Yanks Head Into Break by Pounding Sox Again

If only the Yankees could have taken a run from Saturday and a run from Sunday, and given it to themselves for Friday...

But it doesn't work that way. Nevertheless, they clobbered the Boston Red Sox again yesterday, and that's what I like to see.

Gerrit Cole started, and pitched like an All-Star, although, despite having been selected for the All-Star Game on Tuesday night, having gone 7 innings, he is unlikely to appear in it. He allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, no walks, and 12 strikeouts. He now has 147 strikeouts on the season, and is on pace to break Ron Guidry's single-season Yankee record of 248 set in 1978. Lucas Luetge and Jonathan Loáisiga each needed a good performance, and each pitched a scoreless inning.

Pitching like that deserves runs, and it got plenty of 'em. Chris Sale, in only his 2nd start after coming back from his latest injury, and only his 11th start since August 13, 2019, got hit hard, figuratively and literally. DJ LeMahieu led off the game with a double. Aaron Judge was hit by a pitch, although Sale, unlike certain other Boston pitchers we could mention, isn't known as a dirty pitcher. Anthony Rizzo grounded out, which moved the runners over. Gleyber Torres reached on an error that scored LeMahieu. Matt Carpenter grounded to short, which scored Judge.

This is where the "hit hard figuratively" ended and the "hit hard literally" occurred: Aaron Hicks hit a line drive right back at Sale, and the sound of ball striking bone could be heard. The ball ricocheted into right field, to score Torres, and Sale was already walking off the field. He would have been useless for any further defensive work on the play, anyway: The TV cameras caught his left pinky broken. He hadn't even moved to try to catch the ball: It hit his hand right where it stopped in his pitching motion.

That is one hard-luck injury. Even the most hard-core of Yankee Fans, hating the Red Sox, has to have some sympathy for Sale. But not for his team. In this emergency situation, the Sox ended up having to use 9 pitchers, none of whom went more than 1 full inning.

The Yankees put the game away with 8 runs in the bottom of the 4th, the last 2 on a home run from Injury List returnee Tim LoCastro. That's a linescore of 30080, and that's a ZIP Code for Smyrna, Georgia, outside Atlanta. There were 2 more runs in the 7th, on a home run by the much-maligned Joey Gallo.

Yankees 13, Red Sox 2. Speaking of 1978, those of you who, like me, are old enough to remember that year will recall that as the result of Game 2 of the "Boston Massacre" series, on September 8. Of course, that was at Fenway, and this was at home. WP: Cole (9-2). No save. LP: Sale (0-1).

So, after 92 games -- 11 games beyond the numerical halfway point of the regular season, but not quite halfway if you get all the way to the World Series:

* The Yankees are 64-28, for a winning percentage of .696, a pace to win 113 games.

* They lead the American League Eastern Division, by 13 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, 14 1/2 over the Toronto Blue Jays, 16 1/2 over the Red Sox, and 18 over the Baltimore Orioles, who are, nonetheless, at .500. So it's the strongest Division out of the 6 in Major League Baseball, and the Yankees are running away with it. The Magic Number to clinch the Division is 58.

* In the race for best record in the AL, and thus home-field advantage through the League Championship Series, they are 4 1/2 ahead of the AL West-leading Houston Astros, and 15 ahead of the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins.

* In the race for best record in all of MLB, and thus home-field advantage in the World Series, should they get that far (and they should), they are 3 games ahead of the team with the best record in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The 1st half's success stories are many. Great years were expected from the hitters, especially Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, and we've gotten them. Jose Trevino and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, both acquired before the start of the season, have been nice surprises. Gleyber Torres and Aaron Hicks are much-improved, and the recently-acquired Matt Carpenter has been an absolute steal. The only real down note has been Joey Gallo, batting .164 with an on-base percentage of .288.

Defense is also much-improved. Having Trevino means a better-hitting catcher than either Gary Sánchez or Kyle Higashioka, and a much better-fielding catcher than Sánchez. Having the slick-fielding IKF at shortstop has allowed Torres to go back to 2nd base, where he is much better with the glove. This team is not betraying its pitchers with poor defense.

And those pitchers! When healthy, they have been excellent. Take a look at the ERA+'s: Nestor Cortes 145, Cole 126, Jordan Montgomery 117, Severino 110, Jameson Taillon 99. And the WHIPs: Cole 0.979, Cortes 1.003, Montgomery 1.039, Severino 1.070, Taillon 1.126. Taillon is at 1.126, and he's only the 5th-best starter on the team.

The bullpen is an issue. Clay Holmes is now the closer, as Aroldis Chapman may have thrown away his chance. Despite some blips, we've had really good work from Michael King, Wandy Peralta, Ron Marinaccio, JP Sears, Albert Abreu and Ryan Weber. Lucas Luetge is a bit shaky, and Loáisiga may not be fully back from injury. But, overall, the bullpen has been as good as any team's.

Injuries: Domingo Germán could be ready to take Severino's place in the rotation on the weekend; Marinaccio had a rehab assignment in Triple-A yesterday, and could be back in a week; Severino won't throw for another 2 weeks, so mid-August is probably a good guess; Miguel Castro probably won't be back until late August; Zack Britton could start throwing off a mound soon, and could be a September call-up; Deivi Garcia has been throwing, and could also be a September call-up; and both Chad Green and Luis Gil underwent Tommy John surgery, and neither is likely to be back before next season's All-Star Break.

So, a little bad news, but a whole lot of good news. The Yankees need to keep their stranglehold on the Division, and make sure they get home-field advantage over the Astros, and then, somehow, stop José Altuve. If they do those things, Title 28 is possible.

See you after the Break -- unless a major sports story happens during the Break.

Yanks Salvage Fenway Finale, Clock Is Ticking On a Trade

The Yankees had lost the 1st 3 games of their series with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. They hadn't gotten a good performance from a starting pitcher in so long, we were wondering if it would ever happen again.

It didn't last night, but it came close enough. Domingo German started, and allowed 3 runs in 5 1/3rd innings. That should have been enough to give the Yankee bats a chance to outscore the Sox, but, in the little green pinball machine off Kenmore Square, you never know.

Chris Sale was, perhaps, the biggest reason why the Red Sox won last year's World Series. At least, until we can prove how they cheated that time. This season, whatever cheating they're doing isn't helping him, as he's had a nightmare season. With 1 out in the top of the 3rd, he walked Cameron Maybin, who recently returned from injury. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you. Maybin loaded the gun, and Austin Romine pulled the trigger, hitting a home run to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

The process repeated itself in the top of the 4th. With 1 out, Luke Voit drew a walk, and it was Didi Gregorius who hit one out. 4-0 Bronx Bombers.

The Sox made it 4-2 in the bottom of the inning, on a home run by Andrew Benintendi. But in the top of the 6th, Sale sealed his own doom by issuing a leadoff walk to Didi. That cliche about walks being deadly is especially the case with the leadoff variety. Gleyber Torres grounded to 3rd, but the Sox couldn't turn the double play, putting Torres on 1st with 1 out. Gio Urshela doubled Torres home.

The Sox then went to the bullpen, bringing in Colten Brewer. (Colten Brewer? Is he an Indianapolis football player or a Milwaukee baseball player?) Maybin singled Urshela home to make it 6-2.

The Sox threatened in the bottom of the 6th, getting a run home before Aaron Boone brought Tommy Kahnle in to relieve German, and he got out of the jam. In the 7th, walks were again deadly, and so was an error: Aaron Hicks led off with a walk. Aaron Judge struck out, but Edwin Encarnacion doubled. Voit was intentionally walked to load the bases, but Didi hit a sacrifice fly to center. Jackie Bradley threw home, but it went wild, allowing Encarnacion to score as well, making it 8-3.

Kahnle allowed a run in the bottom of the 7th, and Adam Ottavino had to bail him out. Maybin doubled in the top of the 8th, advanced to 3rd on a groundout by Romine, and scored on a wild pitch. Zack Britton got into and out of a jam in the bottom of the inning.

Aroldis Chapman hadn't yet pitched in the series, because the Yankees hadn't been in a save situation. Yet again, he made it too interesting, with, yes, a leadoff walk, to Mookie Betts. He got a fly out, then came a single by Xander Bogaerts, and then a passed ball. Then he struck J.D. Martinez out, but Benintendi singled home Betts and Bogaerts. Finally, Chapman struck Michael Chavis out to end it.

Whew. Yankees 9, Red Sox 6. WP: German (13-2). No save, as Chapman came in with a 5-run lead. Had he been relieved, and the next guy closed it out, he would have gotten a save. LP: Sale (5-10).

The Yankees had today off. With 56 games to go, they lead the American League Eastern Division by 8 1/2 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, and 9 over the Red Sox, in each case (due to having played different amounts of games to this point) by 10 games in the all-important loss column.

The trading deadline is 2 days away, and Brian Cashman still hasn't gotten a new starting pitcher. It won't be Marcus Stroman of the Toronto Blue Jays, one of Cashman's rumored targets, as the Mets got him for prospects.

The clock is ticking. Tomorrow night, the Yankees return home, to begin an Interleague series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Yankees Close Out Sale, Beat Red Sox

In a regular-season game, the best thing that the Yankees can do is destroy the Boston Red Sox. The 2nd-best is beat the Red Sox in walk-off fashion. The 3rd-best is to just playing beat them.

In the case of last night's series opener, which was supposed to be the 2nd game of a 4-game series at Yankee Stadium, but rain rendered the 1st of 3, 3rd-best was just fine.

J.A. Happ started for the Yankees, and was allowed to go only 5 innings, just 84 pitches. In that time though, he allowed just 1 run on 3 hits with 2 walks, striking out 5.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, acting as his own manager while using Aaron Boone as a front, appears to be determined to break Mike Marshall's 1974 record of 106 appearances in a season by a pitcher, with all 4 of his usual relievers. So far, it hasn't hurt the team much, but I worry that it will. I still remember Joe Torre's 2004 use of "QuanGorMo": Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera.

Last night, once again, Adam Ottavino pitched the 6th inning, Tommy Kahnle the 7th, Zack Britton the 8th, and Aroldis Chapman the 9th. Between them, in 4 innings, they allowed no runs on 2 hits and a walk, striking out 5.

But Chris Sale, one of the few genuine aces in Major League Baseball, was starting for the Red Sox. In spite of the terrible start he's gotten off to this season, it would be just like the Yankees to fold and give him the boost he needed to recover his confidence for the rest of the season. So runs were necessary, and soon.

Sure enough, the Yankees already trailed 1-0 going into the bottom of the 3rd. But Gio Urshela led off the inning with a single. After Cameron Maybin struck out, Brett Gardner singled, and DJ LeMahieu doubled Urshela home.  Luke Voit struck out, but Aaron Hicks singled home Gardner and LeMahieu. 3-1 Yankees.

LeMahieu added a home run in the 5th inning, to set up the final score. Yankees 4, Red Sox 1. WP: Happ (5-3). SV: Chapman (16). LP: Sale (1-7).

You might say the Yankees closed out the Sale. Well, as the late, great Scottish actor Ian Richardson would have said, "You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment."

The series continues tonight, with a 7:15 first pitch, because Fox wants those prime time ratings. Never mind the people who actually go to the game, and might want to spend a nice Saturday afternoon at the ballpark, watching the Yankees kick the shit out of the Red Sox. At any rate, Domingo German starts for the Good Guys, Rick Porcello for The Scum. Come on you Pinstripes!

Hanging 8 On Sox Is Great, But Paxton's Pitching Was More Important

My concern coming into this brief 2-game home series with the Boston Red Sox was that the Yankees would not be prepared to face them.

This, of course, flew in the face of the fact the Sox have had an even worse start than the Yankees, 6-11 as opposed to 6-9. But, as we've seen over the last few years, it doesn't matter how bad the Red Sox are, they still find a way to beat the Yankees. Whether that was within the rules or not doesn't seem to matter to them, but they do it.

I was sure the Yankees would lose both of these games, and badly, whether that was through a blowout or blowing a big lead and losing in shocking fashion.

As it turned out, at least for last night, my fears were unwarranted. James Paxton pitched not just the best game of his thus-far-brief Yankee career, he pitched the best game of the thus-far-brief season. He began the top of the 4th by walking Mookie Betts and allowing a double to Xander Bogaerts, and  J.D. Martinez flew to right. But because Aaron Judge has a good arm, he was able to hold Betts on 3rd on both the double and the would-be sacrifice fly.

Paxton hit Rafael Devers with a pitch in the 5th, and allowed a 2-out double to Jackie Bradley in the 8th. But that was it: 8 innings, no runs, 2 hits, a walk, a hit batsman, and 12 strikeouts.

In contrast, Chris Sale, perhaps the biggest reason the Red Sox won * last year's World Series, continued his horrific start to the season. He didn't allow a baserunner in the 1st 2 innings, but Brett Gardner led off the 3rd with a double. After 2 outs, DJ LeMahieu singled him home. Judge drew a walk, and Luke Voit singled LeMahieu home. 2-0 Yankees, and that would be all we needed.

But not all we wanted. This is The Scum we're talking about. And we got more. Clint Frazier continued his bid to prove he can hit major league pitching by leading off the 4th with a home run. A single by Austin Romine and a double by Mike Tauchman made it 4-0 Pinstripes. Rookie Gio Urshela led off the 6th with a double, Gardner drew a walk, and Romine bunted the runners over. Small ball. Torreball.

Then Tauchman hit a home run. Cashmanball. Hey, whatever works!

It was the 1st major league home run for the 28-year-old rookie outfielder from the Chicago suburbs. Naturally, Yankee Fans were wondering what John Sterling's home run call would be. I was thinking it could be, "You can't Tauch this!" But it's not "tawtch," as in "touch," but "tauch," as in "rock." So Sterling said, "Tauchman, the Sock-man!" As in, he socked it. Lame, John, very lame.

Gleyber Torres added a home run in the 8th, and rookie Joe Harvey pitched the 9th to finish it off. Final score: Yankees 8, Red Sox 0. WP: Paxton (2-2). No save. LP: Sale (0-4).

Eight-nil! We beat The Scum, eight-nil! We beat The Scum, eight-nil! We beat The Scum, eight-nil!

Easily, the best Yankee game of the season so far, topping Opening Day. And, while hanging 8 runs on The Scum is wonderful, the pitching performance of James Paxton was, for the long term, far more encouraging.

The brief series concludes tonight, J.A. Happ against former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi. Come on you Pinstripes! Beat The Scum!

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!

Chapman Signed: Worst-Case Scenario Avoided, But...

When Yankee general manager Brian Cashman stupidly ran his fire sale, trading away Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Carlos Beltran and Ivan Nova for the already-failed Adam Warren and a bunch of "prospects," this was the worst-case scenario:

1. The Yankees would fail to make the Playoffs.

2. With Chapman, the Chicago Cubs would not only make the Playoffs, but do well.

3. With Miller, the Cleveland Indians would not only make the Playoffs, but do well.

4. With Beltran, the Texas Rangers would not only make the Playoffs, but do well.

5. The Yankees would not be able to re-sign Chapman, by then a free agent, in the off-season.

6. A good team -- probably the arch-enemy, the Boston Red Sox -- would sign Chapman, and would go on to success in 2017.

7. All those "prospects" would fail to pan out.

Number 1 happened. Number 2 happened: The Cubs won the National League Pennant and the World Series. Number 3 happened: The Indians won the American League Pennant, and nearly beat the Cubs in the World Series. Number 4 happened: The Rangers won the AL Western Division, although they probably would have even without Beltran; their side of the trade was about going for the whole thing, and they didn't get it.

But now, the Yankees have brought Chapman back, thus avoiding Number 5 and Number 6.

It's been suggested that the Chapman retrieval was in response to the Red Sox trading for Chris Sale, ace of the Chicago White Sox. But it seems that the retrieval was already in progress before anybody knew the Sale trade would happen.

Now, Yankee fans who think they know better -- notice that, this time, I'm not making it "Yankee Fans," Capital Y, Capital F -- are saying they knew all along that this would happen, and that Cashman is a "genius": He got the prospects he wanted, turning a lousy farm system into a great farm system, and he got Chapman back anyway.

Here's what such stupidity overlooks:

1. Cashman traded away Chapman and Miller. The Yankees were 7 1/2 games out of the AL Eastern Division lead when the Chapman trade was made. After a win, they dropped 4 straight. There were at least 6 games that the Yankees lost that could have been won if Chapman, or Miller, or both, had been there to hold the lead. The Yankees missed the 2nd Wild Card berth by 5 games.

2. The "prospects" the Yankees got won't deliver until at least roster callups in September 2018 -- if then. And even if they do, that won't help the Yankees win the 2017 World Series, and they wouldn't be eligible for the 2018 postseason roster anyway.

3. The Yankees' top 5 farm teams all made the Playoffs. Their top 2 farm teams played better than .620 ball over the course of the season. The Yankees already had a very good farm system.

The bottom line is this: When you have a chance at the Playoffs, and your farm system is as well-stocked as the Yankees' already was, you do not trade the immediate future for the perceived distant future. You go for it. Now.

The Cubs did. So did the Indians. And they won the Pennants, and played each other in the World Series.

Say what you want about the Mets, who did stupidly let Daniel Murphy get away to the other good team in the NL Eastern Division, the Washington Nationals; but they have done whatever they could to keep Yoenis Cespedes, and he is still with them. The Mets went for it in 2015 and 2016. They failed, but they did try. And they are going for it again in 2017.

Brian Cashman is maneuvering to save money in 2017 and 2018, and to win in 2019 and beyond.

This is moronic. We are the New York Yankees. We have the resources to go for it every season. If we don't go for it, we are betraying our fans.

It would be one thing if the Yankees were in the position the Mets were in going into, say, the 2013 season: Broke, with the other team in town so far ahead of us it wasn't funny. It would have been perfectly acceptable to sacrifice 2 bad seasons for 5 to 10 good shots at a title. This is what they did, and, to a degree, it has worked, and it can still end up working better for them. (It won't, because they're the Mets, but that's a post for another day.)

But the Yankees are the Yankees. If the old George Steinbrenner were running things, he would, rightly, consider the current situation unacceptable. Indeed, he would have fired Joe Girardi no later than after the 2013 season, and Cashman would have been replaced by now, too. For cause.

Cashman has avoided the worst-case scenario.

But that's like saying, "Mom, Dad, I know I wrecked the car and put my kid brother in the hospital, but my smartphone that I was texting on while driving still works!"

Take the keys away. Take the phone away, too. Cashman out. Competent GM in.

*

Days until The Arsenal play again: 2, Saturday morning at 10:00 (afternoon at 3:00, their time), at home at the Emirates Stadium, in a Premier League match against those thugs from Staffordshire club Stoke City. Arsenal beat Swiss club FC Basel on Tuesday, to finish top of their Champions League Group.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play another local rival: 3. Their 1st game this season with the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, will be this Sunday night, at 7:00, at Madison Square Garden. Their 1st game this season with the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, will be on Thursday night, December 22, at the Prudential Center. By a quirk in the schedule, the New York Islanders, a team they usually play several times a season, don't show up on the slate until Saturday night, February 18, 2017, at the Prudential Center.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 76, on February 22, 2017, in the 1st leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal, home to the Vancouver Whitecaps. The 2nd leg will be on March 2. The winner will face the winner of the Quarterfinal between 2 Mexican teams: Mexico City-based Pumas de la UNAM, and Monterrey-area team Tigres UANL. The 2017 MLS schedule has not yet been released. If schedule patterns hold, the 1st League game of the new season will be on Sunday, March 5, 2017, which is 87 days from now.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": Unknown. We may not see the 2017 MLS schedule for weeks, so we don't know when we'll next play New York City FC, the Philadelphia Union, D.C. United or the New England Revolution.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 106, on Friday, March 24, 2017, home to Honduras, at a venue and time TBA, in a CONCACAF Qualifying Match for the 2018 World Cup. It will be the team's 1st match in the 2nd run as manager for Bruce Arena, now that Jurgen Klinsmann has finally been fired.

Days until the Yankees' 2017 season opener: 115, on Sunday, April 2, at 8:00 PM, away to the Tampa Bay Rays. Under 4 months.

Days until the Yankees' 2017 home opener: 123, on Monday, April 10, at 1:00 PM, home to the Rays.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series: 138, on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, at 7:00 PM, at Fenway Park.

Days until the next North London Derby: 142, on Saturday, April 29, 2017, at White Hart Lane. Under 5 months. It could be moved to the next day, Sunday, April 30, to accommodate the TV networks. It is also possible that Arsenal could face Tottenham again sooner than that, through an FA Cup pairing.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 268, on Saturday, September 2, 2017, home to the University of Washington.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, as the 2017 schedule hasn't been released yet. If history is any guide, it will be on Friday night, September 15, which would be 281 days from now. 

Days until the next election for Governor of New Jersey: 334, on Tuesday, November 7, 2017. Under 11 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 338, on Saturday, November 11, 2017, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving game: 350, on Thursday morning, November 23, 2017, at 10:00, 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: 553, on June 14, 2018. A little over a year and a half, or 18 months. Now that Klinsmann has been fired, our chances have improved, but did he already ruin them?

Days until the next Congressional election: 698, on November 6, 2018. Under 2 years, or 23 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 774, on January 9, 2019. A little over 2 years, or 25 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 1,126, on January 8, 2020. A little over 3 years, or 37 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,324, on July 24, 2020. A little over 3 1/2 years, or 43 1/2 months.

Days until the next Presidential election: 1,457, on November 3, 2020. Under 4 years, or 47 months.

Nobody's Perfect, But That Game Was Perfectly Awful

So the Yankees began a 4-game series away to the Chicago White Sox last night, against a pitcher just coming off the Disabled List. True, it was Chris Sale, but they should still have been able to beat him.

Beat him? Until Zoilo Almonte singled with 2 outs in the 6th, we didn't even get a baserunner off him! Sale was pitching a perfect game.

In spite of this, going into the bottom of the 8th, the Yankees were still only down 2-0. As John Sterling teaches us, a 2-run deficit is "just a bloop and a blast." Or a walk and a wallop.

So whatever went wrong last night, we can't blame the Yankees' starting pitcher. The frequently-maligned David Phelps did his job for 7 innings.

But Joe Girardi looked in his Binder, and brought Alfredo Aceves in to pitch the 8th, and the ChiSox scored another run, and we went to the 9th down 3-0, having had just 1 baserunner.

But with 1 out in the 9th, with Ronald Belisario now on the mound for the South Siders, Ichiro Suzuki singled. Jacoby Ellsbury lined out, but Derek Jeter drew a walk. And, just like that, the tying run was at the plate. A passed ball moved the runners over to 2nd & 3rd, and, after 25 outs and just 1 baserunner, the Yankees were in business. And Mark Teixeira singled them home.

Now it was 3-2, with the tying run on 1st (Kelly Johnson pinch-running for Teix), and the potential winning run at the plate.

Unfortunately, the batter was Alfonso Soriano, and I don't think anyone could be surprised when he provided the 13th Yankee strikeout of the night.

WP: Sale (4-0). SV: Belisario (2). LP: Phelps (1-1 -- though Aceves deserved the loss more).

The series continues tonight, at 8:05 PM our time. Hiroki Kuroda pitches against Hector Noesi -- "the other guy" that Brian Cashman sent to Seattle, along with Jesus Montero, for Michael Pineda. Doesn't look like such a bad deal now, does it?