Is it me? It is the fact that I'm not trying to do a writeup after every game, and sticking to once a week, the reason the Yankees haven't gotten off to the kind of slow start they got off to these last few years?
I know what you're thinking: "Come on, Uncle Mike, the world does not revolve around you. Didn't your parents ever teach you that?"
Yes, they did. But it's not true. As far as any of us knows, the world only exists through our own perceptions. Self-preservation, and thus selfishness, is a default position. Or else Donald Trump never would have become President.
Cliché Alert: But I digress.
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So the Yankees played 4 games at home against the Oakland Athletics, then 3 on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers. Nothing wrong with that, to me. I can remember when that was no big deal. But, since 1994, the Brewers have no longer been in the same Division as the Yankees. Since 1998, they have not even been in the same League.
At least, next season, they'll still be in the same city. It looks like the A's won't.
The Monday game -- an afternoon game, being that it was Passover -- was a great pitcher's duel. Carlos Rodón went 7 innings, allowing just 1 hit and 2 walks. For the A's, former Yankees JP Sears -- like CC Sabathia, he doesn't use periods or a space -- went 6 innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk. After 8 innings, the game was scoreless.
But to start the top of the 9th, Victor González allowed a single and a home run. Mason Miller struck out the side in the bottom of the 9th: Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto, and Aaron Judge. Those were the bats a Yankee Fan wants in the bottom of the 9th, but they all struck out. A's 2, Yankees 0.
And when Marcus Stroman allowed a run in the top of the 1st inning on Tuesday night, recent fears returned. But the Yankees gave him 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st, including a 2-run homer by Anthony Rizzo. Stroman gave up a pair of solo homers, but the bullpen tossed 3 2/3rds innings of hitless, 1-walk relief. Yankees 4, A's 3.
Judge gave Clarke Schmidt a 2-run homer in the 1st on Wednesday night. Rizzo and Soto added homers. Rizzo's was the 300th of his career. Schmidt wasn't great, but he was good enough. Yankees 7, A's 3.
Nestor Cortés fell victim to "onebadinningitis" on Thursday night. In his case, he allowed 3 runs in the top of the 4th. That was all the A's got, but that was all they needed: Aside from a solo homer by Jose Trevino, the Yankees wasted a bunch of opportunities, leaving 11 men on base. A's 3, Yankees 1.
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On to Milwaukee. Luis Gil had 4 fine starts to begin the season. His 5th start, in the Friday night game, was a bad one, allowing 5 runs in 5 innings. But the Yankees hit well, too: Soto, Alex Verdugo, and Trent Grisham, who came over in the Soto trade and played center field that night, hit home runs.
The game went to extra innings, and each team scored a run in the 10th. Michael Tomkin, a newly-acquired former Met, allowed a run in the bottom of the 11th, and the Brewers won, 7-6.
The Yankees made the Brewers pay dearly for that. Twice. Rodón pitched well on Saturday, while the Yankees got homers from Judge, Rizzo, Verdugo and Giancarlo Stanton. Verdugo had 4 RBIs, and Stanton and Gleyber Torres each had 3. Yankees 15, Brewers 3.
The Yankees used 6 pitchers yesterday, starting with Stroman, who, again, did not pitch well. He was succeeded by Ron Marinaccio, making only his 6th appearance of the season. But, the way the Yankee runs came, he ended up as the winning pitcher.
The Yankees unloaded the lumber again, including 7 runs in the top of the 6th inning. Judge, Rizzo and Volpe homered. Judge's season-beginning slump seems to be over. Yankees 15, Brewers 5.
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We are 18 percent of the way through the season -- a little over 1/6th. The Yankees are 19-10, one game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Eastern Division, 3 ahead of the Boston Red Sox, 5 ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays, and 6 ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays. In the all-important loss column, they are tied with the O's, 3 ahead of the Sox, 5 ahead of the Jays, and 6 ahead of the Rays.
The only team in the AL with a better record is the Cleveland Guardians, 19-9. The only National League team with a better record is the Atlanta Braves, 19-7. In case anyone is interested, the Mets are 14-13, counting yesterday's extra-inning win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
When the Yankees score at least 3 runs, they are 19-3. When they don't, they are 0-7. However, that 19-3 includes a game where they scored 6 and another where they scored 7, and in each case lost in extra innings. In extra-inning games, they are 1-3. This suggests that they simply need to step up and score enough runs, but also that they still need to improve their bullpen. That kind of inconsistency, with both the lumber and the bullpen, may hurt them at some point.
This has still been accomplished without Gerrit Cole, DJ LeMahieu and Jonathan Loáisiga, all injured.
The roadtrip continues tonight, against the Baltimore Orioles. Clarke Schmidt starts against Grayson Rodriguez. Huh? Those two names don't go together!
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