Stats Can Be Nice, What Matters Is Results

The Yankees picked a heck of a time to have 2 lousy games: Against the Red Sox, Saturday night on Fox, and Sunday night on ESPN. Embarrassed themselves on national TV.

The series started out all right, on Friday night on YES. Over the 1st 2 innings, the Yankees led, 7-0. Over the rest of the series, the Red Sox outscored the Yankees, 27-16.

That was unacceptable.

The Yankees scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning, including home runs by Jazz Chisholm and Anthony Volpe. They scored 2 in the 2nd -- but one came when, with the bases loaded, Volpe was hit on the elbow with a pitch by Walker Buehler.

This is one time where a Red Sox pitcher hit a Yankee with a pitch, and we can be pretty sure that it was unintentional. Or was it? The Sox were already losing, 6-0, and it's not like we were at Fenway Park, where a 6-0 lead is no big deal. Maybe... But the bigger problem was that Volpe played the rest of the series in pain, and couldn't hit well.

The Yankees scored another run in the 5th, after the Red Sox already had. That made the Yankee linescore 52001. That's a ZIP Code in Dubuque, Iowa.

An 8-1 lead should have been enough. But starting pitcher Will Warren fell apart in the 6th, allowing a triple, a sacrifice fly, and 3 walks, before Aaron Boone brought in Brent Headrick. (Another name that sounds like it belongs on a law firm.) It was 8-4.

A Paul Goldschmidt homer in the bottom of the inning made it 9-4, and that should have been enough. But Headrick ran into trouble in the 7th, and had to be bailed out by Fernando Cruz. Devin Williams closed it down in the 9th. Yankees 9, Red Sox 6, and Warren remained the winning pitcher.

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Ryan Yarbrough started on Saturday night. Like Warren, he's filled an injury-forced hole in the Yankee rotation fairly well. Not this time: He allowed 8 runs in 4 innings. Austin Wells hit a home run, and the Yankees closed to within 8-7 in the 8th. But Ian Hamilton, who has been dreadful, allowed 2 runs in the 9th. Despite the Red Sox' closer now being former Yankee closer Aroldis Chapman, and there's a reason he's a former Yankee closer, they couldn't come back. Red Sox 10, Yankees 7.

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The Sunday game looked good at first. Carlos Rodón got through the 1st 4 2/3rds innings with just 1 hit and 1 walk, and had a 2-0 lead on an Aaron Judge home run. But, Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. With 2 out in the top of the 5th, he allowed a walk and a home run. 2-2.

DJ LeMahieu gave the Yankees back the lead with a homer in the bottom of the 5th, but Rodón collapsed to start the top of the 6th: Hit-by-pitch, walk, home run. Before the inning was over, Boone had used 3 pitchers, and it was 7-3 Boston. Jonathan Loáisiga allowed back-to-back homers to start the 8th, and it got worse from there.

The Yanks trailed 11-5 going into the bottom of the 9th. Judge hit a 2-run homer, and they got 2 men on with 2 out, but Chapman, showing none of the shakiness he so often showed in Pinstripes, finished them off. Red Sox 11, Yankees 7.

Over the last 5 innings, the Red Sox' linescore was 25022. That's a ZIP Code for Blair, West Virginia. Over the same 5 innings, the Yankees only scored 12002. That's a ZIP Code for Berlin, New York.

The Yankees lost this game despite 2 home runs from Aaron Judge. He now has 338 for his career. That's as many as Don Baylor, 3 more than Darryl Strawberry, 7 more than Hank Greenberg.

It's 1 fewer than Boog Powell, Dave Parker and Tino Martinez. It's 7 fewer than the still-active Bryce Harper, 10 fewer than the still-active Nolan Arenado, and 13 fewer than the still-active Manny Machado. It's 13 fewer than Dick Allen, 20 fewer than Yogi Berra, 21 fewer than Johnny Mize, 23 fewer than Joe DiMaggio, and 31 fewer than Ralph Kiner.

He's 33 years old.

For the season, he's batting .396 with 23 home runs and 55 RBIs. Today is June 10.

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Stats can be nice. But what matters is results. The Yankees dropped 2 out of 3 at home to The Scum. They now lead the American League Eastern Division by 4 games each over the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays, 5 in the all-important loss column. The Sox are 9 back (11 in the loss column), and the Baltimore Orioles are 13 back.

Tonight, the Yankees start a roadtrip in Kansas City, with 3 against the Royals. Then, off to Boston with 3 more against the Auld Enemy. Hopefully, they won't embarrass themselves on national TV again.

One piece of good news: Giancarlo Stanton, currently on the Injured List, is set to begin a rehab assignment tonight. Hopefully, he'll be able to contribute in the 2nd half of the season.