In the aftermath of the perfect game pitched by Domingo Germán, the Yankees could be forgiven a letdown in the last game of their 3-game series against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum. Especially since it was a dreaded day game after a night game.
(The possibility that something might be worked out so that the Athletics' move to Las Vegas could happen next season, making this the last game the Yankees ever play in Oakland, rather than that happening next season, or the next, wouldn't enter into it.)
For the 1st time all season, the Yankees got both a decent performance from hole-in-the-rotation filler Clarke Schmidt and decent run support for it. Schmidt went 5 1/3rd innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 3. The bullpen, well-rested since Germán's perfecto meant that nobody in it had been used the night before, allowed just 1 run the rest of the way.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in the 1st 2 Yankee runs, with a home run in the 2nd inning and a sacrifice fly in the 4th. Then came an 8-run explosion in the 6th: A 472-foot 2-run home run by Josh Donaldson, a 2-RBI single by Gleyber Torres, a 2-run double by Giancarlo Stanton, a single by Harrison Bader, and a single for another RBI for IKF. Scoring 21 runs in the last 2 games of this series, which was considerably more than was necessary, makes it all the more puzzling why the Yankees could only get 1 run in the series opener, thus denying them a sweep of the worst team in Major League Baseball this season.
At any rate, this one ended Yankees 10, A's 4. WP: Schmidt (3-6). No save. LP: Hogan Harris (2-2).
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This was the Yankees' 81st game of the 2023 regular season, meaning it is now, at least numerically, half-over. They are 45-36, a pace to win 90 games. Since the start of the Divisional Play Era in 1969, the number of games needed to win the American League Eastern Division has been 93. That is, from 1969 to 2022, not counting partial seasons, the average number of games won by the teams finishing 2nd has been 92.
The Yankees are 9 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East, as the Rays are on a 112-win pace. However, the teams having played a different amount of games means the Yankees are only 8 games behind the Rays in the all-important loss column. If the current standings were to hold to the end of the regular season, the Yankees would receive the 5th seed in the AL Playoffs, which would not only not include the despised Boston Red Sox, but, by half a game, would n it including the "Red Sox South," the cheating Houston Astros.
On the plus side, the Yankees have, by and large, gotten good pitching. The team ERA is 3.62, 3rd in the AL; WHIP, 1.210, 5th. Nestor Cortés will return from the Injured List shortly, and if the Yankees have to go through the 2nd half of the regular season with a rotation -- not necessarily in this order chronologically, or of importance -- of Cortés, Germán, Schmidt, Gerrit Cole and Luis Severino, with Jhony Brito occasionally filling in, I think that side of things will be all right.
Carlos Rodón will make another minor-league rehab start tomorrow night. He could be ready after the All-Star Break, which would likely demote somebody -- possibly even perfect-game pitcher Germán, unless Severino fails to find a groove. And the bullpen has been pretty good, with Tommy Kahnle returning from injury to pitch with Clay Holmes, Ron Marinaccio and Michael King.
And one other plus: In spite of what has seemed like a lot of "Yankee RISPfail," failing to get runners in scoring position home, the Yankees actually have the fewest runners left on base of any team in the AL, 461.
On the minus side, the injuries remain a problem. We don't know when Aaron Judge is coming back. Same with Jonathan Loáisiga, who could have become the closer. Same with Scott Effross. Same with Ryan Weber. Same with Frankie Montas, who wasn't any good even before his injury. Oswald Peraza now seems like a long-term injury, as well. Willie Calhoun should be back by the All-Star Break. Lou Trivino had Tommy John surgery, and we'll be lucky to see him before next season's Opening Day.
Without Judge, who seems to make every hitter better, the Yankees really aren't hitting much. The currently injured Judge has an on-base percentage of .404. Otherwise: Anthony Rizzo .357, Gleyber Torres .323, Jake Bauers .312, Willie Calhoun .309, Billy McKinney .300, Harrison Bader .295, Anthony Volpe .290, DJ LeMahieu .289, Isiah Kiner-Falefa .288, Ginacarlo Stanton .260, Jose Trevino .253, Kyle Higashioka .252, Oswaldo Cabrera .243, Josh Donaldson .200 (and that's after heating up lately). Remember: These are on-base percentages, not batting averages. Overall, the Yankees are at .299, 12th in the AL.
The reliabilities of starters Germán, Schmidt and Severino remain uncertain. And the bullpen does remain another question mark. The Yankees have 4 or 5 guys who can pitch in the 7th or 8th innings, but no definitive closer. Wandy Peralta and Jimmy Cordero have both shown flashes of brilliance, but they're usually in clouds of mediocrity. And keeping Aroldis Chapman would not have been the answer: The Kansas City Royals haven't trusted him to be their closer, as he's only gotten 2 saves.
Fielding is also an issue: The Yankees have made 48 errors, 4th in the AL. But the amount of injuries and player substitutions means that the total is spread out a bit: Torres leads the team with 8, having played in 70 and started 66 of the 81 games. So that's not as bad as it looks. Next-worst is Volpe with 7, which is understandable, since he's a rookie and playing the most error-prone position, shortstop.
The Yankees can't worry about how the Rays or any other team is doing. All they can do is play the team that's in front of them, and concentrate on the business at hand on that day. Get that done, and that's more than half the battle. It seems like the Yankees will make the Playoffs. Once that's clinched, anything can happen, especially if Judge and the rotation both return, and to form.
The Yankees travel on, and begin an Interleague series with the St. Louis Cardinals tonight. Severino starts against Matthew Liberatore.
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