Now, it's just very embarrassing. After all, going into yesterday's series opener, a Memorial Day matinee at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the Yankees had continued their surge, the Orioles had lost 7 straight games, and the Boston Red Sox had passed them for 2nd place in the American League Eastern Division.
Both teams were wearing khaki-lettered uniforms in honor of Memorial Day, which, while a fitting tribute to our military losses, looked very weird to those of us used to the Yankees' road gray shirts and navy blue caps, lettering and sleeves, and the Orioles home whites with orange lettering and black trim. Don't mess with the uniforms: A ceremony and a moment of silence before the game is enough.
Jordan Montgomery started for the Yankees. He allowed 3 runs over the 1st 3 innings, and with 1 out in the 5th, allowed back-to-back singles. That brought him to an even 100 pitches. Girardi gotta Girardi, and so, Joe Girardi panicked, and took him out. I can't argue with the results, though: Between them, Jonathan Holder and Chasen Shreve went the rest of the way, and allowed only 1 baserunner.
That's all you can ask your pitchers to do: Give your offense a chance to win. People say, "Pitching wins games" or "Pitching wins championships" never learn: You can't win unless you score. And the Yankees did not get the job done against Oriole starter Dylan Bundy, who, if not quite Ted Bundy, was a lot closer to King Kong Bundy than Al Bundy.
Aaron Hicks got a run home with a sacrifice fly in the 2nd inning. Aaron Judge + the Baltimore Bandbox = home run, right? Right: A 429-foot blast to center field in the 7th, his 17th dinger of the season, and we're still in May. He's actually ahead of Roger Maris' pace in the 1961 record season.
But that was it. The Yankees wasted a leadoff single in the 1st and a double in the 3rd, both by Brett Gardner. They stranded 2 runners following Hicks' sac fly in the 2nd. They wasted leadoff singles by Hicks in the 5th and Gary Sanchez in the 6th. They stranded a runner in the 7th, and went down 1-2-3 in both the 8th and the 9th. You can't do that, especially when your pitchers hold the opposition to 3 or fewer runs and you're in a hitter's haven like Camden Yards.
Orioles 3, Yankees 2. WP: Bundy (6-3). SV: Brad Brach (10). LP: Montgomery (2-4).
The series continues tonight. Luis Severino starts for the Bronx Bombers, Chris Tillman for the Baltimore Birds. And the Yankees better take advantage of Camden Yards and get some more runs.
*
Days until the Red Bulls play again: 4, this Saturday night at 7:30, away to the Montreal Impact. They beat the New England Revolution 2-1 in a "derby" this past Saturday night.
Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 4, this Saturday night, at 8:00 local time (10:00 Eastern), against Venezuela, in an international friendly at Rio Tinto Stadium, the Sandy, Utah home of MLS' Real Salt Lake. Under 4 weeks. This is a warmup for the following week's CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers, the following Thursday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver suburbs, against Trinidad & Tobago, and the following Sunday against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. At the very least, the T&T game is a must-win.
Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 19, on Sunday, June 18, against the Philadelphia Union, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. They will next play a Hudson River Derby against New York City FC on Saturday, June 24, at Red Bull Arena. They will next play the New England Revolution on Wednesday, July 5, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. And they will next play the D.C. Scum on Saturday, September 27, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.
Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series: 7, a week from tonight, at 7:05 PM, at Yankee Stadium.
Days until The Arsenal play again: That depends. If you mean any game, the Gunners, who won the FA Cup over Premier League Champions Chelsea, this past Saturday, will next play on Thursday, July 13, when they begin their preseason tour of Australia and Asia, with a game against A-League winners Sydney FC at Stadium Australia in Sydney. That's 44 days. If you mean a game that means anything, well, FIFA counts the FA Community Shield (formerly known as the Charity Shield), the annual season kickoff between the holders of the League title and the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium in London, that's on Saturday, August 5, and that's 67 days. If you mean a Premier League game, a game that actually counts for something, the season begins the following Saturday, August 12, and that's 74 days, or a little under 11 weeks. There is a chance, of course, that the TV networks could have Arsenal's match moved to the following Sunday or Monday.
Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, since the schedule for the 2017-18 season won't be released until June 14. But, regardless of the teams involved, derbies are rarely played in August.
Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 94, on Friday, September 1, home to the University of Washington. A little over 3 months.
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 for Friday night, September 8. That's 101 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 136 days. Under 4 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: 154, on October 31.
Days until the next election for Governor of New Jersey: 161, on Tuesday, November 7. A little over 5 months.
Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 165, on Saturday, November 11, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.
Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving high school football game: 177, on Thursday morning, November 23, at 10:00. Under 6 months, and thank God it's at home, at Jay Doyle's Green Grove, rather than at that purple shit pit on Route 9.
Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Pyeongchang, Korea: 255, on February 9, 2018. A little over 8 months.
Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 380, on June 14, 2018. A little over a year, or just over 12 months. Has Bruce Arena turned our chances around? Maybe, with the tournament on his soil, Vladimir Putin will tell Donald Trump to tell Bruce Arena to tank the games. Maybe not. Or maybe only if we end up playing Russia. I don't think Arena will listen. If he doesn't, I hope his life insurance is paid up, because Putin has people killed for defying him.
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: 459. Under a year and a half, or just over 15 months. 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? Then again, at the rate the Yankees are going now, we may not need them!
Days until the next Congressional election: 525, on November 6, 2018. Under a year and a half, or a little over 17 months.
Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 589, on January 9, 2019. A little over a year and a half, or a little over 19 months.
Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 954, on January 8, 2020. A little over 2 1/2 years, or a little over 31 months.
Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,159, on July 24, 2020. A little over 3 years, or a little under 38 months.
Days until the next Presidential election: 1,621, on November 3, 2020. Under 3 1/2 years, or a little over 41 months.
Days until Liberation Day: 1,699, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 4 years, or a little under 44 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy rather than kleptocracy with plutocracy.
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