Will the real New York Yankees please stand up? Can they?

Since the Seattle Mariners came into Major League Baseball in 1977, they've had good teams and bad ones, but they always seem to give the Yankees trouble, especially in Seattle. Such was the case again this week.

The series finale yesterday afternoon should have been a Yankee win. (Aw hell, I think ever game should be a Yankee win.) Nestor Cortes started, and pitched 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 1 walk, striking out 10. Pitching like that should be fully supported.

It wasn't. The Yankees wasted men on 1st & 2nd in the 2nd inning. They wasted a man on 1st in the 3rd. They wasted a man on 2nd in the 4th. They wasted men on 1st & 2nd in the 5th.

Finally, with 1 out in the top of the 7th, down 1-0, Isiah Kiner-Falefa drew a walk, and the light-hitting backup catcher Kyle Higashioka hit a home run. After a flyout by DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Judge hit a home run, his 45th of the season. Current pace: 65, enough to break the real record (Roger Maris, 61, 1961), but not enough to break the cheated-for official record (Barry Bonds, 73, 2001).

At that point, the Yankees led, 3-1. But they never got another man on base in the game. And then, Aaron Boone made the opposite of his usual mistake: He left his starter in too long. Cortes allowed back-to-back singles to start the 7th. Boone brought Albert Abreu in to relieve, and that was game over. Abreu struck out the 1st batter he faced, but the 2nd, Carlos Santana (not the rock guitar legend who broke out at Woodstock), hit a home run that produced the final score.

Mariners 4, Yankees 3. WP: Penn Murfee (3-0). SV: Paul Sewald (15). LP: Abreu (2-2, both losses coming on this roadtrip).

The Yankees are now 71-41. but, since beating the Boston Red Sox on July 8, they are 10-18. They remain 10 games up in the American League East, but have fallen behind the Houston Astros for best record in the American League, and even behind the Mets for best record in the City.

At home and on the road, Yankee Fans can be heard chanting, "MVP!" when Judge is at the plate. But maybe the real most valuable player in the AL is Giancarlo Stanton. He got hurt early in the game on July 23, and, including the loss in that game, the Yankees have been 6-11 since.

According to Meredith Marakovits of YES, he has "has resumed baseball activities, but a timeline for his return remains undetermined." But, after yesterday's game, Boone said Stanton could be activated for tomorrow night's game. At this point, I'm more inclined to believe Marakovits than Boone, and that's got little to do with her.

Anthony Rizzo has been battling a back issue. Matt Carpenter won't need surgery, and is now said to be out for 8 weeks. Luis Severino and Zack Britton might also be back in September. Michael King is out for the season.

And now, with all that in mind, we have to go back to Boston to face The Scum. True, they're in last place in the American League Eastern Division, 54-58. But it's Fenway Park. We know what can happen there: Anything. And "anything" has, so often, meant something bad.

The Yankees started the season looking like a .500 team. For the last month, being a .500 team would have been a huge improvement. In between, they looked like the greatest team of all time.

Will the real New York Yankees please stand up?

Can they? Or will they need a day off afterward?