And All That Jazz

The Yankees should have swept the Red Sox at Fenway Park this weekend. That's not my personal bias talking: They had a good chance to win each of the games.

But they lost on Friday night. Nestor Cortés started, and didn't get out of the 5th inning. The Yankees trailed 1-0 after 1 inning, 3-1 after 4, and 4-3 after 5. They got 4 runs in the top of the 7th. They got 3 hits from Austin Wells and Gleyber Torres, and 2 out of Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Cabrera. They got home runs from Volpe in the 2nd inning, and Wells and Aaron Judge in the 7th. It was 7-4 Yankees.

But Luke Weaver allowed a home run in the bottom of the 7th, to close the Sox to within 7-6. In the 8th, Weaver allowed single, walk and sacrifice fly. Clay Holmes was brought in, and he allowed RBI double and RBI single. Sox 9, Yanks 7.

What should have been the most satisfying win of the season became the most aggravating loss.

But for Saturday's game, there was a change. General manager Brian Cashman actually traded 3 minor-league prospects:

* Augustín Ramírez, a Dominican catcher about to turn 23, at Double-A Somerset;

* Jared Serna, a 22-year-old Mexican utility player, at Class A Hudson Valley; and

* Abrahan Ramírez, a 19-year-old Venezuelan utility player, in the Rookie League.

None of these guys was every going to play a game for the New York Yankees. Cashman sent them to the Miami Marlins, for Jasrado Prince Hermis Arrington Chisholm Jr. Known professionally as Jazz Chisholm Jr., he is 26 years old, 1 of 9 players from the Bahamas ever to make the majors (and the only one at the moment), a center fielder and a 2nd baseman, who debuted with the Marlins in 2020.

He seems like a typical Cashman player: Has some power, but also some injury history. Where he differs from the typical Cashman player is that he's young, and bats lefthanded.

He did not arrive in time to play the Saturday night game. Marcus Stroman did, and shouldn't have: Staked to a 3-0 lead before he even had to take the mound, thanks to back-to-back home runs by Juan Soto and Judge, and a 4-3 lead after 2, he allowed 5 runs in the 1st 2 innings. The Yankees tied the game in the top of the 5th, only to give the lead back in the bottom half. They tied it back up in the top of the 7th, only to give it back in the bottom half. It was 8-6 Sox after 7, and it was beginning to look like a wasted trip to Fenway.

But then the Yankees turned the Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy back into a Little Green Pinball Machine. With 1 out in the top of the 8th, Alex Verdugo singled, Soto drew a walk, and Judge hit a double off the Green Monster, to score Verdugo. But on the play, Soto ran through 3rd base coach Luis Rojas' "stop sign," and, instead of still representing the tying run, was out by a mile at the plate. Wells then flew out to end the inning. But in the 9th, they tied it on doubles by Ben Rice and Trent Grisham, both of them struggling.

With 1 out in the top of the 10th, Soto singled, Judge was walked (for once, not intentionally), and Wells hit a sacrifice fly, deep enough to score "ghost runner" Cabrera. And Gleyber Torres doubled home Wells and Soto. Holmes was fine in the bottom of the 10th, and the Yankees won, 11-8.

The Sunday night game was remarkably under-stressing. Carlos Rodón pitched well into the 7th inning. The Yankees hit no home runs, but they won, 8-2. Again, they scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st inning, and held the lead. In his 1st game as a Yankee, Chisholm was given Number 13 -- sorry/not sorry, Alex Rodriguez -- and went 1-for-5.

Two out of three in Boston is always good. But it could have been all three.

Chisholm was activated yesterday. Giancarlo Stanton was activated from the Injured List today. Infielder J.D. Davis and outfielder Jahmai Jones were both designated for assignment. Between them, they made 69 plate appearances for the Yankees, and had 5 RBIs. The weird part wasn't getting rid of them, but getting them in the first place.

We are just about at the 2/3rds mark of the regular season. The Yankees are 1 game behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Eastern Division, 2 in the loss column. Next up: A trip to perhaps the best team in baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies.