Yanks Take 2 of 3 from Astros, & 2 of 3 from Rays

The pink gear was in honor of Sunday, Mother's Day,

when MLB raises money for breast cancer research.

In the last 10 seasons, even more than the Boston Red Sox, the team that has had the Yankees' number, that has lived in their heads rent-free, has been the Houston Astros. And the Chicken Fried Cheats -- or the Red Sox South, if you prefer -- came in to Yankee Stadium II for a 3-game series.

Justin Verlander is almost certainly going to the Hall of Fame, unless he does something stupid on the level of Pete Rose or O.J. Simpson (who, you will recall, was already in his sport's HOF). But he's 41 years old, and the Yankees made him look very old indeed when the series began on Tuesday night. They tagged him for 7 runs in 5 innings, including home runs by Alex Verdugo, Anthony Volpe and Giancarlo Stanton. Verdugo had 3 hits on the night (so did Juan Soto), and 4 RBIs. Luis Gil put up a strong 6 innings, and the Yankees won, 10-3.

Carlos Rodón pitched nearly as well on Wednesday night, and was backed by home runs from Stanton, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Soto and Judge each had 3 hits, while Soto had 5 RBIs, Judge 3. The Yankees won, 9-4.

But on Thursday afternoon, the Yankee bats cooled off. Volpe and Judge homered, and Volpe also singled. Other than that, the Yankees only got 3 hits, leaving a man on 1st base in the 6th inning, another man on 1st in the 8th, and a man on 2nd with 1 out in the 9th. Marcus Stroman struggled again, and the Yankees lost, 4-3.

*

The Yankees went down to St. Petersburg to play the Tampa Bay Rays, who have also given them lots of trouble, going back to their 1st Pennant in 2008. On Friday night, Anthony Rizzo gave them an RBI single in the 4th and a home run in the 9th. The rest of the team didn't do much. They didn't have to: Clarke Schmidt pitched perhaps his best game as a Yankee, allowing 5 hits and 2 walks over 6 2/3rds innings, Nick Burdi got the last man in the 7th, Luke Weaver pitched a perfect 8th, and Clay Holmes wiggled out of trouble in the 9th. Yankees 2, Rays 0.

Again on Saturday, the Yankees only got 2 runs. Volpe had 3 singles and both RBIs. Other than that, the Yankees only got 4 baserunners: A double by Austin Wells, a single by Jon Berti, and walks by Rizzo and Trent Grisham. Nestor Cortés did not pitch well, and the Yankees lost, 7-2.

On Sunday afternoon, the Yankees led 6-0 after 5 innings, thanks to 2 home runs by Jose Trevino, another homer by Judge, and the 1st home run as a Yankee by left fielder Jahmai Jones. And Gil made another strong start, going 6 shutout innings.

But Caleb Ferguson melted down in the 7th. On a team where the collective ERA is 3.10, Ferguson's, in 17 innings, is a horrendous 6.43. On a team where the collective WHIP is 1.195, his is an dreadful 1.571. And so, it was 6-5 Yankees after 7.

Thankfully, the Yankees scored 4 runs in the 8th, including a 3-run homer by Gleyber Torres. Ian Hamilton allowed a run in the 9th, but the Rays got no closer: The Yankees won, 10-6.

In case you're wondering about the attendance figures, as the Rays have always had trouble bringing fans in: Friday night, 18,041; Saturday afternoon, 21,308; Sunday afternoon, 20,694. The Rays' home average this season, counting these 3 games: 15,932, for 28th, ahead of, no surprise, Miami, 12,751; and Oakland, 6,222 in what now appears to be their lame-duck season.

For comparison's sake: The Yankees are averaging 37,975, and that's 5th in the majors, behind Los Angeles, 46,149; San Diego, 39,430; Philadelphia, 38,226; and Atlanta, 38,139. The Mets? 24,741, for 19th.

*

So, going into the games of Tuesday, May 14, the Yankees are tied with the Baltimore Orioles for 1st place in the American League Eastern Division. The O's have played 2 fewer games, so we're 1 game behind them in (Cliché Alert) the all-important loss column. The rest of the Division is already well back: The Red Sox are 5 1/2 games behind the O's, the Rays 6, and the Toronto Blue Jays 7 1/2.

The Good News: The starting pitching is holding up, except for Stroman. So is the relief pitching, except for Ferguson. Soto is still hitting on an MVP level, while Judge, Rizzo, Volpe, Wells and Oswaldo Cabrera are on hot streaks that are getting them out of awful individual starts. The defense is still very sold: The Yankees made 2 errors in the Astros series, and none in the Rays series.

Gerrit Cole is pitching off flat ground. DJ LeMahieu is taking ground balls and facing live pitching. He'll probably start a minor-league rehab run soon. Tommy Kahnle is expected to move up to Class AA in his injury rehab today. Oswald Peraza has already done so. Cole might be back in mid-June, while the rest of them could be back by June 1.

Lou Trivino and Scott Effross are still longer-term comebacks, recovering from Tommy John surgery, but they could be back soon after the All-Star Break. So could Jasson Domínguez. 

The Bad News: Not much. Stanton and Torres still seem to be stuck in a rut. Stroman is still pitching as though he'll be the one dropped from the rotation when Cole comes back. Jonathan Loáisiga is definitely not coming back this season, due to a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL).

The Yankees are 24-4 when they score at least 3 runs, and 2 of those 4 losses have come in extra innings. They are 3-11 when scoring fewer than 3 runs. They are 4-7 when allowing 5 or more runs, 23-8 when not.

Tonight, the Yankees begin a 3-game series in Minneapolis against the Minnesota Twins, before a 6-game homestand against the Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners.