The Yankees closed a homestand last night, and I really wanted them in the right frame of mind as they head south to face the Tampa Bay Rays, who are chasing them for 1st place in the American League Eastern Division -- a condition many predicted would be the other way around, and many others predicted that the Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays might be battling it out for the Division lead. But both the Yanks and the Rays have recently given the Jays beatdowns, so they will not be a factor for a while.
The Yankees sent JP Sears out to start the finale against the Baltimore Orioles, probably to have everybody else in the rotation fresh against the Rays. (Like our old friend CC Sabathia, John Patrick Sears does not use periods on his initials.) The 26-year-old rookie righthander from South Carolina, wearing Number 92, had beaten the Orioles in relief on April 16, for his 1st major league win. This would be his 3rd major league game, and his 1st major league start.
He was asked to pitch only 5 innings. He walked the leadoff man, and regular readers of this blog know how I feel about that. After that, though, he was fine, allowing just 3 hits and 1 more walk, striking out 5.
That called for good support. Good enough, anyway. Aaron Judge led off the bottom of the 4th by nearly hitting one out, settling for a ground-rule double. Anthony Rizzo hit a line-drive out to left, and Judge couldn't advance. But Gleyber Torres singled him over to 3rd, and Miguel Andújar singled Judge home and Torres over to 3rd. Aaron Boone then called for the old 2nd-and-home double steal, and it worked: Andújar stole 2nd, and the throw from the catcher was bad, allowing Torres to score without a play at the plate.
That would be all the scoring in the game. Ron Marinaccio pitched a perfect 6th and 7th. Lucas Luetge and Miguel Castro, both needing a good performance, combined for a scoreless 8th. Clay Holmes allowed 2 hits in the 9th, but allowed no runs.
(We now know why Holmes has been the closer: It's not that Boone has lost confidence in Aroldis Chapman, it's that Chapman is injured. They say nobody should lose his job due to injury, but I think the Yankees need to seriously consider making Holmes the closer from here on forward.)
Yankees 2, Orioles 0. WP: Sears (2-0). SV: Holmes (5). LP: Tyler Wells (1-4). Unlike the department store for whom I used to work, and is now out of business, this Sears offered a reliable protection plan.
So the Yankees are 31-13, with the best record in baseball, and 4 1/2 games, 4 in the loss column, ahead of the Rays. Now, the Yankees travel to face the Rays in each team's biggest series of the season thus far. In fact, 10 of the Yankees' next 25 games are against the Rays. This, more than the earlier series against the Jays, will be the team's first true test.
Here are the projected pitching matchups for this series, with the Yankees' starter being listed first:
* Tonight, 6:00: Nestor Cortes vs. Ryan Yarbrough.
* Tomorrow, 6:30: Jameson Taillon vs. Jeffrey Springs.
* Saturday, 3:00: Gerrit Cole vs. Corey Kluber, who was a Yankee and pitched a no-hitter last year.
* Sunday, 12:30: Luis Severino vs. Shane McClanahan.
Note that the Friday game will only be broadcast on Prime Video. The rest will be available on the YES Network.
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