New Yankee Luis García Jr.
Seven days in Chicago, seven games for the Yankees. They split four with the White Sox, their fellow American Leaguers. Now, it was time for three with the National League's Cubs.
And the Thursday afternoon finale with the South Siders was followed by a Friday afternoon game on the North Side, at Wrigley Field.
The Yankees got solo home runs by Amed Rosario in the 4th inning and Spencer Jones in the 5th -- and that was it. Fortunately, they also got a fantastic start by Will Warren: 6 2/3rds innings, no runs, 4 hits, no walks, and 7 strikeouts. Paul Blackburn finished the 7th and pitched the 8th, and David Bednar finished a 5-hit shutout. Yankees 2, Cubs 0.
The Yankees would not be so fortunate on Saturday night. They got an RBI single by José Caballero in the 5th, and another Homer by Jones in the 7th. (Not to be confused with the late Homer Jones, the New York Giants receiver who invented spiking the football in the 1960s, or the character in Jerry Reed's 1971 country classic "When You're Hot, You're Hot.")
But a great start by Max Fried was wasted: 5 1/3rd innings (remember, he's still being worked back up after his injury), 1 run, 2 hits, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts. But Fernando Cruz blew the game in the 7th inning. Cubs 5, Yankees 2.
So the Sunday afternoon game felt like a must-win. Gerrit Cole sure pitched like it, going 5 1/3rd innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 3 walks, with 5 strikeouts. This time, the bullpen held, allowing no runs, no hits and 3 walks the rest of the way.
Ryan McMahon led off the top of the 3rd eith a single, and Caballero hit a home run. That was all the Yankees got, but, with that pitching, that was all they would need, beating the Cubs, 2-1.
So they won 2 out of 3 at Wrigley, despite scoring only 6 runs. I guess the famous wind there was blowing in, except when they needed it to blow out.
They won 5 of 7 in Chicago. Counting the earlier series in Philadelphia, they won 6 of 10 on the long roadtrip. Considering that Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger are all injured, that's not bad.
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So here's how things stand as we come into August: The Yankees are 63-49, 2 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division, 3 in (Cliché Alert) the all-important loss column. The Boston Red Sox are 5 games back, the Baltimore Orioles 11 1/2, and the Toronto Blue Jays 13 1/2.
Today was the trading deadline. Brian Cashman did some good: He got rid of relief pitchers Camilo Doval, Jake Bird and Yovanny Cruz. Cliché Alert: Great trades, who did we get?
For Doval, they got catcher-1st baseman Omar Alfonzo and outfielder Luis Cruz (no relation to Yovanny). Those two are at Somerset now, so they won't help this season. I'm just glad to be rid of Bird and, to a lesser extent, Cruz. To fill a bullpen spot, they called Kervin Castro up from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Then, today, Cashman really filled a need, for a big bat. He got Luis García Jr., the 26-year-old 1st baseman for the Washington Nationals, who was leading the National League in slugging percentage, for Yovanny Cruz; Bird; Jack Cebert, a starting pitcher, who was at Class AA Somerset and looked like he wasn't going to make it; and Ben Grable, a reliever, who was also at Somerset, and had a better chance, but was unlikely to help this season. That is an absolute steal. Outfielder Max Schuemann was sent down to even out the roster slots. Cruz was given the Number 26, last worn on the team by DJ LeMahieu.
Also today, the Yankees made a trade with the San Francisco Giants, sending pitcher Henry Lalane and shortstop Kaeden Kent, both of them at Class A, for Heliot Ramos, a 26-year-old Puerto Rican left fielder with righthanded power. That should also help.
But there were other notable trades. The Los Angeles Dodgers got Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers, one of the best pitchers in the game, for next to nothing. That won't affect the Yankees much, but at least he didn't go to the Rays, the Red Sox, or the Houston Astros.
But the Red Sox did get Adley Rutschman, All-Star catcher, from the Orioles. That's going to hurt, as the Sox are on a tear. It's almost as if their new way to cheat has kicked in. The Astros got All-Star center fielder Daulton Varsho from the Jays.
The Rays? They got Freddy Peralta from the Mets. Peralta was supposed to be the ace that was going to help the Mets get off the deck and back into the postseason. It didn't work out that way. Now, with him in their rotation, suddenly, the Rays look like less of a favorite to win the Division.
The Mets also traded former Yankee Clay Holmes to the Cubs. Cliché Alert: They may well be blowing it all up and starting over.
The Cleveland Guardians, another contender for the AL Pennant, also made a deal with the Nationals, getting pitcher Foster Griffin. And the Phillies got 3-time batting champion Luis Arraez from the Giants. Whether either will help remains to be seen.
There are 50 games left in the regular season. The Yankees start them at home, with an Interleague series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Come on you Pinstripes!
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