Yanks Begin 2nd Half With Lots of News, Not Much of It Good

Tonight, the Yankees begin the official, though not numerical, 2nd half of the regular season, in Scum Town, facing The Scum at Scumway Park.

As you might have guessed, I want to win these games. The Yankees go into the series 3 1/2 games behind Boston in the American League Eastern Division, 2 in the all-important loss column, having lost 17 of their last 25 games, now only 45-41, 4 games over .500.

Taking at least 3 out of 4 is a must, to send the Red Sox the message that we aren't going to let them run away with the Division, that we are going to battle them to the end. And if we can take all 4, well, sure, that would be even better.

The projected pitching matchups are as follows:

* Tonight, 7:10 PM: Jordan Montgomery vs. Drew Pomerantz.

* Tomorrow, 4:05 PM: Luis Severino vs. Chris Sale.

* Sunday, 1:05 PM, opener of a rain-forced doubleheader: Bryan Mitchell vs. Rick Porcello.

* Sunday, 8:00 PM, the originally-scheduled game of the day: Masahiro Tanaka vs. David Price.

Why is Mitchell starting? Because that was supposed to be Michael Pineda's spot in the rotation, but his elbow is hurting, and he's been told he needs Tommy John surgery -- in his contract year, no less. His contract runs out at the end of this season, and there goes any shot he had at a big payday. Most likely, the Yankees won't try to re-sign him, so he has probably pitched in Pinstripes (and road grays) for the last time. Indeed, there's a not-insignificant chance that he may never appear in the major leagues again.

Mitchell is starting because it's too soon in the rotation for CC Sabathia, who will start in Minnesota on Monday, or Luis Cessa, who will start on Tuesday.

In addition, 1st baseman Greg Bird, who seemed so promising at the end of 2015, but has missed all of last season and most of this season due to injury, may need surgery again. We probably won't see him until Spring Training next year, and possibly never again.

With this in mind, Brian Cashman finally decided to do his job, and fill a major hole. He sent little-used pitcher Tyler Wade to the Milwaukee Brewers for Garrett Cooper. He is expected to make his major league debut tonight, at 1st base. He's 26, and, despite having hit like hell for Triple-A Colorado Springs, the Brewers had not yet chosen to bring him up to The Show. So what does that tell you? It tells me that Cashman was getting a guy on whom his previous team had given up.

There is some good injury news: Matt Holliday, who's been sick, should return tonight. Starlin Castro's had a bad hamstring, but is expected to return tomorrow.

But we need more good news. Can we possibly get it against The Scum this weekend? Stay tuned.

*

Days until The Arsenal play again: 1, tomorrow morning, 6:00 AM our time, as they complete their 2-game excursion in Australia. Having beaten defending A-League Champions Sydney FC 1-0 yesterday, they will play the preceding club's local rivals, Western Sydney Wanderers, also at Stadium Australia in Sydney.


Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 1, tomorrow night at 7:00, in the Group Stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, against Nicaragua, at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, home of the NFL's Cleveland Browns. They opened Cup play with a sluggish 3-2 win over Martinique in Nashville.

Days until the Red Bulls play again: 5, next Wednesday night at 7:30, home to the San Jose Earthquakes. This past Wednesday night, they advanced to the Semifinal of the U.S. Open Cup, by, for the 2nd time in 9 days, going on the road and winning a "derby" against the New England Revolution, having taken a league game against them the previous week. It wasn't long ago that Metro couldn't beat the Revs away, no matter what they did.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 23, on Sunday, August 6, against New York City FC at Yankee Stadium. They will next play the Philadelphia Union on Sunday, September 17, at at Red Bull Arena. They will next play the D.C. Scum on Saturday, September 27, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. They are not scheduled to play the Revs again this season. The Red Bulls might make the Playoffs, but the Revs probably won't, so they almost certainly won't face each other again until next season.

Days until the Premier League season begins: 28, on Friday, August 11. Just 4 weeks. The Arsenal open the season at home to Leicester City, in a game moved back from the intending opening to suit British TV.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series (after this one): 28, on Friday, August 11, at Yankee Stadium.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 49, on Friday, September 1, home to the University of Washington. Just 7 weeks.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 56, on Friday night, September 8, home to Sayreville, a "derby." Just 8 weeks.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: 85, on Saturday night, October 7, home to the Colorado Avalanche. Under 3 months.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 92, on Saturday night, October 14, against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan. Their 1st game against the New York Islanders will be on Sunday, January 7, 2018, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn -- and they'll have played the Rangers 3 times by then. Their 1st game against the Philadelphia Flyers will be on Saturday, January 13, 2018, at the Prudential Center in Newark -- and they'll have played the Rangers 3 times and the Islanders once by then. This is a weird schedule. But at least we have it. The NBA usually doesn't release its new season's schedule until August.

Days until the Alex Rodriguez Contract From Hell officially runs out, and the Yankees can spend his salary on new players: 109, on October 31.

Days until the next election for Governor of New Jersey: 116, on Tuesday, November 7. Under 4 months until we elect Phil Murphy, defeat Kim Guadagno, and end Christieism forever. But only if you vote!

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 120, on Saturday, November 11, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

Days until the next North London Derby: 127, on Saturday, November 18, at the Emirates Stadium. This game could be moved to the following day, for TV purposes.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving high school football game: 132, on Thursday, November 23, at 10:00 AM. Under 5 months, and thank God it's at home, at Jay Doyle's Green Grove, rather than at that purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Pyeongchang, Korea: 214, on February 9, 2018. Under 7 months.

Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 335, on June 14, 2018. Just 11 months. Has Bruce Arena turned our chances around? Maybe. Or maybe, with the tournament on his soil, Vladimir Putin will tell his bitch Donald Trump to tell Bruce Arena to tank the games. Maybe not. Or maybe only if we end up playing Russia. I don't think Arena will listen. If he doesn't, I hope his life insurance is paid up, because Putin has had people killed for defying him.

Days until September 2018 roster call-ups, when we can finally start to expect seeing most of these wonderful "prospects" for whom Yankee general manager Brian Cashman threw away a chance at the 2016 Playoffs: 414. A little over a year, or 13 1/2 14 months. Of course, Clint Frazier is already up, but we've hardly benefited. We could end up seeing another of them sooner than that, but since most of them are at Double-A Trenton now, if that, who's kidding who?

Days until the next Congressional election: 480, on November 6, 2018. Under a year and a half, or a little under 16 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 544, on January 9, 2019. A little under a year and a half, or a little under 18 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 909, on January 8, 2020. A little under 2 1/2 years, or a little under 30 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,114, on July 24, 2020. A shade over 3 years, or 36 months.

Days until the next Presidential election: 1,576, on November 3, 2020. Under 3 1/2 years, or a little under 40 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 1,654, at noon on January 20, 2021. A little over 3 1/2 years, or a little over 42 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.

Yankees Mess With Texas, Clobber Astros

The Houston Astros have the best record in baseball, mainly due to their terrific pitching, The Yankees went into last night's opener of a 3-game series with them at Minute Maid Park having lost 12 out of their last 16, and reeling with injuries.

Cliche Alert, and cue John Sterling talking to Suzyn Waldman: "You know, Suzyn, you just can't predict baseball."

The Astros took a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning, but the Yankees tied it in the 3rd. The Astros took the lead back in the 4th, 3-1. But that would be it for them.

Then came the top of the 6th, and the Yankees unloaded the lumber. Didi Gregorius led off with an infield single. Chase Headley struck out, but Lance McCullers Jr. walked Austin Romine.

Astro manager Chad Hinch brought Michael Feliz in to relieve. This was a Girardi binder-style panic move, and I wouldn't have expected it from Hinch, who's a pretty smart guy. After all, he's 1 of only 5 managers ever to take the Astros to the postseason. The others are Bill Virdon (1980 and '81), Hal Lanier (1986), Larry Dierker (1997, '98, '99 and 2001) and Phil Garner (2004 and '05).

Ronald Torreyes greeted Feliz with a looping single that scored Gregorius. 3-2 Astros. Tyler wade struck out, but Chris Carter...

Yes, the Yankees' injury situation has led them to bring back Carter, who had been designated for assignment. And you thought we were free at last.

Carter brought the inning's 2nd infield single, scoring Romine and tying the game. Then Brett Gardner gave the Yankees the lead, singling home Torreyes. Then Jacoby Ellsbury singled, scoring Carter, and the runners took an extra base on an error. Then a ball four to Aaron Judge turned into a wild pitch, scoring Gardner. 6-3 Yankees.

There was more to come in the 7th. Hedy led off with a single. (That's "Headley!") Romine singled. Torreyes drew a walk to load the bases. Wade grounded into a fielder's choice, with the play going home to eliminate Headley. Carter struck out -- as he does. But the bases were still loaded, and Brett Gardner welcomed us to the deli, with a grand salami, his 15th home run of the season. 10-3 Yankees.

That's 2 big innings. Thank you, sirs, may I have another? Apparently, I may: Torreyes and Wade both walked to start the 9th. Carter, Mr. Consistently Inconsistent, went back to being good, nearly hitting one out, settling for a double that scored Torreyes. Gardner hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Wade, Gardy's 6th RBI of the game. An Ellsbury groundout brought Carter home to round out the Bronx Bomber scoring.

This was a rare game in which Joe Girardi used only 2 pitchers. He started Michael Pineda, and let him pitch 6 innings, allowing 3 runs, only 1 of them earned, on 7 hits, and (I love seeing this stat by a Yankee pitcher) no walks, with 3 strikeouts.

Having thrown only 91 pitches, Pineda could have pitched the 7th inning. And, at that point, the Yankees were only leading by 3 runs, hardly an insurmountable lead -- especially given that Minute Maid Park is nicknamed "The Juice Box," because of its corporate name and the fact that it's a bandbox. It was originally named Enron Field, and nicknamed Ten Run Field.

Girardi let Bryan Mitchell pitch the rest of the way. This was clearly a move designed to give Mitchell some confidence. He did not pitch badly: He went 3 innings, throwing 30 pitches, 24 of them for strikes. He allowed 1 run on 2 hits and no walks. Were those same proportions spread over 6 innings -- 2 runs on 4 hits and no walks, although it's hard to imagine a pitcher throwing only 60 pitches in 6 innings -- we'd call it a "quality start," and we'd be right.

Mitchell's performance, although good, demonstrates the oddity of the save rule. According to the rule, a pitcher is credited with a save if his team wins the game, he is their last pitcher, he cannot be credited as the winning pitcher, and 1 of these 3 guidelines is met:

1. He comes in with a lead of no more than 3 runs, and pitches at least 1 inning. Or...
2. He comes in with the tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck. Or...
3. "He pitches effectively for at least three innings."

That's the exact language: He "pitches effectively," and does so for at least 3 innings, which Mitchell did by pretty much any standard.

In other words, If the Yankees led 20-0 after 6 innings, and Girardi brought Tyler Clippard in to pitch the 7th, and let him also pitch the 8th and the 9th, and the final score turned out to be Yankees 25, Astros 24 -- an incredibly unlikely occurrence, but with Girardi, and with Clippard, we can't say it's impossible -- then, despite having allowed 24 runs in 3 innings, given the facts that the Yankees won the game, Clippard was the last Yankee pitcher, wasn't the winning pitcher, and the Yankees never lost the lead, meant that he could be credited with a save.

Granted, that's not what happened here. Still, the save is a bit of a weird category.

At any rate, it's a win, and a very impressive one, given the opponent and the fact that it was on the road. Yankees 13, Astros 4. WP: Pineda (8-4). SV: Mitchell (1). LP: Feliz (4-2). I love it when somebody messes with Texas.

The Boston Red Sox also won last night, and they won this afternoon as well. Currently, the Yankees are a game and a half behind the Sox in the American League East, but, with 3 games in hand, begin July still even with them in the all-important loss column.

The series continues tonight. Jordan Montgomery starts for us, Francis Martes for them.

Girardi Blows Sweep of Orioles

The Yankees looked like they were going to sweep the Baltimore Orioles, whom they'd knocked out of 1st place. Jordan Montgomery had pitched 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and 2 walks. Meanwhile, a 430-foot home run by Matt Holliday in the 1st inning, followed in the 3rd inning by walks by Starlin Castro and Aaron Judge and a single to Chase Headley, gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

But in the top of the 6th, Montgomery walked Manny Machado and Mark Trumbo. Cliche alert: Leadoff walks will kill you. Joe Girardi panicked, and took Montgomery out of the game. He brought in Jonathan Holder, who proved he is inaptly named, because he couldn't hold the lead, he couldn't hold the line, he couldn't even hold my beer.

He allowed a single to Welington Castillo, an RBI groundout by Trey Mancini, a double to Jonathan Schoop, an RBI groundout to Craig Gentry, and a walk to J.J. Hardy, before finally ending the inning by getting Joey Rickard to line out. 4-2 Baltimore.

Then Girardi didn't let Holder pitch the 7th. Good idea. He sent Tyler Clippard in to pitch it. Good idea: He kept it 4-2. Then he replaced Clippard with Dellin Betances for the 8th. Bad idea. Not because Betances didn't pitch well (he did, keeping it 4-2), but because, now, Girardi had wasted 2 Pitchers: Betances, and Bryan Mitchell, whom he brought in for the top of the 9th. (He also kept it 4-2.)

And if that had been the worst of it, I wouldn't have liked it, but I could have lived with it. Except the Yankees came back in the bottom of the 9th. With 1 out, Holliday singled. Castro grounded into a fielder's choice, becoming the lead runner with 2 out. Judge drew a walk. Oriole reliever Darren O'Day balked the runners over, meaning a hit could now tie it.

Buck Showalter came out of the Oriole dugout to argue the call. He was thrown out of the game. He really is not a good manager.

Headley drew a walk. Didi Gregorius singled to tie the game, sending Headley to 3rd. With Chris Carter up, he stole 2nd on fielder's indifference. All we needed Carter to do was somehow get on base and keep it going. But he took a called 3rd strike. Extra innings.

What happened next was straight out of the What the Hell File. Mitchell had pitched the 9th inning for the Yankees, and, for the 10th, knowing that his complete stupidity when it comes to handling the bullpen had left the Yankees short of pitchers, Girardi took Carter off 1st base... and put Mitchell there!

And brought in Aroldis Chapman, the closer. As a result, Girardi had to make a double switch: Moving the pitcher to a fielding position means that the designated hitter is forfeited, and the pitcher must bat, which would have been a huge problem the longer the game went on.

Joe Girardi forgot which League he was in! This was a total National League move.

This was the 1st time a Yankee pitcher had played a position other than catcher since June 11, 1988, also home to Baltimore, when Rick Rhoden was, of all things, the designated hitter. This was due to an injury crisis.

The last time before that, it was August 18, 1983, with Ron Guidry moving to center field for the bottom of the 9th inning. This was due to American League President Lee MacPhail overruling his umpires and declaring the Yankees' July 24 game against the Kansas City Royals to not be over, and let George Brett's pine-tar-aided home run stand (when it shouldn't have), and the manager decided to show MacPhail up. Both times, the manager was Billy Martin.

How would Billy have handled this game? He would have let Montgomery try to pitch out of trouble in the 6th inning, and avoided this situation in the first place.

The right thing to do would have been to keep ex-starter Clippard in, into the 10th. Girardi didn't do that.

And what happened? The 1st batter of the 10th, Castillo, hit a pop-up to 1st... and Mitchell dropped it. And, given a chance he never should have had, got a hit.

Chapman then struck Mancini out; got Schoop to pop up to 1st, with Mitchell catching this one; and struck Gentry out. Mitchell was off the hook -- for the moment.

In the bottom of the 10th, Austin Romine singled. Brett Gardner beat out a bunt. Aaron Hicks bunted the runners over. So it was 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. A sacrifice fly would have won the game.

Girardi sent Greg Bird up to pinch-hit for Chapman. Obviously, he meant to bring Mitchell back to the mound (which was legal, if stupid because Mitchell never should've been on the mound in the first place, so he wouldn't have had to be moved in the second place and now moved back in the third place), and move Bird to 1st base, in case there was a top of the 11th.

Bird was hit with a pitch. Bases loaded, 1 out. The Yankees should have had this.

But Castro grounded to short. Hardy threw home to get Romine out. Now 2nd and 3rd with 2 out. And Judge, who's already come through several times, did not on this occasion, striking out swinging.

Girardi did indeed send Mitchell out for the top of the 11th. He got the 1st out, then a single, then a 2nd out, then a stolen base, then an intentional walk. Then back-to-back singles, producing 3rd runs.

The Yankees went out quietly in the bottom of the 11. Orioles 7, Yankees 4. WP: Logan Verrett (1-0). No save. LP: Mitchell (1-1)

But the loss should really be charged to Girardi and his damn binder. This ended a run of the Yankees winning 14 of their last 17 games.

*

So, 4 weeks into the 26-week regular season, and with April complete, here's how the American League Eastern Division looks: The Yankees and Orioles are both 15-8, tied for 1st place; the Boston Red Sox are 2 1/2 games back, 3 in the loss column; the Tampa Bay Rays are 4 1/2 back, 6 in the loss column; and the Toronto Blue Jays are 8 back, 9 in the loss column.

If the current MLB standings were to hold until the end of the season, the Orioles (due to the Yankees having the head-to-head tiebreaker) would host the Chicago White Sox in the AL Wild Card game; the loser would face the Yankees, and face the winner of the Cleveland Indians vs. Houston Astros Division Series in the League Championship Series; the Los Angeles Dodgers would visit the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Wild Card game, the winner would face the Washington Nationals in the Division Series, and the winner of that series would face the winner of one between the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago Cubs.

The Yankees are in decent shape. Tonight, they begin a series at home to Toronto, with all 3 games starting at or around 7:05 PM. Here are the projected starting pitchers:

* Tonight: Luis Severino vs. Marco Estrada.

* Tuesday: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Mat Latos.

* Wednesday: CC Sabathia vs. Marcus Strohman.

*

Days until the Red Bulls play again: 5, this Saturday night at 7:00, away to the Philadelphia Union, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. This is a local "derby." On Saturday, they beat the Chicago Fire 2-1.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": See the previous answer. They will play away to the Union again on Sunday, June 18. They will next play the New England Revolution on Saturday, May 27, at Red Bull Arena. They will next play a Hudson River Derby against New York City FC on Saturday, June 24, at Red Bull Arena. And they will next play the D.C. Scum on Saturday, September 27, at Red Bull Arena.

Days until The Arsenal play the FA Cup Final: 26, on Saturday afternoon, at 12:30 (5:30 in the afternoon, their time), against West London club Chelsea, at the new Wembley Stadium. That's a little under 4 weeks. Since their ignominious defeat to North London neighbors Tottenham Hotspur guaranteed that they would finish behind Tottenham for the 1st time in 22 years, and virtually assured that they won't finish at least in the Top 4 and thus at least qualify for the UEFA Champions League, there's no point in posting the next time Arsenal play, until they go after a record 13th Cup.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 33, on Saturday night, at 8:00 local time (10:00 Eastern), against Venezuela, in an international friendly at Rio Tinto Stadium, the Sandy, Utah home of MLS' Real Salt Lake. That's a little over a month. This is a warmup for the following week's CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers, the following Thursday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver suburbs, against Trinidad & Tobago, and the following Sunday against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. At the very least, the T&T game is a must-win.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series: 36, on Tuesday, June 6, at 7:05 PM, at Yankee Stadium II.

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, as the schedule for the 2017-18 season can't be released until after the season is over, since we don't yet know which 3 teams are being relegated and which 3 are being promoted. The soonest it would be is the 1st Saturday of the new season, which would be August 12. That's 103 days. But derbies rarely kick off the season, so it will probably be a lot more.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 123, on Friday, September 1, home to the University of Washington. Exactly 4 months. This game had been set for the following day, but has been moved back.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, as the 2017 schedule hasn't been released yet. I now know that high school football games have been scheduled in Middlesex County, New Jersey on Friday night, September 8. That's 130 days from now.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: We don't know, as the 2017-18 NHL schedule has yet to be released. The NHL season usually begins on the 2nd Friday in October, which, in 2017, would be... ugh... Friday the 13th. That's 165 days. Under 6 months.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: See the previous answer, although the 1st game isn't likely to be against either the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders or the Philadelphia Flyers.

Days until the Alex Rodriguez Contract From Hell officially runs out, and the Yankees can spend his salary on new players: 183, on October 31.

Days until the next election for Governor of New Jersey: 190, on Tuesday, November 7, 2017. A little over 6 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 194, on Saturday, November 11, 2017, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving game: 206, on Thursday morning, November 23, 2017, at 10:00. Under 7 months, and thank God it's at home at Jay Doyle's grove, rather than at the purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 409, on June 14, 2018. A bit over a year, or under 14 months. Has Bruce Arena turned our chances around? Or will Trump ruin them? Maybe, with the tournament on his soil, Putin will tell Trump to tell Bruce Arena to tank the games. Maybe not. Or maybe just if we end up playing Russia. I don't think Arena will listen. I hope his life insurance is paid up, because Putin kills people.

Days until September 2018 roster call-ups, when we can finally start to expect seeing some of those wonderful "prospects" for whom Yankee general manager Brian Cashman threw away a chance at the 2016 Playoffs: 488. Under a year and a half, or exactly 16 months. Of course, we could end up seeing one or more of them sooner than that, but since most of them are at Double-A Trenton now, if that, who's kidding who? Then again, at the rate the Yankees are going now, we may not need them!

Days until the next Congressional election: 554, on November 6, 2018. Under 2 years, or a little under 19 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 618, on January 9, 2019. Under 2 years, or 20 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 983, on January 8, 2020. Under 3 years, or 32 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,149, on July 24, 2020. Under 3 1/2 years, or a little over 38 months.

Days until the next Presidential election: 1,251, on November 3, 2020. Under 4 years, or a little over 42 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 1,329, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 4 years, or a little under 45 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad.

Yanks Back to .500, and Clicking

After a day off following the home opener, the Yankees faced the Tampa Bay Rays again yesterday afternoon. Jordan Blackmon Montgomery, a 24-year-old lefthanded pitcher with a name like a law firm, made his major league debut. He was pitching to Kyle Higashioka, who had already played but not yet started. It was the 1st time since 2003 that the Yankees had a pitcher and a catcher both making their major league starting debuts.

It didn't start out so well. In the 1st inning, Montgomery hung a curveball to Rickie Weeks, and it was 2-0 Rays. He settled down after that mistake, which shows some character, and got to the 5th, when an error forced an unearned run, making it 3-0. Joe Girardi took him out, and so he finished with 4 2/3rds innings pitched, 3 runs, 2 of them earned, on 5 hits and 2 walks, with 7 strikeouts. Overall, not good, but encouraging.

Bryan Mitchell came in, finished the 5th, and pitched a perfect 6th. The Yankees came back, as Rays starter Blake Snell didn't get out of the 5th, either. A bases-loaded walk to Aaron Hicks and a wild pitch made it 3-2.

In the 6th, Rays manager Kevin Cash brought Jose "Jumbo" Diaz in to pitch. Jumbo, indeed: At 6-foot-4 and listed as 315 pounds, he makes CC Sabathia look normal-sized. Starlin Castro led off by reaching 1st on an infield single. Chase Headley singled, then so did Aaron Judge, tying the game. Higashioka tried to bunt the runners over, and Headley did get to 3rd, but Judge was thrown out at 2nd.

Cash brought Xavier Cedeno in to relieve. Brett Gardner hit it back to him, and collided with Weeks at 1st base, allowing Headley to score the go-ahead run. Both Gardner and Weeks had to leave the game. Gardner is listed as day-to-day with a bruised jaw and a strained neck.

Gardner is known for his speed, so it was weird to see someone pinch-run for him, but he was injured. Ronald Torreyes took over on 1st, and Jacoby Ellsbury singled home Higashioka. Hicks grounded to 2nd, scoring Torreyes.

In the bottom of the 7th, Judge crushed a drive into Monument Park, measured at 435 feet. It was his 3rd home run of the season, and his 3rd straight game with a homer.

The Rays scored in the 8th, but Aroldis Chapman came on to slam the door. Yankees 8, Rays 4. WP: Mitchell (1-0). SV: Chapman (1). LP: Diaz (0-1).

The Yankees started the season at 1-4, and looking terrible. They are now 4-4, back to .500, and clicking in spite of injuries. In other words, doing what the Yankees usually do when they do well.

The series concludes tonight at 7. Luis Severino starts against Matt Andariese. Come on you Pinstripes!

Yanks Sweep Jays, Back In Race for Title 28

When Brian Cashman traded Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Carlos Beltran and Ivan Nova for the failed Adam Warren and 247 "prospects" who might never make it, I figured the season was over.

I'm the guy who sees that it's still mathematically possible for the Yankees to make the Playoffs, and thinks that the World Series can still be won. I'm the guy who, no matter how bad it might look, will quote the late, great Yogi Berra: "It ain't over 'til it's over." But I figured it was over.

Silly Uncle Mike. O, me of little faith. The Yankees just swept those pesky Toronto Blue Jays, and they're back in the race.

*

Monday was Labor Day, so the game was a matinee at Yankee Stadium II. The Jays came in as the 1st place team in the American League Eastern Division, and their fans were talking smack on social media. They've made the Playoffs once in 23 years, and their fans are acting like they're the ones with the 27 World Championships.

R.A. Dickey, once a Cy Young Award winner with the Mets, only pitched 4 innings for the Jays, because the Yankees did this interesting thing that they frequently did not do enough of earlier in the season: They drove in runs. The Jays led 1-0 in the 1st, but Jacoby Ellsbury made it 2-1 Yanks with a home run, only his 7th of the season. He also singled in a run in the 3rd, and Tyler Austin drove in 2 runs with a single in the 4th.

Masahiro Tanaka started for the Yankees, and pitched into the 7th inning. A 7th inning in which Joe Girardi used 4 pitchers: Tanaka, Jonathan Holder, Ben Heller and Tommy Layne. Between them, they held the Jays to 2 runs. Tyler Clippard pitched a perfect 8th, and Dellin Betances a perfect 9th.

Yankees 5, Blue Jays 3. WP: Tanaka (12-4). SV: Betances (9). LP: Dickey (9-14... Pitching in the American League is hard!)

Attendance: 42,141. Understandable, you say? Because the Yankees are close, it was a holiday, and the weather was good? Not really: The Yankees hadn't been close most of the season, and a storm had been hanging off the coast for a few days. So this was actually a very good attendance figure.

*

The Tuesday night game was the Yankee season, thus far, in a nutshell. Emphasis on the nut.

Luis Cessa started, and pitched decently, but was trailing 2-1 when he left in the 6th, his run coming on the 17th homer of the season by Brian McCann. Tyler Austin gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead with his 2nd homer in the 7th. But Warren and Layne both allowed runs in the top of the 8th, and it was 4-3 Jays.

Cliche alert: Those walks'll kill you, especially leadoff walks. Ellsbury drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the 8th. Didi Gregorius nearly hit one out, driving Ellsbury in with a game-tying triple. Starlin Castro brought Didi home with a sacrifice fly. McCann walked, and then Chase Headley hit one out, making it 7-4 Yanks. This made Chasen Shreve, who closed out the 8th inning, the pitcher of record.

That was the 13th homer of the season for the much-maligned Headley. It might turn out to be the most important home run of the season.

No longer having Chapman or Miller, Girardi brought Betances in to pitch the 9th. This was the 3rd night in a row that Betances had pitched, and he had nothing. Again, "Those walks'll kill you, especially leadoff walks." He walked Jose Bautista. Then he walked Josh Donaldson. Then he threw a wild pitch. Then Edwin Encarnacion beat out an infield hit, and it was 7-5.

Betances struck out former Yankee catcher Russell Martin, but he walked another former Yankee catcher, Dioner Navarro. (Both he and Encarnacion were removed for pinch-runners.) Melvin Upton Jr. beat out an infield hit, and that scored Donaldson.

Now it was 7-6 Jays, the bases were loaded, and there was only 1 out. #YankeesTwitter, myself included, was going berserk. We were cursing Betances (perhaps unfairly), Girardi (very fairly), and Cashman (especially fairly, since he'd decimated the bullpen for these alleged prospects that we didn't need with Scranton and Trenton doing so well).

Girardi had seen enough: He took Betances out, and brought in Blake Parker. He struck out Kevin Pillar, and then Justin Smoak hit a sinking liner to left that looked like it might make the score 8-7 Toronto. But Brett Gardner made a "Holy cow!" catch, and... exhale.

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 6. WP: Shreve (2-1). SV: Parker (1). LP: Jason Grilli (4-3). Attendance: 27,532, and given that it was a Tuesday night game, between the 1st place Jays and the struggling Yanks, a figure that low, held down by low walk-up sales, is understandable.

*

Last night's game had all the hallmarks of a Yankee loss. The opposition was both good and angry. Our starting pitcher, Bryan Mitchell, was a lightly-regarded prospect. Our closer, Betances, was unavailable due to overwork. And the Jays' starter, Marcus Stroman, has a good record against us. And, when it was over, the Yankees had converted 9 hits and 2 walks into only 2 runs -- coming on a Castro home run (his 20th) and a McCann single, both in the 3rd.

But Mitchell went 5 innings, allowing 4 hits, 2 walks... and no runs. Luis Severino came in, and pitched 3 innings, allowing just 1 hit and 1 walk... and no runs. Clippard pitched a perfect 9th.

Yankees 2, Blue Jays 0. WP: Mitchell (1-0). SV: Clippard (1). LP: Stroman (9-7). Attendance: 30,501. Maybe the fans are getting the message.

The Blue Jays sure got the message: The Yankees swept them, and knocked them (for the moment) out of 1st place.

*

When this series began, the Yankees were 6 1/2 games out of 1st place in the AL East, and 4 1/2 games out of the 2nd Wild Card slot. It looked bad.

Now? The Boston Red Sox are in 1st place, 1 game ahead of the Jays, 2 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, and just 4 1/2 ahead of the Yankees, 4 in the loss column. In the Wild Card race, the Yankees trail the O's by 2 1/2, 2 in the loss column.

There are 24 games left. Anything can happen. Including Title 28.

Tonight, the Yankees begin a 4-game home series with the Tampa Bay Rays, in last place in the AL East. With the Sox and Jays playing each other in Toronto this weekend, and the O's away to the Playoff-contending Detroit Tigers, this is a good chance to gain some more ground.

Here are the projected starting pitchers:

* Tonight, 7:05 PM: CC Sabathia vs. Alex Cobb.

* Tomorrow, 7:05 PM: Michael Pineda vs. Blake Snell.

* Saturday, 4:05 PM: Tanaka vs. Chris Archer.

* Sunday, 1:05 PM: Cessa vs. Matt Andariese.

Come on you Pinstripes!

Yanks Spit the Bit Before Today's Recovery

The Yankees went into this weekend 4-game series with those pesky Toronto Blue Jays knowing it was the most important series of the season -- at least, until the last remaining series in Toronto starting on September 21.

As the late owner George Steinbrenner, a big horse racing fan, would say, the Yankees spit the bit.

On Friday night, we were looking forward to Luis Severino continuing to show everyone what an ace looks like. Instead, he showed everyone what a 21-year-old rookie pitcher looks like. His 1st 6 batters: Double, home run, strikeout, double, single, home run. Five runs on one out. It became 6-0 before he was mercifully lifted in the 3rd.

Didi Gregorius hit a home run (his 9th) and an RBI single, but that's all that was worth talking about that night. Russell Martin hit a home run... ah, but he doesn't play for the Yankees anymore, does he?

Blue Jays 11, Yankees 5. WP: David Price (15-5). No save. LP: Severino (3-3).

*

Losing is no good, but put a loss in the past, and win your next games, and things will be all right. The Yankees had to play a doubleheader yesterday, because the Thursday night game was rained out.

They'd have been better off trying to play in the rain. Leading 4-1 after 4 innings, including Alex Rodriguez' 31st home run of the season (the 685th of his career), Brett Gardner's 14th and Chase Headley's 11th, Michael Pineda fell apart in the 5th, allowing home runs to Ben Revere and Edwin Encarnacion (the latter always seems to hit he Yankees well).

That tied the game, and, in the 8th, Dellin Betances served up a gopher ball to Jose Bautista, another guy who always seems to hit well against the Yankees and makes me call the Blue Jays "pesky." It was his 2nd of the game, and his 35th of the season. (Can somebody please test this guy for steroids?) But the Yankees got the run back in the bottom of the 8th, and the game went to extra innings.

Extra innings has not been kind to the Yankees the last few years. The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the 9th and the 10th. The 11th? Better you shouldn't ask: Joe Girardi looked in his binder, and saw, "Bring in Bryan Mitchell." Results: Walk, hit by pitch, walk, strikeout. It was after the strikeout that Girardi pulled Mitchell. Huh?

He replaced Mitchell with Chasen Shreve. Results: Based-loaded walk, strikeout, RBI single to load the bases, bases-loaded walk, bases-loaded walk. That's right: Three walks with the bases loaded in one inning. The sort of thing that happens to the Mets. (Except in 1969, late 1973, 1984 to 1990, the 2006 regular season, 2007 and 2008 until September... and this year.)

Girardi brought in Nick Goody, who ended the inning. Headley led off the bottom of the 11th with a single, and Greg Bird followed with a double, so there was hope. But the Yankees didn't get anything else.

Blue Jays 9, Yankees 5. WP: Liam Hendriks (5-0). SV: Ryan Tepera (1). LP: Mitchell (0-2), although this one is on Girardi and his damned binder.

*

The Saturday night game was also plagued by rain. Unfortunately, it would be resumed and played to a conclusion. Equally unfortunately, that conclusion was bad.

Ivan Nova got shelled, and didn't get out of the 2nd inning. 6-0. The Yankees got to within 6-4 after 6, including a home run by Brett Gardner. But the 7th inning was pitched by Chris Capuano and Branden Pinder. What are these two bums doing in the major leagues, let alone on the Yankees? By the time they were done futzing it up, it was 10-4 Toronto.

Gardner hit another homer in the 8th, giving him 16 on the season, but who's kidding who? Blue Jays 10, Yankees 7. WP: Marcus Stroman (1-0), who hadn't pitched all season due to injury, until now. SV: Mark Lowe (1). LP: Nova (6-8).

*

Going to bed last night, the race for the American League Eastern Division title felt over. Waking up this morning, it didn't feel any better.

But Masahiro Tanaka took the mound for the Yankees, and reminded us of what an ace looks like. After 28 hours of the Jays treating Yankee pitchers like McDonald's workers with masters's degrees and student loan debt, they only got 4 hits, no walks, and no runs off Action Hiro in 9 innings. He struck out 7.

Girardi must've finally said, "To Hell with the binder, I'm letting this guy pitch a complete game." Either that, or, "I have to let this guy pitch a complete game, because I don't have a relief pitcher whose arm doesn't hurt like the dickens from me overusing it." (And whose fault is that, Joe?)

But you gotta give your pitcher runs, or it doesn't matter how well he pitches. And, finally, the Yankees found a pitcher they could beat: R.A. Dickey, the elderly knuckleballer who used to pitch for the Mets. Dustin Ackley hit his 1st Yankee home run, his 7th of the season.

Yankees 5, Blue Jays 0. WP: Tanaka (12-6). No save. LP: Dickey (10-11).

*

So here's how things stand, with just 3 weeks of the regular season remaining:

* The Yankees are 78-64, 3 1/2 games behind the Jays in the AL East, 3 in the all-important loss column.

* The Kansas City Royals have the AL Central all but wrapped up, leading the Minnesota Twins by 10 1/2.

* The AL West is tight. The Houston Astros lead the Texas Rangers by a game and a half, with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4 1/2 back.

* The current AL Wild Card leaders are the Yankees and the Rangers. The Twins trail the Rangers by a game, the Angels by 3, the Cleveland Indians by 4, the Tampa Bay Rays by 6, the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles by 6 1/2, the Boston Red Sox by 7, and the Chicago White Sox by 7 1/2.

* The Mets seem to have the National League East in hand for the 1st time since 2006 -- only the 2nd time since 1988. They lead the Washington Nationals by 9 1/2 games.

* The St. Louis Cardinals lead the NL Central, but neither the Pittsburgh Pirates (2 1/2) nor the Chicago Cubs (6 1/2) are going away just yet, quietly or otherwise.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers look set to win the NL West, leading the San Francisco giants by 7 1/2.

* The current NL Wild Card leaders are the Pirates and the Cubs. The Giants trail the Cubs by 7 1/2, and they're the only team not currently in the NL's 5 slots that looks to have a chance. Ironically, while no AL team is officially eliminated from Playoff consideration yet, 6 NL teams are.

*

The Yankees now go on a roadtrip. They play 3 in St. Petersburg against the Rays, before coming not-quite-home to play 3 against the Mets at Citi Field, a series that will go a long way toward either cementing the Mets' status as NL East Champions, or proving that Met fans are, as usual, cementheads who were yet again foolish to "gotta believe." Then, the 3 games in Toronto that will likely decide whether the Yankees win the AL East title, or have to face a 1-game Playoff to get into the Playoffs proper.

As things stand, barring an injury, Monday night, October 4, the night of the Wild Card play-in game, would be Tanaka's turn in the rotation.

I like our chances. But, A, why take the risk; and, B, Tanaka might not have his good stuff that day, or he might be overworked on that previously-injured elbow.

In the words of former Astro and Cardinal pitcher Joqauin Andujar (who died last week), baseball can be summed up in one word: "Youneverknow."

A-Rod Powers Yankee Comeback In Grand Fashion

Last night's Yankee game against the Minnesota Twins was never going to be easy, what with the bullpen being fully used the night before, and the still-shaky CC Sabathia starting. Of all the things CC eats, innings no longer seems to be among them.

CC was fine for the 1st 6 innings. In fact, for the 1st 4, he was perfect. He didn't allow a baserunner until 1 out in the 5th. But a walk, a single and a double led to a Minnesota run.

In the 7th, he gave up a 2-run home run to Miguel Sano, and set up another run that Nick Rumbelow was unable to prevent. Rumbelow is a righthanded Texan, about to turn 24, and was making only his 7th major league appearance.

Former Met Mike Pelfrey started for the Twins, and, except for a double by Carlos Beltran and a single for the 1st major league RBI by Greg Bird, he was really good for 5 innings. The Yankees threatened in the 6th, leading Twins manager Paul Molitor to call on his bullpen, but we got no closer.

It was 4-1 Twins and not looking good when Chase Headley led off the bottom of the 7th with a single to left. Brendan Ryan drew a walk. Jacoby Ellsbury flew to right, deep enough to move Headley over. Brett Gardner drew a walk -- one of those "unintentional intentional walks" -- to load the bases.

The batter was Alex Rodriguez. Funny thing, I don't remember A-Rod hitting his 24th career grand slam, to break the long-standing major league record of Yankee Legend Lou Gehrig.

I'll remember his 25th, though. A-Rod was the 1st batter faced by Twins rookie (but not debuting) reliever J.R. Graham, and Graham wishes it was somebody else. A-Rod crushed a drive to right-center for a grand slam. 5-4 Yankees.

The Yankees didn't stop there. Bird led off the 8th with a single, Didi Gregorius added another, Headley doubled them both home, Ryan sacrificed Headley to 3rd, and Ellsbury singled him home.

Justin Wilson got the 1st 2 outs in the 8th, and Andrew Miller gave us a 4-out save. Yankees 8, Twins 4. WP: Rumbelow (1-0), his 1st major league win, even though he faced just 2 batters and retired only 1 of them. SV: Miller (27). LP: Graham (0-1).

*

The Toronto Blue Jays also won, so the Yankees' Magic Number to clinch the American League Eastern Division is reduced to 42... not 41 like we'd hoped. The Jays played an Interleague game against the Philadelphia Phillies, who blew a lead.

The Awkward Moment when a Mets win helps the Yankees: The Mets had an Interleague game of their own, and while their bullpen nearly blew it again, it hung on, and they beat the Baltimore Orioles, the other team in the AL East race.

The Yankees also announced that Bryan Mitchell, victim of a line drive that broke his nose, has been, as a precaution, placed on the 7-day "concussion DL."

This was for the best, as he'd already had a recent concussion in the minor leagues. As Mitchell said himself:

As soon as it hit me, I knew that I had just gotten hit, but my eyes were OK, my jaw was OK. I knew that I was basically alive. I basically said, "I'm all right, let's just get me off the field." That was really it. It was pretty quick. It was bad, though...

I think most of the time they're just playing it cautious. I saw the neurologist today, but given that I had the concussion a month ago down in Scranton, we're kind of trying to play it safe. As of now, everything seems to be pretty good.

That's a relief. We haven't yet gotten to know Mitchell, or get emotionally attached to him. But we don't want any of our players to get hurt, and we certainly don't want them to suffer a permanent impairment.

The Yankees also sent reliever Caleb Cotham, who relieved Mitchell, back down to Scranton. This created 2 open roster spots, and they called up Rumbelow and... oy, God, no... Chris Capuano.

The series with the Twins concludes this afternoon, with Nathan Eovaldi starting against Ervin Santana. Come on, Yankees, we want a sweep! (Translation: Don't let Capuano in the game!)

Eduardo NunE6 Strikes Again -- This Time In Yankees' Favor!

So the Yankees began a series with the Minnesota Twins, at home at Yankee Stadium II in The Bronx, all ready to gain half a game on those pesky but idle Toronto Blue Jays.

And then Joe Girardi pulls a fast one on us, moving CC Sabathia's start back to tonight. He said it had nothing to do with whatever it was that happened with CC in Toronto on Friday night. He just wanted to give his starters an extra day of rest. Because, after all, who knows more about handling a pitching staff than Joe Girardi?

(I do. And you may also.)

Instead, the start went to Bryan Mitchell. A 24-year-old righthander from North Carolina, he was making just his 13th major league appearance, all for the Yankees since August 10 of last year.

He got through the 1st inning with little difficulty. The Yankees gave him a 3-run cushion thanks to the smoking hot bat of Brian McCann, who launched his 21st McCannon Shot of the season. (Hey, if Mark Teixeira can "send a Teix Message," Brian McCann can "launch a McCannon shot.")

Mitchell gets the 1st 2 outs in the top of the 2nd. Then he allows singles to Eddie Rosario and Kurt Suzuki, bringing the tying run to the plate.

The batter was Eduardo Nunez. You remember him, don't you? Noonie? The absolute worst fielder in the history of the Yankee franchise? A guy who played 2nd base, shortstop, 3rd base, left field and right field, and none of them with the slightest shred of competence? The reason Derek Jeter couldn't retire until 2014? The infield equivalent of Boone Logan?

A guy the Yankees traded to the Twins right before the 2014 season for Miguel Sulbaran, a 21-year-old Venezuelan lefthanded start pitcher, who just made his 1st start at Triple-A, had a 4.77 ERA in Double-A, is by no means ready for the major leagues, and I'd still rather have him in the Yankee organization than Eduardo NunE6? Yeah, that Eduardo Nunez.

That Eduardo Nunez hit a line shot up the middle, hitting Mitchell in the face. It was a Herb Score situation, and everybody got scared. Rosario scored on the play, but nobody cared about that.

After a couple of minutes, Mitchell got up under his own power, blood soaking through a towel and dripping on his uniform. He was taken across the Harlem River to Manhattan's New York-Presbyterian Hospital (formerly Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, built on the site of the Yankees' first home, Hilltop Park), and was founded to have a broken nose. It could have been much worse. At last check, he showed no evidence of a concussion.

The last thing Girardi needed was to have to bring a reliever in to pitch the 2nd inning. He brought in Caleb Cotham, a 27-year-old righthander from Tennessee, making only his 2nd big-league appearance.

He got the last out in the 2nd, pitched the 3rd, and into the 4th. But he allowed 4 runs, and was replaced in the 4th by Chasen Shreve, who got the last out, and also pitched the 5th, allowing another run. Justin Wilson was brought in to pitch the 6th, and allowed another run.

McCann had a 2-run single in the 3rd, but going into the bottom of the 6th, the Twins led 7-5. Not good. The Yankees needed runs.

They got them. Teix led off the inning with a walk. McCann struck out. But Carlos Beltran, the goat in the previous game but a hero in the preceding 2, drove one down the left-field line for his 13th homer of the season. As the Scooter used to say, "And we got ourselves a tie ballgame! Holy cow, this is unbelievable!"

Dellin Betances pitched a perfect 8th, and stranded a leadoff single in the 9th. The game went to extra innings, which Girardi, the Yankees, and their fans most definitely did not need, considering that closer Andrew Miller was brought in to pitch the 10th, and there was literally nobody left in the bullpen. Girardi later said that if he needed to replace Miller, he'd bring in CC, thus neutralizing his strategy of giving his starters an extra day of rest.

Apparently, Girardi's binder doesn't have a contingency for "Starting pitcher gets hit in the face with a line drive in the 1st 2 innings, and has to leave the game."

Miller cruised through the 10th, and, this time, the Yankees decided not to drag out either a win or a loss, as we've seen a few times in the last few years. Greg Bird, who earlier in the game got his 1st Yankee Stadium hit, led off with his 2nd, a double. McCann hit one off the wall -- but Bird, not knowing if the ball would be caught, had to hold up, and could only get to 3rd.

(If you were having a flashback to the Bobby Meacham, Dale Berra, Carlton Fisk play of 1985, 30 years ago this month, it would have been understandable.)

Paul Molitor, the Twins manager and Milwaukee Brewers Hall-of-Famer, who's from St. Paul and got his 3,000th career hit with his hometown Twins (as did Dave Winfield, also from St. Paul), ordered Beltran intentionally walked to set up the double play started at home plate -- but also loaded up the bases with nobody out.

Then Molitor made a bizarre move. Yogi Berra once said it's harder to manage in baseball than to coach in football because, "You can't make up no trick plays." Wrong: There's the infield shift.

This was even trickier: Molitor replaced Torii Hunter in right field with Eduardo Escobar, and made him a 5th infielder. It would have been all right on an ordinary ground ball, but if the next batter hit a fly ball, it drops, and the Yankees win.

The batter was Chase Headley. He hit a weak grounder to short. It should have been an easy play for the shortstop to throw home to get Brendan Ryan, whom Girardi had sent to pinch-run for Bird.

But the shortstop was Eduardo Nunez, and he couldn't handle it. Error for NunE6.

Yankees 8, Twins 7. WP: Miller (1-2). No save. LP: Glen Perkins (1-4).

So one of the weirdest games of the season ends in the Yankees' favor, and nobody died -- which was not certain at the moment Mitchell got hit.

The series continues tonight, CC starting against former Met Mike Pelfrey.

Yanks Take 2 of 3 from ChiSox; They're In 1st, Mets Are Not

Before I begin this post, let me give you a little reminder, so that you are not misled by the events at Pity Field this weekend:

The Mets are not in 1st place.

Washington 54-49 .5243
NY Mets 55-50 .5238

If the current rankings hold, the Mets won't get either of the wild card berths in the playoffs, either.

The Yankees, however, are in 1st place.

NY Yankees 59-45 .567

Baltimore 53-51 .510

*

As for the Yankees: They played the Chicago White Sox this weekend. The Pale Hose wore replicas of their 1982-86 uniforms -- possibly a reference to the 30th Anniversary of Tom Seaver's 300th win against the Yankees, August 4, 1985? (Yes, I will post about that, as I did on the 25th Anniversary.)

Some of their 13 runs on Friday and their 12 runs yesterday would have come in very handy on Saturday.

Bryan Mitchell -- not to be confused with the former Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles running back (who spelled it Brian) -- made his 1st Yankee start. It went all right for 4 innings, as he allowed just 2 runs. Then he allowed 2 more in the 5th, and the game was effectively over. Diego Moreno allowed 4 more, putting at least a temporary halt to his earlier good reviews. A lot of that damage was done by our old friend Melky Cabrera.

Nick Rumbelow, a righthander from Bullard, Texas, about to turn 24, pitched a perfect 9th in only his 5th big-league appearance (all for the Yankees this season -- just 1 run in 4 1/3 innings), but that hardly offset the negatives from Mitchell and Moreno.

The Yankees scored on a Didi Gregorius sacrifice fly in the 3rd, and a Brian McCann home run in the 9th (his 17th of the season), but that was it. White Sox 8, Yankees 2. WP: John Danks (6-8). No save. LP: Mitchell (0-1).

*

Yesterday, the Yankees went back to the concept of "scoring lots of runs." Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a homer (his 4th), then they tacked on 5 more runs in the 4th to put the game away. With 1 out, McCann singled, Carlos Beltran walked, Chase Headley singled to load the bases, Gregorius singled home McCann and Beltran, Stephen Drew singled to reload the bases, Ellsbury hit a sac fly to score Headley, and Brett Gardner singled home Didi and Drew.

They started again in the 5th. Mark Teixeira hit another home run (his 29th). After 2 outs, Headley was hit with a pitch, Didi walked, and Drew doubled them home. In the 7th, Headley doubled, Didi reached on an error, Drew tripled -- he fell a homer short of the very rare "natural cycle" -- and an Ellsbury grounder got Drew home.

Ivan Nova started, and went 6 innings, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. Chasen Shreve was shaky in the 7th inning, but Branden Pinder finished it and pitched a scoreless 8th, while Andrew Miller pitched a scoreless 9th.

Yankees 12, White Sox 3. WP: Nova (4-3). No save. LP: Jeff Samardzija (8-6).

*

The Yankees came home last night, have a day off today, and then, tomorrow...

The Scum come in.

Cliche alert: "In these games, you can throw out the records."

The Red Sox would love to do just that. The Yankees are on a pace for 92 wins, while the Sox are on a pace for 90 losses. Here's the AL East standings in full, with 18 of the regular season's 26 weeks gone:

New York	59	45	0.567	0	N/A
Baltimore	53	51	0.510	6.0	53.0
Toronto	54	52	0.509	6.0	51.0
Tampa Bay	52	54	0.491	8.0	49.0
Boston	47	59	0.443	13.0	44.0

That last column is the elimination number. To eliminate these teams from the AL East race, the Yankees need a number of wins by themselves and a number of losses by the team in question which, together, would add up to number in the last column. In other words: Sox 44, Rays 49, Jays 51 and O's 53. So the Magic Number to clinch the AL East for the Yankees is 53.

Here are the projected pitching matchups for the Red Sox series:

* Tuesday, 7:05 PM: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Henry Owens, in his major league debut. Uh-oh: The proverbial pitcher the Yankees have never seen before.

* Wednesday, 7:05 PM: The much-touted 21-year-old Dominican righthander Luis Severino, in his major league debut, vs. Steven Wright (not to be confused with the "existentialist" comedian of the same name who is from Massachusetts and a big Red Sox fan).

* Thursday, 7:05 PM: CC Sabathia vs. Eduardo Rodriguez. I wonder if they call him "E-Rod."

Note that Dustin Pedroia, the most successful remaining Red Sock aside from the big fat lying cheating bastard, is injured, and will be unavailable for this series.

An Emotional Old-Timers Day and a LOT of Runs

Saturday was Old-Timers Day -- the holiest day on the Yankee calendar. It usually comes in July or August, but, this year, it was on June 20.

It looked like rain for most of the day, but a full ceremony, a full 3-inning Old-Timers Game, and a full 9-inning regular game were all held.

The ceremony began with Willie Randolph being honored with a Plaque in Monument Park. I'm not going to put the text here; instead, I'm going to make up a separate page that shows the Monuments and Plaques.

Willie gave a speech thanking his family, his teammates, George Steinbrenner and God. (George now knows that he isn't God.) He had a lot of people to thank, and he joked that his old teammates told him not to talk too long, so their old muscles didn't stiffen up. Willie's from Brooklyn: No one can tell him what to do.

The Old-Timers introductions usually go like this:

1. A bunch of "Who's he? I don't remember him" and "He was a Yankee? When was that?"

2. More familiar Yankees, who played on the 1996-2003 and 1976-81 Dynasties.

3. The oldest (or furthest-back) guys who don't fall into the last 2 categories.

4. The Hall-of-Famers who aren't in Monument Park.

5. The players (not necessarily Hall-of-Famers) who are in Monument Park.

6. Introduction of "Yankee Widows." In the past, this included Claire Ruth, Eleanor Gehrig, and, more recently, Cora Rizzuto. Now, it includes Arlene Howard (Mrs. Elston), Helen Hunter (Mrs. Catfish), Diana Munson, Kay Murcer, Jill Martin (Billy's 4th and final wife), and, most recently, Carol Jean "Soot" Zimmer (Mrs. Don). Oddly, while Randy Maris (Roger's son) took part in the old Yankee Stadium's closing ceremony in 2008, Roger's widow Pat has never been introduced on Old-Timers Day. Nor was Mickey Mantle's widow Merlyn, who, like Cora Rizzuto, died in 2010. (There were extenuating circumstances.) David Mantle stood in for his father at the old Stadium's closing.

7. A roll call of the fallen, figures connected with the Yankees who have died since the last Old-Timers Day. This used to also include figures from the baseball world who did not have a connection to the Yankees.

8. Robert Merrill's recording of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (and, up until 2000 or so, Merrill himself, wearing, on this one occasion of the year, a Yankee uniform with the Number 1½. He died in 2004).

9. The Old-Timers Game.

10. The regular game.

In the 1970s, '80s and early '90s, the last 2 players introduced would be Mickey Mantle, then Joe DiMaggio. After they died, and George patched things up with Yogi Berra, the last 3 would usually be Reggie Jackson, Whitey Ford, and Yogi.

The last few years, as Yogi has turned 90 and gotten increasingly frail, he and Whitey (now 87) have been driven in on a golf cart from center field, as if they were coming in from the bullpen. It's usually shaded to protect them from the sun (not that it was necessary this time), making it hard for anyone inside the ballpark to see them, unless they look on the DiamondVision board.

This time, Yogi wasn't feeling up to it, but let the team know he'd be watching on television. As a courtesy to the great man, this was mentioned first, and he got a nice hand.

Dr. Bobby Brown, the 3rd baseman-turned cardiologist who, along with Yogi, is the last surviving member of the Yankee teams that won the 1947 and 1949 World Series, was driven in on a golf cart, along with Don Larsen, who pitched the perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Brown, despite his age, seemed to be fine, but Larsen needed a cane, and had a lot of trouble.

The next-to-last player introduced was Whitey. And when he was, for an entire minute, nothing happened. Finally, a small figure wearing a Yankee cap and a Yankee jacket was shown in the dugout by a YES Network camera. He looked so old, and like he didn't know where he was.

Granted, it's not the Yankee Stadium he knew, but a dugout is a dugout, a field is a field, he proved he was capable of walking up the steps, and a closeup revealed a hearing aid, so clearly, he heard his name. He finally walked out, took a few steps from the dugout, waved a little, and then, instead of walking out to where the other players were seated on the field (instead of the usual lining up on the foul lines), walked back down the steps. I'm concerned that Whitey may be starting to drift into dementia.

The last player introduced was Mel Stottlemyre. Pitcher for the Yankees from 1964 to 1974, pitching coach for the Mets in their 1980s "glory" days, and pitching coach for the 1996-2003 Yankee Dynasty, he has beaten multiple myeloma once before. But it's come back, and from what I've heard, he might not be long for this world.

The Yankees, in my opinion, made a terrible mistake not giving Bobby Murcer his Plaque in 2007, while his cancer diagnosis was known but he was still capable of participating in a ceremony -- as happened with Roger Maris in 1984. (He knew he was sick, but the general public did not yet know, and he looked fine during the ceremony.)

This time, while the Randolph Plaque had been pre-announced, there was an additional surprise. Like Willie, Mel wore Number 30. And a Number 30 was marked on each foul line -- for Willie, we presumed. It turned out to also be for Mel, and, with his family on hand, including fellow major league pitchers and pitching coaches Mel Jr. and Todd, a Plaque was unveiled for him.

"This is, without a doubt, the biggest surprise I've ever had," Mel said. "Today, in this Stadium, there is no one that's happier to be here on this field than myself."

*

After emotion like that, the regular game could only be anticlimactic, right? Wrong. The Yankees have this nasty habit of disappointing their fans and their legends on Old-Timers Days and Monument Park days. This time, thankfully, they went the other way.

The Yankees' linescore for the 1st 5 innings was "1 2 5 2 3." That's not a linescore, that's the ZIP Code for Elizaville, New York, outside Albany. It was 13-0 Yankees at that point.

The runs included 2 home runs by Carlos Beltran (his 6th and 7th of the season), another by Alex Rodriguez (his 14th), another by Didi Gregorius (his 4th), another by Chris Young (his 8th), a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch for Beltran, and a bases-loaded wild pitch.

It was certainly enough for Nathan Eovaldi (6 innings) and Bryan Mitchell (3) to keep the Tigers at bay. Final score: Yankees 14, Tigers 3. WP: Eovaldi (6-3). LP: Alfredo Simon (7-4). Amazingly, despite coming in with a 13-run lead, Mitchell got a save (his 1st), because of the way the save rule is written: Credit a pitcher with a save if he is the finishing (check) but not the winning (check) pitcher in a game won by his team (check), and he meets 1 of the following 3 criteria:

1. He comes in with a lead of no more than 3 runs, and pitches for at least 1 inning. (No.)
2. He comes in with the tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck. (No.)
3. He "pitches effectively" for at least 3 innings.

I guess whoever wrote the save rule decided that anything can happen over the course of 3 innings -- hell, you could say that about 1 inning -- and so "pitches effectively" means "he pitches for at least 3 innings and doesn't blow the lead." Even if it's 13 runs.

This is not a suggestion that the Yankees call Esmil Rogers back up, or reacquire Boone Logan, to test this theory.

*

Whenever the Yankees score a lot of runs, many fans, myself included, end up thinking, "Maybe they should save some of these runs for tomorrow, or for a few days from now." Especially when we have to go up to that little green pinball machine in Boston.

For yesterday's game, we needed a lot more than a few of Saturday's runs. Masahiro Tanaka did not have his good stuff, and allowed 6 runs in the 1st 2 innings. Victor Martinez hit 2 home runs, and J.D. Martinez (no relation) hit 3 homers.

The Yankees never caught up. Stephen Drew hit 2 homers (his 10th & 11th) and McCann 1 (his 10th), but it wasn't close to being enough.

(I guess finding and fixing that hitch in his swing worked: He's gone from the .140s up to .188 over the last month, and he now has 24 RBIs, over half of them since looking at his swing on video.)

Tigers 12, Yankees 4. WP: Anibal Sanchez (6-7). No save. LP: Tanaka (4-3).