Yankees Pound Padres, Ready for Red Sox

In the opener of their home interleague Series against the San Diego Padres, the Yankees got the runs they needed. In the middle game, they didn't quite get enough. Yesterday afternoon, in the closer, they got the runs they needed, and more.

James Paxton came off the Injured List, and was fantastic. Being cautious, the Yankees limited him to only the 1st 4 innings, but he allowed no runs and no hits, just 2 walks. Chad Green pitched the 5th inning, Adam Ottavino the 6th, Jonathan Holder the 7th and the 8th, and Nestor Cortes the 9th. Between them, the 5 Yankee pitchers allowed 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 10.

A pitching performance like that deserves good hitting. And the Yankees gave it to them. The 1st 2 Yankee batters of the game, DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit, both hit home runs. Gio Urshela hit a home run in the 2nd, and Brett Gardner got another run home with a sacrifice fly in the 5th. An error led to another Yankee run in the 6th, and in the 7th, Voit hit a triple and Gleyber Torres hit a home run.

Those last 3 runs were all allowed by two-time former Yankee, and Brian Cashman fave rave, Adam Warren.

Knock knock. "Who's there?" Orange. "Orange who?" Orange you glad we don't have Warren anymore?

Yankees 7, Padres 0. WP: Difficult to determine, because the rules say that, no matter how well the starting pitcher pitches, he does not get the win if he does not go the first 5 innings. In a situation such as this, any later pitcher may be selected, at the discretion of the game's official scorer. In this case, the selection was Holder (4-2). No save. LP: Chris Paddack (4-3).

The Yankees close this series 1 game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East, although even in the all-important loss  column.

Now, into Yankee Stadium II, here come The Scum, the Boston Red Sox. Their big story is the injury to Dustin Pedroia, which has led him to take an indefinite leave of absence. There is already concern that he may never be able to play again.

I might do a piece on whether he is already a Hall-of-Famer. Probably not. At this point, he's not the next Ted Williams or Carl Yastrzemski. More like the Red Sox version of David Wright. Except, he actually has won a World Series. (Three, in fact.) But, to hear the Chowdaheads tell it, this one injury is more worthy of reporting, and the Sox' success without him more worthy of praise, and what's happened with the Yankees, even though there are so many more injuries, and the Yankees are 7 1/2 games ahead of Sox in the standings.

As I was putting this post together, it was announced that tonight's game was postponed, due to rain. So posting the intended starting pitchers for the series would be pointless.

Come on you Pinstripes! Beat The Scum!