Bend the Knee, Mets Fans

Mets fans, as Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke) would say on Game of Thrones, "Bend the knee." You peasants.

As Donald Trump was making himself look like a fool for siding with Confederates and Nazis, the Yankees were making any Met fan who said their team was going to "take back New York" look like fools.

Funny thing: As soon as I decided to stop doing recaps following every game, both blog and vlog, conceding that "the season is over," the Yankees swept The Other Team 4 straight.

On Monday night, at Yankee Stadium, the Mets got home runs from former Yankee Curtis Granderson and Yoenis Cespedes, but the Yankees got them from Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks and Gary Sanchez, to turn a 2-0 Met lead into a 4-2 Yankee victory. Luis Cessa started, Chad Green relieved, David Robertson got the win, and Dellin Betances the save.

On Tuesday night, still in The Bronx, Sonny Gray held the Mets at bay (Flushing Bay? Jason Bay?) for 6 innings, while Sanchez and Jacoby Ellsbury took Jacob deGrom deep. Once again, Aroldis Chapman put what should have been a comfortable win in danger, turning 5-2 Yankees into 5-4 Yankees, but he held on for the win.

On Wednesday night, over at Citi Field, Judge jacked one 457 feet, into the upper deck in left-center. I had to look it up to see if it was the new Met ballpark's longest home run. It wasn't: Giancarlo Stanton hit one 468 feet there in 2015. The Yankees won, 5-3. Jaime Garcia started, Tommy Kahnle got the win in relief, and again Joe Girardi trusted someone other than Chapman to nail down the save, this time Robertson.

And then last night, Sanchez took Steven Matz over the wall. After the game, Matz put it succinctly: "It sucks to suck." Hey, sometimes, you don't suck, you just get beat by a better team. Luis Severino was fantastic, but Bryan Mitchell almost blew it in the 9th, turning 7-1 Yankees into 7-5 Yankees, before Girardi again called on Betances instead of Chapman to close it out.

Sweep. "Take back New York," my Pinstriped ass.

So now the Yankees go from Pity Field to the Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy itself, Fenway Park, to try to redeem themselves after last weekend's disgusting capitulation against the Boston Red Sox. Here are the projected starters:

* Tonight, 1st pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM: Jordan Montgomery vs. Drew Pomeranz.

* Tomorrow, 7:10: CC Sabathia vs. Chris Sale.

* Sunday, 1:30 -- an afternoon game on TBS, not a night game on ESPN: Sonny Gray vs. Doug Fister.

Long having games in hand on the Sox, at one point as many as 4, the teams have now played the same number of games. The Yankees trail them for the lead in the American League Eastern Division by 4 games, both regularly and in the all-important loss column. There are 42 games to play. Come on you Bombers! Beat The Scum!

Mo Mentum Swings Back to Red Sox

Maurice "Mo" Mentum is that most enigmatic of athletes, jumping from one team to another without warning.

Less than 24 hours after the biggest win of the season, the Yankees had the most depressing defeat. This time, there would be no come-from-behind against the Red Sox.

Gary Sanchez got the game going the right way, hitting a 2-run home run in the 1st inning, his 19th dinger of the season. In all the fuss over Aaron Judge and Clint Frazier, El Gary is putting together a good season.

The Yankees took that 2-0 lead into the top of the 3rd inning. Luis Severino ended up having the inning that may turn out to have sunk our season. With 1 out, he walked the Sox' Number 8 hitter, Christian Vazquez, and then their Number 9 hitter, Jackie Bradley Jr.

Then former Yankee Eduardo Nunez grounded to 3rd. Todd Frazier should have been able to turn it into an inning-ending double play. But he bobbled it, his 1st error in 22 games as a Yankee. The bases were loaded.

Mookie Betts singled home Vazquez and Bradley. And Andrew Benintendi hit a home run to make it 5-2 Boston.

Benintendi hit another home run in the 5th. Chase Headley and Jacoby Ellsbury hit home runs in the 9th inning, their 7th and 5th of the season, respectively, but it was too little, too late. Red Sox 10, Yankees 5. WP: Drew Pomeranz (12-4). No save. LP: Severino (9-5). The Yankees fell to 4 1/2 games behind the Red Sox, with 47 to play.

The series concludes tonight. Chris Sale, the much-hyped, and rightly-so as it has turned out, Boston acquisition of the 2016-17 off-season, but unable to help the Red Sox win either of his 2 starts against the Yankees in 2017 thus far, starts for them tonight.

For the Yankees, Jordan Montgomery starts, despite a scary moment yesterday: While signing autographs as the Red Sox took batting practice, he was hit in the head by a ball. As it turns out, he was fine, with no concussion, and no injury beyond a cut on his ear.

It should be noted that August 13 is not a good day for the Yankees. It is the anniversary of the deaths of both Mickey Mantle (1995) and Phil Rizzuto (2007).

Severino Is the Ace We Need Right Now

With a backlog of posts to do -- including on the deaths of baseball legends Darren Daulton and Don Baylor -- it was a good thing for me that yesterday was a day off for the Yankees, because I still haven't done my recap of this past Sunday's game, until now.

A weird thing about writing these recaps: Essentially, I have to write them backwards. I go to ESPN.com's baseball scoreboard page (I don't like using MLB.com's), and type in the final score, the pitchers of record, and the facts of the Yankees' next game, including the starting pitchers. Then I go back to the beginning, and start by saying who the Yankees' starting pitcher was, whether he had good stuff, and the specifics thereof. Then the Yankees' offense, and usually what the bullpen did, letting that segue into the final score and the pitchers of record. And then, after those, I tack on whatever details I think are pertinent.

So Sunday was the finale of the Yankees' 4-game series against the Cleveland Indians, the American League Central Division leaders and the defending AL Champions, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, formerly Jacobs Field.

Luis Severino started, and got the reviews saying things like, "He has become the Yankees' true ace." Which is good, because a championship contender needs an ace. Not a guy called an ace, or even as many as 4 guys called "aces,"as the Mets found out the last couple of years, but an actual ace.

To paraphrase The Dark Knight (the actual Batman movie, not the Mets' phony ace Matt Harvey), I don't know if Sevy is the ace the Yankees deserve, but he's pitching like he's the one we need right now. So we'll start him. Because he can take us to the top.

He gave up a home run to Mickey Brantley in the bottom of the 1st inning, but cruised thereafter. That home run broke up an inning in which he otherwise struck out the side. Joe Girardi let him pitch into the 7th inning, throwing 107 pitches (with 95 being Joe's "Uh-oh, this guy has to come out soon" number), allowing only that 1 run, on 2 hits, and just 1 walk. He struck out 9.

Tommy Kahnle finished the 7th, Adam Warren pitched the 8th, and Chasen Shreve pitched the 9th. The bullpen didn't allow a single baserunner. Indeed, Yankee pitching allowed a good team only 3 baserunners in total. Considering that Warren and Shreve both pitched, this is astonishing.

Of course, none of that would have mattered if the Yankees didn't score at least 2 runs themselves. And they went into the top of the 6th still trailing 1-0. But Brett Gardner led off with a single. Clint Frazier doubled, and yet Gardner, the Yankees' speed guy, didn't score. Didi Gregorius popped up, and Aaron Judge was intentionally walked to set up the inning-ending double play. Chase Headley foiled the strategy with a sacrifice fly that got Gardner home. Tie ballgame.

Todd Frazier drew a walk to reload the bases. And the Jacoby Ellsbury cleared the bases with a triple. Ronald Torreyes singled home Ellsbury. 5-1 Yankees.

With 1 out in the 7th, Clint Frazier drew a walk, Gregorius singled him to 3rd, and Judge showed he has fully gotten out of his post-Home Run Derby slump with an opposite-field home run, his 35th dinger of the season. That provided the final score: Yankees 8, Indians 1. WP: Severino (9-4). No save. LP: Carlos Carrasco (10-5).

*

So here's how things stand, after Week 18 of the 26-week Major League Baseball regular season:

* The Yankees are 59-51, 3 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. The Tampa Bay Rays are 5 1/2 games back, the Baltimore Orioles 7, and the Toronto Blue Jays 10 1/2. In the loss column, the Yankees are 2 games back, the Rays 6, the O's 7, and the Jays 10. The Yankees have 52 games left.

* If the current standings turn out to be the final standings, the Yankees will host the AL Wild Card Game against the Kansas City Royals, with the winner facing the Houston Astros in the Division Series. The other ALDS would have the Red Sox facing the Indians. For the moment, every AL team except the Chicago White Sox, who are 15 games back, is within 7 1/2 games behind the 2nd Wild Card.

* In the National League, the Wild Card game would be the Colorado Rockies hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks, the 2 Mountain Time teams facing each other, for the right to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series. The Dodgers have won 43 out of their last 50, and are starting to look like the 2001 Seattle Mariners. Well, we know how that turned out, don't we? The other NLDS would be the defending World Champion Chicago Cubs (how strange that looks), who have really come on strong lately, facing the Washington Nationals. So, a team that's won exactly 1 Pennant in the last 71 seasons faces a franchise that's never won one in 48 seasons, playing in a city that hasn't won one in 83 seasons.

* The Yankees' injury situation is as follows: Tyler Austin and Aaron Hicks are now rehabbing with Triple-A Scranton, and could return by the weekend's series with the Red Sox; Matt Holliday has a back strain, and is eligible to return as soon as August 15; Greg Bird is recovering well from ankle surgery, and could begin a minor-league rehab assignment as soon as next week; Starlin Castro reaggravated his hamstring injury, and should not be counted on to return anytime soon; and Michael Pineda is done for the season, and will likely never pitch for the Yankees again, hence the trades for Sonny Gray and Jaime Garcia.

* The Mets are way out of it. They're not making the Playoffs. That whole "We're taking back New York" thing is over, and they failed.

Tonight, the Yankees begin a 3-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Here are the projected starting pitchers:

* Tonight: An all-initial matchup of CC Sabathia vs. J.A. Happ.

* Tomorrow: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Cesar Valdez.

* Thursday: Sonny Gray vs. Marco Estrada.

All 3 games are, as Blue Jays home games always are, officially listed as starting at 7:07 PM.

Then, the Yankees come home, to face the Boston Red Scum, in a series that could set the tone for the rest of the season.

Gotta win those.

Hicks' Stick Jacks Yanks

Those of you familiar with Hollywood history will recognize my headline as a takeoff of the July 17, 1935 headline the trade paper Variety used to describe the refusal of rural people to watch rural movies: "STIX NIX HICK PIX." (Usually, but incorrectly, listed as, "STIX NIX HIX PIX.")

The injury to Jacoby Ellsbury has been a blessing in disguise, as Aaron Hicks has come into his own. Last night, in the opener of a home series with the Baltimore Orioles, he hit a home run in the bottom of the 6th inning, becoming the 1st player to hit one into the section of the right field bleachers set up for that other Aaron, "Judge's Chambers." It gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

He hit another homer in the 7th. He now has 10 dingers on the year. My autocorrect tried to make that "has 10 fingers on the year." Well, I should hope so!

Rookie Jordan Montgomery may be a real find for the mound, as he got the job done once again: 7 innings, 2 runs on 5 hits, with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. Tyler Clippard and Jonathan Holder each pitched a scoreless inning.

Starlin Castro also hit a home run last night. Like Hicks, he now has 10 on the season. Yankees 8, Orioles 2. WP: Montgomery (4-4). No save. LP: Dylan Bundy (6-5).

The series continues tonight. Luis Severino starts against Chris Tillman.

Early Deficit Too Much for Yanks to Overcome vs. Jays

Once again, the Yankees followed up a game where they scored a lot of runs with a game where a couple of runs from the game before could have made a big difference.

Michael Pineda started for the Yankees against the Toronto Blue Jays last night, and fell behind 3-0 in the 1st inning, allowing a home run by Josh Donaldson, a walk by Kendrys Morales, and another home run by Justin Smoak. The Jays scored additional runs in the 3rd and the 4th.

The Yankees played the rest of the game trying to catch up. In the 6th, it looked like they might, as Aaron Judge and Starlin Castro each hit home runs (their 18th and 8th of the season, respectively), but that only closed them to within 5-4. Jonathan Holder and Adam Warren each allowed a run in an inning of relief work, so even though the Yankees scored again in the 7th, they could not erase the deficit.

Blue Jays 7, Yankees 5. WP: Francisco Liriano (3-3). SV: Roberto Osuna (12). LP: Pineda (6-3).

The Yankees' front office revealed that Jacoby Ellsbury has concussion symptoms again, and will continue to be shut down. This is aggravating, given that he has never truly lived up to his big contract. On the other hand, Aaron Hicks has done well in his place.

The series continues this afternoon. Jordan Montgomery starts against Joe Biagini.

It's 2:16 AM. Do You Know Where Your Baseball Team Is?

And now, we're going to find out if I can write this blog in my sleep.

The Yankees went for the sweep of the defending World Champion Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field last night. Aaron Hicks drew a walk, Matt Holliday singled him over, a double steal was carried out, and Starlin Castro grounded to short to score Hicks. One-nil to the Bronx Bombers.

Luis Severino ran with that early lead. He was terrific: 7 innings, 1 run (a home run to Javier Baez in the 3rd), 4 hits, 1 walk, and 9 strikeouts.

Castro led off the top of the 7th by reaching 2nd on an error, and Aaron Judge drove him in with a triple. Brett Gardner led off the 8th by pinch-hitting for Severino. Interleaved game in a National League park, no designated hitter. This time, it worked to the Yankees' advantage, with a single, and Jacoby Ellsbury hit a home run, his 4th of the season, to make it 4-1.

Dellin Betances pitched a scoreless 8th, and, with Aroldis Chapman, one of the heroes of the Cubs' title last season, coming on for the bottom of the 9th, the sweep looked like it was in the bag.

It wasn't, as Chapman had a rare meltdown. He allowed a leadoff walk. Cliche alert: A leadoff walk can kill you. He allowed a single. Tying run to the plate. He got a strikeout, but allowed one RBI single, then another. He got another strikeout, then Joe Girardi ordered an intentional walk to Kris Bryant, to load the bases and set up the force play at any base.

It was good strategy. All that was necessary for it to work was for Chapman to avoid the following against the next batter, Anthony Rizzo: A hit, a walk, a wild pitch, or hitting him with a pitch.

Chapman hit Rizzo with a pitch. That forced in a run. Tie ballgame.

If this had been an Arsenal match, in spite of the Yankees having taken the 1st 2 games of the series and still being in 1st place, Twitter would have been inundated with "Chapmans shit" and "FFS" (an abbreviation meaning "For fuck's sake") and #GirardiOut and #CashmanOut.

Girardi took his closer out, and brought Tyler Clippard in to stop the bleeding. He got Ben Zobrist to ground out to 2nd to end it. Extra innings.

The Yankees got nothing in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings. The longer a game goes on, the less I trust Girardi with the bullpen. Gardner led off the 13th with a single. Gary Sanchez walked with 1 out in the 14th. Ellsbury walked with 2 out in the 15th. In the 16th, Ronald Torreyes singled, and Sanchez walked again. All were stranded. The Yankees got nothing in the 17th.

Tribute must be paid to the Yankee bullpen. Chapman aside, it pitched brilliantly. Betances: A scoreless 8th inning; Clippard: The last out of the 9th, and a perfect 10th; Adam Warren: A hitless 11th and a scoreless 12th; Jonathan Holder: A perfect 13th, a hitless 14th, and a scoreless 15th; and Chasen Shreve: A hitless 16th and a perfect 17th.

Top of the 18th inning. Hicks led off with a bunt. Cubs catcher Willson Contreras threw it away, and Hicks got to 2nd. Torreyes bunted him over to 3rd. Castro grounded to short, and Addison Russell had to throw home, but he was too late. At 1:58 AM, the Yankees finally had the lead.

Bottom of the 18th. Shreve was being asked to pitch a 3rd scoreless inning. I was reminded of a line in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which had a scene shot at Wrigley in 1985:

Ed: I don't trust this kid any further than I can throw him.
Grace: Well, with your bad knee, Ed, you shouldn't be throwing anybody.

I now have a bad knee. Fortunately, Shreve doesn't. He got Baez to ground out. He struck out Kyle Schwarber. One more out.

But he walked Bryant. Tying run on 1st. Winning run at the plate. Oh no.

But Girardi, who not only managed in the NL with the then-Florida Marlins, but played most of his career in it -- including, as fate would have it, for the Cubs in 1992 in the last 18-inning game played at Wrigley -- realized that he could walk Rizzo intentionally. This would put the tying run on 2nd, and the winning run on 1st, putting the Yankees in an even more precarious position.

But it would also bring up the pitcher's spot in the batting order. And with no more pinch-hitters left on his bench, Cub manager Joe Maddon would be forced to send up his current pitcher, Pedro Strop, who'd come to bat only once before in his 8-year major league career; or send up another pitcher to pinch-hit. He chose Kyle Hendricks, who has a .105 lifetime batting average, but had gotten 2 hits already this season, and is a decent pitcher, who could have pitched the 19th inning had the Cubs only tied it instead of winning it.

Hendricks took a ball 1 after 2 strikes, then Shreve struck him out to end the marathon.

Yankees 5, Cubs 4. WP: Shreve (1-0). No save. LP: Strop (0-2). Attendance: 40,584, pretty much a sellout, although there might have been 5,000 left in the Friendly Confines when it was done. And the time of the game, as Michael Kay would say, a very unmanageable, but satisfying in the result, 6 hours and 5 minutes.

It was the 1st time the Yankees had won a game at least 14 innings in length since a win over Texas on July 22, 2014; the 1st in at least 15 since a win over Baltimore on May 18, 2011; the 1st going at least 16 since a 17-inning win over Detroit on June 1, 2003; and the 1st going at least 18 since beating Detroit on September 11, 1988. The longest game in Yankee history remains 22 innings, also against Detroit, on June 24, 1962.

This game ended at 1:16 AM -- 2:16 New York Time. It's like the old public service announcement: "It's 10 PM: Do you know where your children are?"

It's 2:16 AM. Do you know where your baseball team is?

*

With 5 of the Major League Baseball regular season's 26 weeks gone, mine is in 1st place in the American League Eastern Division, with a 20-9 record, the best in baseball, the only remaining team still in single digits in losses. The Baltimore Orioles are half a game behind, the Boston Red Sox are 4 back, the Tampa Bay Rays 6 back, and the Toronto Blue Jays 10 back. In the all-important loss column, those teams are, respectively, 1, 5, 8 and 11 games behind.

The Yankees started out losing 4 of their 1st 5. Since then, they have won 19 out of 24, a 128-win pace.

They leave Chicago for a quick 2-game stop in Cincinnati, to play the Reds. Tonight, Masahiro Tanaka pitches what everybody hopes is a game that is not only good, but complete; against the aptly-nicknamed William "Rookie" Davis. Tomorrow night, CC Sabathia vs. Tim Adleman. Then a travel day, and then, on Thursday night, starting a 4-game home series with the Houston Astros.

Bronx Bomber Comeback Batters Birds

Last night, the Yankees began a 3-game home series with the Baltimore Orioles, the one team in the American League with a better record. It was time to send a message.

Both teams sent a message. The same message: "You do not belong in first place." The Yankees' message was the one that stuck.

CC Sabathia had pitched very well so far this season, but, last night, he didn't have his good stuff. Nor did Bryan Mitchell, who replaced him (I won't say "relieved") in the 6th inning. The Yankees fell behind 5-0 in the top of the 5th, and 9-1 in the bottom of the 6th.

Aaron Judge led off the bottom of the 5th with a home run, to get us on the board. Matt Holliday led off the bottom of the 6th with a double, Starlin Castro singled him over to 3rd, Didi Gregorius made his return from injury with an RBI groundout, and Judge hit another home run, giving him 9 on the season, and that made it 9-4. But the O's tallied again in the top of the 7th, to make it 11-4, and whatever hope the Yankees had seemed to be gone.

But former Yankee manager William Nathaniel Showalter III, a.k.a. Buck, the former Yankee manager now managing the Orioles, put former Yankee Vidal Nuno on the mound. Both showed why they're former Yankees, not current Yankees: Chase Headley doubled, Holliday drew a walk, and Jacoby Ellsbury hit a home run, his 3rd, to make it 11-8.

The Orioles held onto that lead into the bottom of the 9th. Showalter sent Brad Brach on to pitch. Cliche alert: A leadoff walk will kill you. Brach walked Headley. Holliday singled him over to 3rd. Ellsbury grounded out to get Headley home. Starlin Castro came up, and cranked one to left field. It was his 5th home run of the season. 11-11. Tie ballgame. And when Judge, having already homered twice tonight and done so well so far, came to bat, the entire crowd of 36,912 at Yankee Stadium II was sure there was going to be a walkoff home run.

They weren't wrong, just a little premature: He only drew a walk, and Brach struck Greg Bird out to end regulation.

Extra innings. Free baseball. Bonus cantos. Aroldis Chapman, pitching for the 1st time since he nearly gave the Wednesday night game away in Boston, pitched a scoreless top of the 10th inning. Showalter sent Jayson Aquino to pitch the bottom half. Cliche alert: A leadoff walk will kill you. Aaron Hicks drew a leadoff walk. Kyle Higashioka drew another walk. Aquino struck Headley out.

Matt Holliday came up. Some people on social media said, "Welcome to the Yankees." Others said, "Holliday became a Yankee tonight." Others said, "Holliday earned his Pinstripes tonight."

Boom. 414 feet to center field. His 3rd homer of the year. In the immortal words of John Sterling, "It is high! It is far! It is GONE! Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeeee Yankees win!"

Yankees 14, Orioles 11. The O's were beating us 5-0, 9-1 and 11-4, and they blew it, and we took advantage. WP: Chapman (1-0). No save. LP: Aquino (1-1).

The Yankees didn't even wait until Holliday touched the plate before they splattered him with 2 tubs of Gatorade. With all due respect to the best comeback the Yankees have made since that 2006 rebound from 9-0 down to the Texas Rangers to win 14-13 on a walkoff homer by Jorge Posada, there should be a rule against that: Don't do it until he's touched the plate to make it official.

The Yanks and O's are now both 14-7, in a flat-footed tie for 1st place in the Division. The Boston Red Sox are 2 1/2 back, the Tampa Bay Rays are 3 1/2 back, and the Toronto Blue Jays are 9 back.

I wonder what Buck said to his Birds after the game. Billy Martin would've told them that nobody touches the postgame spread. Of course, before he could say that, Lou Piniella would have flipped it over.

But the message has been sent: This is a new Yankee team, and we are not going to let anything or anyone stop us. Approach at your own risk.

The series continues this afternoon, with Michael Pineda starting for the Yankees, and Ubaldo Jimenez going for the Orioles.

I don't know if I want another 14-11 game, but I certainly wouldn't mind scoring 14 runs again! I know, I know: History suggests that, right after scoring a bunch of runs, the Yankees will come out shooting blanks, and lose 3-0 or 2-1 or something like that, leaving a battalion on the bases.

But, as I said, this is a new Yankee team. It's not the Joe Girardi team of 2010 to 2016, with Derek Jeter hanging on and Alex Rodriguez wondering why he can't replicate 2009. It's a new team, and they have given themselves reason to believe that Title 28 is not only possible, but plausible.

Oh, and, about Didi coming back to make his season debut: To make room for him on the roster, the Yankees designated Pete Kozma for assignment. That made some people as happy as the amazing win did.

Pirates Party Like It's 1960

Despite the Pittsburgh Pirates wearing pillbox caps, gold jerseys and black pants like their 1979 World Series-winning edition, this weekend's series between them and the Yankees was reminiscent of the 1960 World Series between the same teams: The Yankees won a game in a blowout, but the Pirates won the close games to claim the overall advantage.

1960? The President of the United States was an old Republican -- but Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower was an honest one, who had not only served in the military, but had been the leading general in a war we had to win, and did. He knew how the world worked. Also, cars were better. So was music. Civil rights, not so much.

Rookie Jordan Montgomery started the series finale yesterday, and pitched well again: 6 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits and 2 walks. He deserved a better fate.

But all that hitting the Yankees have done lately abandoned them against the Pirates' starter, former Yankee Ivan Nova. In the 3rd, Montgomery drew a walk. There's no DH in Interleague games in a National League park, and it was literally his 1st major league plate appearance. But he was stranded there.

In the 4th, with 1 out, Jacoby Ellsbury and Starlin Castro singled, but couldn't get home, because Aaron Judge picked a fine time to ground into a double play rather than hit one over 400 feet. Ellsbury led off the top of the 7th with a home run.

In the 8th, after Nova was relieved with Daniel Hudson, Chris Carter singled with 1 out. Brett Gardner's walk got him to 2nd. Pete Kozma was put in to pinch-run for Carter -- after Gardner's walk, which makes no sense, but it didn't make a difference. Chase Headley popped up. Hudson threw a wild pitch to advance Kozma, the tying run, to 3rd base. But Castro struck out.

The Yankees did threaten in the 9th. With 1 out, Judge singled, Matt Holliday walked, and Ronald Torreyes grounded to 2nd, where Josh Harrison made an error, loading the bases. But Tony Watson struck Aaron Hicks out, and got Kozma to ground into a force play to end the game.

Pirates 2, Yankees 1. WP: Nova (2-2). SV: Watson (6). LP: Montgomery (1-1).

*

So, 3 weeks into the 26-week regular season, the American League Eastern Division standings are as follows: The Baltimore Orioles lead the Yankees by a game and a half (2 in the loss column), the Boston Red Sox by 2 (3), the Tampa Bay Rays by 3 1/2 (5), and the Toronto Blue Jays by 7 1/2 (8).

The Yankees have today off, and then, tomorrow night, start yet another series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, all 7:00 PM or thereabout starts. Counting the postseason, these will be the 2,078th, 2,079th and 2,080th meetings between the teams. The Yankees have won 1,081 games, the Red Sox 982, and 14 have officially gone into the record books as ties.

Here are the projected starting pitchers:

* Tuesday: Luis Severino vs. Rick Porcello.

* Wednesday: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Chris Sale.

* Thursday: CC Sabathia vs. Drew Pomeranz.

Come on you Bombers! Beat The Scum!

*

Hours until the next Yankees-Red Sox series: 29, tomorrow night, at 7:00 PM, at Fenway Park.

Days until The Arsenal play again: 2, Wednesday afternoon, at 2:45 (7:45 in the evening, their time), home to Midlands club Leicester City. The defending Premier League Champions have fallen far from their 5,000-to-1 achievement last season. Arsenal beat Manchester City yesterday, to advance to the FA Cup Final for a record 20th time. They will face Chelsea on Saturday, May 27, hoping to win a record 13th Cup.

Days until the Red Bulls play again: 5, this Saturday night at 7:30, home to the Chicago Fire. On Saturday, they beat the Columbus Crew 2-0.

Days until the next North London Derby: 6, this Sunday, at 11:30 AM (4:30 PM, their time), at White Hart Lane, for the last time, before Spurs' old stadium us mercifully demolished to make way for the new one.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 12, against the Philadelphia Union, on Saturday, May 6, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. They will next play the New England Revolution on Saturday, May 27, at Red Bull Arena. They will next play a Hudson River Derby against New York City FC on Saturday, June 24, at Red Bull Arena. And they will next play the D.C. Scum on Saturday, September 27, at Red Bull Arena.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 45, on Thursday night, June 8, in a CONCACAF World Cup Qualifier, at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver suburbs, against Trinidad & Tobago. his game is a must-win.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 130, on Friday, September 1, home to the University of Washington. A little over 4 months. This game had been set for the following day, but has been moved back.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, as the 2017 schedule hasn't been released yet. I now know that high school football games have been scheduled in Middlesex County, New Jersey on Friday night, September 8. That's 137 days from now.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: We don't know, as the 2017-18 NHL schedule has yet to be released. The NHL season usually begins on the 2nd Friday in October, which, in 2017, would be... ugh... Friday the 13th. That's 172 days. Under 6 months.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: See the previous answer, although the 1st game isn't likely to be against either the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders or the Philadelphia Flyers.

Days until the Alex Rodriguez Contract From Hell officially runs out, and the Yankees can spend his salary on new players: 190, on October 31.

Days until the next election for Governor of New Jersey: 197, on Tuesday, November 7, 2017. Under 7 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 201, on Saturday, November 11, 2017, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving game: 213, on Thursday morning, November 23, 2017, at 10:00. About 7 months, and thank God it's at home at Jay Doyle's grove, rather than at the purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 416, on June 14, 2018. A bit over a year, or a little under 14 months. Has Bruce Arena turned our chances around? Or will Trump ruin them? Maybe, with the tournament on his soil, Putin will tell Trump to tell Bruce Arena to tank the games. Maybe not. Or maybe just if we end up playing Russia. I don't think Arena will listen. I hope his life insurance is paid up, because Putin kills people.

Days until September 2018 roster call-ups, when we can finally start to expect seeing some of those wonderful "prospects" for whom Yankee general manager Brian Cashman threw away a chance at the 2016 Playoffs: 495. Of course, we could end up seeing one or more of them sooner than that, but since most of them are at Double-A Trenton now, if that, who's kidding who?

Days until the next Congressional election: 561, on November 6, 2018. Under 2 years, or a little under 19 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 625, on January 9, 2019. Under 2 years, or 21 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 990, on January 8, 2020. Under 3 years, or 33 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,184, on July 24, 2020. Under 3 1/2 years, or exactly 39 months.

Days until the next Presidential election: 1,286, on November 3, 2020. Under 4 years, or under 43 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 1,364, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 4 years, or a little under 45 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not Donald Trump. Mike Pence wouldn't be better, just differently bad.

Pineda Nearly Perfect as Yanks Win Home Opener!

This afternoon, the Yankees played their home opener at Yankee Stadium, against the Tampa Bay Rays. It was perfect baseball weather. In fact, it was unseasonably warm for April 10. Monument Park honorees Willie Randolph, Joe Torre and Tino Martinez shared the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first balls, and we were underway in The Bronx.

Michael Pineda took the hill for the Pinstripes, and Big Mike (not to be confused with yours truly, Uncle Mike) did some serious dealing. He had a perfect game going through the 1st 6 innings, and that "no-hitter buzz" began going around.

But you gotta back your pitcher up with runs. The Yankees stranded 2 runners in the 1st inning, and blew a leadoff walk with a double play in the 2nd, before tallying in the 3rd. With 1 out, Rays starter Alex Cobb thought he had struck Brett Gardner out, but strike 3 was a wild pitch that got away from catcher Derek Norris, and the speedy Gardner was safe at 1st base. Jacoby Ellsbury was up next, and he nearly hit one out, settling for a double that scored Gardner. Aaron Judge added a home run in the 4th, his 2nd of the season, to make it 2-0 Yankees in the 6th.

Pineda finally cracked with 2 out in the 7th, allowing a double to Evan Longoria. Since it was still only 2-0 Yankees, now there was the concern that the Yankees might blow the lead. But Pineda struck Brad Miller out to end the threat. Chase Headley led off the bottom of the 7th with a home run, his 2nd, making it 3-0.

Joe Girardi led Pineda start the 8th. With 1 out, he gave up a home run to Logan Morrison. Girard probably should have taken him out there, instead of taking him out after he got another out. Pineda struck out 11, with no walks. Girardi brought Tyler Clippard in, and he finished off the 8th with the score at 3-1 Yankees.

It was hard to believe that Cobb outlasted Pineda. But Gardner again benefited from a fielding miscue, grounding to 2nd, and reaching on Miller's error. With Ellsbury up, he stole 2nd. Ellsbury lined out. With Matt Holliday up, Gardner stole 3rd. Holliday doubled him home.

After a pitching change, Chris Carter hit a triple, scoring Holliday. Starlin Castro hit a home run, his 1st, also scoring Carter. Headley and Judge singled. Austin Romine grounded to new pitcher Austin Pruitt, who tried to throw Headley out at 3rd, but couldn't. Ronald Torreyes grounded to 3rd, and Judge was out, but Headley scored.

With emergency catcher Kyle Higashioka coming in for his major league debut, to replace Romine, Chasen Shreve came in to relieve, and got the last 3 outs. Yankees 8, Rays 1. WP: Pineda (1-1). No save. LP: Cobb (1-1).

Mr. Sinatra, if you would, please: HIT IT!

The series takes a day off tomorrow, the usual failsafe for a home opener's rainout, and resumes on Wednesday afternoon at 1:05 PM. Luis Severino starts for the Yankees, Blake Snell vs. the Rays.

Bad Starters Means Bad Start

Now is the time when we remind ourselves that the Yankees started the 1998 season 0-3, and 1-4, and went on to have the greatest season in the history of baseball.

Then again, that team could hit. This team couldn't hit the ground if they fell off a ladder.

They closed their season-opening series with the Tampa Bay Rays with Michael Pineda pitching like shit. He allowed a run in the 1st inning and 3 in the 2nd, and they might as well have called the game right there, because the Yankees couldn't hit water if they fell out of a damn boat.

Andrew Marchand of ESPN referred to the Yankees as having "a putrid offense," and he's right: This team couldn't hit the road if they fell out of a car. Tonight, they were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Gary Sanchez: .071. Ronald Torreyes: .111. Aaron Judge: .167. Greg Bird: .214. Matt Holliday: .250. Starlin Castro: .250. Those are not batting averages, they are on-base percentages. Well, actually, for Sanchez, Torreyes, Judge and Castro, they are also batting averages.

Between them, Tommy Layne, Adam Warren and Chasen Shreve pitched 4 1/3rd innings, allowing no runs, no hits, only 2 walks. In 3 games, the Yankees' bullpen hasn't allowed a single run.

But you gotta get good performances from your starting pitchers. And you gotta hit. The only Yankee run tonight came on a 2nd inning home run by Jacoby Ellsbury that momentarily tied the game at 1-1. Ellsbury got 3 hits; Chase Headley, 2. Hard to believe that those 2 guys are the only ones hitting.

Rays 4, Yankees 1. WP: Alex Cobb (1-0). SV: Alex Colome (2). LP: Pineda (0-1). Only 12,737 fans came out to see it. My guess is, half of them were rooting for the Yankees, and unhappy. As well they should be, because the Yankees couldn't hit sand if they fell off a fucking camel.

The Yankees don't play tomorrow. On Friday, they start a 3-game series at Camden Yards against the Baltimore Orioles. Here's the projected pitching matchups:

* Friday, 7:05 PM: Luis Severino vs. Ubaldo Jimenez.

* Saturday, 4:05 PM: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Kevin Gausman, who usually pitches well against the Yankees.

* Sunday, 1:35 PM: CC Sabathia vs. Wade Miley.

Then the Yankees come home, and start their home-opening series against these same Rays.

They better start hitting on Friday, and getting good starts from their pitchers, and keep it up. It's a long season, and I don't want to have a lot of bad writeups.

If they're to be bad writeups, let it be because I didn't write well about them playing well, not the other way around!

Yankees Lose Opener and Optimism; Rubén Amaro Sr., 1936-2017

The Yankees had the best record in baseball in Spring Training: 24-9. The hitters were hitting well, the pitchers were getting the job done, the fielders were fine.

There was hope that, this time, we might not get off to a bad start, might look like contenders, might not need further rebuilding, might actually do something this season without waiting for all those "prospects" for whom general manager Brian Cashman threw away our Playoff chance last season.

And all that optimism from Spring Training didn't even get out of the 1st inning that actually counted.

It is true that the relievers that manager Joe Girardi used in the regular-season opener against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida yesterday - Tommy Layne, Adam Warren, Jonathan Holder and Chasen Shreve - pitched 5 1/3rd innings, allowing no runs on 5 hits and just 1 walk.

It is also true that Masahiro Tanaka, on whom we are counting to be the ace of a title contender, and who had looked great in March, had absolutely nothing. He allowed 3 runs in the 1st inning, 2 in the 2nd, and 2 more in the 3rd. It was the worst outing of his major league career.

Starlin Castro and the much-maligned Chase Headley each got 3 hits, including a bunt single by Headley that started a 9th inning comeback, loading the bases with nobody out, but the Yankees only got 1 run out of it, on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by the newly-acquired slugger Chris Carter.

The Yankees' 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th hitters in the batting order, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, the newly-acquired Matt Holliday and Jacoby Ellsbury, went a combined 0-for-16 -- as the guy said in Bull Durham, "a big fucking donut hole for 16." Their only time reaching base was a walk drawn by Bird.

Rays 7, Yankees 3. WP: Chris Archer (1-0). SV: Alex Colome. LP: Tanaka (0-1).

Already, the Yankees are a game out of 1st place.

#GirardiOut #CashmanOut

After a day off today - which is absolutely unnecessary, since the stupid Rays play in a dome - the series resumes tomorrow night. CC Sabathia starts for the Yankees, Jake Odorizzi for the Rays.

*

Rubén Amaro Sr. died this past Friday. Born on January 6, 1936 in Veracruz, Mexico, Rubén Amaro Mora was the son of Santos Amaro, a Cuban right fielder nicknamed "Cangura" who starred in the Mexican League. Ruben was a shortstop, got a cup of coffee with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1958, and came back up with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1960.

In 1964, wearing the Number 20 that the Phils would later retire for Mike Schmidt, he was part of the team that looked like it was going to win the National League Pennant, but lost 10 straight games in late September to blow it. He did, however receive a Gold Glove that season.

Traded to the Yankees in 1966, with the intention of succeeding Tony Kubek, who retired due to a back injury, he collided with left fielder Tom Tresh in his 1st season with them, and was never the same. He played 3 seasons with the Yankees, and 1 more with the California Angels, 1969. He was later the Phillies' 1st base coach, and got a World Series ring with them in 1980. He later worked for the Baseball Assistance Team (BAT), helping indigent players.

"Number 12... Ruben... Amaro... shortstop... Number 12."

-- Bob Sheppard

His son, Rubén Amaro Jr. (known as RAJ), born in Philadelphia while his father played there, and a batboy while his father was a coach there, played as an outfielder on the Stanford University team that won the 1987 College World Series.

He played in the majors in the 1990s, and in 1993, did something his father was unable to do: Win a Pennant with the Phillies. He won another in 1995 with the Cleveland Indians. The son had a slightly higher lifetime batting average than the father: .235 to .234.

Rubén Amaro Jr.

Rubén Jr. later served in the Phils' front office, as assistant general manager under Ed Wade, then Pat Gillick, helping to build the team that won the 2007 NL Eastern Division title and the 2008 World Series. Gillick retired after that Series, and RAJ was promoted to general manager, winning another Pennant in 2009 and Division titles in 2010 and 2011.

Injuries caught up with them the next season, and he was unable to rebuild, and was fired in 2015. He is now the 1st base coach for the Boston Red Sox. Another son of Rubén Sr., Luis Amaro, played in the Phillies' farm system and is currently GM of a team in Venezuela's league.

Rubén Amaro Sr.

Rubén Amaro Sr. was elected to the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame like his father, and died on Friday, March 31, 2017, in Miami, at the age of 81.

UPDATE: His final resting place is not publicly known.

Bums Out. Off to the Sox. This Is It.

On Tuesday night, the Yankees bounced back against the Los Angeles Dodgers. CC Sabathia pitched into the 7th inning, allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk, striking out 7. But the Yankees hadn't scored either. Julio Urias, at 20 the youngest player in the major leagues (a major league player who was born in 1996! Unbelievable), and one of the few pitchers ever to wear a single digit (Number 7), left the game in the 4th inning, but he and 3 relievers kept it 0-0.

Until the bottom of the 7th. Jacoby Ellsbury and Didi Gregorius hit back-to-back home runs. In the 8th, rookie sensation Gary Sanchez struck again. It was their 9th, 18th and 14th home runs of the season, respectively.

Yankees 3, Dodgers 0. WP: Adam Warren, of all people (6-3). SV: Dellin Betances (11). LP: Ross Stripling (4-7).

The Wednesday game would not be as good. There were 3 separate rain delays. Clayton Kershaw took a perfect game into the bottom of the 5th inning, and Dodger manager Dave Roberts -- yes, the same Roberts who stole that base against us in the 2004 American League Championship Series -- left him in after the last delay ended.

In contrast, Joe Girardi took Michael Pineda out after 4 innings. That's 4 scoreless innings, in which he'd allowed only 2 hits and 2 walks. If April showers bring May flowers, then September showers bring shitshowers from Girardi.

As they used to say on Match Game, How dumb is he? I don't give a damn how long the rain delay is: If a guy is pitching well, you leave him in! Roberts knows that, why doesn't Girardi?

Starlin Castro led off the bottom of the 5th by reaching 1st base on an error. Chase Headley singled. Gregorius sacrificed them over to 2nd and 3rd. Just 1 out. All we needed was for the next batter, Rob Refsnyder, to get the ball out of the infield. But Refsnyder struck out. So did Austin Romine, to end the threat.

Technically, Girardi did the right thing by having Didi bunt. But maybe, with 1st and 2nd and nobody out, and Didi hitting like crazy this year, he should have let Didi swing away.

Girardi had Tommy Layne pitch the 5th inning, Luis Severino the 6th and the 7th, and Tyler Clippard the 8th. And he sent Betances out to pitch the 9th, with the game still 0-0.

Now, if Girardi weren't a blithering idiot, he would have known that it doesn't take 5 pitchers to pitch a goddamned shutout. He could have kept Pineda in for at least 7 innings, and then pitched Clippard in the 8th and 9th. Or he could have let Severino -- who, in case he's forgotten, is a starter -- start the 5th, and keep going until he tired. He could have pitched all the way through to the 9th. Instead, he went with Pineda for only 4, Layne for the 5th, Severino for the 6th and the 7th, Clippard for the 8th, and...

Betances for the 9th. Castro returned the favor he got earlier by making his own leadoff error, allowing Corey Seager on base. Justin Turner doubled him home. An Adrian Gonzalez groundout moved Turner to 3rd, and Yasmani Grandal's groundout got him home.

In the bottom of the 9th, with the Yankees still within a bloop and a blast, or a walk and a wallop, Sanchez led off with a strikeout. Castro tried to redeem himself, and got a hit, and advanced to 2nd on defensive indifference. But Headley and Gregorius both struck out, and that was it.

Dodgers 2, Yankees 0. WP: Luis Avilan (2-0). SV: Kenley Jansen (44). LP: Betances (3-5).

In the end, the loss should have been charged to Girardi. Or to general manager Brian Cashman, who traded away the bat of Carlos Beltran and the arms of Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman, all of which we could have used, for nothing. Think about it: Even if Beltran had gone 0-for-4, it could have been, even with Girardi's stupidity, Pineda for 4, Layne for the 5th, Clippard for the 6th, Betances for the 7th, Miller for the 8th, Chapman for the 9th, and then, if it went to extra innings, Severino, a starter, for innings 10 through up to 15.

Oh yeah: There's also the matter of Aaron Judge getting hurt. He'll miss the rest of the season, even if the Yankees somehow win the Pennant and the World Series goes to 7 games. (Not that he would have been on the Series roster anyway.)

*

So here's where we stand: The Yankees have 17 regular season games left. They trail the Boston Red Sox in the American League Eastern Division by 4 games. The Baltimore Orioles trail the Sox by 1 game, and the Toronto Blue Jays trail them by 2.

The Orioles currently hold the 1st AL Wild Card slot, the Jays the 2nd. The Yankees trail the Jays by 2 games. The Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners both trail the Jays by a game and a half. (This is easily the closest that the Mariners' "King" Felix Hernandez has ever gotten to the postseason.) The Houston Astros trail by 3 1/2 games, and the Kansas City Royals by 5.

ESPN rates the Yankees chances of making the Playoffs at 10.8 percent. That's about 9-1 odds.

The Yankees' remaining schedule is as follows:

* Tonight through Sunday: 4 games away to the Red Sox.

* The following Tuesday through Thursday: 3 games away to the Tampa Bay Rays.

* The following Friday through Monday: 4 games away to the Blue Jays.

* The following Tuesday through Thursday: 3 games home to the Red Sox.

* And the following Friday through Sunday: 3 games home to the Orioles.

The Yankees will be lucky to get a split in Boston, but should take at least 2 out of 3 in St. Pete. If the recent home sweep of the Jays is any indication, 3 out of 4 in Toronto isn't too much to ask. Then, the final homestand. Got to take at least 2 out of 3 against both Boston and Baltimore.

Do that, and it's 11-6, for a record of 88-74. That probably won't be enough to win the Division, but taking 4 games off the Sox -- 2 net -- will help, especially if their other opponents can knock them down. And 88 wins could win a Wild Card berth, although a Division title would be infinitely preferable -- as the idiot Girardi didn't figure out in 2010 and 2015.

It's still up for grabs. This series against The Scum at Scumway Park in Scum Town will go a long way toward deciding the Yankees' fate for the season. This is it.

Here's the projected pitching matchups for the series:

* Tonight, 7:10: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Eduardo Rodriguez.

* Tomorrow, 7:10: Luis Cessa vs. Clay Buchholz.

* Saturday, 1:05: Bryan Mitchell vs. David Price.

* Sunday, 8:00: CC Sabathia vs. Drew Pomeranz.

Come on you Bombers! Let's light up that little green pinball machine in the Back Bay! Beat The Scum!

Yanks' Momentum Screeches to a Halt

This past Saturday, the Yankees made it 7 straight wins, 4 games behind the Boston Red Sox for the American League Eastern Division lead, and tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the 2nd AL Wild Card slot.

Playing the last-place Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium II, they got another great performance from Masahiro Tanaka: 7 1/3rd innings, 1 run, 5 hits, no walks, 10 strikeouts. The game was scoreless until the 6th inning, when home runs by Jacoby Ellsbury (his 8th) and rookie phenom Gary Sanchez (his 13th), put 3 runs on the board.

Yankees 5, Rays 1. WP: Tanaka (13-4). No save. LP: Chris Archer (8-18, although he's pitched better than that for a bad team this year, and doesn't deserve to become a 20-game loser, as now seems likely).

*

But on Sunday, the Yankees' momentum came to a screeching halt. Luis Cessa started, and was shaky, not getting out of the 6th inning. Luis Severino, Tommy Layne and Blake Parker pitched 3 1/3rd scoreless innings out of the pen, but, aside from a Chase Headley home run (his 15th) in the 5th, the Yankees couldn't touch the Rays' 4 pitchers.

Rays 4, Yankees 2. WP: Matt Andariese (7-7). SV: Alex Colome (32). LP: Cessa (4-1).

*

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Dodgers came to town. Due to the Interleague Play schedule, this was the 1st time in 3 years that the Bronx Bombers had faced the former Brooklyn Bums. And their manager is no longer former Yankee "legend" Don Mattingly (who now manages the Miami Marlins), but Dave Roberts -- the man whose pinch-run stolen base turned the 2004 AL Championship Series around, and allowed the cheating Roid Sox to go on the postseason run of all time.

There were fans chanting, "Let's go, Dodgers!" at Yankee Stadium. I'll bet you any money you like, none of them were from Brooklyn. To paraphrase the line from The Sandlot, Heroes get remembered, but grudges never die!

(What, you thought I was gonna say, "Yer killin' me, Smalls"?)

The color is distorted, due to the picture

coming from a Dodger fan website.

Nevertheless, this abomination actually happened.

Bryan Mitchell, who had been so good in his last start, got pounded: He allowed 6 runs, although he was betrayed by his defense, as only 2 of those runs were earned; and didn't get out of the 3rd inning.

Starlin Castro (his 21st) and Aaron Judge (his 4th) hit solo home runs, but that was all that starter Jose De Leon gave up in 5 innings, and 4 relievers allowed only 3 baserunners the rest of the way.

Alex Rodriguez did nothing last night... Sorry, force of habit. Of course, he did nothing: He's retired.

Dodgers 8, Yankees 2. WP: De Leon (2-0). No save. LP: Mitchell (1-1).

*

So here's where we stand, going into tonight's action: The Yankees trail the Red Sox by 5 games for the Division, and the Orioles by 2 games for the 2nd Wild Card slot.

There are 19 games left:

* Tonight and tomorrow afternoon, at home against the Dodgers. CC Sabathia pitches against Julio Urias (at 20, the youngest player in the majors) tonight, and tomorrow at 4:05, Michael Pineda goes against Clayton Kershaw, who might be the best pitcher in baseball when healthy but is now coming off the Disabled List. Maybe we can get a split of those 2.

* Thursday through Saturday, away to the Red Sox. A repeat of the 1978 4-game series at Fenway Park known as the Boston Massacre may be too much to ask for, but if we take 3 out of 4 from The Scum, it will blow the AL East race wide open. From this series onward, starting pitchers have not yet been projected.

* The following Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, away to the Rays. We should be able to take 2 out of those 3.

* The following Friday through Monday, away to the Toronto Blue Jays. If we could sweep them 3 straight in Toronto just a few days ago, 3 out of 4 in this series isn't too much to ask for.

* The following Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, home to the Sox. Should be able to take 2 out of 3.

* And the final series of the regular season, home to the Baltimore Orioles. Another 2 out of 3 is called for.

We can take 14 out of 18? If we can do that, winning the Division is still possible. Even if we only take 11 out of 18, the Playoffs should be possible.

Come on you Pinstripes! #ChaseFor28

Yanks Sweep Jays, Back In Race for Title 28

When Brian Cashman traded Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Carlos Beltran and Ivan Nova for the failed Adam Warren and 247 "prospects" who might never make it, I figured the season was over.

I'm the guy who sees that it's still mathematically possible for the Yankees to make the Playoffs, and thinks that the World Series can still be won. I'm the guy who, no matter how bad it might look, will quote the late, great Yogi Berra: "It ain't over 'til it's over." But I figured it was over.

Silly Uncle Mike. O, me of little faith. The Yankees just swept those pesky Toronto Blue Jays, and they're back in the race.

*

Monday was Labor Day, so the game was a matinee at Yankee Stadium II. The Jays came in as the 1st place team in the American League Eastern Division, and their fans were talking smack on social media. They've made the Playoffs once in 23 years, and their fans are acting like they're the ones with the 27 World Championships.

R.A. Dickey, once a Cy Young Award winner with the Mets, only pitched 4 innings for the Jays, because the Yankees did this interesting thing that they frequently did not do enough of earlier in the season: They drove in runs. The Jays led 1-0 in the 1st, but Jacoby Ellsbury made it 2-1 Yanks with a home run, only his 7th of the season. He also singled in a run in the 3rd, and Tyler Austin drove in 2 runs with a single in the 4th.

Masahiro Tanaka started for the Yankees, and pitched into the 7th inning. A 7th inning in which Joe Girardi used 4 pitchers: Tanaka, Jonathan Holder, Ben Heller and Tommy Layne. Between them, they held the Jays to 2 runs. Tyler Clippard pitched a perfect 8th, and Dellin Betances a perfect 9th.

Yankees 5, Blue Jays 3. WP: Tanaka (12-4). SV: Betances (9). LP: Dickey (9-14... Pitching in the American League is hard!)

Attendance: 42,141. Understandable, you say? Because the Yankees are close, it was a holiday, and the weather was good? Not really: The Yankees hadn't been close most of the season, and a storm had been hanging off the coast for a few days. So this was actually a very good attendance figure.

*

The Tuesday night game was the Yankee season, thus far, in a nutshell. Emphasis on the nut.

Luis Cessa started, and pitched decently, but was trailing 2-1 when he left in the 6th, his run coming on the 17th homer of the season by Brian McCann. Tyler Austin gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead with his 2nd homer in the 7th. But Warren and Layne both allowed runs in the top of the 8th, and it was 4-3 Jays.

Cliche alert: Those walks'll kill you, especially leadoff walks. Ellsbury drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the 8th. Didi Gregorius nearly hit one out, driving Ellsbury in with a game-tying triple. Starlin Castro brought Didi home with a sacrifice fly. McCann walked, and then Chase Headley hit one out, making it 7-4 Yanks. This made Chasen Shreve, who closed out the 8th inning, the pitcher of record.

That was the 13th homer of the season for the much-maligned Headley. It might turn out to be the most important home run of the season.

No longer having Chapman or Miller, Girardi brought Betances in to pitch the 9th. This was the 3rd night in a row that Betances had pitched, and he had nothing. Again, "Those walks'll kill you, especially leadoff walks." He walked Jose Bautista. Then he walked Josh Donaldson. Then he threw a wild pitch. Then Edwin Encarnacion beat out an infield hit, and it was 7-5.

Betances struck out former Yankee catcher Russell Martin, but he walked another former Yankee catcher, Dioner Navarro. (Both he and Encarnacion were removed for pinch-runners.) Melvin Upton Jr. beat out an infield hit, and that scored Donaldson.

Now it was 7-6 Jays, the bases were loaded, and there was only 1 out. #YankeesTwitter, myself included, was going berserk. We were cursing Betances (perhaps unfairly), Girardi (very fairly), and Cashman (especially fairly, since he'd decimated the bullpen for these alleged prospects that we didn't need with Scranton and Trenton doing so well).

Girardi had seen enough: He took Betances out, and brought in Blake Parker. He struck out Kevin Pillar, and then Justin Smoak hit a sinking liner to left that looked like it might make the score 8-7 Toronto. But Brett Gardner made a "Holy cow!" catch, and... exhale.

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 6. WP: Shreve (2-1). SV: Parker (1). LP: Jason Grilli (4-3). Attendance: 27,532, and given that it was a Tuesday night game, between the 1st place Jays and the struggling Yanks, a figure that low, held down by low walk-up sales, is understandable.

*

Last night's game had all the hallmarks of a Yankee loss. The opposition was both good and angry. Our starting pitcher, Bryan Mitchell, was a lightly-regarded prospect. Our closer, Betances, was unavailable due to overwork. And the Jays' starter, Marcus Stroman, has a good record against us. And, when it was over, the Yankees had converted 9 hits and 2 walks into only 2 runs -- coming on a Castro home run (his 20th) and a McCann single, both in the 3rd.

But Mitchell went 5 innings, allowing 4 hits, 2 walks... and no runs. Luis Severino came in, and pitched 3 innings, allowing just 1 hit and 1 walk... and no runs. Clippard pitched a perfect 9th.

Yankees 2, Blue Jays 0. WP: Mitchell (1-0). SV: Clippard (1). LP: Stroman (9-7). Attendance: 30,501. Maybe the fans are getting the message.

The Blue Jays sure got the message: The Yankees swept them, and knocked them (for the moment) out of 1st place.

*

When this series began, the Yankees were 6 1/2 games out of 1st place in the AL East, and 4 1/2 games out of the 2nd Wild Card slot. It looked bad.

Now? The Boston Red Sox are in 1st place, 1 game ahead of the Jays, 2 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, and just 4 1/2 ahead of the Yankees, 4 in the loss column. In the Wild Card race, the Yankees trail the O's by 2 1/2, 2 in the loss column.

There are 24 games left. Anything can happen. Including Title 28.

Tonight, the Yankees begin a 4-game home series with the Tampa Bay Rays, in last place in the AL East. With the Sox and Jays playing each other in Toronto this weekend, and the O's away to the Playoff-contending Detroit Tigers, this is a good chance to gain some more ground.

Here are the projected starting pitchers:

* Tonight, 7:05 PM: CC Sabathia vs. Alex Cobb.

* Tomorrow, 7:05 PM: Michael Pineda vs. Blake Snell.

* Saturday, 4:05 PM: Tanaka vs. Chris Archer.

* Sunday, 1:05 PM: Cessa vs. Matt Andariese.

Come on you Pinstripes!

Yanks Take 2 of 3 From Reeling Defending Champs

The Kansas City Royals won the World Series last year. They've won the last 2 American League Pennants. This time, like the Yankees, they're struggling just to get into the Playoff race.

On Monday night, struggling wasn't necessary for the Royals, because it was what Michael Pineda was doing. Again. He was supposed to be an ace, but he may not even make the rotation next year if Brian Cashman does his job.

Stop laughing.

Pineda struck out 8 and walked none in just 5 innings. But he also allowed 5 runs on 7 hits. That is unacceptable. The Yankees also let former Met Dillon Gee hold them to 1 run in 6 innings. Also unacceptable.

It was only 3-1 Royals going to the bottom of the 7th, but after Kendrys Morales singled to lead off the inning, Joe Girardi relieved Pineda with Tommy Layne. Good move: He got Alex Gordon to ground into a fielder's choice.

Naturally, you let the effective pitcher stay in. Except Girardi immediately took him out, and brought in Blake Parker. What the hell? He gave up a 402-foot home run to Alcides Escobar. Then he gave up a single to Raul Mondesi Jr. Then he got Jarrod Dyson to ground out, but then he gave up a single to Cheslor Cuthbert and a walk to Lorenzo Cain.

Only then did Girardi take him out. And he brought in... Kirby Yates?!? Yates gave up an RBI single to Eric Hosmer, before striking Morales out to end the inning. The Royals had batted around, and scored 5 runs.

Why? Partly because Girardi is a blithering idiot when it comes to the bullpen, and partly because Cashman gutted the bullpen to get a bunch of "prospects," so Girardi couldn't bring Dellin Betances in for the 7th, Andrew Miller for the 8th and Aroldis Chapman for the 9th. But if Girardi had simply let Layne stay in the game... I don't know what would have happened, but I'm pretty sure the Royals would have scored fewer than 5 runs in the inning.

Then the Yankees scored 4 runs in the top of the 8th, the highlight being a 2-RBI double by Didi Gregorius. It could have been Yankees 5, Royals 3. Instead, because Girardi and Cashman were idiots, it ended Royals 8, Yankees 5. WP: Gee (6-7). SV: Kelvin Herrera (11). LP: Pineda (6-11).

Absolutely unacceptable.

*

On Tuesday night, the Yankees took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the 3rd, including a long home run by Aaron Judge. It was still 4-2 Yankees going to the bottom of the 6th, because Masahiro Tanaka, as he usually does, was pitching very well.

Then, like the blithering idiot that he is, Girardi took Tanaka out! He'd only thrown 71 pitches, and was pitching well. At that rate, he should have at least been allowed to pitch through the 7th.

For the bottom of the 6th, Girardi sent in Adam Warren. Adam Warren? Who sends Adam Warren in to pitch? A blithering idiot, that's who! Warren allowed a run to make it 4-3. To make this game even stranger, former Yankee Chien-Ming Wang was pitching for the Royals.

Girardi sent Tyler Clippard in for the 7th, and he kept it at 4-3. But when Clippard walked Cain to start the 8th, Giardi panicked, and brought in Betances for the 6-out save. Betances blew it: 4-4. He managed to make it no worse in the 8th or the 9th, and the game went to extra innings.

Brian McCann led off the top of the 10th with a single off Joakim Soria. Girardi sent Aaron Hicks in to pinch-run for him. Chase Headley singled. Soria struck Judge and Tyler Austin out, then uncorked a wild pitch (only wild pitches and wine bottles ever get "uncorked"), to send Hicks to 3rd base and Headley to 2nd. Soria gave Brett Gardner the old unintentional intentional walk, to set up the force play at every base. But Jacoby Ellsbury hit a grounder to 3rd, and Hicks scored.

Girardi sent the newly called-up Ben Heller to pitch the bottom of the 10th, and he had rookie jitters. He hit Mondesi. He let Mondesi steal 2nd. He gave up a single to Dyson that got Mondesi to 3rd -- as the tying run with nobody out. He let Dyson steal 2nd. Then he struck out Cain, and Girardi told him to intentionally walk Hosmer.

Then Girardi pulled Heller for Chasen Shreve. What kind of a bonehead bullpen decision was this?!? No kind: Shreve struck Morales out, and got Salvador Perez to fly to center to end the game.

Whew. Yankees 5, Royals 4 in 10. WP: Betances (3-4). SV: Shreve (1). LP: Soria (4-6).

Lucky. Of course, it never should have come to that. A 4-0 lead had been blown. As they would say in English soccer, "Four-nil, and you fucked it up!" And, again, Cashman's gutting of the bullpen was an issue.

*

On Wednesday night, Luis Cessa started, and did not have good stuff. He managed to get through 6 innings, allowing 4 runs, 3 of them earned, on 6 hits and a walk. Not bad, but hardly effective. Shreve kept it going from the previous night, as he pitched a scoreless 7th and a perfect 8th. Girardi brought Layne in for 1 batter (again), and then Warren, and, between them, they pitched a perfect 9th.

Against former Yankee Ian Kennedy, the Bronx Bombers struggled for 5 innings. But Ellsbury led off the 6th with a single, Gary Sanche drew a walk, Mark Teixeira hit a sacrifice fly to get Ells to 3rd, and Gregorius hit another sac fly to score Ellsbury. Then Starlin Castro crushed a 415-foot drive to left-center, his 19th home run of the year, and it was 4-3 K.C.

With 1 out in the 7th, Hicks drew a walk, and Royals manager Ned Yost had seen enough of Kennedy. I guess he asked not what his starting pitcher could do for him, and asked what he could do with his bullpen. He brought in Scott Alexander, and he was neither Great Scott nor Alexander the Great. Gardner singled Hicks over to 3rd, and Ellsbury brought him home with a game-tying sac fly. This time, it was the Royals who'd fully blown a 4-0 lead.

This one also went to extra innings. Parker redeemed himself with a perfect bottom of the 10th, and worked out of a jam in the 11th. Heller pitched a perfect 12th.

Gregorius led off the top of the 13th by beating out a grounder to 1st. Castro smacked a double to left, sending Didi to 3rd. McCann hit yet another sac fly, and Didi scored.

Betances walked Cuthbert to start the bottom of the 13th, and, as we all know, those walks'll kill you, especially the leadoff walk. This is why the double play is known as The Pitcher's Friend, and Betances got Hosmer to ground into one. Then he got Morales to fly to right to end it.

Yankees 5, Royals 4 in 13. WP: Heller (1-0, his 1st major league win). SV: Betances (7). LP: Chris Young (3-9).

The Yankees came close to sweeping this series. They came even closer to getting swept.

*

So here's how things stand, with the Yankees having 30 games left: The Toronto Blue Jays lead the American League Eastern Division, the Boston Red Sox are 2 games behind them, the Baltimore Orioles are 4 games back, the Yankees are 6 1/2 back (6 in the loss column), and the Tampa Bay Rays are 19 1/2 games back, out of the race.

In the Wild Card race, the Red Sox hold the 1st slot, and the Orioles and the Detroit Tigers are tied for the 2nd. The Houston Astros trail by 1 game, the Yankees by 2 1/2 (2 in the loss column), the Royals by 3, and the Seattle Mariners by 4.

So the Yankees are very much in the Wild Card race, and the Division is still a possibility, especially with 7 games left against Toronto, 7 against Boston and 6 against Baltimore.

And tonight, the Yankees begin a 3-game series away to those Orioles, before coming home for a big, big 3-game series against those pesky Blue Jays. Here are the projected pitching matchups:

* Tonight, 7:05 PM: Chad Green vs. Dylan Bundy.

* Tomorrow, 7:05 PM: CC Sabathia vs. Kevin Gausman.

* Sunday, 1:35 PM: Pineda vs. Wade Miley.

Come on you Bombers! Let's roast those Birds. Smoke 'em like Boog Powell does to that meat out behind the right-field wall at Camden Yards!

Girardi Trusts CC & Layne, Yanks Win

Last night, at Safeco Field, the Yankees bounced back against the Seattle Mariners. It was 1-1 after 4 innings, but in the top of the 5th, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a 2-run homer to make it 3-1 New York. The Yankees tacked on another run in the 6th.

That was all CC Sabathia needed. The Big Fella turned back the clock, and Joe Girardi actually let him pitch 7 full innings, in which he allowed just 1 run on 3 hits and a walk, striking out 7. Aside from an RBI triple by Leonys Martin in the 3rd, he was partying like it was 2009 -- minus the booze.

Girardi also trusted lefthanded reliever Tommy Layne to pitch an entire inning, not just to 1 lefty batter, and he pitched a perfect 8th. The Yanks got an insurance run in the 9th, and Dellin Betances closed it out.

Yankees 5, Mariners 1. WP: Sabathia (8-10). No save, as the Yanks led by 4 runs when Betances took over. Had that run not scored, he would have gotten a save. LP: Taijuan Walker (4-8).

So, Joe Girardi, the moral of the story is "Throw away the binder, and trust your pitchers."

*

The Yankees are 7 games behind both the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East, and 5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the AL's 2nd wild card. The O's trail the Sox and Jays by 2 games for the Division lead.

Elsewhere, the Cleveland Indians look like they have the AL Central wrapped up, leading the Detroit Tigers by 6 1/2 games and the defending World Champion Kansas City Royals by 7 1/2. The Texas Rangers lead the AL West by 5 1/2 over the Mariners and 8 over the Houston Astros. All of those teams are at least in Wild Card contention.

In the National League East, the Washington Nationals lead the Miami Marlins by 8 games and the Mets by 10. The Chicago Cubs are coasting in the Central, leading the St. Louis Cardinals by 13 1/2 games. They've looked like the best team in baseball all season long, which will only make it that much worse when the inevitable letdown happens.

The old rivals, formerly from New York City, remain in a dogfight in the NL West, as the Los Angeles Dodgers lead the San Francisco Giants by 2 games -- and they're playing each other this week. The Giants have won the World Series in the last 3 even-numbered seasons, including 2014 when they snuck in via the Wild Card, so we cannot discount them in 2016, not by a longshot.

The Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals currently hold the NL Wild Card slots. The Marlins are a game and a half behind the Giants. The Mets are 3 1/2 back, so they're not out of the Playoff hunt yet. The Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies are also within range.

So, with 5 1/2 weeks of regular season play to go, there are still 19 out of the 30 teams with a legitimate shot at the postseason.

The Yanks-M's series continues this afternoon, with both starters coming from Japan: Masahiro Tanaka (10-4) for the Yankees, and Hisashi Iwakuma (14-8) for Seattle.

Two of Three In Anaheim, Too Little, Too Late?

"The Yankees don't pay me to win every day. Just two out of every three." -- Casey Stengel

In this season, the Yankees winning 2 out of 3 the rest of the way may not be enough, thanks to Brian Cashman's stupid transactions and Joe Girardi's idiotic bullpen management.

This past Friday night, the Yankees began a series against the Los Angeles Angels, at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Jered Weaver, brother of Jeff whose gopher ball cost us the 2003 World Series (yes, I'm still bitter), started for the Angels, and Masahiro Tanaka for us. Ronald Torreyes hit his 1st major league home run, and came within a triple of hitting for the cycle. Jacoby Ellsbury hit his 5th home run of the season, and Brian McCann his 16th.

For once, a Yankee starter got much more than he needed. For once, Girardi trusted a Yankee starter to go all the way into the 8th inning. Tanaka was brilliant: No runs, no walks, 5 hits, 9 strikeouts. Ace.

Yankees 7, Angels 0. WP: Tanaka (10-4). No save. LP: Jered Weaver (8-11).

*

On Saturday, the Yankees got off to a fast start, with 3 runs in the top of the 1st inning. Gary Sanchez hit a home run, his 6th already. (See? The Yankees had prospects, and a lot closer to reaching the majors than the guys Cashman gutted the bullpen for.) They tacked 2 more runs on in in the 6th.

That was plenty of support for rookie pitcher Luis Cessa (another prospect much closer to the majors than anybody Cashman traded for last month). He pitched 6 innings, 3 hits, no walks, 5 strikeouts. Tyler Clippard pitched a perfect 7th, and Tommy Layne a scoreless 8th. Dellin Betances blew the shutout in the 9th, but only allowed the 1 run.

Yankees 5, Angels 1. WP: Cessa (3-0). No save. LP: Ricky Nolasco (4-11).

*

So the Yankees went into Sunday with a chance at a road sweep. It didn't happen. Don't blame the pitching: Chad Green went 6 innings, and allowed just 1 run, on 5 hits, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts; and the much-maligned (with some reason) Anthony Swarzak pitched a perfect 7th.

Adam Warren pitched the 8th. He allowed a run. It shouldn't have mattered. But since the Yankees were trailing 1-0, any further runs would have been devastating. I warned you all that Warren was a bad pickup. He pitched to 1 batter on Friday night, and got him out; but on Sunday afternoon, Girardi trusted him, and...

Well, it really didn't matter, because Jhoulys Chacin kept them off the board, and 3 relievers pitched 3 1/3rd innings of hitless ball, with 2 walks. Starlin Castro and Aaron Hicks each got 2 hits, and Didi Gregorius 1, all singles; Mark Teixeira had a double; and Sanchez, McCann and Brett Gardner drew a walk apiece. That was it. The kind of game the Yankees were losing in April and May.

Angels 2, Yankees 0. WP: Chacin (4-8). SV: Fernando Salas (4). LP: Green (2-3).

*

So here's where we stand, with 6 weeks, 39 games, to go in the regular season. In the American League Eastern Division:

Toronto Blue Jays, 70-54
Boston Red Sox, 69-54, half a game behind (even in the loss column)
Baltimore Orioles, 67-56, 2 1/2 back (2)
NEW YORK YANKEES, 63-60, 6 1/2 (6)
Tampa Bay Rays, 52-70, 17 (16)

In the Wild Card race:

Boston Red Sox, 69-54, currently holds the 1st Wild Card spot
Baltimore Orioles, 67-56, currently holds the 2nd Wild Card spot
Seattle Mariners, 66-57, 1 game back (1 in the loss column)
Detroit Tigers, 65-59, 2 1/2 (3)
Houston Astros, 64-60, 3 1/2 (4)
Kansas City Royals, 64-60, 3 1/2 (4)
NEW YORK YANKEES, 63-60, 4 (4)
Chicago White Sox, 59-64, 8 (8)

The fact that there's 4 teams between the Yankees and the Wild Card spots is irrelevant. Only the number of games behind matters.

As I've said, gaining 1 game per week should not be beyond a good team, so you still have a legitimate shot if the number of weeks remaining is greater than the number of games behind. The Yankees are 6 1/2 back, 6 in the loss column, of the Division lead with 6 weeks to play.

To borrow an expression from college basketball's NCAA Tournament, they are on the bubble. Taking 2 of 3 in Anaheim is a good thing, despite the Angels not currently being very good, especially since the Yankees have had such trouble there since that franchise's founding in 1961. But is such a 2 of 3 too little, too late?

Tonight, the Yankees begin a series in Seattle against the Mariners, including their former star 2nd baseman Robinson Cano, former Yankee pitcher Vidal Nuno, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr.; and bullpen coach Mike "Great Schools In Denver" Hampton. The M's are closer to making the Playoffs than they have been since 2001, the closest they've been since they've had "King" Felix Hernandez. Here are the projected pitching matchups:

* Tonight, 10:10 PM (7:10 local time): Michael Pineda vs. Cody Martin.

* Tomorrow, 10:10 PM: CC Sabathia vs. a starter to be determined.

* Wednesday, 3:40 PM: Tanaka vs. Hisashi Iwakuma.

Come on you Bombers! There's not much room for error left.

*

Days until The Arsenal play again: 5, this Saturday, at 10:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time, away to Hertfordshire club Watford. Arsenal's defense redeemed themselves on Saturday against Leicester City, but the offense fell back: 0-0. So the top 2 teams in the League from last season each start this season with a loss and a draw. And the Wenger Out Brigade (WOBs) are as loud and a stupid as ever.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 6, Sunday afternoon at 2:30, home to the New England Revolution. Yesterday, they blew a 2-0 2nd half lead away to their most hated opponent, D.C. United, holding on for a 2-2 draw. (I've tried to tell Red Bull fans: A New York Tri-State Area's arch-rival is always either New England, or Philadelphia, or another Tri-State Area team -- not Washington, D.C. But they don't listen to me.)

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": The same 6. The next game against D.C. United is on Sunday, September 11, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against the Philadelphia Union is on Saturday night, October 1, at Red Bull Arena. There are no further games this regular season against New York City FC, although Metro could face them in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 11, on Friday, September 2, in a CONCACAF Qualifying Match for the 2018 World Cup, away to St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Under 2 weeks. They should win, especially since they took on the best that Latin America had to offer in the Copa America, and reached the Semifinals before being knocked out by Argentina. This will be followed 4 days later by another Qualifier, against Trinidad & Tobago, at EverBank Field, home of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 12, on Saturday, September 3, away to the University of Washington, in Seattle. Under 2 weeks.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 18, on Friday, September 9, away to Sayreville, a.k.a. Sewerville. Hell of a place to begin the season, even if the opposition wasn't good -- and, since 1990, they usually have been.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series: 24 on Thursday, September 15, at 7:00 PM, at Fenway Park. A little over 3 weeks. It could be pivotal in the AL East race, more so in the AL Wild Card race.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: 52, on Thursday night, October 13, away to the Florida Panthers in the Miami suburb of Sunrise. A litle over 7 weeks. The home opener is 5 days later, on Tuesday night, October 18, against the Anaheim Ducks.

Days until the 2016 Presidential election: 78, on Tuesday, November 8. That's 11 weeks. Make sure you are registered to vote, and then make sure you vote!

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving game: 94, on Thursday morning, November 24, at the purple shit pit on Route 9. About 3 months.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play another local rival: 111. Their 1st game this season with the New York Rangers will be on Sunday night, December 11, at Madison Square Garden. Their 1st game this season with the Philadelphia Flyers will be on Thursday night, December 22, at the Prudential Center. By a quirk in the schedule, the New York Islanders, a team they usually play several times a season, don't show up on the slate until Saturday night, February 18, 2017, at the Prudential Center.

Days until The Contract From Hell runs out, and the Yankees no longer have to pay Alex Rodriguez any money: 496, on December 31, 2017. A little over 16 months.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Pyeongchang, Korea: 536, on February 9, 2018. Under 18 months.

Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 661, on June 14, 2018. Under 2 years, or under 22 months. The U.S. team will probably qualify for it, but with Jurgen Klinsmann as manager, particularly in competitive matches such as World Cup Qualifiers, rather than in friendlies, you never know.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: January 9, 2019. A little under 2 1/2 years, a little over 29 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: January 8, 2020. A little under 3 1/2 years, a little over 41 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,432, on July 24, 2020. Under 4 years, or 48 months.