The Yankees had a brutal schedule in front of them, with 4 3-game series against potential Playoff teams: Away to the Houston Astros, home to the Toronto Blue Jays, home to the Detroit Tigers, and away to the Boston Red Sox.
I figured, in order to win the American League Eastern Division, and give themselves the confidence they would need going into the postseason, they had to win at least 2 out of 3 of each series, especially the one with the Division-leading Blue Jays.
They are now halfway through, through the tougher half of it, and they have done exactly that: 2 out of 3 of each.
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Rookie sensation Cam Schlittler started against those pesky Blue Jays on Friday night, against Kevin Gausman, who, with Toronto and, before that, with the Baltimore Orioles, has usually pitched well against the Yankees. This night would be no exception, as the Yankees got only 4 hits and a walk off of him. In contrast, Schlittler had the worst start of his career -- admittedly, only the 10th start of it -- not getting out of the 2nd inning. The Yankees lost, 7-1, their only run coming on the 448th career home run of Giancarlo Stanton.
Having dropped the series opener, it made winning the next 2 imperative. We needed a good start from Luis Gil, and we got it: 6 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, albeit 4 walks and just 1 strikeout. The bullpen allowed just 2 hits and a walk the rest of the way.
Cody Bellinger led off the 2nd inning by drawing a walk. Jazz Chisholm grounded into a fielder's choice, but an error put him on base. Jasson Domínguez singled Bellinger home, and moved Chisholm to 3rd. Anthony Volpe, still slumping, struck out. But Austin Wells hit a sacrifice fly that scored Chisholm. Wells hit another sac fly in the 6th, to make the final score Yankees 3, Blue Jays 1.
Yesterday, the Yankees honored CC Sabathia, for his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I thought they might give him a Plaque in Monument Park, or even retire his Number 52, but neither was done. Personally, I agree with those who say the team has retired too many numbers, but the man deserves his Plaque.
Max Fried pitched like he's going to get a Plaque one day: 7 innings, 3 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk, striking out 4. Devin Williams and David Bednar each pitched a scoreless inning. Meanwhile, future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer, whom ESPN's Tony Kornheiser calls "the warrior god," was apparently "tipping his pitches," and the Yankees took advantage of this. Ben Rice hit a 3-run homer off him in the 1st inning, and Cody Bellinger had an RBI double off him in the 4th. That was enough to beat the Jays, 4-3.
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With 19 games left in the regular season, the Yankees are 80-63, only 2 games behind those pesky Blue Jays. The Red Sox are 3 1/2 back, the Tampa Bay Rays 11 back, and the Baltimore Orioles 16 back. If the current standings hold to the end of the season, the Yankees would have the 4th seed in the AL Playoffs, with home-field advantage over the 5th-seeded Red Sox, even though each has a better record than the current 3rd seed, the AL West-leading Astros.
The Yankees have a well-deserved day off. Starting tomorrow night, the AL Central-leading Tigers come in. Here's the projected pitching matchups:
* Tomorrow, 7:05, on both YES and TBS: Will Warren vs. Casey Mize. No relation to Yankee Hall-of-Famer Johnny Mize.
* Wednesday, 7:05, on Amazon Prime and MLB Network, but not YES: Carlos Rodón vs. Jack Flaherty. Flaherty wears Number 9. A pitcher wearing a single digit used to be rare, but it's been happening a lot more lately.
* Thursday, 7:05, on YES: Cam Schlittler starts for us, while Tiger manager A.J. Hinch (you remember him from the cheating Astros, managing them from 2015 to 2019) hasn't yet chosen a starter.
Come on you Pinstripes!
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