Something Special May Be Going On With the Yankees

Every year, one baseball team goes on to win the World Series. And every year, there is one game they can look back on, point two, and say, this was when we knew something special was going on.

If the Yankees do manage to win the World Series this year, the game we are going to point to won't be Corey Kluber's no-hitter, as thrilling as that was. It will be last night's opener of a 3-game home Series against the Chicago White Sox.

The Pale Hose came into this game with the best record in the American League, 26-16. They also came in with Tony La Russa, age 76, having returned to his 1st MLB managing job (1979-86), having courted controversy, above and beyond his off-season drunk-driving issue.

Jordan Montgomery was coming off a couple of bad starts, but took the mound last night as if he was trying to keep up with the other starting pitchers follow done exceptionally well lately. He made the best start of his career, pitching 7 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits and no walks, striking out 11.

The problem was, ChiSox starter Carlos Rodon was also sensational, going 6 shutout innings, 2 hits, no walks, 13 strikeouts. But he threw 95 pitches in those 6 innings, whereas Montgomery threw in his 7, And that may have made all the difference.

The Yankees finally took the lead when Gleyber Torres hit a home run with 1 out in the bottom of the 7th. It was measured at 345 feet, a true "short porch" home run. But with how difficult it's been for anybody to score runs this season, I don't want to hear anybody calling this a "cheap" home run.

But you know what I say about walks, especially the leadoff variety, right? Jonathan Loaisiga came in to relieve Montgomery, and promptly gave that lead right back: Walk, wild pitch, groundout, single. 1-1.

In the bottom of the 8th, the Yankees loaded the bases, and then, on the next 2 plays, grounded into a force play at home plate, and grounding into an inning-ending double play. So far, this season, the Yankees have made 20 outs on the base paths, 10 of them at home plate. In each of those categories, they lead the major leagues. That is unacceptable.

Aroldis Chapman was brought in to pitch the top of the 9th, and he led the 1st 2 men get on base: A walk to Yermin Mercedes, with Billy Hamilton pinch-running for him; and a bunt by Leury Garcia, which Chapman tried to handle himself, and couldn't. All I could think of was the old line from Star Wars: "I've got a bad feeling about this!"

The batter was Andrew Vaughn. He hit a hard shot toward 3rd base. Gio Urshela got it, and stepped on 3rd. 1 out. He threw to 2nd, where Rougned Odor stepped on the bag. 2 outs. Odor threw to 1st, and Luke Voit got it before Vaughn could get to the base. 3 out.

A triple play. I've seen footage of triple plays after the fact before, but this is the 1st time I can ever remember seeing one as it happened, either live or on TV. It was the 1st one pulled by the Yankees since April 17, 2014.

I got a big charge out of it. Now, I thought, they just have to take that momentum, and win this game in the bottom of the 9th. I wasn't even thinking about extra innings, and that stupid "ghost runner" rule.

Anybody who was thinking about it didn't have to think about it for very long. The Yankees won the game with 3 straight singles: A line drive to center by Aaron Judge, a line drive to right-center by Urshela, and a ground ball through the short-3rd hole by Torres. This time, there would be no out at the plate, as left fielder Vaughn's throw was off the mark, and Judge scored easily.

Yankees 2, White Sox 1. WP: Chapman (3-0). No save. LP: Evan Marshall (0-2).

What a game. I felt really charged up, like I'd said, "SHAZAM!" and it worked. This felt like some of those "team of destiny" games from late 1978, all through 1996, and all through 2009.

With the Boston Red Sox also winning last night, 11-3 over the Phillies in an Interleague game in Philadelphia, the Yankees remain a game and a half behind the Red Sox in the American League Eastern Division, 1 back in the all-important loss column.

The series with the White Sox continues this afternoon. Gerrit Cole starts against Dylan Cease.

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There was some serious action going on last night. The Mets got into a bottom of the 9th jam in Miami, took a 6-3 lead in the 12th, and barely hung on to beat the Marlins 6-5. The Los Angeles Dodgers went to San Francisco and beat the arch-rival Giants 2-1.

The Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-4, getting 3 home runs from Jesse Winker. He currently leads the National League in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. 

In a Battle of Texas, the Houston Astros took a 5-3 lead on the Texas Rangers in the top of the 10th, but a home run by Adolis Garcia gave the Rangers a 7-5 win. The Tampa Bay Rays went to Toronto and beat the Blue Jays 9-7 in 12 innings.

The Minnesota Twins went to Cleveland and beat the Indians 10-0. It gets worse. The San Diego Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 16-1. It gets even worse than that. The Atlanta Braves scored 20 runs before the Pittsburgh Pirates finally got 1 in the 9th inning.

And, starting the count from the 1st National Association game on May 4, 1871, 150 years ago this month, José Godoy entered the bottom of the 6th inning of that game in San Diego, as the Mariners' catcher, making him the 20,000th player in Major League Baseball history. A 26-year-old Venezuelan, he grounded to 3rd in the 7th, and drew a walk in the 9th.