The Roof, the Roof, the Roof Is Not the Problem

Game 2 of the American League Championship Series went no better for the Yankees than did Game 1. Luis Severino started, and did not pitch well, going 5 1/3rd innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk. The bullpen held the Houston Astros scoreless the rest of the way.

It didn't matter: The Yankees just couldn't get runs home. They didn't even get a baserunner until Aaron Judge singled to lead off the 4th. Giancarlo Stanton reached on an error that got him to 2nd base and Judge to 3rd. Judge scored on an Anthony Rizzo groundout, and Stanton scored on a Gleyber Torres single. But the threat ended with Josh Donaldson and Kyle Higashioka both striking out.

The closest the Yankees came to scoring again was in the 8th, when Judge fell a couple of feet short of an opposite-field home run. Astros 3, Yankees 2.

In the 1st 2 games of the ALCS, Matt Carpenter is 0-for-5, Jose Trevino is 0-for-4, Kyle Higashioka is 0-for-3, Oswaldo Cabrera is also 0-for-3, Aaron Judge is 1-for-8, Gleyber Torres is also 1-for-8 (although he does have an RBI), Anthony Rizzo is 1-for-6 (although he does have a 2-run homer and a walk), and Josh Donaldson is also 1-for-6 (although he does have 2 walks). The only Yankee who's hit well is Harrison Bader, 2-for-7 with a solo homer and a walk.

The strikeouts are a problem, but outs in general are a bigger problem. Pop-ups, groundouts and flyouts -- unless they move a runner over, making them "productive outs" (a term not yet used often enough for me to issue a Cliché Alert) -- are, effectively, no worse than strikeouts.

Strikeouts look worse, but I'm more concerned with how things actually are than with how they look. What good is putting the ball in play, if it doesn't result in progress on the bases?

Furthermore, the strikeouts weren't entirely the Yankees' fault: Plate umpire D.J. Reyburn gave the Chicken Fried Cheats the game, calling pitches on the Yankees strikes that wouldn't be strikes on any other team.

And Aaron Boone, instead of blaming his (or perhaps Brian Cashman's) lineup and pitching selections, blamed the roof at Minute Maid Park being open. Even Cashman has got to see that this can't go on. Boone is doing the one thing a manager cannot do: He is embarrassing the organization. I will forever be grateful to Boone for that home run against Boston... 19 years ago, now. But he has to go as manager.

The roof, the roof, the roof is not the problem: The lack of hitting is.

Now, we have to sweep the 3 in The Bronx, and hope we can win Game 6 or Game 7 back in Houston. This is why you play for best record in the League: Home-field advantage. The Yankees had it in July, and threw it away in August.

Game 3 starts at 5:07 this afternoon. Gerrit Cole needs to pitch like an ace again, against Cristian Javier. If the Yankees lose this one, they may get swept by the Red Sox South.