After a Bad Game, Yanks Roast Birds Twice

The Yankees returned home from the COVID hotspot of Florida what appeared to be an injury and illness crisis. At least they were facing a team that seemed to be easy to beat, the Baltimore Orioles. But the 1st game of the series, on Monday night, did not look like what the doctor ordered.

Andrew Heaney, newly acquired from the Los Angeles Angels, made his Yankee debut. He got through the 1st 2 innings without any runs, but allowed 2 in the 3rd and 2 more  in the 4th, and that would be it for him. Clearly, if he's going to be part of the solution to the Yankees pitching problems, he didn't prove it that night.

Jorge Lopez started the game for the Orioles, with a 2-12 record and an ERA over 6. Result? The Yankees only got 3 hits all game long. And their only run was scored without the benefit of a hit, in the bottom of the 5th, on 2 walks, a groundout, and a sacrifice fly by, you may have guessed, highly popular new acquisition Anthony Rizzo.

Orioles 7, Yankees 1. WP: Lopez (3-12). No save. LP: Heaney (6-8). All the optimism for  having taken 5 out of 6 in Florida was gone.

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So what the Yankees really needed the next 2 nights was a couple of blowouts.

For the Tuesday night game, the Yankees did something they hadn't done since September 26, 1950: They sent out 3 pitchers making their Major League debuts. That day, it was Lew Burdette, Dave Madison and Ernie Nevel. Nevel never amounted to anything, and Burdette and Madison only did so after being traded. The Yankees lost to the Washington Senators, 11-8, because starter Tommy Byrne got shelled. In that case, it didn't matter, because the Yankees had already clinched the Pennant.

But for this game, the starter was Luis Gil (pronounced like "heel"), a 23-year-old Dominican righthander. Most fans were not optimistic.

Surprise: Gil went 6 innings, allowing no runs on 4 hits and 1 walk, striking out 6. No one had the right to ask for a better major league debut than that.

The 2nd debutant was Stephen Ridings, a righthander from Long Island about to turn 26. He allowed a double, but otherwise struck out the side. The last 2 innings were pitched by Brody Koerner, a 27-year old righthander from Virginia. He allowed a run in the 8th, but got through the 9th without any more.

A pitching performance like that deserve to be backed up by a lot of runs. It was. The Yanks got 1 run in the 2nd inning, 5 in the 3rd, 3 in the 4th including a home run by Giancarlo Stanton, and 4 more in the 8th including a home run by Aaron Judge. Every Yankee in the lineup except newcomer Joey Gallo got a hit.

Yankees 13, Orioles 1. WP: Gil (1-0). No save. LP: Alexander Wells (1-2).

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Last night, the Yankees sent out the man intended as their 5th starter, but now the only starter they've got who isn't either injured or dealing with COVID-related issues, Jameson Taillon. He pitched into the 7th inning, allowing 3 runs, 2 of them earned, 4 hits, just 1 walk, and striking out 10. The problem is, the Yankees just haven't been hitting for him, and so he did not end up as the winning pitcher.

It didn't help that Baltimore was getting good pitching from former Met idol Matt Harvey, whom the Flushing Heathen had nicknamed "The Dark Knight," because he reminded them of Batman for reasons that made sense only to them. 

It was 3-0 Orioles going to the bottom of the 4th. Rizzo then hit a 2-run homer off Harvey, and the Yankees tied it in the 5th. Then they got 5 runs in the 7th and 2 more in the 8th. 

This included an RBI single by Rizzo, who thus became the 1st Yankee ever to have at least one RBI in each of his 1st 6 games with the team. That's in the entire history of the franchise. No, Ruth didn't do it, nor did Gehrig DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra, Maris, Jackson, Winfield, Jeter or A-Rod. Certainly, not Donnie Regular Season Baseball.

The last Oriole pitcher was Dusten Knight. Somebody on Twitter noted that the O's started with Matt Harvey and ended with D. Knight. For all the good that did.

Yankees 10, Orioles 3. WP: Jonathan Loáisiga (8-4). No save. LP: Cole Sulser (3-2).

So the Yankees outscored the Orioles 24-11, which makes it look like they roasted the Birds. But they only took 2 out of 3.

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Nevertheless, the situation is improving. The Yankees now trail the Tampa Bay Rays by 6 games, 5 in the loss column, for the American League Eastern Division lead. The Boston Red Sox are 1 game behind the Rays. For the 2nd AL Wild card slot, the Yankees trail the Oakland Athletics by 2 games, 1 in the loss column.

Tonight, the Yankees begin a four-game home series with the Seattle Mariners. Unfortunately, between the injuries and the COVID recovery, here are the starting pitching matchups as they are currently projected:

* Tonight, 7:05: Nestor Cortes vs. Tyler Anderson.

* Tomorrow, 7:05: Undecided vs. Marco Gonzales. Yes, Undecided. This is not just a Major League Baseball team, this is the New York Yankees.

* Saturday, 1:05: Andrew Heaney vs. Chris Flexen.

* Sunday, 1:05: Luis Gil vs. Yusei Kikuchi.

Yeah. Another damning count in the indictment of Brian Cashman. If the Yankees can survive this with no worse than a split, I'll take it.

All 4 games will be on YES.