Twins' Surprise Season Continues, Beat CC & Yanks

The Minnesota Twins have been the biggest surprise of this baseball season. After reaching the American League Wild Card Game in 2017, and losing it to the Yankees, they weren't even close to a Playoff berth last season. This year, though, they were running away with the American League Central Division, before the Cleveland Indians got on a hot streak and made that race close again. Currently, the Twins lead it by 2 1/2 games.

The Yankees came in to Minneapolis last night, to begin a 3-game series with the Twins at Target Field. CC Sabathia started. At times, he has pitched like a legend giving us one last great performance. At other times, and this was one of them, he has pitched like a guy who is retiring right on time. He lasted only 4 innings, and allowed 7 runs.

This game was pretty much what I feared would happen to the Yankees all year: Brian Cashman's beloved home runs -- in this case, by Gio Urshela, Luke Voit and DJ LeMahieu -- were unable to overcome insufficient pitching. The Twins even pulled off a triple play against the Yankees.

I can't blame the bullpen: Luis Cessa allowed only 1 run in 3 innings, and Jonathan Holder pitched a perfect 9th. Both have had their share of bad games this season, but came through last night. It was too late, though.

Twins 8, Yankees 6. WP: Lewis Thorpe (1-1 -- not to be confused with Louis Winthorpe III, Dan Aykroyd's character in Trading Places). SV: Taylor Rogers (15). LP: Sabathia (5-5).

The teams chasing the Yankees for the AL Eastern Division lead began a series against each other in St. Petersburg. The Boston Red Sox jumped out to an early 8-0 lead on the Tampa Bay Rays, and cruised to a 9-4 win. This puts the Rays 9 games behind the Yankees, the Red Sox 10 back. Each team is 11 games behind in the loss column.

The Yanks-Twins series continues tonight. Domingo German starts against Kyle Gibson.

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Hours until Arsenal play again: 2, at 7:00 tonight, against Real Madrid, at FedEx Field, the Washington Redskins' stadium, in Landover, Maryland. On their U.S. tour, they've already beaten the Colorado Rockies in the Denver suburbs, Bayern Munich in the Los Angeles suburbs, and Fiorentina of Florence, Italy in Charlotte.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 2, this Thursday, at Fenway Park.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 4, this Saturday night at 8:00, home to the Columbus Crew.

Days until the MLB trading deadline: 8, a week from tomorrow night. At this point, the hope is that Brian Cashman will bring in a good starting pitcher, and the fear is that he will trade a key player for 25 teenagers are running neck-and-neck.

Days until the 2019-20 Premier League season begins: For Arsenal's purposes, 19, on Sunday, August 11, at 9:00 AM New York time, away to Newcastle United. Under 3 weeks.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 25, on Saturday night, August 17, against the New England Revolution, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against D.C. United will be on Wednesday night, August 21, at Audi Field in Washington. The next game against New York City FC will be on Saturday night, August 24, at Yankee Stadium II. The next game against the Philadelphia Union will be on Sunday night, September 22, at Red Bull Arena.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 38, on Friday night, August 30, at 7:15 PM, home to the University of Massachusetts. Under 6 weeks. This game was moved back from the previous afternoon.

Days until the next North London Derby: 39, on Saturday, August 31, at the Emirates Stadium. It is unusual for Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur to play each other so early in the season, but not unprecedented: As recently as the 2013-14 season, they did so on September 1.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 45, on Friday night, September 6, at 7:00 PM, home to arch-rival Old Bridge. Under 7 weeks. Like most of the local rivalries that were once played on Thanksgiving Day, this one has been moved back to the opening game. It will also be the head coaching debut of Andy Steinfeld, a longtime assistant and a two-way lineman on the school's 1984 Conference Champions. It will also be the start of a Yankees-Red Sox series. So I'm getting a double dose of "Scum" on the night. Lucky me. At least it'll be at Jay Doyle's Green Grove off Cranbury Road, instead of at the purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 45, on Friday night, September 6, at 8:30, against Mexico, at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands. This will be their 1st match of any kind since their bottlejob against Mexico in the Final of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The women's national team, of course, won their 4th World Cup, their 2nd in a row, defeating the Netherlands in Lyon, France. Their next game is against Ireland on August 3, at the Rose Bowl.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: 73, on Friday night, October 4, at the Prudential Center, against the Winnipeg Jets. Under 12 weeks.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 78, on Wednesday night, October 9, against the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The season's 1st game against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, will be on Thursday, October 17, at the Prudential Center. The 1st game against the New York Islanders will be on Thursday, January 2, 2020, at the Barclays Center.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 130, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. A little over 4 months.

Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 148, on December 18, 2019. Under 5 months.

Day until the premiere of the final Star Wars film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: 150, on December 20, 2019.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 182, on January 21, 2020. Under 6 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 367, on July 24, 2020. Almost exactly 1 year, or 12 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 469, on November 3, 2020. Under a year and a half, or under 16 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 530, on January 3, 2021. Under a year and a half, or under 18 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 547, at noon on January 20, 2021. A little under a year and a half, or a little under 18 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: 927, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or under 31 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,217, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 3 1/2 years, or under 40 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.

Days until the next Women's World Cup is scheduled to kick off: As yet unknown, but probably on the 2nd Friday in June 2023, which would be June 9. That would be 1,417 days, under 48 months, under 4 years. A host nation is expected to be chosen on March 20, 2020. Since 2 of the last 3 host nations have been in Europe, North America (Canada) hosted in 2015, and Asia (China) hosted in 2007, my guess is that it will be in either Asia (Japan, possibly Korea) or Oceania (Australia, possibly a joint bid with New Zealand).