Yanks Show No Sympathy For Mutts

From the weekend series between the Yankees and the Mets, certain things should have been learned:

* The Yankees are the best team in baseball.

* The Yankees are, at the very least, far and away the best baseball team in the New York Tri-State Area.

* The Mets are a joke. Not 3 years removed from a World Series appearance, and not 2 years removed from a Playoff game, they are a shadow of their late-Obama era selves.

* It is not hard to hit in Citi Field. The Yankees have hit well there many times. It's only the Mets who seem to have trouble hitting there. Which is odd, since they have 81 games to try it every season.

* If Brian Cashman was not going to trade any of his precious prospects for Justin Verlander in 2017, then he sure as hell is not going to trade any of them for Jacob deGrom in 2018. Especially given that Verlander has already excelled in pitching in the American League. We've seen many "great pitchers" in the National League discover that pitching is harder in the AL, including some Yankees, and also including former Met R.A. Dickey.

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The Friday night game was typical of deGrom's season thus far. He didn't allow a hit until the 4th inning. Through 5 innings, he had allowed only a single and a walk. And he led 1-0, because, as he so often does, Masahiro Tanaka allowed a home run in the 1st inning, to Brandon Nimmo. The Mets had scored only 1 run for him thus far, but it looked like it would be enough.

Then came the top of the 6th. deGrom got Miguel Andujar to ground out. Then Tanaka's spot in the order came up. Yankee manager Aaron Boone spent the majority of his playing career in the National League, and knew Tanaka had reached base exactly twice -- a single in 2014 and a walk in 2015 -- in 25 major league plate appearances. But he took a chance anyway.

It paid off, as Tanaka hit a ground ball to 2nd base. Asdrubal Cabrera handled it properly, and threw it to 1st base, where Adrian Gonzalez did not handle it properly. From 2006 to 2016, for the San Diego Padres, the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, "A-Gon" was one of the best power hitters in baseball. But he's been beset by injuries, he's stopped hitting, he was never a good fielder, and he just turned 36.

Adrian Gonzalez may wear Number 23 and play 1st base in New York, but he's no Don Mattingly. And, because he'd blown this play, Tanaka was on 1st.

Gleyber Torres, Cashman's prize prospect, singled. Brett Gardner drew a walk to load the bases. And here come Da Judge. Aaron Judge has reached the point where he knows that you don't have to hit the ball 400 feet every time up. Sometimes, a sacrifice fly will do. This time, a sac fly did, and the game was tied.

But Tanaka got hurt running home. He's been placed on the Disabled List. It's not as bad as Chien-Ming Wang, 10 years to the month before, but, once again, the National League looks like assholes for not adopting the designated hitter. (In Interleague Play, the home team's League makes the rules.)

Jonathan Holder got the Mets out 1-2-3 in the 6th. Boone should have left him in, but, apparently, he brought Joe Girardi's binder with him, and brought Chad Green in for the 7th. Green a pair of 2-out singles, but worked out of the jam.

With 2 out in the 8th, Torres singled, and Gardner hit a home run. Dellin Betances got the Mets out 1-2-3 in the 8th. Giancarlo Stanton added a home run in the 9th. Understandable, since no opposing player has hit more home runs at Citi Field than he has. He also hit the stadium's longest home run so far, a 468-footer with the Miami Marlins on May 30, 2015.

As he so often does, Aroldis Chapman made the 9th inning more interesting than it needed to be, but got the job done: He hit Nimmo with a pitch, allowed a single to Cabrera to bring the tying run up with nobody out, then got Michael Conforto to fly out to deep center, got former Yankee Todd Frazier to ground into a force play, and got Jay Bruce to fly to right.

Yankees 4, Mets 1. WP: Green (4-0), because the game was still tied when Tanaka left. SV: Chapman (16). LP: deGrom (4-1).

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On Saturday night, once again, the Mets scored in the 1st inning. And, once again, they blew the lead. This time, it was 3-0, off Domingo German, including home runs by Frazier and Cabrera.

German settled down after that, and Torres hit a home run in the 3rd inning. Andujar hit one in the 6th, tying the game, and that would be it for Steven Matz.

New Met manager Mickey Callaway brought in Anthony Swarzak. Swarzak is, in baseball parlance, a bum. The Yankees figured this out in 2016, releasing him at age 31. The Mets picked him up at 32. And the 1st batter he faced was Judge, who crushed his delivery to left field.

Yankees 4, Mets 3. WP: David Robertson (5-2). SV: Chapman (17). LP: Swarzak (0-1).

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The Sunday night game was what Met fans were hoping to get for deGrom's start. The Yankees got only 3 hits all game long, a single by Greg Bird and 2 singles by Andujar. Funny how Luis Severino has only lost 2 games all year, but they're to the 2 teams that Yankee Fans hate the most: The Boston Red Scum and the Mutts. He gave up a home run to Frazier, and that was that.

Mets 2, Yankees 0. WP: Seth Lugo (2-1). SV: Swarzak?!? Yes, Swarzak (1). LP: Severino (9-2).

So the Mets salvaged a game at home, when they had a chance at a sweep.

But, as we've established, the Yankees are the best team in New York (at least), while the Mets are a joke.

And are the Yankees, or their fans, supposed to show sympathy for the Mutts and their hard-luck hurler deGrom? We just lost a pitcher at least as good as he is, Tanaka, because their stupid League won't get with the modern world and allow the DH. To Hell with sympathy for the Mets!

Girardi, Pineda, Bullpen Blow the Sanchez Show; Josh Hamilton Blows His Own Show

The Yankees should have won last night's series opener in Seattle against the Mariners. After all, they got what should have been enough runs.

But they sure didn't get enough pitching. Michael Pineda started, and the Yankees gave him a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the 4th inning, thanks to home runs by rookie sensation Gary Sanchez and Starlin Castro. But Pineda couldn't hold it, and the inning ended 3-2 Mariners.

The rest of the game was essentially a rerun. In the top of the 6th, the Yankees retook the lead, thanks to home runs by Sanchez and Castro. Sanchez already has 8 home runs in the brief time he's been up, Castro 17 in this 1st season as a Yankee.

But, again, Pineda couldn't hold it. The leadoff batter in the bottom of the 6th was former Yankee Robinson Cano, and he singled. Pineda got Nelson Cruz to pop up, but he walked Kyle Seager to put the tying runs on base.

Joe Girardi did the right thing, and took Pineda out of the game. But then he did some serious Joe Girardi-ing: He brought Tommy Layne in to pitch to Adam Lind, and it worked: Lind popped up, and the infield fly rule was called. Layne got the out.

But instead of leaving Layne in to pitch to the next batter, Mike Zunino, he took Layne out, in favor of Anthony Swarzak. Why? Because Layne and Linda are both lefthanded, and Zunino and Swarzak are both righthanded.

Any manager who uses his brain would have left Layne in. But Girardi uses that damned binder of his, and with a full count, Zunino crushed a home run to right field, turning 5-3 Yankees into 6-5 Mariners.

I could blame Swarzak, but the truth is that Swarzak wouldn't have been in there if Girardi had a goddamned clue! He doesn't!

The game was essentially over right there. The Mariners tacked another run on in the 8th, to make the final Mariners 7, Yankees 5. WP: Nick Vincent (3-3). SV: Edwin Diaz (10). LP: Swarzak (1-2).

The series continues tonight, though without much point for the Yankees, as Girardi (and general manager Brian Cashman) have thrown a decent shot at the Playoffs away. CC Sabathia starts for the Yankees tonight, Taijuan Walker for the M's.

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In other baseball news, the Texas Rangers dumped Josh Hamilton for the 2nd time today. From 2008 to 2011, he was a great redemption story. But his relapses with alcohol and cocaine from 2012 onward, coupled with his injuries from 2014 onward and his infamous performance with the Los Angeles Angels in the 2014 American League Division Series against the Kansas City Royals, have tarnished him, perhaps to the point of no return.

He was the hero (but not the winner) of the 2008 Home Run Derby at the old Yankee Stadium, and the AL Most Valuable Player in 2010, powering the Rangers past the Yankees in the AL Championship Series, partly due to Girardi trusting the pathetic Boone Logan in not 1 but 2 lefty-on-lefty situations that resulted in long home runs.

Now, he has a .290 lifetime batting average, and exactly 200 home runs. He didn't reach the major leagues until he was 26, was a star from 27 to 32, and, at 35, may well be done.

People, especially in sports, love to give a fallen hero a second chance. They tend not to give a third. It goes from, "You disappointed us, but we still have faith in you" to, "You let us down. Again. Just go away, already! We don't want to see you anymore!"

Unless, of course, you're Alex Rodriguez. Some Yankee Fans would like to give him yet another chance.

There is a difference here, though: The drugs Josh Hamilton has been ingesting are most definitely not enhancing his performance.

UPDATE: The Rangers did bring Hamilton back for the 2017 season, but he hurt his left knee again. He was operated on, and while rehabbing that knee, hurt the right one. He was released on April 21, 2017. Through April 30, 2019, he hasn't been signed by any other professional baseball team, at any level, anywhere in the world, and he hasn't appeared in a major league game since October 11, 2015.

August Showers Bring Girardi's Folly

Q: If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?
A: Pilgrims.
-- Old Joke

If April showers bring May flowers, what do August showers bring? Apparently, stupid managing by Joe Girardi. August showers bring Girardi's Folly.

This past Tuesday, the Yankees looked to be doing very well. Especially since they were playing 1st place Toronto, those pesky Blue Jays. They had already won the 1st game of the series, and were now leading the 2nd game 6-0 after 5 innings.

This included 3 home runs: 2 by rookie sensation Gary Sanchez, the 3rd and 4th of his career; and 1 by Didi Gregorius, his 16th of the season. Didi is now showing so much power, he's batting 3rd in the order.

Michael Pineda was pitching beautifully: 5 innings, no runs, 4 hits, no walks, 2 strikeouts. He had thrown 68 pitches. That's an average of 13.6 pitches per inning. At that rate, he should have at least gotten through the 7th inning. This would have made Girardi's job a lot easier.

Then the rain came. Had the umpires called the game, it would, due to 5 innings having been played, have been official, and a Yankee win.

Instead, the delay was 45 minutes, and the umpires gave the signal to play ball. And Girardi sent Anthony Swarzak out to relieve.

What a stupid thing to do. And I don't want to hear that Pineda is "injury-prone": If he can't go at least 6 innings, then he shouldn't be in the major leagues at all, much less on the Yankees. And I don't to hear that he "stiffened up": This new Yankee Stadium has room in its clubhouse area for him to keep fresh by throwing warmup pitches. If that means he pitches only 6 innings instead of 7, so be it. But Pineda should have been left in there.

But instead of doing the smart thing, which would have been to send a very effective starting pitcher back out there, Girardi panicked, and turned to that damned binder of his again, and read that he had to take Pineda out, and put in Swarzak.

Swarzak allowed 4 runs on 4 hits before Girardi realized what a stupid thing he'd done by taking Pineda out. He removed Swarzak for Tommy Layne, who got the last out in the top of the 6th.

Tyler Clippard pitched a perfect 7th inning. Gee, maybe Girardi should have left him in for the 8th inning. But no: Girardi trusted Adam Warren. Never trust Adam Warren. I don't care how well he's done for the Yankees since we traded Aroldis Chapman for him and 3 guys who may never make it: I don't trust Warren any further than I can throw him. (And, as the saying goes, with my bad knee, I shouldn't be throwing anybody.)

Warren did exactly what I feared he would do when we brought him back: Turned a Yankee lead (in this case, 6-4) into a deficit. He got only 1 out. Girardi replaced him with Chasen Shreve, and he didn't get anybody out. Warren allowed 4 runs in the top of the 8th. So did Shreve.

That's 8 runs in 1 inning, because Brian Cashman traded 2 star closers, forcing Dellin Betances into the 9th; and because Girardi doesn't trust his starters, and because he can't manage a bullpen to save his life.

Blake Parker had to come in to get the last 5 outs of the game. But it was too late: With Pineda on the mound, it was 6-0 Yankees; with the bullpen, it was 12-0 Jays.

Blue Jays 12, Yankees 6. WP: Scott Feldman (6-4). No save. LP: Warren (4-3).

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Then, on Wednesday, came the dreaded D-GANG: Day Game After a Night Game. CC Sabathia started, and, well, it looks like the Big Fella has had it. Instead of his usual 1 bad inning, he had 2, allowing 3 runs in the 2nd and 4 in the 5th.

Kirby Yates pitched a scoreless 7th, Layne a scoreless 8th, and Swarzak, by no means redeeming himself, a scoreless 9th. Sanchez hit another home run (his 5th), Starlin Castro hit one (his 15th), and Chase Headley hit one (his 11th). But it was all for naught.

Blue Jays 7, Yankees 4. WP: J.A. Happ (17-3, and looking like a Cy Young Award winner). SV: Antonio Osuna (27). LP: Sabathia (7-10).

*

The Yankees were 12 outs away from closing to within 4 1/2 games of the American League Eastern Division lead. Now, thanks to Cashman's dimwitted trades and Girardi's idiotic bullpen management, they're 7 1/2 games behind Toronto (7 in the loss column), with 42 games to play.

I've said that if you've got fewer games behind than weeks remaining, you have a legitimate chance at the Division. The Yankees are 7 1/2 games behind, and, after this weekend, there will be 6 weeks left.

Nice going, Brian and Joe. The Idiot Twins.

Tonight, the Yankees start a series in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels of... Oh, for crying out loud, just move to that new stadium they're building for the Rams. No, wait, then, you'd have to call yourselves the Los Angeles Angels of Inglewood.

Here are the projected pitching matchups:

* Tonight, 10:05 PM (7:05 local time): Masahiro Tanaka vs. Jered Weaver, brother of Jeff F.

* Tomorrow, 9:35 PM (6:35): Luis Cessa vs. Ricky Nolasco.

* Sunday, 3:35 PM (12:35): Chad Green vs. Jhoulys Chacin.

Headley won't be playing for a few days, due to a sore Achilles tendon. Brett Gardner won't play tonight, due to his ankle, but he might be back tomorrow.

Cold Bats, Girardi Blow It For Yanks Again

I'm going to have to retitle this blog "A Song of Ice and Fire Joe Girardi."

When you hold your opponents to 2 runs over the 1st 20 innings of a series, you should at least win the 1st 2 games, right?

The Yankees have done that in this series. And it hasn't worked out that way.

Ivan Nova started for the Yankees against the San Francisco Giants yesterday, and was fantastic. He went 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. He should have been allowed to stay in the game.

But Girardi looked in his binder, and saw that the still-cruising Nova had thrown 96 pitches, and removed him.

At first, it looked like a good decision: Andrew Miller pitched a perfect 8th, Aroldis Chapman kept the Giants from scoring in the 9th and the 10th, and Dellin Betances -- despite a near-wild pitch on an intentional walk that only failed to lose the game because Angel Pagan, on 3rd base, didn't take enough of a lead and couldn't score -- pitched a scoreless 11th. At which point, it was still 1-1.

But when you're the Yankees, in Yankee Stadium with that short porch in right field, you should score more than 1 run in 11 innings. (That they scored only 3 runs in 21 innings in these 2 games is atrocious, even if they did win the 1st game.)

But aside from a Mark Teixeira single and a Mark Williamson error in right field that got Didi Gregorius home in the 4th inning, the Yankees got nothing. They loaded the bases with 1 out in the 11th, and got nothing. Credit the Giants' pitching, sure, but the Yankees should still do better than that.

Girardi brought Anthony Swarzak in to pitch the top of the 12th, and he allowed a leadoff double by Trevor Brown. After getting a groundout, he allowed a game-winning single to Mac Williamson (whose home run off Nova scored the Giants' 1st run).

The Yankees, of course, went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 12th. Giants 2, Yankees 1. WP: Santiago Casilla (2-3). SV: Hunter Strickland (2). LP: Swarzak (1-1).

I don't blame Swarzak. The Yankees should have gotten more than 1 run, more than 9 hits, in 11 innings, to prevent a 12th inning loss.

Blame this one on the cold bats, and blame it on Giardi and his damn binder. They combined to blow it, again.

The series concludes this afternoon. Nathan Eovaldi starts against Johnny Cueto. Girardi has already said he won't use Betances, Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman today, due to his recent bullpen fuckups. Of course, once Eovaldi reaches 95 pitches, Girardi will panic, and go to the bullpen. Who will it be? Chasen Shreve? Nick Goody? Thank God it won't be Boone Logan, but don't be surprised if the Yankees are close through 6 innings and get blown out thereafter.

Also, rumors are running rampant that Aroldis Chapman is going to be traded. Don't believe them: There is no one the Yankees could get that would equal the value of a lockdown closer. Brian Cashman is short-sighted, but he's not that stupid.

Mike Piazza is inducted into the Hall of Fame today. First time a known steroid user goes in. So I guess it's safe to let David Ortiz in? Fine, but what about Alex Rodriguez? Or Andy Pettitte, whose offense was trivial by comparison? Or Mike Mussina, who was totally clean?

Ken Griffey Jr. also goes in. As far as we know, he was clean.

Nate Is Nasty Again, Beats Birds

The Yankees won the 1st game of their big series against the 1st place Baltimore Orioles, but they had to keep it going in the 2nd game last night.

Nathan Eovaldi was restored to the starting rotation after a bullpen sojourn, itself following 4 bad starts in a row.

Looks like said sojourn was just what the doctor ordered: We got the old Nasty Nate back. Joe Girardi let him pitch into the 6th inning, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks, before taking him out as he seemed to be getting into trouble. Anthony Swarzak got out of the jam, then pitched the 7th and the 8th, going 2 2/3rds perfect.

Starlin Castro hit a home run in the 2nd inning, his 11th of the season, driving in Didi Gregorius ahead of him. That's all the Yankees needed, as it turned out, though they did get another home run, from Chase Headley, his 9th.

Sounds to me like, with the trading deadline of July 31 approaching, Headley does not want to be traded. Hey, if he keeps hitting like this, let's keep him.

Nick Goody pitched a perfect 9th to put the bow on the O's. Or should I go for the alliteration instead of the rhyme, and said it put the bow on the Birds?

Either way: Yankees 7, Orioles 1. WP: Eovaldi (8-6). No save. LP: Vance Worley (2-1).

For the 1st time in ages, the Yankees are above .500, at 47-46. They are 6 1/2 games behind the Birds, 7 in the loss column.

The series continues tonight. Michael Pineda starts against Yovani Gollardo. It concludes tomorrow afternoon, with CC Sabathia starting against Chris Tillman. Let's go, Yankees!

Parmelee Powers Yanks Past Angels

Last night, the Yankees needed a spark. They got it, and blew up the house.

Nathan Eovaldi started against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and fell behind in the top of the 1st inning. But in their 1st 4 batters of the game, the Yankees got a double from Jacoby Ellsbury, an RBI double by Brett Gardner, a popup from Carlos Beltran (easily forgivable due to his current hot streak), and an RBI single from Alex Rodriguez. 2-1 Yankees.

The Angels struck back with 2 runs in the 2nd, 1 in the 3rd, and 1 in the 5th. Nasty Nate did not have his good stuff. But Ellsbury led off the bottom of the 3rd with a home run, his 3rd of the season, off Jered Weaver, brother of Jeff F. Weaver (and you know what the F stands for). In the 4th, Chris Parmelee doubled, and came home on a Gardner single. That tied it at 4-4, before the Angels made it 5-4 in the top of the 5th.

Then came the bottom of the 6th, and the aforementioned needed spark. Parmelee took Weaver deep, with his 1st homer as a Yankee, to tie the game. With 1 out, Ellsbury walked, Gardner singled, Beltran doubled, A-Rod grounded out, and Brian McCann singled. 8-5 Yankees.

Didi Gregorius led off the bottom of the 7th with a single, and Parmelee hit his 2nd Yankee homer. Ronald Torreyes reached on an error, and Beltran hit one out, continuing said hot streak with his 16th homer.

Anthony Swarzak, a true journeyman (he even spent part of last season in Korea's baseball league), finished the 6th inning for Eovaldi, became the pitcher of record, and also pitched the 7th, allowing just 1 baserunner. Kirby Yates pitched a scoreless 8th, and Nick Goody allowed a meaningless homer by Mike Trout in the 9th.

Yankees 12, Angels 6. WP: Swarzak (1-0). No save. LP: Weaver (5-5).

The Yankees have now taken the 1st 3 games of the series, and go for the sweep tonight. Ivan Nova starts against Jhoulys Chacín, whom the Angels recently acquired from the Atlanta Braves. His name is pronounced "Yo-LEASE Sha-SHEEN." He's Venezuelan, but the pronunciation looks more Gaelic.

I'm hoping to see more of the heavy hitting the Yankees have put up lately.