Judge's Yankees Lose Opener to Ohtani's Angels

My grandfather, George Golden, made me a Yankee Fan. (So, credit him, or blame him, depending on your point of view.) He was grew up in The Bronx. He watched them build the original Yankee Stadium. He saw Babe Ruth play there before Lou Gehrig. He moved to New Jersey in 1955, and to the Jersey Shore in 1973. He never saw a game at the renovated Stadium: By the time it reopened, he was too sick to go. He smoked, and it took him years to die, finally at rest in 1984.

On August 30, 2006, what would have been his 100th Birthday, I was pleased to see the Yankees were not only playing at home, but against a team he would have recognized, the Detroit Tigers. So I went to the game. Unfortunately, Joe Torre decided to give Mariano Rivera the night off, and Scott Proctor served up a gopher ball in the 9th inning to blow it.

On this anniversary of his birth, he would not be happy with the current state of the team. He believed that the New York Yankees should be relieving New Yorkers' everyday sufferings, not adding to them.

Last night, the Yankees began a series in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels. Frankie Montas started, and he did not have good stuff, going 6 innings, allowing 4 runs. And he didn't get much support, either. DJ LeMahieu had a very gutsy sacrifice bunt in the 2nd inning, to get a run home. Anthony Rizzo hit a home run in the 4th inning, and Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run of the season in the 8th. Of course, Shohei Ohtani (who didn't pitch) also hit a home run.

Angels 4, Yankees 3. WP: Jose Suarez (5-6). SV: Jimmy Herget (4). LP: Montas (4-11). If this was a battle to be "The Face of Baseball," Judge and Ohtani each did his part, but it was Ohtani's team that won.

The series continues tonight. Jameson Taillon starts against Mike Mayers, not to be confused with comedian Mike Myers or former Yankee and Red Sox pitcher Mike Meyers (both Canadians, as it turns out -- Mayers is from Ohio).

Elsewhere, last night, Albert Pujols hit the 694th home run of his career, off Ross Detwiler. This means that he's now hit home runs off 450 different pitchers, a new record. Tyler O'Neal hit 2 home runs, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 13-4 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.