Oh, sure, we might finally end up winning the American League Eastern Division for the 1st time in 7 years, but did anybody really think we can compete with Houston, or Minnesota, or Cleveland, or Tampa Bay, or Boston in the Playoffs? We all figured it would be Division Series, and out.
Let's take a look and see what the Yankees starting pitchers have done in the 5 games since, shall we?
* July 31, Masahiro Tanaka: Only 4 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks, 4 strikeouts. Not good enough, perhaps, but we've seen him prove more than the others. The bullpen and the bats got the job done from there. Yankees 7, Arizona Diamondbacks 5.
* August 1: Day off. Then The Scum came to town, having taken the 1st 3 from us the previous weekend, before we salvaged the finale at Fenway Park.
* August 2, James Paxton: 6 innings, 2 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks, 6 strikeouts. Yankees 4, Red Sox 2. Not unusual for a Yanks-Sox game, it was already 4-2 at the end of 1 inning. Very unusual for a Yanks-Sox game, there was no scoring after the 1st inning. Paxton settled down and pitched very well. If "The Big Maple" (he's Canadian) can do that the rest of the way, then, as an Arsenal fan might say, "He's like a new signing."
* August 3, in the opener of a rain-forced doubleheader, Domingo German: 7 innings, 2 runs on 5 hits and no walks, 7 strikeouts. Yankees 9, Red Sox 2. Given what little he'd done coming into this season, he absolutely is like a new signing.
* August 3, and although this was the nightcap, it was the "opener" game: Between them, Chad Green, Nestor Cortes and Chance Adams went 5 innings, 4 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks, 5 strikeouts. Yankees 6, Red Sox 4. If we can't have CC Sabathia (hopefully, a short-term injury), Luis Severino (seems to be getting close to returning from a long-term injury) or Jordan Montgomery (who knows when he'll be back from his long-term injury), then this is fine.
August 4, J.A. Happ: 5 2/3rds innings, 4 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk, 2 strikeouts. Not great, but, with good bullpen work, enough. Yankees 7, Red Sox 4.
*
Does any of this mean at the Yankees can now out-pitch the Houston Astros' trio of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke? Not necessarily. But it does make their chances look a lot better.
There are legitimate concerns. Aaron Judge was in a rough slump, but he seems to have broken out of it. Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela both looked like they were injured last night, but Torres is okay, and Urshela says he is.
So here's when the injured players could come back, as we have been led to believe:
* Day-to-day: Gleyber Torres, Gio Urshela, Didi Gregorius.
* This coming weekend, August 9 or so: Gary Sanchez.
* The following weekend, August 16 or so: Aaron Hicks, Edwin Encarnacion.
* September 1 (expansion of rosters fro 25 to 40 players): CC Sabathia, Luis Severino, Jonathan Loaisiga, David Hale, Ben Heller.
* Late September, if at all this season: Luke Voit, Dellin Betances.
* Probably out for the season: Giancarlo Stanton.
* Definitely out for the season, should be fine for next year's Spring Training: Miguel Andujar.
* Will probably never play for the Yankees again: Jacoby Ellsbury.
Where do we stand? The Yankees lead the American League Eastern Division by 8 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Red Sox are 14 1/2 back. They could get a Wild Card slot, but they're 6 1/2 behind that with 58 to play. They're probably done. The Yankees' Magic Number to clinch the AL East is 42.
Tonight, they begin a series in Baltimore against the woeful Orioles.
*
Days until Arsenal play again: 6, at 9:00 AM New York time, away to Newcastle United, in the Premier League season opener. Under 1 week.
Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 7, this Sunday night at 10:00 PM Eastern Time (7:00 local, Pacific Time), away to Los Angeles FC.
Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 12, 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: 25, on Friday night, August 30, at 7:15 PM, home to the University of Massachusetts. Under 4 weeks. This game was moved back from the previous afternoon.
Days until the next North London Derby: 27, on Sunday, September 1, 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. As it was on that occasion, to get higher TV ratings, the game was moved from Saturday to Sunday.
Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 31, on Thursday night, September 5, at Fenway Park. Just 1 month.
Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 32, on Friday night, September 6, at 7:00 PM, home to arch-rival Old Bridge. Just over 1 month. 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: 32, 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: 60, on Friday night, October 4, at the Prudential Center, against the Winnipeg Jets. Just 2 months.
Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 65, 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: 117, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Under 4 months.
Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 135, on December 18, 2019. A little over 4 months.
Day until the premiere of the final Star Wars film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: 137, on December 20, 2019.
Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 169, on January 21, 2020. Under 6 months.
Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 354, on July 24, 2020. Under a year, or under 12 months.
Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 456, on November 3, 2020. A little over a year, or under 15 months.
Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 517, on January 3, 2021. Under a year and a half, or under 17 months.
Days until Liberation Day: 534, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under a year and a half, or 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: 914, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or under 30 months.
Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,204, 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 1,404 days, a little under 4 years, a little over 46 months. 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).
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