Yanks Head Into Break by Pounding Sox Again

If only the Yankees could have taken a run from Saturday and a run from Sunday, and given it to themselves for Friday...

But it doesn't work that way. Nevertheless, they clobbered the Boston Red Sox again yesterday, and that's what I like to see.

Gerrit Cole started, and pitched like an All-Star, although, despite having been selected for the All-Star Game on Tuesday night, having gone 7 innings, he is unlikely to appear in it. He allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, no walks, and 12 strikeouts. He now has 147 strikeouts on the season, and is on pace to break Ron Guidry's single-season Yankee record of 248 set in 1978. Lucas Luetge and Jonathan Loáisiga each needed a good performance, and each pitched a scoreless inning.

Pitching like that deserves runs, and it got plenty of 'em. Chris Sale, in only his 2nd start after coming back from his latest injury, and only his 11th start since August 13, 2019, got hit hard, figuratively and literally. DJ LeMahieu led off the game with a double. Aaron Judge was hit by a pitch, although Sale, unlike certain other Boston pitchers we could mention, isn't known as a dirty pitcher. Anthony Rizzo grounded out, which moved the runners over. Gleyber Torres reached on an error that scored LeMahieu. Matt Carpenter grounded to short, which scored Judge.

This is where the "hit hard figuratively" ended and the "hit hard literally" occurred: Aaron Hicks hit a line drive right back at Sale, and the sound of ball striking bone could be heard. The ball ricocheted into right field, to score Torres, and Sale was already walking off the field. He would have been useless for any further defensive work on the play, anyway: The TV cameras caught his left pinky broken. He hadn't even moved to try to catch the ball: It hit his hand right where it stopped in his pitching motion.

That is one hard-luck injury. Even the most hard-core of Yankee Fans, hating the Red Sox, has to have some sympathy for Sale. But not for his team. In this emergency situation, the Sox ended up having to use 9 pitchers, none of whom went more than 1 full inning.

The Yankees put the game away with 8 runs in the bottom of the 4th, the last 2 on a home run from Injury List returnee Tim LoCastro. That's a linescore of 30080, and that's a ZIP Code for Smyrna, Georgia, outside Atlanta. There were 2 more runs in the 7th, on a home run by the much-maligned Joey Gallo.

Yankees 13, Red Sox 2. Speaking of 1978, those of you who, like me, are old enough to remember that year will recall that as the result of Game 2 of the "Boston Massacre" series, on September 8. Of course, that was at Fenway, and this was at home. WP: Cole (9-2). No save. LP: Sale (0-1).

So, after 92 games -- 11 games beyond the numerical halfway point of the regular season, but not quite halfway if you get all the way to the World Series:

* The Yankees are 64-28, for a winning percentage of .696, a pace to win 113 games.

* They lead the American League Eastern Division, by 13 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, 14 1/2 over the Toronto Blue Jays, 16 1/2 over the Red Sox, and 18 over the Baltimore Orioles, who are, nonetheless, at .500. So it's the strongest Division out of the 6 in Major League Baseball, and the Yankees are running away with it. The Magic Number to clinch the Division is 58.

* In the race for best record in the AL, and thus home-field advantage through the League Championship Series, they are 4 1/2 ahead of the AL West-leading Houston Astros, and 15 ahead of the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins.

* In the race for best record in all of MLB, and thus home-field advantage in the World Series, should they get that far (and they should), they are 3 games ahead of the team with the best record in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The 1st half's success stories are many. Great years were expected from the hitters, especially Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, and we've gotten them. Jose Trevino and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, both acquired before the start of the season, have been nice surprises. Gleyber Torres and Aaron Hicks are much-improved, and the recently-acquired Matt Carpenter has been an absolute steal. The only real down note has been Joey Gallo, batting .164 with an on-base percentage of .288.

Defense is also much-improved. Having Trevino means a better-hitting catcher than either Gary Sánchez or Kyle Higashioka, and a much better-fielding catcher than Sánchez. Having the slick-fielding IKF at shortstop has allowed Torres to go back to 2nd base, where he is much better with the glove. This team is not betraying its pitchers with poor defense.

And those pitchers! When healthy, they have been excellent. Take a look at the ERA+'s: Nestor Cortes 145, Cole 126, Jordan Montgomery 117, Severino 110, Jameson Taillon 99. And the WHIPs: Cole 0.979, Cortes 1.003, Montgomery 1.039, Severino 1.070, Taillon 1.126. Taillon is at 1.126, and he's only the 5th-best starter on the team.

The bullpen is an issue. Clay Holmes is now the closer, as Aroldis Chapman may have thrown away his chance. Despite some blips, we've had really good work from Michael King, Wandy Peralta, Ron Marinaccio, JP Sears, Albert Abreu and Ryan Weber. Lucas Luetge is a bit shaky, and Loáisiga may not be fully back from injury. But, overall, the bullpen has been as good as any team's.

Injuries: Domingo Germán could be ready to take Severino's place in the rotation on the weekend; Marinaccio had a rehab assignment in Triple-A yesterday, and could be back in a week; Severino won't throw for another 2 weeks, so mid-August is probably a good guess; Miguel Castro probably won't be back until late August; Zack Britton could start throwing off a mound soon, and could be a September call-up; Deivi Garcia has been throwing, and could also be a September call-up; and both Chad Green and Luis Gil underwent Tommy John surgery, and neither is likely to be back before next season's All-Star Break.

So, a little bad news, but a whole lot of good news. The Yankees need to keep their stranglehold on the Division, and make sure they get home-field advantage over the Astros, and then, somehow, stop José Altuve. If they do those things, Title 28 is possible.

See you after the Break -- unless a major sports story happens during the Break.