For the first time that I can remember, all Major League Baseball teams were wearing a red poppy patch on their uniforms, as a tribute to the fallen in war, as English soccer teams do on their match closest to November 11, known as Veterans Day here and Remembrance Day there.
With CC Sabathia, Luis Severino, James Paxton, Jordan Montgomery and Jonathan Loaisiga -- a pretty good starting rotation, if they were all healthy -- all injured, and Brian Cashman still unwilling to sign Dallas Keuchel, Chad Green became the "opener," and struck out the side in the top of the 1st inning.
This might have been one occasion where trusting Green for a 2nd inning might have been the right thing to do. Instead, David Hale was brought in, and he allowed 2 runs in the 2nd. But he settled down after that, pitching through the 5th without allowing any more runs.
The Yankee bullpen -- Adam Ottavino in the 6th, Tommy Kahnle in the 7th, Zack Britton in the 8th and Aroldis Chapman in the 9th -- went the rest of the way, allowing just 3 hits and no walks. Using 4 relief pitchers over and over again may yet come back to bite the Yankees, but that didn't happen yesterday.
The Yankees played Doctor Longball again. Clint Frazier and Brett Gardner both his home runs in the 2nd inning, to take a 3-2 lead. Gary Sanchez added a homer in the 8th. The Yankees got another run in that inning due to a hit by Gleyber Torres and another by Cameron Maybin, which was aided by 2 errors on the play, allowing Torres to score.
That produced the final: Yankees 5, Padres 2. WP: Hale (1-0). SV: Chapman (15). LP: Matt Strahm (2-4). The Yankees remain 2 games in 1st in the AL East, ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays.
The series continues tonight. Masahiro Tanaka starts against Eric Lauer. Tomorrow's game is another matinee, since it's a getaway day. Then the Red Sox come in. You know the old saying: "In this rivalry, you can throw out the records."
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