So I'm not trying to blog, either print or video, after every Yankee game this season. And they've started out 8-2.
As a character in one of my favorite movies of all time said, "When you've been at this as long as I have, you learn to stop believing in coincidences."
After sweeping the cheating Astros...
Yes, "cheating." Present tense. I have no evidence that they are still cheating in 2024. I don't need evidence. We have proof that they cheated in 2017. José Altuve gave us, for all intents and purposes, a confession on his home run that won the 2019 Pennant. So it wasn't a one-time thing. So they have forfeited the presumption of innocence.
Anyway... After sweeping the cheating Astros, the Yankees went to Phoenix to play the Arizona Diamondbacks, who won last year's National League Pennant before losing the World Series to the Texas Rangers. They made it 5-0 on April 1, winning, 5-2. Anthony Volpe went 4-for-4 with an RBI. Luis Gil had a good start, but had already thrown 84 pitches, and, on Brian Cashman's orders, Aaron Boone took him out 1 out short of the threshold for getting credit for the win.
So the next pitcher got the win. It was Luke Weaver, signed as a free agent this past January. Seeing the name "Weaver" as the Yankees' pitcher on the scorebox on TV, I nearly had a stroke, remembering Jeff Weaver. Luke is not related to Jeff, and his brother Jered, also a major league pitcher.
The 1st loss of the season came the next night. Nestor Cortés had nothing, and allowed 3 runs in the 1st inning. The bullpen wasn't much better, the Yankees only got 3 singles (by Volpe, Juan Soto and Oswaldo Cabrera), and the D-backs won, 7-0.
Carlos Rodón had a good start in the rubber game, and Aaron Judge finally hit his 1st home run of the season. Other than that, though, the Yankees only got 5 hits and a walk in regulation. The game went to extra innings, and each team scored 2 runs in the 10th inning. I know: It still sounds strange. But there is that stupid "ghost runner" rule.
In the top of the 11th, the Yankees were aided by a balk, and Judge doubled home a 2nd run. Clay Holmes ran into trouble in the bottom of the 11th, and Caleb Ferguson made it worse, allowing a run, before getting a strikeout to end it, 6-5 to the Yankees. That's 6 out of 7, on the road, to 2 Playoff teams, to start the season.
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The Yankees came home to face those pesky Toronto Blue Jays. The home opener was a bust: Marcus Stroman pitched 6 shutout innings, but the bullpen blew it. Volpe got 2 hits, but the rest of the team only got 4. The Blue Jays -- with hitting instructor Don Mattingly starting to look like actor Jeff Bridges with that big white beard -- won, 3-0.
The next game started out great, but nearly ended in disaster. Clarke Schmidt was okay as the starter, and the Yankees chased Kevin Gausman in the 2nd inning. Gausman led the American League in strikeouts last season, and usually pitches well against the Yanks. Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo hit home runs, and it was 9-2 after 6 innings.
But there is no closer to speak of: Holmes is really an 8th-inning guy, and Jonathan Loáisiga is out due to injury, probably for the season. In this game, Weaver and Ian Hamilton were both bad. The Jays closed to within 9-8, and the Jays had the tying run on 1st before Holmes finally shut things down. Weaver ended up as the winning pitcher, anyway.
So it would have been nice if the Yankees could have given their home fans a laugher yesterday. They nearly did. The Jays got on the board in the top of the 3rd, but the Yankees scored 5 in the bottom of the 3rd, including a grand slam by Stanton that nearly beat the Moon to eclipsing the Sun today.
Gil again pitched well into the 5th, but was not allowed to finish it. Jake Cousins ended up as the winning pitcher. Yankees 8, Blue Jays 3.
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So, one full week and one partial week into the season, the Yankees are 8-2, having already played a series away to the Astros, a series away to a World Series participant, and a series with the Jays. And we're doing this without Gerrit Cole, DJ LeMahieu and Loáisiga; and with Jose Trevino and Austin Wells as our only catchers. Before Opening Day, would I have taken that? You better believe it.
We are tied with the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates, who also started out 5-0, for the best record in baseball. And yet, in the AL Eastern Division, we only lead the Boston Red Sox by 1 game.
The Yankees start a new series tonight, home to the Miami Marlins, who lost their 1st 9 games of the season before winning yesterday. Oh, swell: We get them just as they're getting hot. Tonight, Cortés starts against Jesús Luzardo.
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