw the Blue Jays score 10 runs.
"A lot of it had to do with (that) he had a tough time seeing the signs," Higashioka said when asked about New York's pitching struggles postgame, according to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. "It's pretty dark there. Once it really got dark, yeah. I had the stickers on my fingers but it still seemed like it didn't help much."
He added: "I guess I'll have to take a look to see if they were maybe tipping or something. We were a little erratic that inning."
The lighting at Sahlen Field was a question mark before the Blue Jays decided to play their home games for the 2020 campaign in Buffalo, and improvements were made to bring the ballpark up to MLB standards.
Blue Jays prospect Adam Kloffenstein took a friendly jab at the Yankees on Twitter over their lighting concerns:
Reports are saying the lighting was at its worst in the 6th inning https://t.co/GqpkmUpA3q
— Adam Kloffenstein (@KingKloff) September 8, 2020
Yankees reliever Adam Ottavino, who was charged with six earned runs without registering a single out, acknowledged Toronto's hitters may have known what was coming.
"It's just bizarre," Ottavino said. "Myself and (fellow reliever Chad Green) didn't get any swing and misses that whole inning and we're both well above average swing and miss pitchers.
"Not getting swing and misses, it's either an indication that my stuff wasn’t good, my location wasn't good, or that they had something on me. They either had a great approach or they knew what was coming, any of that."
New York has now lost 14 of its last 19 games.