The team with the most World Series won is the New York Yankees, with 27. Next on the list, and first among National League teams, is the St. Louis Cardinals, with 11. The last was in 2011, so, now, they're in roughly the position the Yankees are in: Perennial postseason appearances, but, by their standards, they've waited a while for a title.
Cardinal fans like to claim that they're the best in baseball, and that St. Louis is America's best baseball city. Bitch, please: It's the Yankees, and it's New York. This series didn't prove that. It did, however, show that the Cardinals, who came into it at exactly .500, and not exactly in Playoff contention, were sloppy; and that the Yankees, at the very least, were good enough to take advantage of this.
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Luis Gil started on Friday night, and, over the 1st 5 innings, allowed 1 run on 2 hits, although 3 walks. The Yankees staked him (or should that be "stook him"?) to a 4-0 lead, thanks in part to a home run by Jazz Chisholm in the 1st inning.
But after getting the 1st out in the bottom of the 6th, Gil gave up back-to-back doubles. Aaron Boone took him out, and brought in Mark Leiter Jr. After giving up a walk, Leiter got a double play to end the threat, and it was 4-1. Camilo Doval was shaky in the 7th, and Boone had to bring in Luke Weaver. He got out of it, and David Bednar pitched a perfect 9th. Yankees 4, Cardinals 3.
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I don't know what's happened to Max Fried. In the 1st half of the season, he pitched like 1965 Sandy Koufax. In the 2nd half, he's pitched like 2025 Sandy Koufax. (Koufax is still alive, but he's 89 years old.) Control wasn't the issue: He struck out 6 and walked only 1. Command was the issue: He went 5 innings, and allowed 7 runs on 8 hits.
Maybe it was the Fox Effect: The Yankees frequently struggle when they're on the Fox Saturday Game of the Week.
Fortunately, the bullpen was good. Devin Williams was called on to pitch the 6th inning, and, without the pressure of the 9th inning, he struck out the side. Yerry De los Santos pitched the 7th and the 8th, and allowed just 1 hit.
Aaron Judge hit a home run in the 3rd inning, Ben Rice hit one in the 4th, and Ryan McMahon hit his 1st as a Yankee in the 7th. Rice had a bases-clearing double in the 6th. Overall, Rice went 3-for-5 with a career-best-tying 7 RBIs.
Leiter got in trouble in the 9th, and Bednar got the last out. The Yankees won, 12-8.
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Just as the Yankees often struggle on Fox Saturdays, even when they win, they often struggle on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Will Warren didn't get out of the 5th inning, having allowed just 3 runs, only 1 earned, but thrown 95 pitches. Doval allowed a run in the 6th, to put the Yankees down, 4-3. Fortunately, the rest of the bullpen came through, allowing, between them, no runs, no hits, and 2 walks: Williams, Tim Hill, and Luke Weaver, who was called upon to get 5 outs.
The Yankees tied the game in the 7th. The top of the 9th was the kind of inning where, if the Cardinals miss the Playoffs by one game, they will remember. Trade-deadline acquisition José Caballero led off with a grounder to 2nd base, where Thomas Saggese made a bad throw, and he got to 2nd base. He got to 3rd on a passed ball by catcher Yohel Pozo, who had homered earlier. Trent Grisham grounded out, and Caballero had to hold. But Giancarlo Stanton drew a walk, with Anthony Volpe pinch-running for him. Judge was walked intentionally, to set up the double play.
Cody Bellinger grounded to 2nd, and Saggese made another error, allowing Caballero and Volpe to score. Chisholm grounded to 2nd. Saggese fielded this one okay, but it still allowed Judge to score. Chisholm stole 2nd, and Paul Goldschmidt doubled him home. That made the final score Yankees 8, Cardinals 4.
Over the 3 games, the Cardinals were charged with 3 errors, and made at least twice that many fielding mistakes that weren't so charged. Which is weird, since, along with pitching and speed, one of the things the Cardinals have historically been known for is good fielding.
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That sweep helped. Whether it "righted the ship" remains to be seen, but it better be righted. The Yankees have 38 games left in the regular season. They are 5 1/2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for 1st place in the American League Eastern Division, 5 in the All-Important Loss Column. The Boston Red Sox are half a game ahead of the Yankees. Both the Yanks and the Sox have an Elimination Number, a "Tragic Number," of 33. That's for the Division title.
If the current standings hold to the end of the season, the Yankees would have the 6th and final seed in the Playoffs, and, in the 1st Round, would have to face the Division winner with the worst record. For the moment, that's the Houston Astros, who've had the Yankees' number since 2015.
In other words, while it would be incredibly satisfying to beat the Astros in the postseason, the Yankees' best chance at going all the way would probably mean not facing the Astros at all -- beyond the already-scheduled 3 regular-season games in Houston in early September.
The Yankees have today off, then head to Tampa for 2 games against the Devil Rays at Steinbrenner Field. Then, they come home, for 4 against the Red Sox, a series which looked, earlier in the season, like it would be for little more than pride, but now has postseason implications.
Really? You'd never know it, it looks fine to me. (Old joke.)
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