All the signs were there for a Yankee loss to the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday afternoon: A walkoff win sometimes leads to a letdown for the next game, and it was a day game after a night game.
The Yankees seem to be taking the signs with a grain of salt. Or a pinch of salt. Or an entire salt mine.
Jameson Taillon started for the Yankees, and pitched into the 6th inning, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, only 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. Between them, Michael King and Clay Holmes got through the 8th inning with no further damage.
But a good pitching performance deserves runs. Gleyber Torres drove in all of them, with a 3-run home run in the 4th inning, and a 2-run single in the 6th. Aroldis Chapman once again "made it interesting" in the 9th, allowing 3 baserunners and a run, but got the necessary 3 outs. Yankees 5, Blue Jays 3. WP: Taillon (3-1). SV: Chapman (8). LP: Jose Berrios (2-2).
The Yankees now head out on a roadtrip, to Chicago and Baltimore, with the best record in baseball, 22-8. They lead the Tampa Bay Rays by 4 games, the Blue Jays by 6, the Baltimore Orioles by 9 1/2, and the Boston Red Sox by 11 1/2. In the loss column, respectively: 5, 7, 10 and 12.
They are on a pace to win 119 games. That's 5 out of the last 6 against the Blue Jays; overall, 15 of the last 17. And that's after starting the season a mediocre 7-6.
All along, the Yankees had reason to fear one team: Not the Jays, not the Rays, not the Red Sox, but themselves, their own mistakes, their own insecurities. That fear is now gone: This team is united, it is clicking, and it is enjoying itself.
So now, it's time to go back on the road: 4 in Chicago against the White Sox, and 4 in Baltimore against the Orioles, before coming home to face the same teams. Then another showdown series in Tampa Bay. It starts tonight, with an 8:10 PM (our time) first pitch, Luis Gil making his 1st start of the season, against Dylan Cease. (Sounds like what Pete Seeger told Bob at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.)
excellent post
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