An Emergency Situation

Forget the Boston Red Sox and their massive payroll finishing in last place in the American League Eastern Division. Forget the Mets winning 101 games, but blowing the National League Eastern Division, and not even making the NL Division Series. Forget the Atlanta Braves winning 101 games and losing in the NLDS. Forget the Los Angeles Dodgers winning a franchise record 111 games, a total topped only 3 times in all of MLB history, and not making the NL Championship Series.

The Yankees are now 1 game away from wasting the greatest offensive season any player has had since the days of Mickey Mantle.

They took the field at Progressive Field in Cleveland for Game 3 of the AL Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, with Luis Severino on the mound. After allowing a run in each of the 1st 2 innings, he settled down, and had a 4-3 lead in the 6th inning. But he'd thrown 106 pitches, and the Guardians were threatening, so Boone panicked, and took him out. He sent Lou Trivino out to get the last out of the inning, and it worked.

Aaron Judge, the producer of said season, came into the game 0-for-8 with 7 strikeouts. This time, he would not be responsible for a defeat. He hit a long home run in the 3rd inning. Postseason stats don't count, but, if they did, then he would now have 62 home runs, which would tie the 1927 record of Babe Ruth, previously tied by Roger Maris in 1961. Oswaldo Cabrera added a home run in the 5th, and Harrison Bader added one in the 7th.

Did Boone leave the effective Trivino in for the 7th? Of course not, because that would have made sense. He sent Jonathan Loáisiga out there. He only let Loáisiga pitch to the minimum 3 batters, having gotten 2 out. Then he brought Wandy Peralta in. Peralta finished the 7th, and pitched a scoreless 8th.

With the Yankees up 5-3 going to the bottom of the 9th, Boone made the opposite of his usual mistake, and left Peralta in, instead of bringing in his closer, Clay Holmes. Peralta got the 1st out, but allowed 2 singles, to put the tying runs on and bring the winning run to the plate.

Boone took Peralta out. Did he bring Holmes in? No, he brought Clarke Schmidt in. He allowed an RBI single to make it 5-4. He got a key strikeout. Then he gave up a single to Oscar González, driving home the tying and winning runs.

Guardians 6, Yankees 5. WP: Who cares. LP: Officially, Schmidt, but this loss is on Boone, who should have let Trivino pitch the 7th, and Loáisiga the 8th and the 9th. If Loáisiga couldn't finish the 9th, then it should have been Holmes.

Let me get this out of the way: Had Aroldis Chapman been available, I would have had very little confidence that he could have gotten the save.

Someone brought up a stat that said that, in their postseason history, the Yankees were 167-0 in games where they went into the 9th inning with a lead of at least 2 runs, until last night.

Of Holmes, Severino said, "He's our closer. So, of course, I was surprised. I don't know if he was down. There shouldn't be people down in the playoffs. That's something you guys need to ask Boone or (pitching coach Matt) Blake to see what was going on there."

Of Holmes, Boone said he was "available, but only in an emergency situation. Normal soreness for him, but nothing alarming."

Of himself, Holmes said, "Those decisions aren't mine, but I was preparing to pitch if my name was called."

So, there you have it: The closer is, effectively, calling the manager a liar. The starting pitcher is also throwing the manager to the wolves. And the manager is acting like the tying and winning runs being on base in the bottom of the 9th inning of a game in a tied postseason series is not "an emergency situation."

Aaron Boone has lost the locker room. And he may have lost the season.

But it doesn't matter. Aaron Boone will not lose his job, because he is doing what Brian Cashman wants him to do. And Brian Cashman will not lose his job, because he is doing what Hal Steinbrenner wants him to do. And Hal Steinbrenner will not lose his job, because team owners do not lose their job, unless they say something really bigoted like Marge Schott, or they're senile like Connie Mack and their kids gang up on them -- and Hal is 52 years old.

Game 4 is tonight, at Progressive Field. If the Yankees win it, they force a Game 5, back at Yankee Stadium. If they lose it, a wonderful opportunity, maybe their best chance, to win the 1st Pennant and the 1st World Championship since 2009 is thrown away, ignominiously.

Gerrit Cole starts against Cal Quantrill. As they say in English soccer, It's fucking on now, chaps. This is an emergency situation.