Marcus Stroman implodes as Yankees get blown out in rain-shortened loss to Giants

Here is how bad it got: In the sixth inning, as the downpour continued and the Yankees’ pitcher clearly could not grip the ball, manager Aaron Boone lobbied essentially for his own team to be mercy-ruled. 

His wish eventually was granted in a 9-1 beatdown at the Giants’ hands in a game that was called with two outs in the top of the sixth — and in a game that included more than one Yankees loss. 

In a driving rain in The Bronx, their pitchers lost their grip, Boone was concerned he might have been losing Yoendrys Gómez and, most importantly, the club could have lost Marcus Stroman. 

After recording just two outs in a nightmare outing, Stroman said his left knee was “bugging him,” Boone said, received X-rays and went to the hospital for further tests. 

Marcus Stroman reacts as he exits the Yankees-Giants game on April 11, 2025.

“We’ll see what we have [Saturday],” Boone said after a frigid Friday that the club will try to forget as soon as possible. 

The game began late — delayed 26 minutes by rain that never went away — and ended early, called with the bases loaded in the sixth as Gómez’s pitches could not find the strike zone, several of which approached Giants batters, and his velocity was flagging. 

Boone said he and bench coach Brad Ausmus, both baseball lifers, “were talking — that’s probably the worst conditions we’ve ever experienced. We’ve been doing this a long time.” 

And so in a contest in which his team trailed by eight, and he would have had to ask an already tired bullpen for 10 more outs, Boone lobbied for the umpires to intervene.

Crew chief Lance Barksdale talks with Yankees pitcher Yoendrys Gómez (94) before a rain delay during the sixth inning.

Soon enough, the game entered a second delay, and 30 minutes afterward it was called. 

“I was like, ‘It’s pretty rough right here,’” Boone said he told crew chief Lance Barksdale. “My concern was when [Gómez’s] velo really dropped off, and then it starts turning into a completely different game, and that’s what I want to avoid.” 

Gómez said he was OK and acknowledged the elements played a role in his struggle.

Jung Hoo Lee (R.) celebrates after hitting a home run during the Giants-Yankees game on April 11, 2025.

The Yankees will hope that Stroman, too, is OK, after an outing that might go down as the worst of the club’s season. 

Stroman recorded two outs while allowing five runs on four hits and three walks in 46 pitches, the big blows a three-run home run from Jung Hoo Lee and a two-run double from LaMonte Wade Jr.

He has not been effective in three starts this year, his ERA up to 11.57, but he has never been this ineffective. 

“Just didn’t look very comfortable from the start,” said catcher Austin Wells, who added that he did not know that Stroman’s knee was troubling him. 

Clarke Schmidt will rejoin the rotation the next turn through, and the belief has been he will kick out either Carlos Carrasco or Will Warren.

Marcus Stroman pitches during the Yankees-Giants game on April 11, 2025.

It is possible he instead takes the place of Stroman if an IL stint is required. 

As Schmidt returns, the Yankees have options — but they are not particularly appealing ones at the moment. Stroman has been roughed up three times, as has Carrasco, and Warren has allowed six runs in nine innings. 

“We’ve got to do better,” Boone said of his rotation. “We’ve struggled to this point. Again … it’s 13 games in, but we’ve got to night-in, night-out pitch a little bit better.” 

Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham (12) reacts after striking out during the fourth inning.

The pitching after Stroman — Ryan Yarbrough, Ian Hamilton, Tim Hill and Gómez — covered five innings in which they walked eight and allowed four runs.

The Yankees came away relieved they did not have to burn through the rest of the bullpen, particularly in the first game of a 13-games-in-13-days trek and particularly because they did not want any other pitcher (or hitter facing a pitcher unable to get a grip on the ball or a grip on the mound) in danger. 

Did playing later in that game feel dangerous? 

“I don’t know,” Wells said. “I was just kind of playing.” 

“It’s less than ideal,” Yarbrough said. 

Marcus Stroman is pulled during the Yankees-Giants game on April 11, 2025.

Aaron Boone walks off the field during the sixth inning.

“It’s raining a lot,” Gómez, who added that he was just focused on competing, said through interpreter Marlon Abreu. “There comes a point where it’s probably not the best to play the game, and eventually … [the umpires] make a decision.” 

That decision put the Yankees out of their misery and made official their fourth loss in five games. 

They hope they have not lost Stroman, too, after a brutal night.

“It was a lot of fun,” Wells deadpanned.