Yankees Gotta Keep Going

After a rough 12-game stretch, the Yankees could look forward to a comparatively easy last 13 games of the regular-season, right?

Well, on Tuesday night, they opened a 3-game series against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field in Minneapolis, and calling it a disaster would be too kind. Carlos Rodón pitched well for 6 innings, but in the 7th, Luke Weaver -- Was it really that long ago that we thought he was going to be the new closer? -- allowed double, double, sacrifice bunt, walk, walk, double. Camilo Doval came in, and allowed an RBI single, before getting a double play. That was 5 runs on only 1 out, before that double play.

Meanwhile, Simeon Woods Richardson allowed just 2 hits in 6 innings, striking out 11. All told, the Yankees got just 2 hits and 5 walks, striking out 14 times. No Yankee even reached 3rd base. Twins 7, Yankees 0. An embarrassing loss -- and the Toronto Blue Jays won, pushing the Yankees a further game back in the standings.

The Wednesday game started out great. The Yankees scored 2 runs in the 1st inning, 4 in the 2nd, 3 in the 3rd, 1 in the 4th. They didn't score in the 5th, but it looked like that wouldn't be necessary. That linescore of 24310? That is not a ZIP Code currently in use, but, if it were, it would be in Atkins, in the panhandle of southwest Virginia. Trent Grisham hit a home run, and Ben Rice went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

Cam Schlittler took a 10-1 lead into the bottom of the 5th, the inning a starting pitch must complete to be eligible to be declared the winning pitcher -- and he couldn't finish it. Fernando Cruz had to get the last out in the 5th inning.

Did Aaron Boone leave Cruz in to pitch the 6th? No, he brought Ryan Yarbrough in, and he got smeared, allowing 4 runs while getting only 1 out. David Bednar allowed a home run to Trevor Larnach in the bottom of the 9th, to pull the Twins to within 10-9. Losing this game would have been the embarrassment of the season. Fortunately, Bednar closed it out from there, for the save. Mark Leiter Jr. was credited as the winning pitcher.

The Twins over the last 5 innings were 34001. That's also not a ZIP Code currently in use. If it were, it would be in southwestern Florida, near Fort Myers.

Even last night's game got too close for comfort, for a while. Luis Gil was fine for 4 innings, and 2 home runs by Grisham were part of a 7-2 lead to which Gil was staked. But he couldn't get out of the 5th, and Cruz had to bail him out. He, Devin Williams, Weaver and Doval cruised from there, allowing no runs and only 2 his, no walks over the last 4 innings. The Yankees extended their lead late, including a home run by Cody Bellinger.

Yankees 10, Twins 5. The Yankees took 2 out of 3, on the road, from a bad team.

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With 10 regular-season games to play, the Yankees are 85-67, 4 games behind the Blue Jays in the American League Eastern Division. They still hold the 4th seed, and thus home-field advantage for the 1st round, in the AL Playoffs.

The rest of the way, they've got 4 games in Baltimore against the awful Orioles, 3 at home to the even worse Chicago White Sox, and 3 at home against the Orioles. It's going to take a lot to overtake the Jays and win the Division, including some slip-ups by the Jays themselves. The Wild Card, particularly the 4th seed, seems much more likely.

Gotta keep going, though.