Angels and Dirty Faces

Actor James Cagney was a Yankee Fan. Although he made his name as a song-and-dance man, he is best remembered for his roles in gangster movies. One, made in 1938, was titled Angels With Dirty Faces, and introduced the characters that became known at various times as the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys.

Last night, the Yankees began a 4-game home series with the Los Angels. The "Dirty Faces" line has been used in connection with them many times. Lately, though, it's the Yankees who have looked dirty. Here's where they rank in Major League Baseball with runners in scoring position this season:

Batting average: .216, 29th out of 30.

On-base percentage: .627, 29th.

Slugging percentage: .304, 30th.

Hits: 115, 30th.

Runs batted in (RBI): 160, 30th.

Double plays: 28, 1st

Home runs: 11, 27th.

Home runs are the category at which you would expect a Brian Cashman-built team to excel. Not with RISP.

One of the big stories of the 2021 season thus far has been the performance of Shohei Ohtani, the Angels' Japanese pitcher and slugger. I saw his 1st performance at Yankee Stadium, on May 27, 2018. He didn't bat, and got outpitched by Masahiro Tanaka.

Tanaka was not available for the Yankees last night. Michael King was the starting pitcher. Letting him start a game against major league competition is never a good idea. He didn't get out of the 5th inning, allowing 3 runs (2 of them earned) on 6 hits and 2 walks. Lucas Luetge and Chad Green weren't a whole lot better, although Nestor Cortes pitched a scoreless 9th inning.

This time, Ohtani didn't pitch, but he did bat. He only got 1 hit, but it was a home run off King in the 1st inning. And that pretty much ended it. Gio Urshela hit a home run for the Yankees in the 2nd, and Giancarlo Stanton hit one in the 6th. But the Yankees wasted a leadoff walk in the 4th, and a single with 1 out in the 7th, and had their side struck out in the 9th, when they were only down by 2 runs: Stanton, Luke Voit and Gleyber Torres.

Angels 5, Yankees 3. WP: Jose Suarez (3-1). SV: Raisel Iglesias (14). LP: King (0-4). The Yankees are now 40-38, 7 1/2 games out of 1st place, 6 games out of a Wild Card berth.

Dirty faces. Ugly results.

The series continues tonight. Jameson Taillon starts against Andrew Heaney. Oy vey.