Yankee Injury Update

On the team website, the Yankees issued the following update as to when the injured players should return:

* Gary Sanchez: Maybe tomorrow. He caught 5 innings in a rehab game for Class A Charleston last night, and Cashman hinted that he could be called up for the game in Anaheim tomorrow night. That sounds a little soon. I'd give him a full series at Double-A or Triple-A first. Maybe play him for Trenton tomorrow, and then the weekend for Scranton. Plus, the way that Austin Romine and Kyle Higashioka have played in his absence, there's no reason to rush El Gary back.

* Giancarlo Stanton: May. He is with the team on the Coast, and, according to Cashman, is "moving closer to on-field batting practice."

* Aaron Hicks: May. He is at the minor-league complex in Tampa, swinging a bat and throwing. Boone says he "probably isn't too far off from being ready to play in rehab games."

* Troy Tulowitzki: May. He's at the Tampa complex, taking batting practice and ground balls.

* Dellin Betances: May 25. He will be cleared to resume throwing on May 4, and Brian Cashman says he expects him to return "three weeks after that." So Hicks and Betances give us as close as we're going to get to clear short-term good news on any of these guys.

* Miguel Andujar: Not clear, since they don't yet know if he's going to have surgery on his shoulder. But they are encouraged by his progress, so he could return in May. If he decides to have surgery, though, he's out for the season.

* Aaron Judge: May, probably. Cashman says, "There is no timetable for Judge's return," but, "It will be more than two weeks." Two weeks from today would be May 7.

* Greg Bird: May or June. Given his foot injury, his poor hitting at the start of this season, and the rise of Voit, Bird's return is hardly a priority. We don't want him to be in pain, but having him on the Yankee roster, and fully able to play, wouldn't help much. He may be a career backup from this point onward, through little fault of his own.

* Ben Heller: June. The reliever had Tommy John surgery in April 2018, and is now throwing off a mound.

* Didi Gregorius: Sometime in the Summer. He's at the Tampa complex, taking batting practice and making infield throws. Cashman says his recover "has gone off without a hitch so far." He could be back in June. Then again, Cashman isn't exactly Joe Namath when it comes to making predictions.

* Luis Severino: July. With his recent rotator cuff setback, he's been shut down until May 21. If German can continue to pitch decently as a spot starter, this loss won't be all that big. If Sevy can come back the way he was, it will be a huge boost. Cue another Arsenal reference: It would be "like a new signing."

* Jordan Montgomery: July. He had Tommy John surgery in June 2018, and is working on building up his velocity in Tampa.

* Jacoby Ellsbury: Who knows. He's become the Carl Pavano of position players: Hurt the Yankees in postseason play for another team, came to the Yankees, helped a little, got hurt, and has barely played since. He hasn't played since October 2017, had hip surgery in August 2018, and has been limited to light running.

*

This is also a good time to do a countdown update:

Days until Arsenal play again: 1, tomorrow, at 2:45 PM New York time, away to Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Birmingham area. Despite having advanced to the Semifinal of the UEFA Europa League, Arsenal laid an egg on Easter Sunday, losing 3-2 at home to a not very good team, Crystal Palace of South London, seriously denting their hopes of qualifying for next season's UEFA Champions League and finishing ahead of North London arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 4, next Saturday night at 7:00, at home, their 1st-ever competitive game against MLS expansion team FC Cincinnati.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 37, on May 30, at Yankee Stadium II. (I previously had this incorrectly listed as being at Fenway Park.)

Days until the next Women's World Cup kicks off: 45,  on Friday, June 7, in France. Under 7 weeks. The U.S. team is 3-time and defending Champions.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 46, on Saturday night, June 8, against the Philadelphia Union, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. The next game against New York City FC will be on Sunday night, July 14, at Red Bull Arena. 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.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 56, on Tuesday, June 18, at the brand-new Allianz Field in St. Paul, home of Minnesota United, in the opener of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Exactly 8 weeks.

Days until the Yankees and Red Sox play each other in London: 67, on June 29. Under 10 weeks.

Days until Arsenal play in America: 83. Under 12 weeks. On July 15, they will visit the Denver suburbs to play the Colorado Rapids. On July 17, they will visit the Los Angeles suburbs to play Bayern Munich. On July 20, they will visit Charlotte to play AS Roma. And on July 23, they will visit the Redskins' stadium in the Washington suburbs to play Real Madrid. This almost certainly means no Emirates Cup this Summer.

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, as both Premier League matches, and a League Cup match, have been played this season. The next season starts on August 10, which is 109 days from now, but the PL never puts a Derby on the opening weekend. The Gunners and Spurs usually play each other in N5 in October or November, and then in N17 in February or March.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 130, on August 31, home to the University of Massachusetts. A little over 4 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, because the 2019 schedule hasn't been released yet. Usually, the next season begins on the 1st Friday in September, which would be September 6, which would be 136 days. It has been announced that East Brunswick and its arch-rivals, Old Bridge, will no longer play each other on Thanksgiving Day. In fact, many of the local Thanksgiving rivalries have been moved back to the opening night, September 6. Whenever the Big Green play the Purple Bastards, it will be under a new head coach, because Bob Molarz, in charge for the last 6 seasons, has resigned.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: Unknown. Traditionally, a new NHL season begins on the 1st Thursday in October, which would be October 3, which is 163 days from now. The new schedule is usually released around June 20 or so. We shall see.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: Unknown. But the Devils never open against either the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum; the New York Islanders; or the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 221, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. A little over 7 months.

Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 239, on December 18, 2019. Under 8 months.

Day until the premiere of the final Star Wars film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: 241, on December 20, 2019.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 273, on January 21, 2020. Under 9 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 458, on July 24, 2020. Under a year and a half, or a little over 15 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 560, on November 3, 2020. A little over a year and a half, or under 19 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 621, on January 3, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 21 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 638, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 21 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: 1,018, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or under 34 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,308, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 4 years, or under 43 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.

Yanks Survive Weird Marathon at Fenway

If ever there was a "must-win" game for the Yankees in mid-July, this was it. If they had lost yesterday's game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, it would pretty much have meant that the season was over. But a win would have put them legitimately back in the American League Eastern Division race.

It may have been the fulcrum game of the 2017 season. And before it was over, a lot of people were asking, "What the fulcrum is going on?"

It's Yankees vs. Red Sox at Fenway. This is a matchup where anything can happen, and so much does.

Luis Severino started for the Yankees. He was terrific. And, knowing that today would feature a rain-forced doubleheader, Joe Girardi knew that his usual 95-pitch limit for starting pitchers would have to go out the window. He let Sevy throw 114 pitches in 7 innings, and he allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6.

It is unfair to ask more of a starting pitcher than that, especially at the little green pinball machine in the Back Bay. The only run Sevy allowed was in the 3rd inning, on 2 walks, an infield single, and a sacrifice fly.

Unfortunately, that 1 run stood up, as Chris Sale, Boston's big acquisition of the offseason, was also brilliant, taking a 13-strikeout shutout into the top of the 8th inning. He allowed a leadoff walk to Brett Gardner in the 1st, a leadoff double by Starlin Castro in the 2nd, a double by Gary Sanchez in the 3rd, a grounder resulting in an error that allowed Chase Headley to reach 1st base in the 4th, and a leadoff walk by Castro in the 7th -- and he stranded them all. He allowed a single by Gardner in the 8th, but was relieved by Craig Kimbrel, and he stranded Gardner.

Girardi brought Tyler Clippard in to pitch the 8th inning. Tyler Clippard. At Fenway Park. I couldn't look. Sure enough, Clippard allowed a leadoff single to Tzu-Wei Lin. But it worked: He got the next 3 guys out.

In 93 appearances with the Red Sox over the last year and a half, Kimbrel had never blown a save at Fenway. (He has 279 for his career, having led the National League 4 times while with the Atlanta Braves.) But a 1-run lead is never safe at Fenway, and Matt Holliday showed why, taking him 443 feet over the Green Monster. Tie ballgame.

The Yankees threatened for more: Castro then reached on an error, and was replaced by pinch-runner Jacoby Ellsbury, who stole 2nd. But Kimbrel then struck out the side: Headley, Didi Gregorius and Ji-Man Choi.

Bottom of the 9th. Girardi thought for himself, instead of looking in his binder, and decided to save Aroldis Chapman for the bottom half of a later inning, in case the Yankees got a lead in the top half. He brought in Dellin Betances, and he got the Sox out 1-2-3.

The Yankees got a 2-out walk from Sanchez in the 10th, but couldn't get him home. Now, Girardi was managing in extra innings. There has got to be something in the Geneva Conventions against this.

He started by bringing Chasen Shreve on. He allowed 2 singles. The winning run was on 2nd with nobody out. Girardi got Shreve out of there, and brought in... Adam Warren? No, no, no... Yes, yes, yes: Warren got the next 3 guys out.

Then came the top of the 11th, and this is where it got weird. Holliday drew a leadoff walk. Ellsbury grounded to 1st base, and 1st baseman Mitch Moreland decided not to go for the easy out at 1st, but for the lead runner at 2nd, Holliday. Given that outs are at a premium at Fenway, this might not have been the best move.

Seeing this, Holliday went back toward 1st. Xander Bogaerts, the Sox shortstop, took Moreland's throw as if Holliday had kept going to 2nd, stepped on the bag for the forceout, and threw back to 1st. Moreland -- apparently, no relation to 1980s Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs player Keith Moreland -- stood for the throw, but it hit Ellsbury, who was still entitled to try and reach the base, and bounced into foul territory. Ellsbury was safe.

Red Sox manager John Farrell argued that Holliday interfered, much like Reggie Jackson was accused of doing in Game 4 of the 1978 World Series. Gary Cederstrom, the umpires' crew chief, gathered his men, talked it over, and decided that Holliday hadn't interfered, intentionally or otherwise, and let Ellsbury keep 1st base.

Farrell told Cederstrom that the Sox were playing the rest of the game under protest. However, the Yanks ended up not scoring in the inning, so the protest is pointless: Even if the play is overturned, the result will not be affected.

Austin Romine walked to lead off the top of the 12th, but was erased by a double play. Aaron Judge walked with 1 out in the top of the 13th, but was stranded. Ellsbury walked to lead off the top of the 14th, and Headley singled him to 2nd, but the Yankees couldn't get them home. Judge walked again with 2 out in the top of the 15th, but, again, was stranded.

Meanwhile, Girardi made a good move, letting Jonathan Holder pitch 3 innings, in which he allowed just 1 baserunner. Then he brought Chapman in for the bottom of the 14th, and while he walked a batter, he didn't let him score. He brought Ben Heller in to pitch the bottom of the 15th, and that worked, too.

This would be the best game Girardi has managed all season -- if only the Yankees could push a run across. But it went to a 16th inning, making it the longest Yanks-Sox game at Fenway in 51 years, a 6-3 Boston win on June 4, 1966, on a walkoff home run by Jim Gosger (yeah, surrre) off THE Dooley Womack (2 Ball Four references there). The Yanks and Sox played a 19-inning game in The Bronx on April 19, 2015, a Sox win.

The question now was, Would either manager have any pitchers available for the rest of the series? Farrell brought in Doug Fister, who was supposed to start on Tuesday night. Ellsbury led off the inning, and, using his experience as a former Red Sock, crashed a drive off the Green Monster, pulling into 2nd for a double. Headley singled to center -- but while the Monster giveth, it also taketh away: Despite his speed, Ellsbury was unable to score on the play.

That would not be the case on the next one: Gregorius singled him home, and brought Headley to 3rd. Romine singled home Headley. Ronald Torreyes bunted the runners over. Gardner was intentionally walked to set up the double play. But Sanchez flew to left, and the sac fly was enough to get Sir Didi home.

Girardi left Heller in to finish the job: He got Dustin Pedroia to ground to 2nd, Bogaerts to fly to right, and Moreland to fly to center.

After 16 innings, and 520 pitches between the 2 teams over 5 hours and 50 minutes, the game was finally, fully in the books. Yankees 4, Red Sox 1. WP: Heller (1-0). No save. LP: Fister (0-3).

*

So now, the Yankees are 3 1/2 games behind the Sox, 2 in the loss column, as we have 3 games in hand on them.

Today, because of a rainout earlier in the season, we have a full day of baseball. At 1:05, on TBS, CC Sabathia will start for the Bronx Bombers, Rick Porcello for The Scum. CC was supposed to start in Minnesota tomorrow night, with Bryan Mitchell going in this game. But with the bullpen so exhausted, Mitchell is needed there.

Masahiro Tanaka starts the 2nd game, against David Price, with the first pitch on ESPN scheduled for around 8:00. Tanaka could have been moved up to start the 1st game, thus giving CC a few additional hours of rest, but Tanaka has a much better record at night, and CC is more likely to go long anyway, which our relievers will need. (It is, of course, legal for a player, including a pitcher, to appear in both games of a doubleheader.)

I said before the series that the Yankees needed to take 3 out of 4. A split of today's games means a split of the series, and, at this point, I'd take it.

Come on you Bombers! Beat The Scum!

Yanks Take 2 of 3 From Reeling Defending Champs

The Kansas City Royals won the World Series last year. They've won the last 2 American League Pennants. This time, like the Yankees, they're struggling just to get into the Playoff race.

On Monday night, struggling wasn't necessary for the Royals, because it was what Michael Pineda was doing. Again. He was supposed to be an ace, but he may not even make the rotation next year if Brian Cashman does his job.

Stop laughing.

Pineda struck out 8 and walked none in just 5 innings. But he also allowed 5 runs on 7 hits. That is unacceptable. The Yankees also let former Met Dillon Gee hold them to 1 run in 6 innings. Also unacceptable.

It was only 3-1 Royals going to the bottom of the 7th, but after Kendrys Morales singled to lead off the inning, Joe Girardi relieved Pineda with Tommy Layne. Good move: He got Alex Gordon to ground into a fielder's choice.

Naturally, you let the effective pitcher stay in. Except Girardi immediately took him out, and brought in Blake Parker. What the hell? He gave up a 402-foot home run to Alcides Escobar. Then he gave up a single to Raul Mondesi Jr. Then he got Jarrod Dyson to ground out, but then he gave up a single to Cheslor Cuthbert and a walk to Lorenzo Cain.

Only then did Girardi take him out. And he brought in... Kirby Yates?!? Yates gave up an RBI single to Eric Hosmer, before striking Morales out to end the inning. The Royals had batted around, and scored 5 runs.

Why? Partly because Girardi is a blithering idiot when it comes to the bullpen, and partly because Cashman gutted the bullpen to get a bunch of "prospects," so Girardi couldn't bring Dellin Betances in for the 7th, Andrew Miller for the 8th and Aroldis Chapman for the 9th. But if Girardi had simply let Layne stay in the game... I don't know what would have happened, but I'm pretty sure the Royals would have scored fewer than 5 runs in the inning.

Then the Yankees scored 4 runs in the top of the 8th, the highlight being a 2-RBI double by Didi Gregorius. It could have been Yankees 5, Royals 3. Instead, because Girardi and Cashman were idiots, it ended Royals 8, Yankees 5. WP: Gee (6-7). SV: Kelvin Herrera (11). LP: Pineda (6-11).

Absolutely unacceptable.

*

On Tuesday night, the Yankees took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the 3rd, including a long home run by Aaron Judge. It was still 4-2 Yankees going to the bottom of the 6th, because Masahiro Tanaka, as he usually does, was pitching very well.

Then, like the blithering idiot that he is, Girardi took Tanaka out! He'd only thrown 71 pitches, and was pitching well. At that rate, he should have at least been allowed to pitch through the 7th.

For the bottom of the 6th, Girardi sent in Adam Warren. Adam Warren? Who sends Adam Warren in to pitch? A blithering idiot, that's who! Warren allowed a run to make it 4-3. To make this game even stranger, former Yankee Chien-Ming Wang was pitching for the Royals.

Girardi sent Tyler Clippard in for the 7th, and he kept it at 4-3. But when Clippard walked Cain to start the 8th, Giardi panicked, and brought in Betances for the 6-out save. Betances blew it: 4-4. He managed to make it no worse in the 8th or the 9th, and the game went to extra innings.

Brian McCann led off the top of the 10th with a single off Joakim Soria. Girardi sent Aaron Hicks in to pinch-run for him. Chase Headley singled. Soria struck Judge and Tyler Austin out, then uncorked a wild pitch (only wild pitches and wine bottles ever get "uncorked"), to send Hicks to 3rd base and Headley to 2nd. Soria gave Brett Gardner the old unintentional intentional walk, to set up the force play at every base. But Jacoby Ellsbury hit a grounder to 3rd, and Hicks scored.

Girardi sent the newly called-up Ben Heller to pitch the bottom of the 10th, and he had rookie jitters. He hit Mondesi. He let Mondesi steal 2nd. He gave up a single to Dyson that got Mondesi to 3rd -- as the tying run with nobody out. He let Dyson steal 2nd. Then he struck out Cain, and Girardi told him to intentionally walk Hosmer.

Then Girardi pulled Heller for Chasen Shreve. What kind of a bonehead bullpen decision was this?!? No kind: Shreve struck Morales out, and got Salvador Perez to fly to center to end the game.

Whew. Yankees 5, Royals 4 in 10. WP: Betances (3-4). SV: Shreve (1). LP: Soria (4-6).

Lucky. Of course, it never should have come to that. A 4-0 lead had been blown. As they would say in English soccer, "Four-nil, and you fucked it up!" And, again, Cashman's gutting of the bullpen was an issue.

*

On Wednesday night, Luis Cessa started, and did not have good stuff. He managed to get through 6 innings, allowing 4 runs, 3 of them earned, on 6 hits and a walk. Not bad, but hardly effective. Shreve kept it going from the previous night, as he pitched a scoreless 7th and a perfect 8th. Girardi brought Layne in for 1 batter (again), and then Warren, and, between them, they pitched a perfect 9th.

Against former Yankee Ian Kennedy, the Bronx Bombers struggled for 5 innings. But Ellsbury led off the 6th with a single, Gary Sanche drew a walk, Mark Teixeira hit a sacrifice fly to get Ells to 3rd, and Gregorius hit another sac fly to score Ellsbury. Then Starlin Castro crushed a 415-foot drive to left-center, his 19th home run of the year, and it was 4-3 K.C.

With 1 out in the 7th, Hicks drew a walk, and Royals manager Ned Yost had seen enough of Kennedy. I guess he asked not what his starting pitcher could do for him, and asked what he could do with his bullpen. He brought in Scott Alexander, and he was neither Great Scott nor Alexander the Great. Gardner singled Hicks over to 3rd, and Ellsbury brought him home with a game-tying sac fly. This time, it was the Royals who'd fully blown a 4-0 lead.

This one also went to extra innings. Parker redeemed himself with a perfect bottom of the 10th, and worked out of a jam in the 11th. Heller pitched a perfect 12th.

Gregorius led off the top of the 13th by beating out a grounder to 1st. Castro smacked a double to left, sending Didi to 3rd. McCann hit yet another sac fly, and Didi scored.

Betances walked Cuthbert to start the bottom of the 13th, and, as we all know, those walks'll kill you, especially the leadoff walk. This is why the double play is known as The Pitcher's Friend, and Betances got Hosmer to ground into one. Then he got Morales to fly to right to end it.

Yankees 5, Royals 4 in 13. WP: Heller (1-0, his 1st major league win). SV: Betances (7). LP: Chris Young (3-9).

The Yankees came close to sweeping this series. They came even closer to getting swept.

*

So here's how things stand, with the Yankees having 30 games left: The Toronto Blue Jays lead the American League Eastern Division, the Boston Red Sox are 2 games behind them, the Baltimore Orioles are 4 games back, the Yankees are 6 1/2 back (6 in the loss column), and the Tampa Bay Rays are 19 1/2 games back, out of the race.

In the Wild Card race, the Red Sox hold the 1st slot, and the Orioles and the Detroit Tigers are tied for the 2nd. The Houston Astros trail by 1 game, the Yankees by 2 1/2 (2 in the loss column), the Royals by 3, and the Seattle Mariners by 4.

So the Yankees are very much in the Wild Card race, and the Division is still a possibility, especially with 7 games left against Toronto, 7 against Boston and 6 against Baltimore.

And tonight, the Yankees begin a 3-game series away to those Orioles, before coming home for a big, big 3-game series against those pesky Blue Jays. Here are the projected pitching matchups:

* Tonight, 7:05 PM: Chad Green vs. Dylan Bundy.

* Tomorrow, 7:05 PM: CC Sabathia vs. Kevin Gausman.

* Sunday, 1:35 PM: Pineda vs. Wade Miley.

Come on you Bombers! Let's roast those Birds. Smoke 'em like Boog Powell does to that meat out behind the right-field wall at Camden Yards!