Yankees’ Donaldson jogs too early, and gets dumped near the HR center

NEW YORK (AFP) – Josh Donaldson went to his home jog too early – and his latest failure To hustle turned to embarrassment in the playoffs.

Donaldson led the 5th inning for the New York Yankees in the opening game of the AL Division Series Tuesday night, Donaldson sent an opposite field campaign to the right against Cleveland starter Cal Quantrell with the score 1-all.

Sure enough the ball would sweep across the short porch at Yankee Stadium, the veteran put his head down and slapped his hands with first base coach Travis Chapman as he ran around the bag.

Donaldson didn’t realize the ball was still in play. When a Yankees-clad fan reached out to her, the ball bounced off the top of the fence straight back to rookie Oscar Gonzalez, who fired to hit Amed Rosario at second base.

By the time Donaldson looked at him, he was sandwiched between the first and the second. He tried to get back to the start, but Rosario threw 1st base officer Josh Naylor, who flagged Donaldson as he headed toward the sack.

A confused Donaldson pointed to the right field and spread his arms – but replays showed the ball never cleared the wall. A video review confirmed the call by right field referee Mark Rieberger that it was not a home run and that the ball was still in play.

Donaldson was credited with one song.

This wasn’t the first time that Donaldson’s lack of grit had become an issue for the Yankees this year.

In his first season with the team after arriving from Minnesota on a March deal, the 2015 AL MVP failed to run hard on the ground in May — and manager Aaron Boone took notice.

“It’s possible that Donaldson pulled his eye on her for a second,” Boone said at the time. “Every now and then, you have to say something. I haven’t said anything yet.”

But on Sept. 5, 36-year-old Donaldson was tagged in second on one of the RBIs off the left field wall base. As if Donaldson thought he had given up, he slowly broke out of the box, and Aaron Judge scored in the play before Donaldson was singled out.

Boone pulled Donaldson aside and spoke to him.

Boone said he told Donaldson, “Let’s not let that happen.”

“I don’t really worry about him from the game or from the delivery point of view; the manager added. “Yeah, this is one of those, you have to make sure. It’s better to be sure.”

New York scored a run in the fifth inning after Donaldson’s slip, and Anthony Rizzo added a sixth-half goal on his way to a 4-1 victory. Game Two of the Top Five Series takes place Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.

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