Boone Blows It, Gifts Game to Giants

After the traditional day off after the home opener (put in place just in case weather postpones the home opener), the Yankees played a 4:05 Saturday-on-Fox game at Yankee Stadium II, against the San Francisco Giants.

Nobody really thought the Yankees would go 162-0. But it was reasonable to hope that a loss blamable on manager Aaron Boone's bad pitching-staff management -- or on an atrocious umpire -- would happen considerably later than the 2nd game of the season.

Home plate umpire Andy Fletcher was all over the place with his ball & strike calls. Some benefited the Yankees. Many didn't.

Boone chose Clarke Schmidt start the game for the Yankees. This was not a good sign to me: He wasn't a good reliever, and now he's filling the injured Luis Severino's hole in the rotation? And then he he walks the opening batter of the game? Oy vey. But he got the next 3 guys out. He let 2 guys on in the 2nd, but worked out of it. He got through the 3rd okay, with Aaron Judge making a great catch in center field to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 1st, Judge singled, Anthony Rizzo walked, and Giancarlo Stanton hit a comebacker that opposing starter Alex Cobb threw to 2nd, to start a double play. But he made a bad thrown, and Judge scored. Officially, that's an unearned run, but since the pitcher made the error, he should be charged with an earned run.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Anthony Volpe singled to left, for his 1st major league hit, and stole 2nd. But he was stranded. Stanton hit a home run to the opposite field, the short porch, in the 3rd. Schmidt lost the shutout in the 4th inning, when Joc Pederson hit one to the short porch. Remember, people: It's the same conditions for both teams. With the Giants' orange, the neon yellow piping on his batting gloves and pads, and also wearing a helmet, Pederson looked like a construction worker.

Schmidt fell apart after that, allowing a double to Mike Yastrzemski and a home run to Brian Crawford, putting the Yankees in a 3-2 hole. Boone called on Wandy Peralta, who hit the 1st batter he faced, Blake Sabol. (No relation to Ed and Steve Sabol, the father and son who founded NFL Films.)

Peralta got out of that, and got the 1st 2 outs in the 5th. Then Boone changed pitchers again, for not good reason. He brought in Mike King, who got out of the inning. In the bottom of the inning, DJ LeMahieu hit one to center, and Yaz's grandson lost the ball in the sun, and DJLM got to 2nd base, bringing Judge up with nobody out. He singled DJLM over to 3rd. Rizzo doubled into the right-field corner, scoring DJLM. Cliché Alert: It was a nice piece of hitting.

Stanton grounded to 3rd, so the runners had to hold. Josh Donaldson got called out on a pitch that was way outside, and Gleyber Torres grounded out, so an inning that could have seen the Yankees break the game wide open didn't happen. And then King, who never should have been brought in, allowed 2 runs in the top of the 6th.

Boone brought Albert Abreu in for the 7th. He was shaky, and was shaky again in the 8th. Josh Donaldson homered in the bottom of the 8th, to pull the Yankees within 5-4. Clay Holmes, the supposed replacement for the supposed closer Aroldis Chapman, gave that run right back in the top of the 9th, and added another. Boone brought Jimmy Cordero in for his Yankee debut, and he ended the inning.

Aaron Hicks was sent up to pinch-hit to start the bottom of the 9th. On a 3-1 count, he took ball 4, well outside, but Fletcher called strike 2. Then Hicks checked his swing on a low pitch that should have been ball 4, but Fletcher called strike 3.

The Yankees did begin a comeback. Volpe singled. LeMahieu walked. Judge singled Volpe home to make it 7-5. Rizzo walked to load the bases with 1 out. Stanton up. He was the beneficiary of a ball 1 call due to a pitch-clock violation. But he grounded into a double play to end it.

Giants 7, Yankees 5. WP: Jakob Junis (1-0). SV: Camilo Duval (1). LP: King (0-1).

But as bad as Fletcher was, this loss is on Boone. He chose the starting pitcher. He chose when to bring in the relievers, and which ones.

The series concludes tomorrow afternoon. Jhony Brito is set to make his major league debut, against Ron Stripling. Brito had better be better than Schmidt was today.

Yankees Get Screwed. Not For the 1st Time.

Yesterday, the Yankees got screwed. Not for the 1st time.

The umpiring crew for this home series against the Toronto Blue Jays is led by Joe West. If there's one thing that fans of all 30 MLB teams can agree on, it's that Joe West is 1 of the 2 worst umpires currently active, the other being Angel Hernandez.

Pitching was not the issue for the Yankees. J.A. Happ started, and pitched into the 6th inning, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 1 walk, with 5 strikeouts. But it was in the 6th that those 2 runs scored, on a single by Randal Grichuk. Between them, Adam Ottavino, Nestor Cortes, Zack Britton and David Hale pitched 3 2/3rds innings of scoreless relief, allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk.

The problem was the hitting. Aaron Judge got 4 hits, Brett Gardner 2. DJ LeMahieu 1, Didi Gregorius 1, and the rest of the team, combined, none.

But the key moment in the game may have been the 1 time up to bat for Judge in which he did not get a hit. He came up with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th, and Gardner on 1st. With a full count, he took what was clearly, based on the instant replay, ball 4. That should have put him on 1st, with the tying run, and Luke Voit coming to bat. But the home plate umpire, Andy Fletcher, called it strike 3, ending the inning.

Manager Aaron Boone said he was "frustrated" by it: "Seems like it happens to him more than it should." In other words, instead of blaming Judge, already an accomplished major league hitter, for not swinging at the pitch, he's implying that the ump blew it.

Judge: "I was just upset, because that could be the ballgame right there. I walk right there, Voit comes up and hits a 3-run homer, it's a different story. It's just with situations like that... It's tough to voice my opinion, but I can't get tossed in that situation. I knew I'd be coming back up in the 9th, and I wanted another shot at it. When stuff like that happens, you got to move on."

Here's what happened in the 9th. Aaron Hicks led off with a walk. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. So I got a little optimistic. But Gleyber Torres and Brett Gardner both flew out, and the air was let out of the Yankee balloon.

But LeMahieu singled to center. And then Judge hit a grounder down the left field line, just fair. He only got to 1st base, but LeMahieu got to 3rd, and Hicks scored. Now, the tying run was 90 feet away, and the winning run was on. Voit was up, with the chance he didn't get in the 7th.

He worked a full count. Then he took an inside fastball. It should have been ball 4. But Fletcher called it strike 3.

He didn't argue. He could have. And he would have been right.

Instead, Voit, as was Judge 2 innings earlier, and as was the entire Yankee team, was screwed by the umpire. The game was over: Blue Jays 2, Yankees 1. WP: Joe Biagini (3-1). SV: Daniel Hudson (2). LP: Happ (7-5).

Fortunately, the Yankees didn't lose any ground, as the Tampa Bay Rays (6 games back) and the Boston Red Sox (9 back) also lost.

The series concludes this afternoon. Masahiro Tanaka starts against Marcus Stroman, currently the subject of a considerable amount of speculation that he could be traded to the Yankees.

Hopefully, "Cowboy Joe" West and his posse will be less blatant about how much they hate the Yankees.

After this series, the Rays come in for 4 games, followed by a 3-game weekend Interleague series, hosting the Colorado Rockies, for whom LeMahieu and Ottavino played last season.

*

Hours until the New York Red Bulls play again: 18, tonight at 6:30, home to New York City FC.

Hours until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": See the previous answer. The next game against the New England Revolution will be on Saturday night, August 17, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against D.C. United will be on Wednesday night, August 21, at Audi Field in Washington. The next game against the Philadelphia Union will be on Sunday night, September 22, at Red Bul Arena.


Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: Unknown. Following their bottlejob against Mexico in the Final of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, there are no games currently scheduled. The women's national team, of course, won their 4th World Cup, their 2nd in a row, defeating the Netherlands in Lyon, France.

Days until Arsenal play again: 1. Tomorrow. The Gunners' next game will be in America.

Days until Arsenal play in America: 1. Tomorrow night, they will visit the Denver suburbs to play the Colorado Rapids -- like The Arsenal, and the Los Angeles Rams, and the Denver Nuggets, and the Colorado Avalanche, owned by Stan Kroenke. On Wednesday, they will visit the Los Angeles suburbs to play Bayern Munich. On Saturday, they will visit Charlotte to play AS Roma. And on the following Tuesday, they will visit the Redskins' stadium in the Washington suburbs to play Real Madrid.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 11, on Thursday, July 25, at Fenway Park.

Days until the MLB trading deadline: 17. At this point, the hope that Brian Cashman will bring in a good starting pitcher and the fear that he will trade a key player for 25 teenagers are running neck-and-neck.

Days until the 2019-20 Premier League season begins: For Arsenal's purposes, 28, on Sunday, August 11, at 9:00 AM New York time, away to Newcastle United. Just 4 weeks.

Days until the next North London Derby: 48, on Saturday, August 31, at the Emirates Stadium. It is unusual for Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur to play each other so early in the season, but not unprecedented: As recently as the 2013-14 season, they did so on September 1.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 48, on August 31, at 12:00 noon, home to the University of Massachusetts. Under 7 weeks.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 54, on Friday night, September 6, at 7:00 PM, home to arch-rival Old Bridge. Under 8 weeks. Like most of the local rivalries that were once played on Thanksgiving Day, this one has been moved back to the opening game. It will also be the head coaching debut of Andy Steinfeld, a longtime assistant and a two-way lineman on the school's 1984 Conference Champions. It will also be the start of a Yankees-Red Sox series. So I'm getting a double dose of "Scum" on the night. Lucky me. At least it'll be at Jay Doyle's Green Grove off Cranbury Road, instead of at the purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: 82, on Friday night, October 4, at the Prudential Center, against the Winnipeg Jets. Under 12 weeks.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 87, on Wednesday night, October 9, against the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The season's 1st game against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, will be on Thursday, October 17, at the Prudential Center. The 1st game against the New York Islanders will be on Thursday, January 2, 2020, at the Barclays Center.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 139, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Under 5 months.

Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 157, on December 18, 2019. A little over 5 months.

Day until the premiere of the final Star Wars film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: 159, on December 20, 2019.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 191, on January 21, 2020. A little over 6 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 376, on July 24, 2020. A little over a year, or a little over 12 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 478, on November 3, 2020. Under a year and a half, or under 16 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 539, on January 3, 2021. Under a year and a half, or under 18 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 556, at noon on January 20, 2021. A little over a year and a half, or a little over 18 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 936, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or under 31 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,226, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 3 1/2 years, or a little over 40 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.

Days until the next Women's World Cup is scheduled to kick off: As yet unknown, but probably in June 2023. A host nation is expected to be chosen on March 20, 2020. Since 2 of the last 3 host nations have been in Europe, North America (Canada) hosted in 2015, and Asia (China) hosted in 2007, my guess is that it will be in either Asia (Japan, possibly Korea) or Oceania (Australia, possibly a joint bid with New Zealand).