Yankees Not Prepared to Face Even a Weakened Red Sox

The Yankees are in trouble.

Yesterday, at Yankee Stadium, they played the rubber game of a weekend series against the Chicago White Sox, It started out well, as they led 2-0 after 3 innings, and Masahiro Tanaka was pitching well. But things fell apart in the top of the 4th. The White Sox loaded the bases, and Tim Anderson hit a grand slam. Tanaka even allowed a 5th run.

Now, we could take as a good sign the fact that, between them, Luis Cessa, Tommy Kahnle, Adam Ottavino, rookie Joe Harvey, and Chad Green pitched 5 innings, allowing no runs on 2 hits and 3 walks.

But it didn't matter. Luke Voit had an RBI double, Aaron Judge an RBI single, Gleyber Torres a single, and newly-acquired, newly-called-up infielder (3rd base yesterday) Gio Urshela a single. But that was it. Everybody else -- DJ LeMahieu, Clint Frazier, Brett Gardner, Kyle Higashioka and Mike Tauchmann -- was a combined 0-for-17.

White Sox 5, Yankees 2. WP: Carlos Rodon (2-2). SV: Alex Colome (3). LP: Tanaka (1-1).

So, 2 full weeks into the season, the Yankees are 6-9 -- a 54-108 pace -- 5 1/2 games out of 1st place in the American League Eastern Division, 5 behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the all-important loss column.

The injuries have piled up. The callups from Scranton have begun, but they have provided no relief for the problem. And Brian Cashman continues to make no trades, and continues to ignore the as-yet-unsigned Dallas Keuchel.

Why has nobody signed Keuchel? Did he kneel during a National Anthem, or something?

And now, after a day off tonight, the Boston Red Sox come in. They have gotten off to an even worse start, 6-11. But we can see what's coming. The Yankees are not prepared to face The Scum. I can smell a sweep by the Chowadheads.

It's only 2 games. Tomorrow night, with a scheduled first pitch of 6:35 PM, James Paxton starts for us, Chris Sale for them. On Wednesday night, same time, it's J.A. Happ vs. former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi.

Then the Sox go out, and the Kansas City Royals come in.

*

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 1, tomorrow night, at Yankee Stadium II. The next one starts on May 30, at Fenway Park.

Days until Arsenal play again: 3, on Thursday, at 3:00 PM New York time, away to Napoli of Naples, Italy in the 2nd leg of the Quarterfinal of the UEFA Europa League. They just played a rough game away to Hertfordshire team Watford, but won 1-0, and take a 2-0 lead into the away leg in Naples.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 5, next Saturday night at 7:30, away to Major League Soccer's Boston-area team, the New England Revolution, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Metro drew 2-2 with Sporting Kansas City yesterday afternoon, but will likely lose Paraguayan midfielder Alejandro Sebastián Romero Gamarra, a.k.a. Kaku, to suspension for doing something stupid at the end of the game.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": See the previous answer. The next game against the Philadelphia Union will be on Saturday night, June 8, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. The next game against New York City FC will be on Sunday night, July 14, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against D.C. United will be on Wednesday night, August 21, at Audi Field in Washington.

Days until the next Women's World Cup kicks off: 53,  on June 7,  in France. Under 8 weeks. The U.S. team is 3-time and defending Champions. This will come after today's tragedy of a fire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 64, on Tuesday, June 18, at the brand-new Allianz Field in St. Paul, home of Minnesota United, in the opener of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Days until the Yankees and Red Sox play each other in London: 75, on June 29. Under 11 weeks.

Days until Arsenal play in America: 91. Exactly 13 weeks. Yes, the Gunners are coming to America for the 3rd time in the last 6 years. On July 15, they will visit the Denver suburbs to play the Colorado Rapids. On July 17, they will visit the Los Angeles suburbs to play Bayern Munich. On July 20, they will visit Charlotte to play AS Roma. And on July 23, they will visit the Redskins' stadium in the Washington suburbs to play Real Madrid. This almost certainly means no Emirates Cup this Summer.

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, as both Premier League matches, and a League Cup match, have been played this season. The next season starts on August 10, which is 117 days from now, but the PL never puts a Derby on the opening weekend. The Gunners and Spurs usually play each other in N5 in October or November, and then in N17 in February or March.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 138, on August 31, home to the University of Massachusetts. A little over 4 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, because the 2019 schedule hasn't been released yet. Usually, the next season begins on the 1st Friday in September, which would be September 6, which would be 144 days. It has been announced that East Brunswick and its arch-rivals, Old Bridge, will no longer play each other on Thanksgiving Day. In fact, many of the local Thanksgiving rivalries have been moved back to the opening night, September 6. Whenever the Big Green play the Purple Bastards, it will be under a new head coach, because Bob Molarz, in charge for the last 6 seasons, has resigned.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: Unknown, as the regular season has come to an end, and they didn't make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Traditionally, a new NHL season begins on the 1st Thursday in October, which would be October 3, which is 171 days from now. But they Devils never open against either the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum; the New York Islanders; or the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth. The new schedule is usually released around June 20 or so. We shall see.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 229, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. A little over 7 months.

Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 247, on December 18, 2019. A little over 8 months.

Day until the premiere of the final Star Wars film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: 249, on December 20, 2019.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 281, on January 21, 2020. A little over 9 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 466, on July 24, 2020. Under a year and a half, or a little over 15 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 568, on November 3, 2020. A little over a year and a half, or under 19 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 629, on January 3, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 21 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 646, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 2 years, or a little over 21 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 1,026, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or under 34 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,316, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 4 years, or a little over 43 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.