Nate Is Nasty -- And So Are Castle's Showrunners

I became a fan of ABC's TV show Castle in its 2nd season, in 2010, when it featured an episode, "The Suicide Squeeze," about a murdered baseball player, and Joe Torre had a cameo as himself. Or, as Stana Katic's Detective Kate Beckett, a character not easily flustered, said, "Oh my God! That was Joe Freakin' Torre! I gotta call my Dad!"

The show is winding down its 8th season, and both Katic and Tamala Jones, who plays Dr. Lanie Parrish, the show's medical examiner, will not be returning for a 9th. It has not been officially decided yet, but it is generally believed that the show will return for a 9th season -- and the show's fans, especially its female fans, are furious that Katic is not returning, and that the great love story between Beckett, now a Captain, and mystery writer Richard Castle, played by Nathan Fillion, will come to an end -- given the "LokSat" storyline, possibly a tragic one.

The show should have ended last season. Not that this season hasn't had its fun moments. But last season's season finale, "Hollander's Woods," in which Rick's "origin story" was finally revealed, and resolved, would have been a perfect series finale. But, no, the showrunners have screwed things up royally, and the fanbase is one part outraged, five parts saddened.

If the showrunners do kill Kate off, that won't just be filthy... that'll be nasty. After all, the previous showrunner, show creator Andrew W. Marlowe, appeared to have killed her off at the end of Season 3. Maybe the show is called Castle, not Castle & Beckett, but, as a Season 7 "It's a Wonderful Life"-type episode showed, without Beckett, Castle wouldn't have been nearly as well off -- and the same would have gone for Beckett without Castle.

The show depends on their interaction. Castle without Beckett, especially at this point, would be like Superman without Lois Lane, or Robin Hood without Maid Marian.

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At any rate, last night, ABC aired a new episode. At the same time, Yankee pitcher Nathan Eovaldi was pitching a no-hitter. And since the game was in the Central Time Zone, it would not end before Castle's 10:00 PM start time. So I was choosing Nathan Fillion over Nathan Eovaldi.

"Nasty Nate" got a 3-0 cushion thanks to home runs by Jacoby Ellsbury (finally, his 1st of the season) and Starlin Castro (his 3rd), and an RBI double by Mark Teixeira.

Still, knowing Joe Girardi -- who once watched CC Sabathia take a no-hitter into the 8th inning in Tampa Bay, and said in his postgame press conference that he was going to take CC out after the 8th, no matter what -- I had this vision of the future: Girardi was going to take Eovaldi out after 6 due to his pitch count, go to his bullpen, and watch the no-hitter, the shutout and the lead get blown, and the Yankee bats would then fail, and we'd lose 4-3 (or worse).

He didn't do that: He left Eovaldi in to pitch the 7th. Nomar Mazara led off, and singled on a 3-2 pitch to break up the no-hitter. At least, now, I could continue to watch Castle with a clear conscience -- but also with my smartphone able to give me score updates.

Incredibly, Girardi still left Eovaldi in, and he got Adrian Beltre to ground into a double play. Good thing, too, as Prince Fielder doubled, which, if Beltre had struck, popped, grounded or even flied out, would probably have led Mazara score. Eovaldi then got Ian Desmond to ground out, preserving the 3-0 lead on 2 hits.

Girardi even let Eovaldi start the 8th, but he walked Mitch Moreland. That was it: Girardi took him out, and brought in Dellin Betances. He got Elvis Andrus to ground into a double play, but Brett Nicholas hit a home run. Again, had the guy who grounded into the double play been eliminated only as a single out, it would have put the lead in considerably more jeopardy than it already was.

No-hitters are wonderful, shutouts are nice, but getting the win is what matters. Fortunately, Betances stuck out Delino DeShields Jr. to end the threat. And Andrew Miller sent the Rangers down 1-2-3 in the 9th.

Ballgame over. Yankees 3, Rangers 1. WP: Eovaldi (1-2). SV: Miller (5). LP: Cesar Ramos (0-1).

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The series continues tonight. Luis Severino starts for us, A.J. Griffin for the Rangers.

I hope Girardi doesn't, through good intentions, try to wreck this game. Or any others. He's done that too many times, trusting his binder instead of the facts of the effectiveness of the players on the field, especially the pitchers.

Of course, he could do everything as well as it could possibly be done, and he'd still be at the mercy of Brian Cashman, Lonn Trost, Randy Levine, and Hank and Hal Steinbrenner.

But I doubt that even they could wreck the Yankees as much as the showrunners are in a position to wreck Castle.

And there's no "free agent" actor who could be signed for a recasting of Kate Beckett. Baseball, and the Yankees, continued after Babe Ruth. But the Yankees didn't depend on any one person. Castle depends on two... and, unless this season's finale is the series finale, they're going to go on without one of them. Even if they keep Kate alive with another actress... it would be like signing Stephen Drew to replace Derek Jeter.

It CAN Get Worse, But I Wish It Wouldn't

Last night was a bad night. The shocking ending to the Castle season finale didn't help. Andrew Marlowe, how could you?

But the opening of the four-games, two-ballparks Yankees-Mets series may have been the worst regular-season game in Yankee history. We've had postseason disasters that were worse -- the 2012 ALCS, Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, the last 3 games of the 2003 World Series, the last 2 games of the 2001 World Series, the last 3 games of the 1995 ALDS, and the last 4 games of the 1981 World Series come to mind -- but as regular-season games go, this one will be hard to top. Or, is that "bottom"?

The Mets got a run off Hiroki Kuroda in the 1st, but the Yankees tagged former Yankee (and Indian, and Angel, and Red Sock, etc.) Bartolo Colon for 4 runs in the 2nd. Three straight singles by Brian McCann, Alfonso Soriano and Yangervis Solarte loaded the bases. Colon struck out Kelly Johnson and got a lineout from Brian Roberts.

But then, in one of those things that makes John Sterling say to Suzyn Waldman, "You know, Suzyn, you just can't predict baseball," a grand slam was hit -- by Brett Gardner. It was his 2nd home run of the season.

One does not simply blow a three-run lead. It is folly.

Travis d'Arnaud, the catcher the Mets got from the Toronto Blue Jays, who was supposedly making the R.A. Dickey deal tolerable, homered in the 5th. David Wright led off the 6th with a single. And then came a slap to the face. Curtis Granderson, who left the Yankees, signed with the Mets, and followed up his talk about how he'd been told that "true New Yorkers are Met fans," but until recently hadn't been able to hit sand if he'd fallen off a camel, hit one out to tie it up. 4-4.

The Yankees made the Mets pay for that in the bottom of the 6th. With one out, Soriano doubled. Solarte singled him home. On Twitter, I said, "Best 3rd baseman in New York," a reference to Wright being overrated. Johnson, who tends to either hit a home run or nothing at all, hit a triple, scoring Solarte.

Roberts grounded to short, and Johnson was thrown out at the plate, but Roberts reached 1st. Gardner singled him to 3rd. Derek Jeter -- showing Met fans how it's done since 1996, although he didn't do much in this at-bat -- was up. Joe Girardi ordered a double-steal, and d'Arnaud's throwing error to 2nd allowed Roberts to score. Shades of Mike Piazza, whose defensive liabilities canceled out his steroid-aided hitting. (Excuse me, his alleged steroid-aided hitting.)

7-4 Yankees after 6.

One does not simply blow two three-run leads in a single game. It is worse than folly.

Then Girardi made a really stupid mistake: He took Kuroda out of the game, and put Alfredo Aceves on the mound. In 2009, Aceves was a key figure in Title 27. Suffice it to say, if the Yankees rebound, and win Title 28, it will be in spite of Aceves, not with his help. He allowed a leadoff walk to d'Arnaud and a home run to Eric Young Jr. (the Piscataway High School graduate and son of former Met, Rutgers University and New Brunswick High star Eric Young). 7-6.

John Ryan Murphy -- pinch-hitting for Carlos Beltran, an injury to whom would be a big problem -- got to 2nd base with 1 out in the bottom of the 7th. He didn't score, partly because Strikeout Soriano struck (out) again.

Matt Thornton was on the mound to start the top of the 8th. Probably because the Mets had lefthanded hitters coming up. Is he destined to become the new Boone Logan, the lefty pitcher who gets called on to get lefty hitters out, only to find he can't, thus invalidating his purpose in the major leagues?

He got Granderson out to start the inning, and got 2 strikes on Eric Campbell. But Campbell hit a sharp liner off Solarte's glove, sharp enough to be scored a hit instead of an error, and it went for 2 bases. Lucas Duda (who couldn't hit the broadside of a barn going into the game) singled Campbell home. 7-7.

Girardi compounded his bullpen-choice mistakes by bringing in Preston Claiborne. Who allowed a game-winning home run to Chris Young.

Solarte led off the bottom of the 8th with a single, but Johnson grounded into a double play to eliminate him. Roberts singled, but Gardner struck out. How do you get 2 hits off the Mets bullpen in the 8th inning and not get a runner to 3rd? The 2014 Yankees found a way.

There was hope in the bottom of the 9th: The Mets brought in their closer.

Kyle Farnsworth.

Kerosene Kyle.

Not a Darn's Worth.

Surprising no one, Jeter led off with a walk. Tying run at the plate.

We can do this, people.

Well, yes, we can -- and, no, we didn't.

Jacoby Ellsbury flied out. Mark Teixeira pinch-hit for Murphy, and singled Jeter over to 3rd. Girardi then pinch-ran Brendan Ryan for the injury-struggling Teix.

Runner on 3rd with less than 2 outs? Tying run on 1st? Winning run at the plate? Against Kyle Farnsworth?

I liked our chances.

McCann grounded into a double play. Game over.

Mets 9, Yankees 7. WP: Jenrry Mejia (4-0). SV: Farnsworth (3). LP: Thornton (0-1).

A team hitting as badly as the Mets did over the 1st 6 weeks of the season should not be scoring 9 runs and getting 14 hits, including 4 home runs, off you in an entire series. The Mets did it to the Yankees in one game.

That is unacceptable.

And now, we go into tonight's game, with Vidal Nuno starting for us, against Met "ace" Zach Wheeler.

Oy vey.

As Bill Cosby taught us, Don't ever say, "It can't get any worse." It can always get worse.

But I wish it wouldn't. A Yankee win tonight, considering how many factors are against us, could be the spark that lights the season. It could also be a shock to the Mets' system, sending them back into the abyss, which would be a nice bonus for us.

But we can't consider what it would do to the Mets. We have to be concerned with our own team.

Considering that egg it laid last night, very concerned.

BAM! Said the Grandy Man

In the middle of one of the nastiest heat waves of my lifetime -- even Richard Castle wouldn't like this heat wave -- the Yankees needed a hot pitcher.

(Yes, that was a Castle reference. "BAM!" said the lady. No, there won't be a Firefly reference in this post.)

They got a hot pitcher in Bartolo Colon (7-6), who revived his revival. He pitched 7 strong innings against the Oakland Athletics, 2 runs, 8 hits but only 1 walk.

He was backed up by Curtis Granderson, who hit his 27th home run of the season in the 5th inning, off Gio Gonzalez (9-7). "BAM!" said the Grandy Man. The Yankees took a 6-2 lead into the top of the 8th.

But Colon had thrown 98 pitches, and, slave to the pitch count, Joe Girardi wouldn't let him back onto the mound even though he was cruising. So he sent in David Robertson. Not a bad move, right? Robertson has been fantastic this season.

Except this time, he nearly blew it, and Girardi had to do what no manager wants to do: Bring Mariano Rivera in for the 8th inning. Somewhere, Luis Arroyo, Sparky Lyle and Goose Gossage all had to be thinking the same thing: "Why not, I used to do that." But while Mo is great for one inning, he's usually not good for two -- the one temper to his supposedly unassailable claim to being the "greatest relief pitcher ever."

Mo got out of the 8th, and it was 6-4. The Yanks got a run in the bottom of the 8th, and, as so often happens, that insurance run was needed. Mo allowed a run in the 9th -- including on a hit by ex-Yankee Hideki Matsui, who went 5-for-5 on top of his home run the day before -- but finally closed it out for his 25th save. Yankees 7, A's 5.

The Yankees' homestand continues against the Seattle Mariners, who gave them no help over the weekend, rolling over and playing dead against The Scum, and putting together a club-record 15-game losing streak. Let's make it 18. Tonight's starting pitchers are Freddy Garcia (8-7) for the Yanks and Jason Vargas (6-8) for the M's.

Jeter hits 3015 DONE
Rivera saves 584 17
A-Rod homers 626 137
A-Rod hits 2762 238