Halfway through last week's homestand, the New York Yankees were on an 8-game winning streak, and on a pace to go 114-48, the same as in the legendary season of 1998.
Then came the announcement of forearm pain for Juan Soto, and the decision to hold him out of the 2nd half of the homestand, and possibly longer.
And, as Yankee Legend Yogi Berra would have said, it was déjà vu all over again.
First, there were 3 games at Yankee Stadium against the Minnesota Twins, a team over .500, but one the Yankees usually handle. On Tuesday night, Luis Gil pitched 6 innings, allowing only 1 hit. The bullpen allowed only 1 more. Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton hit home runs, and the Yankees won, 5-1.
On Wednesday night, Carlos Rodón went 6, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits. Aaron Judge went 1-for-5 with a bases-loaded triple. He also had an RBI on a groundout, and another on a walk. Think about that: One hit, 5 RBIs. The Yankees won, 9-5, as reliever Dennis Santana was shaky.
The Thursday night game was more of a struggle. It was 7-2 Yankees after 4, including a home run by the so-far light-hitting Trent Grisham. But Marcus Stroman fell apart in the 5th inning, and the bullpen had to hold it from there: 4 relievers, 4 1/3rd innings, no runs, 4 his, 2 walks. The Yankees won, 8-5.
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But Soto had to leave the Thursday night game. Manager Aaron Boone said Soto would get the weekend series with the Los Angeles Dodgers off, except maybe for pinch-hitting duty. Suddenly, the lineup, which had usually been:
Anthony Volpe, Soto, Judge, Alex Verdugo, Stanton, Anthony Rizzo, Torres, catcher (Austin Wells or Jose Trevino), DJ LeMahieu (working his way back from injury; became Volpe, Verdugo, Judge, Stanton, Rizzo, Torres, LeMahieu Grisham, catcher.
Big difference in this much-hyped series, which was being called a possible World Series preview. And none of the games was on YES, let alone WPIX-Channel 11: Friday night, Apple+; Saturday night, Fox; Sunday night, ESPN.
On Friday, over the 1st 7 innings, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the off-season's prime acquisition from Japan, held the Yankees to a double and a walk by Judge, Torres reaching on an error, an single by Grisham, a walk by Torres. With 2 out in the 8th, and Anthony Banda on the mound, Volpe and Verdugo singled, Judge drew another walk to load the bases, and Stanton hit a long drive. But it conked out, and, instead of being a dramatic grand slam, it was just a long, inning-ending, rally-killing out.
Cody Poteet, filling in for the injured Clarke Schmidt, did his part, taking a 2-hit shutout into the 5th, while the bullpen kept the Dodgers off the board. It was 0-0 after 9 innings. A soccer game with similar performance would have been hailed as a superb game, and both teams would have walked away with a point and their heads held high.
But this was not soccer, it was baseball. And it was Rob Manfred baseball, with the ghost runner starting each extra inning on 2nd base. Neither team scored in the 10th. But Ian Hamilton gave up a walk to Freddie Freeman and a double to Teoscar Hernández in the top of the 11th. Judge singled Volpe home in the bottom of the 11th, but Stanton struck out, and Volpe popped up. Dodgers 2, Yankees.1
So the 8-game winning streak was over. We couldn't feel too bad about the loss, as it was against a very good team, and the pitching had done very well, including keeping Shohei Ohtani off base. Mookie Betts has a nagging injury, and did not play in this game. Still, there was that nagging feeling that, even if it was only one appearance as a pinch-hitter, Soto could have done something.
The Saturday game, most of the way, was more of the same. Nestor Cortés did not have good stuff. Hernández homered in the 2nd inning. Ohtani singled in the 3rd. In the bottom of that inning, Judge responded to (aside from Soto) his main contender for the title of best player in baseball with a tremendous home run. But Enrique "Kiké" Hernández (no relation to Teoscar) hit one out in the 5th. Teoscar drove in another run in the 5th.
Still, it was only 4-2 Dodgers after 7, and the thought was, if we can get something going, maybe Judge can do something -- or Soto, if he pinch-hits.
Unfortunately, Boone brought Tommy Kahnle in to pitch the 8th. Betts did play in this game. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Kahnle walked Betts. He got Ohtani to ground to 2nd, but Torres, he of the million-dollar bat, the two-bit glove and the five-cent head, made an error. Kahnle struck Freeman out, but walked Will Smith, baseball's premier slap hitter. (Sorry, the joke was too good not to use.) Teoscar came up again: Grand slam. 8-2.
It got no better. Dennis Santana got the 1st 2 outs in the 9th, then allowed single, walk, double, and 3 straight walks, the last with the bases loaded, before getting out of it. Judge hit a long, but meaningless, home run in the bottom of the 9th -- a tribute, perhaps, to Alex Rodriguez, part of the Fox broadcast team, along with Derek Jeter and A-Rod's fellow cheater, former Red Sox blob David Ortiz? -- and it ended 11-3 to the Los Angeles Baseball Team. (After the game, Santana was designated for assignment.)
Despite the bullpen meltdown, it was only 6-3 Dodgers over the 1st 18 innings of this series. Now, Soto's hole in the lineup looked positively cavernous. It was looking like, without him, this would be the same old Yankee team of 2004 to 2023, except for 2009: Unable to get the runs home when it really mattered.
Gil started last night, and allowed only a double (to Teoscar) and a walk over the 1st 4 innings. Oswaldo Cabrera was put back at 3rd base, and he homered to lead off the bottom of the 3rd. Later that inning, back-to-back doubles by Verdugo and Judge made it 2-0 Pinstripes.
After that, though, Gil struggled for the 1st time all season. He gave up an RBI double to Betts in the 5th and another home run to Teoscar in the 6th, and it was 3-2 L.A. But in the bottom of the 6th, Verdugo and Judge had back-to-back singles, and Grisham, batting .086 going into this game, made it 5-3 New York with a home run.
The Dodgers pulled a run back in the 8th, but Judge responded with yet another titanic home run. (He didn't quite hit it to the spot where the Titanic sank, but far enough.) Clay Holmes did his best Aroldis Chapman impression in the 9th: He got the 1st 2 outs, then allowed back-to-back singles, before getting a game-ending strikeout. Yankees 6, Dodgers 4.
The Yankees didn't need Soto in the series finale. They sure could have used him in the 1st 2 games.
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We've played 67 games. That's 41 percent of the regular season. The Yankees lead the American League Eastern Division. The Baltimore Orioles are the only team close to us, 2 1/2 games back, but only 1 in the all-important loss column. The others are all .500 or worse: The Boston Red Sox trail by 12 1/2, the Toronto Blue Jays by 13, and the Tampa Bay Rays by 14.
The Dodgers now lead the National League Western Division by 8 games. However, the only team in Major League Baseball with a better record than the Yankees is the Philadelphia Phillies, who split (and nearly swept) 2 games with the New York Mets in London this weekend.
The same concerns are there: Torres is batting .230, and can't field any position. Stanton and Rizzo are both batting .224, and both strike out too much. LeMahieu, now back from injury, is batting only .219. He turns 36 next month, and he looks finished. The catchers, Wells and Trevino, are still batting only .228 between them.
However, things are looking up on the injury front. It looks like Soto will not have to go on the Injured List. Gerrit Cole has looked good in his 2 rehab starts. And Jasson Domínguez is tearing up AAA ball in his rehab appearances, and looks ready to go. If Soto can't play, maybe "The Martian" can step in.
The Yankees begin a tough roadtrip tonight: 4 games in Kansas City against the Royals, then up to Boston for 3 against The Scum. Although the Auld Enemy aren't as strong as usual, a statement by the Yankees would be very helpful here, especially if Soto -- or Domínguez, or, dare we dream, both -- can return, added to Judge and the others, to help once again make Fenway Park a little green pinball machine.
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