The Yankees extended their winning streak to 10 games by taking the 1st 2 games of a weekend series against the arch-rival Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, before losing the finale.
The Friday game sure looked like it would be a loss. It was scoreless until the bottom of the 4th inning, when the Sox began to hit Yankee starter Jordan Montgomery. He gave up 3 runs, and set up the run that Luis Cessa allowed when he relieved Montgomery in the 5th, to make it 4-0 Boston.
Gary Sanchez continued his slump breakout with a 2-run ground-rule double in the 7th, and the returned-from-injury Giancarlo Stanton had an RBI double in the 8th to make it 4-3. With the Yankees down to their last out in the 9th, Sanchez came through again, with a game-tying homer. As they would say in English soccer, "Four-nil, and you fucked it up!"
But they couldn't find that 5th run, and the game went to extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th, Aroldis Chapman forgot the Cliche: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. With the "start the inning with a man on 2nd rule," the Sox went for the double steal with 1 out. So there was a man on 3rd (and another on 2nd) with less than 2 outs, so the Yankees were really in trouble. But Chapman dug in, and got 2 strikeouts to end the threat.
Each team got an RBI single, but no more, in its half of the 11th. DJ LeMahieu singled a run home in the top of the 12th, and Jonathan Loaisiga -- in effect, playing the emergency starter role, to save the rest of the bullpen -- did what he couldn't do in the bottom of the 11th, and sent the Red Sox down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 12th. Yankees 6, Red Sox 5.
Time of the game: 4 hours and 55 minutes. Welcome to Fenway Park, Rob Manfred: You should know by now that rules make no difference with the Boston Red Sox, not even to make games shorter.
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The Saturday game was a breeze. It may have been the Yankees' best game of the season. J.A. Happ pitched 8 scoreless innings, allowing just 4 hits, no walks, 9 strikeouts. Clint Frazier went 3-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs, while LeMahieu, Brett Gardner and Luke Voit each got 2 hits. Yankees 8, Red Sox 0.
The Sunday game was a total letdown. Deivi Cruz had nothing, and only went 3 innings. Voit hit his 21st home run of the short season, but the Yankees got only 2 other hits: A double by Tyler Wade and a single by Gardner.
Jonathan Holder allowed 3 runs, so Aaron Boone let 40-year-old 3rd-string catcher Erik Kratz pitch the 8th inning. This wasn't unprecedented: It was actually his 6th career pitching appearance. He got Rafael Devers to line out to center, but gave up a home run to the terribly slumping J.D. Martinez, and hit Bobby Dalbec with a pitch, before getting Jackie Bradley Jr. and Michael Chavis to ground out.
Still: Red Sox 10, Yankees 2.
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The Yankees finished the game 3 1/2 games, 3 in the all-important loss column, behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division.
If the current standings hold, the AL Playoffs will be as follows (keeping in mind, the Division winners get the top 3 seeds, the 2nd-place teams get the next 3, and then the 2 with the next-best records):
1. Tampa Bay Rays vs. 8. Toronto Blue Jays.
2. Chicago White Sox vs. 7. Cleveland Indians.
3. Oakland Athletics vs. 6. Houston Astros.
4. Minnesota Twins vs. 5. New York Yankees.
This is despite the Astros actually having the 8th-best record in the AL. In other words, if we were doing it straight, the Astros would get the 8th and last seed, while the Red Sox are 14th out of 15. It's a lot harder when you can't cheat, isn't it, boys?
The National League Playoffs would be:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers vs. 8. Cincinnati Reds.
2. Chicago Cubs vs. 7. Philadelphia Phillies.
3. Atlanta Braves vs. 6. St. Louis Cardinals.
4. San Diego Padres vs. 5. Miami Marlins.
The Mets are 2 1/2 games behind the Reds, 2 in the loss column, for the last Playoff spot. The defending World Champion Washington Nationals are 13th out of 15, their injuries meaning they're actually having a harder time of it than the team they beat in last year's World Series, the Astros.
The Yankees have 7 games left in this shortened regular season: 4 in Buffalo against the Toronto Blue Jays, and 3 at home against the Miami Marlins. If they win at least 4 out of 7, they're in. But they'll have to do better than that to get home-field advantage in the Wild Card Series.
Here's the way the postseason is going to work. To limit COVID-19 exposure, there's going to be "bubbles," the way the NBA and the NHL have done it. The Wild Card Series will be best-2-out-of-3, but it will have all games at the home field of the higher seed. In other words, if the current standings hold, the Yankees will play 2 or 3 games at Target Field in Minneapolis.
Then the usual rounds will have their usual number of games: The Division Series will be best-3-out-of-5, and the League Championship Series and the World Series will be best-4-out-of-7. But they will be at neutral sites.
The ALDS will be NL parks in Southern California: Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Petco Park in San Diego. The ALCS will be at Dodger Stadium. The NLDS will be in Texas, with both of those teams being in the AL: Minute Maid Park in Houston, and the new Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The World Series will be at Globe Life Field, so that stadium will host a World Series in its inaugural season. Its neutrality is assured, because the Texas Rangers currently have the worst record in the AL. Only the Pittsburgh Pirates have a worse record in all of MLB.
(The Rangers' franchise began as the "new" Washington Senators in 1961, at Griffith Stadium. In 10 seasons at District of Columbia Stadium, which became Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in 1969, they never got close to a postseason berth. From 1972 to 1993, they played at Arlington Stadium, about halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, and never made the Playoffs. From 1994 to 2019, they played at Arlington Stadium, making the Playoffs 8 times and winning 2 Pennants, but never winning the World Series.)
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Days until the next U.S. national soccer team game: Unknown. Currently, neither the men's nor the women's team has any matches scheduled.
Days until Arsenal play again: 2, on Wednesday, at 2:45 PM New York time, home to Midlands team Leicester City, in the League Cup. Arsenal have won their 1st 2 Premier League games this season.
Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 2, on Wednesday night at 8:00, away to Inter Miami, at Inter Miami Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, on the site of the old Lockhart Stadium, once home to MLS' Miami Fusion and the old North American Soccer League's Fort Lauderdale Strikers. This will be Metro's 1st competitive match against the South Florida expansion team owned by retired English soccer star David Beckham.
Days until the Red Bulls play another "derby" game: Unknown. MLS is taking a wait-and-see approach to games from October 1 onward. So we don't yet know when Metro will again play either New York City FC, the Philadelphia Union, the New England Revolution, or D.C. United.
Days until the 1st Presidential Debate: 8, a week from tomorrow night, September 29, in Cleveland. Joe Biden and Donald Trump will also debate on Thursday night, October 15, in Miami; and on Thursday night, October 22, in Nashville. If, that is, the cowardly Trump shows up. The Vice Presidential Debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence will be on Wednesday night, October 7, at Salt Lake City.
Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 11, a week from next Friday, October 2, home to Edison school J.P. Stevens. This will be the season opener.
Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge football game: 18, the following Friday, October 9, at Lombardi Field in Old Bridge, a.k.a. the Purple Shit Pit. The Big Green's season opener was supposed to be against the Purple Bastards.
Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 33, on Saturday, October 24, away to Michigan State University in East Lansing. The Big Ten Conference decided to play football in the Fall after all. I hope they know what they're doing, or else this could be the viral equivalent of a bloodbath.
Days until the 2020 Presidential election: 43, on Tuesday, November 3. A little over 6 weeks. As the old saying goes, and it really is true this time, "This time, vote like your life depended on it."
Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: Unknown, as the NHL hasn't yet made out its 2020-21 season schedule. That's understandable, given all the uncertainty with trying to wrap up the 2019-20 season. The League was talking about starting next season on or around December 1. If that is the date, then it's 71 days, or a little over 10 weeks. However, Commissioner Gary Bettman is now talking about January, which could mean the cancellation of the NHL Winter Classic, usually held on New Year's Day.
Days until the Devils play another local rival: Unknown, although it's unlikely that their 1st game of the season, or even their 1st home game, will be against a traditional rival.
Days until the next North London Derby: 87, on Saturday, December 5, at 10:00 AM New York time, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London. Under 3 months. This game will likely be moved, either to another time that day, or to the next day, or maybe to the Monday night, for TV and ratings purposes.
Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 75, on Saturday, December 5, just a week later than was planned, at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Days until a new Congress convenes, hopefully fully Democratic: 105, on Monday, January 4, 2021. Under 4 months. Ordinarily, it would be January 3, but that's a Sunday next year.
Days until the next Presidential Inauguration: 121, on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Under 4 months until Liberation Day.
Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 256, on Friday night, June 4, 2021, at Yankee Stadium II. Yes, the 2021 schedule has been released. Of course, any schedule is subject to further COVID-19 restrictions. Hopefully, by then, we will either have a vaccine, or have the virus reduced to the point where live attendance at sporting events will no longer be seen as unintentional suicide.
Days until the COVID-delayed Euro 2020 opens in Paris: 263, on June 11, 2021. Under 9 months.
Days until the COVID-delayed 2020 Olympics open in Tokyo, Japan: 305, on July 23, 2021. A little over 10 months.
Days until Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz become eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame: 477, on January 11, 2022. Under 16 months until we find out whether lying about having been caught taking steroids, as Big Papi did, is better than telling the truth about it, as A-Rod did.
Days until the next Winter Olympics open in Beijing, China: 501, on February 4, 2022. Under 17 months.
Days until the next World Cup opens in Qatar: 791, on November 21, 2022. Under 26 months.
Days until the next Women's World Cup opens, a joint hosting by Australia and New Zealand: 1,022, on July 10, 2023. Under 34 months.
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