Yanks Sweep Sox, Judge Still On 60

Four games, 34 innings, 4 Yankee wins -- 2 hits for Aaron Judge, neither of them home runs. He still has 60 home runs on the season.

The purpose of playing baseball is to win. Or, as Herman Edwards -- recently fired as head football coach at Arizona State University -- put it when he was running the New York Jets, "This is what the great thing about sports is: You play to win the game!"

The Yankees completed the sweep against the Boston Red Sox last night thanks in large part to the pitching of Nestor Cortes. In 6 innings, he allowed only 3 baserunners: A walk to Xander Bogaerts in the 1st inning, and a walk to Tommy Phan and a ground-rule double to former Yankee "prospect" Rob Refsnyder in the 4th, stranding all 3.

The Yankees also struggled to hit against Sox starter Bryan Bello. Oswaldo Cabrera led off the bottom of the 4th with a double, and was singled home by Jose Trevino. By the 6th, it was raining. Harrison Bader led off with a single. After 2 outs, Marwin González came to bat, and lifted a fly ball out to right field, where Refsnyder waited for it. Easy play. And he dropped it, allowing Bader to score.

The umpires let the inning finish, then ordered the tarp onto the field. After an hour and a half's rain delay, they called the game. Yankees 2, Red Sox 0. WP: Cortes (11-4). No save. LP: Bello (2-7).

So, the Yankees swept The Scum, 4 straight. The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays, which eliminated them from the American League Eastern Division race. The Magic Number to eliminate the Jays, and thus to clinch the Division title, is 2.

And the Yankees now head to Toronto for 3 games. A win in any of them wins the Division. As of this writing, none of the games had either team's starting pitchers set yet.

After these 3 games, there is a day off on Thursday, then 3 home games against the Baltimore Orioles, followed by 3 games away to the Texas Rangers.

The Yankees are 6 games, 5 in the loss column, behind the Houston Astros for the best record in the AL, and thus home-field advantage all the way through the AL Playoffs, so we can probably forget about overtaking those Chicken Fried Cheaters. Maybe we'll get lucky, and they'll lose their Division Series, and we won't have to face the prospect of winning a Game 7 in their Faux Fenway bandbox.

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Days until the next game of the U.S. National Soccer Team: 1, tomorrow afternoon, at 2:00 PM New York time, away to Saudi Arabia. They are already in the Middle East to acclimate themselves to the weather, in time for the World Cup. Their 1st match in that tournament will be on its opening day, November 21, at 2:00 PM New York time, against Wales, at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar.

Days until the next East Brunswick High School football game: 4, this Friday, at 7:00 PM, home to Sayreville, a local rival. We're gonna be 0-5...

Days until the next Arsenal match: 5, this Saturday, at 7:30 AM New York time, at home at the Emirates Stadium, against arch-rival Tottenham Hotspur, making it a North London Derby.

Days until the next North London Derby: 5, on Saturday, October 1, at 7:30 AM New York time, at the Emirates Stadium. 

Days until the next Rutgers University football game: 5, this Saturday, at 3:30 PM, away to Ohio State, the Number 3 team in the country. We're all gonna die...

Days until the next New York Red Bulls game: 5, this Saturday, at 7:30 PM, away to the Columbus Crew.

Days until the Red Bulls again play a nearby rival: Unknown. There are only 2 games left in the regular season. New York City FC and the Philadelphia Union have qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs, so there's a chance the Red Bulls could face one of them.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: 17, on Thursday, October 13, away to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Days until the New Jersey Devils again play a local rival: See the previous answer.

Days until the next elections for the U.S. Congress and for the Governors of most States in the Union, including New York and Pennsylvania: 43, on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. A little over 6 weeks.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 54, on Saturday, November 19, at 12:00 noon, at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. Under 8 weeks.

Days until the next World Cup opens: 94, on Monday, November 21, 2022, in Doha, Qatar. Exactly 8 weeks.

Days until the Yankees' next series against the Boston Red Sox begins: 256, on Friday, June 9, 2023, at Yankee Stadium II.

Days until the next Women's World Cup opens: 287, on Friday, July 10, 2023, jointly held in the neighboring nations of Australia and New Zealand. Under 10 months.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge game: Unknown, since we won't know the 2023 schedule for months. It could be as soon as Friday, September 1, which would be 340 days. A little over 11 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympic Games: 669, on Friday, July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. Under 2 years, or a little under 22 months.

Days until the next Presidential election: 771, on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Under 2 1/2 years, or under 26 months.

Days until the next elections for Governor of New Jersey and Mayor of New York City: 1,135, on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Under 3 1/2 years.

Days until the next Winter Olympics open in Milan, Italy: 1,229, on Friday, February 6, 2026. Under 3 1/2 years.