Citi Series Wrapup: Yankees Embarrass Mets, Who Embarrass Themselves

Dr. Francis Young, who calls himself a "Historian of religion and belief," has said, "Anglicans obsessed with the papacy (I’m one of them) are the ecclesiastical equivalent of Americans obsessed with the British monarchy - the strange phenomenon of people being obsessed with the one thing whose repudiation defines their existence."

Sort of like Mets fans, forever obsessed with the Yankees.

The father of modern psychology, Sigmund Freud, had an expression: "The vanity of small differences." This explains many local rivalries: The people on each side are more similar than they would care to admit, so the differences they so have get blown out of proportion, or even made up altogether, as lies.

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In the Citi Series at Yankee Stadium II that concluded last night -- remember, a regular-season series is not a Subway Series -- both teams work camouflage-"colored" caps in honor of Armed Forces Weekend.

Carlos Rodón started the Friday night game. He didn't allow a single baserunner over the 1st 3 innings, and the Yankees gave him 4 runs in the bottom of the 3rd. Well, the Mets helped, thanks to an error by Francisco Lindor. It led to an early exit for Met starter Tylor Megill. The Yankees scored 2 more in the 4th.

But Rodón allowed a run in the 4th, and a walk in the 5th led Aaron Boone to think it was time to go to the bullpen for the 6th. Jonathan Loáisiga, back from Tommy John surgery that limited him to 1 appearance all last season, and that 1 very early, made his 2025 debut, and kept the Mets from scoring in the 6th.

Mark Leiter Jr. did so in the 7th, and so did Devin Williams in the 8th. (Of course: He wasn't the closer. It was still pressure-packed.) Yerry de los Santos got into trouble in the 9th, allowing 2 walks and an RBI double by Lindor. Luke Weaver had to be brought in to get the last out. Yankees 6, Mets 2.

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On Saturday afternoon, Clarke Schmidt repeated Rodón's feat the night before, of going through the 1st 3 innings without a baserunner, and getting a lead, on a home run by the back-from-injury DJ LeMahieu. But, like Rodón, he faltered in the 4th, allowing 2 runs. Cody Bellinger tied it by leading off the bottom of the 6th with a home run.

Leiter relieved Schmidt in the 7th. Tim Hill and Fernando Cruz combined to hold the Mets off in the 8th. But in the 9th, with 1 out, Cruz walked a batter, gave up a single, and hit a batter, before Lindor hit a sacrifice fly to give the Mets the 3-2 win.

*

Last night, on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, would decide the series. Max Fried started, and pitched decently for 6 innings. The game was tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the 8th.

My grandmother was from Queens, a Brooklyn Dodger fan who became a Met fan. The thing that bothered her the most was errors; next, walks.

Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Met reliever Ryne Stanek started the inning by walking Jasson Domínguez. He struck LeMahieu out, but gave up a double to Austin Wells. Jorbit Vivas was up, and he hit a grounder to Met 1st baseman Pete Alonso. He's the guy Met fans call "the Polar Bear" and consider to be a better power hitter than Aaron Judge. Alonso threw in the direction of home plate, but wide, and Domínguez scored.

That would have been embarrassing enough for Met fans, if that had been the end of it. That wasn't the end of it: Paul Goldschmidt singled Wells home. Met manager Carlos Mendoza brought Génesis Rodriguez in to relieve. In a manner of speaking, he also issued a leadoff walk, since he walked the 1st batter he faced, Trent Grisham. He struck Judge out, dropping Judge's batting average for the season to .401.

Judge must have softened Cabrera up for Bellinger, who hit a grand slam deep to right field. This made the much-maligned Williams the winning pitcher, as Tim Hill pitched a perfect 9th, and the Yankees won, 8-2. The Yankees had taken the series. They had humiliated the Mets, and the Mets had humiliated themselves.

Postscript, added after posting: I didn't mention Juan Soto at all. He got booed plenty, and went 1-for-10 with 3 walks and 2 stolen bases. Judge went 3-for-12 with 3 walks. Currently, without Soto batting in front of him, Judge is batting .401 with 15 home runs and 41 RBIs; without Judge batting behind him as "protection," Soto is batting .246 with 8 homers and 20 RBIs. And, on the Mets, he's behind both Alonso and Lindor in being "The Man."

As we say here in the New York Tri-State Area, I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

Postscript 2: In the Mets fan blog Faith and Fear In Flushing, Jason Fry said this about Bellinger's grand slam: "It would have been a flyout in a park with dimensions not suited for a flea circus, but that’s sour grapes: The fences were the same distance when the Mets were hitting, and they didn’t hit a single ball out of Yankee Stadium this weekend."

That's right. They didn't. The Mets had Soto, they had Alonso, they had Lindor, and they had others, and, in 27 innings, they couldn't hit one single home run in that "little league ballpark." So maybe it's not as easy as it looks, fellas.

Or maybe the Yankees are simply good enough to turn all MLB stadiums into "little league ballparks."

Or maybe the Yankees just have better pitching. Nah, none of the Flushing Heathen would ever admit that.

*

Anyway... 

We are 28 percent of the way through the regular season. The Yankees are in 1st place in the American League Eastern Division, 5 games ahead of both the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays, 6 ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, and 11 1/2 ahead of the Baltimore Orioles.

The Yankees have today off, and welcome the Texas Rangers to The Stadium tomorrow. The Mets? What is their punishment for humiliating themselves? They have to go play the Boston Red Sox, in Fenway Park. You will never find a more disgusting hive of scum and villainy.

The Yankees host The Scum on June 4, 5 and 6; and go to Scum Town the following weekend. The rematch with the Mutts will happen at Pity Field on July 4, 5 and 6 -- with the 4th of July holiday providing a rare post-Opening Day occurrence of an entire series of day games.

It's Opening Day, and I'm Not Feeling It

Today is Opening Day of the 2025 Major League Baseball season, except for the 2 games played last week in Tokyo, Japan by the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs. (The Dodgers won both.)

The New York Yankees will open the season at home, at Yankee Stadium II, against the Milwaukee Brewers. The game will be on ESPN, rather than the YES Network. First pitch is set for 3:05 PM.

The Brewers were fellow members of the American League from 1970 to 1997, and fellow members of the AL's Eastern Division from 1972 to 1993. So, while this matchup has been Interleague since the 1998 season, it's an opponent familiar to those of us who have been Yankee Fans since before the Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera era.

Carlos Rodón will be the Yankees' starting pitcher. The reason for this is that their 3 pitchers from last season's starting rotation are injured.

The annual injury crisis is already well underway -- in order of believed return from injury, not in order of importance:

* Clarke Schmidt. Expected to be part of the starting rotation, he was diagnosed with fatigue in his right (pitching) shoulder. He starts the season on the Injured List "to build stamina," and is expected to return in April.

* Ian Hamilton. Expected to be a key reliever, he was diagnosed with an infection. As with Schmidt, he will start the season on the Injured list "to build stamina," and is expected to return in April.

* Jake Cousins. The righthanded reliever has a right forearm strain. He's expected back in April. Not something to get excited about.

* Tyler Matzek. The Yankees signed this lefthanded reliever as free agent on February 11. And, already, he has a strained right oblique. Formerly with the Colorado Rockies and the Atlanta Braves, he missed the entire 2023 season due to injury, and pitched only 11 games in 2024, mostly without effectiveness. He's 34. He's expected to return in April, but I wouldn't count on him being a key figure in a successful season.

* Jonathan Loáisiga. The righthanded reliever was supposed to be key last season, made one appearance, and needed Tommy John surgery. Had he been available in last year's World Series, who knows? He has been throwing off a mound since March 4. For the moment, the Yankees are thinking he might be back in late April or early May.

* DJ LeMahieu. The infielder has a left calf strain. He's expected back in early May. He'll be approaching his 37th birthday.

* Giancarlo Stanton. A heavy hitter when healthy, he has torn tendons in both elbows, and is also dealing with what's being called "a minor calf issue." (To paraphrase the late basketball legend Bill Walton, a minor issue is what happens to somebody else.) He is expected back sometime in May. He is 35.

* JT Brubaker. The Yankees got the righthanded starting pitcher from the Pittsburgh Pirates in last year's Spring Training. Due to various injuries, he has not appeared in a regular-season game since October 4, 2022. That's the last 2 whole seasons that he's missed. He pitched in a Spring Training game on February 21, tried to dodge a comebacker, and broke 3 ribs. He's 31. He might be back in May, but, to channel the spirit of Yogi Berra, even when he could pitch, he couldn't pitch.

* Luis Gil. Last season's AL Rookie of the Year was expected again, to be a big part of the starting rotation. He was diagnosed with a right (throwing) latissimus strain, and is not expected back before June. In other words, the Yankees will be without their ace from last season all this season, and without their top 2 pitchers from last season for at least the 1st 1/3rd of this season.

* Scott Effross. Much has the righthanded reliever been hyped. But injuries have meant that he's made just 3 regular-season major league appearances since October 3, 2022. He was diagnosed with a left hamstring strain after leaving a Spring Training game on February 25, after throwing one pitch. All we know is what manager Aaron Boone told us: "It's going to take some time." He's 31. Anybody who was ever counting on him has been kidding themselves.

* Clayton Beeter. The righthanded reliever reached the major leagues last season, making 3 appearances for the Yankees. He's 26. General manager Brian Cashman says only, "It's going to be a while." Sounds like someone we shouldn't be counting on, anyway.

* Gerrit Cole. The Yankees' starting ace had Tommy John surgery on his right (pitching) elbow on March 11. He is definitely out for the entire 2025 season, and may miss time in 2026 as well. For a team that reached, but lost, the World Series last year, and hoped to win it this year, this is a devastating blow. What's more, when he comes back, Cole will be approaching his 36th birthday. He may never be ace-level quality again.

* Chase Hampton. The righthanded starter made 7 appearances last season, topping out with the Class AA Somerset Patriots. He has never thrown a pitch even as high as in Class AAA. He had Tommy John surgery. They're talking about May 2026 as his earliest return. He'll be 25, and will probably spend whatever time he's active back at AA. I'm not sure why he's even mentioned on this list.

This is the projected Yankee starting lineup until LeMahieu and Stanton can come back -- presuming, that is, no other new injuries:

1. Catcher: Austin Wells.

2. Right Field: Aaron Judge. The best player in baseball, at least in the regular season. And yet, Cashman is still ordering Judge to bat his best slugger in the 2 spot in the order. This has been established as monumentally stupid. He moves from center field back to his natural position because right fielder Juan Soto crossed town and turned coat, signing with the New York Mets.

3. Center Field: Cody Bellinger. Fills the center field gap caused by Judge moving back to right. He's already won a Rookie of the Year, a Most Valuable Player award, and a Gold Glove. He's a 2-time All-Star. However, he also has an injury history. He will never again be the 47-homer, 115-RBI player he was with the 2019 Dodgers. And, like several other Yankees, but current and recent, he strikes out too much. But if he can put up the 26 homers and 97 RBIs that he put up with the 2023 Cubs, I will gladly take it. He is the son of Clay Bellinger, a reserve on the Yankees' 1999 and 2000 World Champions.

4. First Base: Paul Goldschmidt. He's a 7-time All-Star, a 4-time Gold Glove, and a former MVP (with 3 other top-3 finishes), with 362 career home runs and a 139 career OPS+. So, he's an upgrade on LeMahieu, anyway. The downside: He's 37, and, over the last 3 seasons, his on-base percentage has dropped from .404 to .362 to .303.

5. Second Base: Jazz Chisholm Jr. The reason we will not miss Gleyber Torres. That, and the fact that Torres no longer has a million-dollar bat, but still has a buck-ninety-five glove and a five-cent head.

6. Shortstop: Anthony Volpe. He came into his own last season. He's ready to be a championship-level shortstop.

7. Left Field: Jasson Domínguez. He can hit the ball a long way, but he's had a lot of fielding woes, and is already injury-prone.

8. Designated Hitter: Ben Rice. He has been hitting very well in Spring Training. He is also Wells' main backup as catcher.

9. Third Base: Oswaldo Cabrera. Good fielder, not a good hitter, and LeMahieu's return might not mean he goes back to 3rd base, anyway.

Last season, Soto had 41 home runs; Bellinger and Goldschmidt, combined, had 40. Soto had 109 RBIs; Bellinger and Goldschmidt, combined, had 143. So making up what he produced might not be that hard. But, again, both men have declined a bit the last 2 seasons.

The starting rotation: Carlos Rodón, Max Fried, Marcus Stroman, Will Warren and Carlos Carrasco. Rodón and Fried are lefthanded, the rest are righthanded. The Yankees signed Fried as a free agent. In 8 seasons with the Braves, he went 73-36 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.164 ERA. Sounds great. Except he only appeared in 7 games in 2020 (about half as many as he should have in that COVID-shortened season), and only 14 in 2023. He's 31. Sounds like a classic, "Yes, but... " situation.

The Yankees acquired Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers, in a package that included Nestor Cortés. In other words, Rodón and the terribly inconsistent Stroman are the only regular starters from last season who are ready to go this Opening Day. But Williams is intended as the new closer. The bullpen will also have, in decreasing order of my confidence in them, Luke Weaver, Mark Leiter and Tim Hill.

Boone is still the field boss. Cashman is still the roster manager. Hal Steinbrenner, who, unlike his father, values profit over winning, is still the controlling owner. Doesn't seem like there's a lot of reason for optimism, does it?

On top of that, I've had health issues this Winter. All but one are now resolved, but that one, new dentures, are a problem. And Trump has been even worse the 2nd time around.

So, put it all together, and I am not really in the mood for baseball. Today is Opening Day, but I'm not feeling it.

I'm not sure there's even going to be anything to feel.

*

I haven't done a countdown in 4 months. Here goes:

Hours until the Yankees open the 2025 regular season: 8.

Days until the next New York Red Bulls match: 2, this Saturday afternoon, at 2:30 PM, vs. the New England Revolution, at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Days until the Red Bulls again play a nearby rival: See the previous answer.

Days until the next Arsenal match: 5, on Tuesday, at 2;45 PM New York Eastern Time, home to West London team Fulham.

Days until the New Jersey Devils again play a local rival: 9, at 12:30 PM on Saturday, April 5, against the New York Rangers, a matinee at the Prudential Center.

Days until the Yankees' next series against the Boston Red Sox begins: 71, on Friday night, June 6, 2025, at Yankee Stadium. Just 10 weeks.

Days until the next game of the U.S. National Soccer Team: 72, on Saturday, June 7, at 3:30 PM, vs. Turkey, at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. The team looked very bad in the recent CONCACAF Nations League, under their new manager, former Tottenham and Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino.

Days until the new Superman movie premieres: 106, on July 11. Just 15 weeks.

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, as Arsenal and Tottenham have already played both Premier League games against each other this season. The next season begins on August 16, and the opening weekend almost never features major rivalries, so we're looking at no earlier than August 23. That's 149 days, or under 5 months.

Days until the next Rutgers University football game: 154, on Thursday night, August 28, home to Ohio University. Just 5 months. That's Ohio University. Not to be confused with "The... Ohio State University." Unfortunately, Rutgers has to play the defending National Champions away. A week after playing Ohio University, Rutgers will host Miami University of Ohio, not to be confused with the University of Miami in Florida.

Days until the next East Brunswick High School football game: Unknown. The 2024 season began earlier, and ended earlier, than ever before, as we went 2-8. If the schedule works out the same way as this season, then the opener will be on Friday night, August 29, 2025. That's 155 days.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Game: Unknown. If the 2025 schedule is a reverse of the 2024 edition, with the teams flipping to the other's home field, it will be at home on September 26, 2025. That's 183 days, or just under 6 months.

Days until the next elections for Governor of New Jersey and Mayor of New York City: 222, on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. A little over 7 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 247, on Saturday, November 29, in Piscataway, at what's currently named SHI Stadium. (The naming rights could be sold to someone else by then.) 

Days until the next Winter Olympics open in Milan, Italy: 316, on Friday, February 6, 2026. Under a year.

Days until the next World Cup opens: 438, on Monday, June 8, 2026. Under a year and a half, or under 15 months. I wonder what team Trump will be rooting for: Ours, or Russia's.

Days until the World Cup Final in New Jersey: 479, on Sunday, July 19, 2026. Under a year and a half, or under 16 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympic Games: 1,205, on Friday, July 14, 2028, in Los Angeles. Under 3 1/2 years, and under 40 months. What shape America will be in at the time, God only knows.

Days until the next Presidential election: 1,321, on Tuesday, November 7, 2028. A little over 3 1/2 years, under 44 months. This, of course, presumes that the Trump Administration doesn't suspend the Constitution of the United States and cancel all future Presidential elections.

No Cole, No Gil, No Hope for the Yankees

Today, it was announced that Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow to repair a torn right ulnar collateral ligament, and miss the 2025 season.

Luis Gil is injured, set to be out at least 3 months. At least the 1st 1/3rd of the season, maybe the 1st half.

The rotation will be Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Marcus Stroman and Will Warren. Does that fill you with confidence? Because it sure doesn't fill me with anything but dread.

Jonathan Loáisiga, a key reliever whose availability might have made a difference in last year's World Series, had Tommy John surgery last year. I was under the impression that he would be ready for this year's Opening Day. Now, it appears that he will miss all of April, and maybe part of May.

Scott Effross, supposedly also a would-be key reliever, is hurt again, and may not be ready for Opening Day.

So the bullpen will have Luke Weaver as the closer, Ian Hamilton and Mark Leiter Jr. as the setup men, and God only knows to fill it out.

Giancarlo Stanton will start the season on the Injured List, because of pain in both elbows. Both of them.

DJ LeMahieu has a left calf strain. It's not clear if he will be available for Opening Day.

Here's the likely Opening Day defensive setup: 1st base, Paul Goldschmidt; 2nd base, Jazz Chisholm Jr.; shortstop, Anthony Volpe; 3rd base, Oswaldo Cabrera; left field, Jasson Domínguez; center field, Cody Bellinger; right field, Aaron Judge; lefthanded designated hitter, Trent Grisham; righthanded DH, Everson Pereira; and catcher, Austin Wells.

Without Cole, and without Gil for much of the season, it looks like 2025 is almost guaranteed to be the 16th straight season without a World Series win for the Yankees. No hope.

Explain to me why Brian Cashman still has a job.

One thing is for sure: I would rather go 0-162 than sign Trevor Bauer.

The Yankees May Have Snapped Out of It

Did taking 2 out of 3 from the Red Sox at Fenway snap the Yankees out of their Summertime funk? It's beginning to look like it.

The Philadelphia Phillies have looked like the best team in baseball, and the Yankees had to go face them. Fortunately, it is Citizens Bank Park, not Yankee Stadium II, that is the current major league ballpark where it is easiest to hit home runs.

Luis Gil pitched okay as the Yankees' starter on Monday night. Former Met Zack Wheeler did not pitch okay as the Phillies' starter. Aaron Judge and the newly-acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr. each hit 2 home runs. Ben Rice and Anthony Volpe also homered, and the Yankees won, 14-4.

The Tuesday night game wasn't so simple. Aaron Boone scratched Gerrit Cole from his scheduled start, due to general fatigue, and sent Will Warren out to make his major league debut. A 25-year-old righthander from Mississippi, he was shaky, allowing 4 runs before being taken out in the 6th inning. Fortunately, the Yankees wore Aaron Nola out, and he didn't pitch into the 7th, either.

Chisholm again hit 2 home runs, and the Yankee Fans who made the trip down the New Jersey Turnpike went wild -- even if they couldn't "take over the ballpark," as they sometimes do in Baltimore. The Yankees led, 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th, but 2 singles and a wild pitch by Clay Holmes sent the game to extra innings.

Mark Leiter Jr., son of a former Phillies, and the nephew of a former Yankee and Met (the family is from the Shore, and they're Met fans), kept the Phils from scoring in the 10th. Each team scored one run in the 11th. Chisholm led off the top of the 12th with a single, moving "ghost runner" Austin Wells to 3rd base. Gleyber Torres grounded into a double play, but it got Wells home. Michael Tonkin got the Phils out 1-2-3, and the Yankees had won, 7-6.

The Phillies don't play many day games at home, just Sundays, and the occasional Wednesday or Thursday end-of-series "getaway day." They call it a "Businessperson's Special," and the players wear blue caps and all-white uniforms, as opposed to their usual red caps and white jerseys with red pinstripes.

Nestor Cortés started against Cristopher Sánchez, and neither pitched well. DJ LeMahieu, badly in need of a good day, hit a grand slam in the 2nd inning. The Phillies closed to within 4-3 after 5 innings, by LeMahieu doubled home 2 runs in the 6th. He had 13 RBIs entering the game, and added 6. The Phillies got a run off Leiter in the 8th, and their fans really woke up, but Holmes shut the door in the 9th, and the Yankees completed the sweep.

One reason that this was a day game is that the adjoining Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL's Eagles, was hosting a pair English soccer teams on their Summer tours of America, two of the most popular teams in the world due to their success, teams whose fans travel well, and the City of Philadelphia wanted to avoid a traffic nightmare.

A crowd of 44,543 saw the Yankees beat the Phillies, 6-5. A crowd of 69,879 saw Liverpool beat Arsenal, 2-1. And there was a good 4 hours between the former's final out and the latter's opening whistle, so there were no traffic issues other than those that would normally occur at a Phillies game and at an Eagles game.

*

The Yankees came home to face the Toronto Blue Jays, whose injuries have left them buried in last place in the American League Eastern Division. But they tagged former Blue Jay Marcus Stroman 3 runs in the 1st inning and 4 in the 3rd. Despite 2 runs of their own in the 1st, on Judge's 40th home run of the season, the Yankees couldn't come back. Volpe also homered, but the Jays won, 8-5.

Carlos Rodón started on Tuesday night, and pitched well aside from a 1st inning home run by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Judge and Volpe homered again. So did Trent Grisham, which was not expected, given his .188 batting average. The Yankees won, 8-3.

Cole started Sunday's game, and the rest seemed to have done him some good, as he got into the 6th inning, allowing 2 runs. Juan Soto hit a home run in the 7th to make it 3-2 Yankees, but the Jays tied it in the 8th. Then came a rain delay of nearly 2 hours. Then came a resumption of play. Then came extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th, Grisham bunted Volpe over to 3rd. There was 1 out, and LeMahieu was up.

Yogi Berra once said that one of the great things about baseball was that "You can't make up no trick plays." Well, Jays manager John Schneider tried a trick play, bringing one of his outfielders in as a 5th infielder, to try to stop a ground ball and keep Volpe from scoring from 3rd. It didn't matter: LeMahieu hit the ball up the middle, and nobody got to it, and Volpe scored. Yankees 4, Blue Jays 3. So it was 2 out of 3, and 7 of the team's last 8.

*

We are now 70 percent of the way through the regular season. The Yankees are tied with the Baltimore Orioles for 1st place in the American League Eastern Division. The Boston Red Sox are 6 back, the Tampa Bay Rays 9, and the Blue Jays 15 1/2.

That long slump looked really bad, but the Orioles couldn't take advantage of it. And now that the Yankees seem to be getting healthy, plus Volpe and Verdugo snapping out of their slumps, plus Wells starting to hit, plus the addition of Chisholm, means that hope is returning.

There are still worrying points. Torres is still batting only .235, and his lack of his hustle actually got him benched by Boone for a game in the Toronto series. Giancarlo Stanton is only hitting .241, still strikes out way too much, and, between that and his time on the Injured List, hasn't had an RBI, let alone a home run, since June 19. None of the starting pitchers, not even Cole (his ERA is 5.09), fills fans with confidence. And as for the bullpen, Holmes is not a reliable closer, and neither is anyone else. Maybe Leiter can be?

As for the "getting healthy" part, Anthony Rizzo and Clarke Schmidt might be a week away from returning. Jasson Domínguez is playing at Class AAA Scranton, but isn't hitting well. Most likely, he'll stay there until rosters expand on September 1. Although it would feel good to see him back in Pinstripes, there's no need to rush him back. He's still only 21 years old: If he doesn't make a major league impact this season, that's okay. If the Yankees fail again, it won't be because "The Martian" was unavailable.

But is the hitting or the pitching the bigger problem? You tell me. When the Yankees score at least 5 runs, they're 51-8; when they don't, they're 16-38. When they allow 4 or fewer runs, they're 55-15; when they allow 5 or more, they're 12-31.

At any rate, tonight, the Yankees begin a home series with the Los Angeles Angels. No Shohei Ohtani: He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. No Mike Trout: He's out of the season with an injury. (Another reason why it was stupid to compare him with Mickey Mantle: None of Mantle's many injuries kept him out for the rest of the season.) The Angels are badly struggling, and the Yankees may be able to continue their rebound against them.

Maybe This Is a Different Yankee Team

The Yankees continued their West Coast roadtrip, and were joined by DJ LeMahieu, coming off the Injured List to make his season debut.

They got off to a poor start on Tuesday night in Anaheim. Nestor Cortés got into the 6th inning, allowing only 2 runs, Juan Soto hit a home run, and the Yankees took a 3-2 lead over the Los Angeles Angels into the bottom of the 8th inning. But Luke Weaver wobbled, and the Angels won, 4-3.

Luis Gil started on Wednesday night, and was actually allowed to pitch 8 innings, and was brilliant. Alex Verdugo hit a home run, and the Yankees won, 2-1.

Carlos Rodón had a decent start on Thursday night, and the Yankees led 2-1 after 6, including another long home run from Aaron Judge. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Verdugo led off the top of the 7th with a walk. This was followed by a single from LeMahieu, and popup by Gleyber Torres, and then 3 straight walks: Jose Trevino to load the bases, Oswaldo Cabrera to force in a run, and Anthony Volpe to force in another run. Then Soto cleared the bases with a triple.

The Angels got 2 runs back in the bottom of the 7th, but the Yankees got another run in the top of the 8th, and won, 8-3.

*

Judge grew up in Linden, California, in the San Joaquin Valley. Although the closest major league team was the Oakland Athletics, and the closest minor-league team was the Modesto A's, an Oakland farm team, he grew up as a fan of the San Francisco Giants. So, when he was a free agent in the 2022-23 off-season, it was believed that the Giants might outbid the Yankees for his services. They didn't.

This weekend, Judge showed the Giants what they were missing. On Friday night, Marcus Stroman pitched into the 8th inning, and he was backed by 2 homers from Judge, and the Yankees won, 6-2.

On Saturday night, Judge hit another, and so did Giancarlo Stanton. Clarke Schmidt went on the Injured List, and Gerrit Cole isn't back yet -- he's scheduled to make a rehab start for the Class AA Somerset Patriots tonight -- but Cody Poteet stepped into Schmidt's slot, and pitched 5 decent innings, and the Yankees won, 7-3.

On Sunday afternoon, Judge did not hit a home run. Soto hit 2, including the capper of a 4-run 9th inning that allowed the Yankees to come from behind to win, 7-5. Michael Tomkin got the win, in relief of an ineffective Cortés.

Overall in this series, Judge went 6-for-9 with 3 home runs, 3 walks and 6 RBIs. A batting average of .667, an on-base percentage of .750, and a slugging percentage of 1.333.

In the 1980s, the August trip to the West Coast always seemed to be a harbinger of doom for the Yankees. They always seemed to lose 7 of 9, what I, a Star Trek fan, would later retroactively refer to as as a "Borg roadtrip." This time, in San Diego, Anaheim and San Francisco, the Yankees won 7 of 9 -- and their fans seemed to outnumber the home fans. Resistance was not only not futile, it was very effective.

*

So: 61 games down, 37 percent of the season, 101 games to go. The Yankees are 42-19, for a winning percentage of .689. Over a 162-game season, that would be 112-50. They are tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the best record in baseball.

In the American League Eastern Division, they lead the Baltimore Orioles by 2 1/2 games, the Boston Red Sox by 11 1/2, the Tampa Bay Rays by 12 1/2, and the Toronto Blue Jays by 13. In the all-important loss column, they lead the O's by only 1, but the Sox by 11, and the Rays and Jays by 12 each.

The Yankees are currently on a 5-game winning streak. This follows earlier streaks this season of 7, 5, and 3 streaks of 4. They are 31-2 when scoring at least 5 runs, and 33-6 when allowing 3 or fewer. They have 7 shutouts, although none by a single pitcher. They have had 2 15-run games, and 18 of at least 7 runs, going 17-1 in those. They have been so definitive that only 1 win has been by walkoff. A slight, but noticeable, concern: They are 1-3 in extra innings, including their 1 loss when scoring at least 7.

They have done this without Gerrit Cole. They did it without Jonathan Loáisiga, except for 4 innings over 3 games. They did it, until last week, without D.J. LeMahieu. And they did it without Jasson Domínguez, who is now playing rehab games.

They have done it despite Caleb Ferguson going 0-3 with a 5.30 ERA in 24 relief appearances. They have done it despite their 2 catchers, Austin Wells and Jose Trevino, combining for a .230 batting average. They have done it despite .230 from Gleyber Torres, .231 from Giancarlo Stanton, .236 from Oswaldo Cabrera, and .240 from Anthony Rizzo.

And they have looked better fundamentally. They are swinging at fewer bad pitches. They are making fewer baserunning mistakes. They are not beating themselves defensively. This team has been spectacular, but it has also been smart. Maybe this is a different team from the last few years.

It's also worth noting that the 2 teams that have been in the Yankees' heads aren't doing too well: The Red Sox are 30-30, and the Houston Astros are 27-34. The Yankees opened the season by sweeping 4 from the Astros in Houston, and took 2 out of 3 from them at home in May. They have not yet faced the Red Sox.

And so, now, the Yankees come home, for 3 against the Minnesota Twins, and then an already much-hyped 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then, it's back on the road: 3 in Kansas City, and 4 in Boston.

It's too soon to say that Title 28 is on the way. But the Yankees have done very little to divert themselves from the path.

Cold Play by the Yankees

It was fitting that the last pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in the opener of the Yankees rain-forced doubleheader at Fenway Park today was named Chris Martin. Because the Yankees have put on some cold play.

Clarke Schmidt once again tried to fill a hole in the Yankees' starting rotation, and once again widened it. And the Yankees did him few favors. Jake Bauers led off the game with a ground-rule double. After Giancarlo Stanton took a dubious called 3rd strike, Gleyber Torres hit a home run to make it 2-0 Yankees. The rest of the way, the Yankees only had 3 baserunners, 2 hits and a walk.

Schmidt got into trouble in each of the 1st 4 innings, but got out of it without allowing a run each time. His luck ran out in the 5th, and the Sox tied the game. Michael King came in for the 6th, and he was awful, allowing 3 runs. The Sox got another run in the 7th, off Nick Ramirez.

Red Sox 6, Yankees 2. WP: Nick Pivetta (4-4). No save. LP: King (1-3).

With Aaron Judge in the lineup, the Yankees are 30-19, and scoring 5.0 runs per game. Without him, they are 9-13, scoring 3.5 runs per game. Big difference. How big is it? Over the last 11 games, Stanton is batting .132; over the last 12, Anthony Rizzo is at .089; and over the last 28, DJ LeMahieu is at .181. As Rito Moreno might have said on The Electric Company, "That was terrible, that was horrible, that was nasty."

The nightcap of this doubleheader is set to start at 7:00, on ESPN. Luis Severino starts against Bryan Bello.

Yanks Get the Right Result Against The Other Team

When the Yankees aren't going well, an Interleague Citi Series with the Mets tends to not help.

Remember: It's not a "Subway Series" unless it's a World Series. Nobody ever called regular-season games between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers a "Subway Series." That was reserved for October contests between either of those teams and the Yankees.

At first, it looked pretty good for the Yankees: Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run off Max Scherzer. But then it fell apart: Luis Severino had nothing, giving up 6 runs in less than 5 innings.

And yet, he outlasted the future Hall-of-Famer Scherzer. Anthony Rizzo led off the top of the 4th with a single, and DJ LeMahieu hit a home run. Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled. Billy McKinney grounded out. Kyle Higashioka singled. Anthony Volpe doubled IKF home. Jake Bauers singled Higgy and Volpe home. Scherzer had blown a 5-1 lead, and it was 6-5 Yankees. Buck Showalter, the former Yankee manager now messing up a 2nd New York team, took Scherzer out.

The Mets tied the game in the bottom of the 5th, and Aaron Boone took Severino out, and brought in Ron Marinaccio. He was followed by Jimmy Cordero, Tommy Kahnle, Wandy Peralta, Clay Holmes and Michael King. Between them, these 6 relievers pitched 4 1/3rd innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks, but no runs.

McKinney led off the top of the 6th by beating out an infield single, and advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch. Higashioka struck out. Volpe sent a drive to right field that looked like it would be caught, so McKinney had to hold up. But Met center fielder Brandon Nimmo, who had homered earlier, "pulled a Luis Castillo," and dropped the ball. That shut those orange-shirted "7 Line Army" dopes in center field up. So McKinney could only get to 3rd, while Volpe ended up on 2nd. Josh Donaldson hit a sacrifice fly to score McKinney.

The key moment came in the bottom of the 8th. Aaron Boone made the mistake of bringing Peralta in. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Peralta walked Mark Canha. Then he gave up a single to Nimmo. He got Francisco Alvarez to ground to short, forcing Nimmo out at 2nd. But he hit Jeff McNeil with a pitch, loading the bases with 1 out.

Boone brought Holmes on, to face the man who, at least in terms of pre-acquisition hype, should have been the Mets' best hitter: Francisco Lindor. And next up was Starling Marte. Holmes was a little wild, going to 3-and-2 on each of them. But he found enough guts and enough control to strike them both out, and leave the bases loaded. King finished the Mets off in the bottom of the 9th.

Yankees 7, Mets 6. The right result against The Other Team. WP: Marinaccio (3-3, and he deserved it, because 2 of his losses are due to the extra-inning "ghost runner" rule). SV: King (4). LP: Josh Walker (0-1).

The brief series concludes tonight, as we are once again doing the "two games in Flushing, two in The Bronx" thing, although, this time, not all four in a row. It's ace vs. ace, both former Houston Astro Pennant winners: Gerrit Cole vs. Justin Verlander.

Sevy & IKF Lead Yanks to Win Over Padres In 10

If the Yankees are going to do anything this season, one thing they will need is for Luis Severino's return from injury to be a successful one.

So far, so good: 2 starts, 2 Yankee wins.

Yesterday afternoon, against the San Diego Padres, he pitched 6 2/3rds innings, allowing 2 runs, only 1 of them earned, on 1 hit and 3 walks, striking out 5. Unfortunately, that 1 hit was a home run by Fernando Tatís Jr. in the 4th inning.

But DJ LeMahieu doubled home a run in the 1st inning, following singles by Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo. Judge scored on the double, and Rizzo tried to, but was thrown out at the plate. That run that the Yankees didn't get loomed large until the bottom of the 7th, when DJLM hit a home run to tie the game.

Michael King pitched into the 8th, and Wandy Peralta to the end of the 9th. The game went to extra innings. Clay Holmes pitched a perfect top of the 10th. In the bottom of the 10th, with Gary Allen as the ghost runner, the Padres walked LeMahieu intentionally. Given the game he'd had to that point, probably a good idea. But Harrison Bader bunted the runners over, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled Allen home.

Yankees 3, Padres 2. WP: Holmes (3-2). No save. LP: Nick Martinez (2-2). It was IKF's 1st walkoff hit as a Yankee, and in his postgame interview with Meredith Marokovits of YES, he told of how the Yankees feed off the home crowd, 46,963 on this occasion, a gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon on Memorial Day Weekend.

The series concludes this afternoon, with a battle between a pair of aces, Gerrit Cole and Yu Darvish.

Yankees Sweep A's, For Momentum to Carry vs. Rays

The Yankees sweeping a 3-game home series from the Oakland Athletics shouldn't be considered a big deal. But it needed to happen, after the Yankees came within 4 runs of sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg last weekend, but, instead, lost 2 out of 3. So, with the Rays coming to The Bronx to start a 4-game series tomorrow night, the Yankees need all the momentum they can get.

Rookie Jhony Brito started, and got into the 5th inning, having allowed 2 runs. Jimmy Cordero got the Yankees through the 6th, without allowing any further runs. Since Brito did not finish the 5th inning, he could not be the winning pitcher.

But Brito did leave the game with a lead. The Yankees scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st, thanks in part to a 3-run home run from Harrison Bader. They gut 7 runs in the 5th inning, including got a 2-run homer from DJ LeMahieu and a grand slam from Anthony Volpe.

Yankees 11, Athletics 3. WP: Cordero (2-1). SV: Deivi Garcia (1). LP: Kyle Muller (1-3).

So now, the Rays come in, and the Yankees need to take a stand, to show that the Rays will not win the American League Eastern Division easily, and that the Yankees will not go away quietly. Here are the first-pitch times and the projected pitching matchups, with all 4 games to be broadcast on the YES Network:

* Thursday, 7:05 PM: Domingo Germán vs. Drew Rasmussen.

* Friday, 7:05 PM: Gerrit Cole vs. Josh Fleming.

* Saturday, 1:05 PM: Nestor Cortés vs. Shane McClanahan.

* Sunday, 1:35 PM: Clarke Schmidt vs. Zach Eflin.

These 4 games could turn out to be the ones that determine whether the Yankees make a race of it in the AL East, or have to fight for a Wild Card Playoff berth.

Hicks Stick Assists Affray of A's

The Yankees went from playing the best team in the worst stadium, the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, to playing the worst team in the worst open-air stadium at the best stadium, the Oakland Athletics not at the Oakland Coliseum but at Yankee Stadium II. The A's, struggling to win anything, including a new ballpark deal in Oakland to the point where they seem to be moving to Las Vega, might have been just what the Yankees needed after a bad weekend in St. Petersburg.

Nestor Cortés started, and gave up 4 hits and a walk, but no runs, over the 1st 5 innings. But it took until the bottom of the 5th for the injury-riddled, weak-hitting Yankees to support him. Harrison Bader led off with a triple, and Oswaldo Cabrera hit a home run, to make it 2-0.

Cortés got into trouble in the 6th, as the A's loaded the bases with nobody out. Aaron Boone replaced him with Ron Marinaccio. Thanks to a double play, Marinaccio managed to get out of it with only 2 runs scoring. It goes into the books as a blown save, but it was hardly a bad performance. At any rate, the game was now tied.

A good team would have done something about it immediately. The Yankees did: After Anthony Volpe led off the bottom of the 6th by striking out -- remember, as big a prospect as he is, he is still a rookie -- Gleyber Torres hit a home run, Anthony Rizzo singled, and DJ LeMahieu hit a home run. In the 7th, Jose Trevino singled, and Aaron Hicks hit a home run. The crowd had been booing his every appearance, but with his 1st dinger of the year, he got some cheers. (He's still batting just .153.)

Ian Hamilton pitched a perfect 7th. Nick Ramirez pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th. Yankees 7, A's 2. WP: Marinaccio (2-1). No save. LP: JP Sears (0-3).

The series continues tonight. Clarke Schmidt -- oy -- starts against Drew Rucinski.

Cole and Homers Lead Yanks, But Judge Injury a Concern

The Yankees opened a 4-game series against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington last night. They opened up a lead in the top of the 2nd inning. DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres opened it with back-to-back home runs. Oswald Peraza was hit with a pitch. After Isiah Kiner-Falefa flew out, Jose Trevino singled, Aaron Hicks drew a walk, and Anthony Volpe singled Peraza home. It was 3-0 Yankees.

Gerrit Cole started, and pitched shutout ball for 5 innings. In the bottom of the 6th, he loaded the bases with nobody out. He got a strikeout for the 1st out. On the next play, LeMahieu took a grounder at 1st base. He did the right thing by going to 2nd base for the 2nd out, and Volpe got it. Volpe made a good throw to 1st, but Cole didn't get there in time, and he dropped the ball, and a run scored. The next play was a slow bouncer to 3rd, and Peraza couldn't make the throw, making it 3-2. Another grounder ended the inning. Given the circumstances, the Yankees were lucky to get out of it with only 2 runs.

Cole pitched into the 7th, and Michael King pitched the rest of the way. Trevino provided an insurance run with a home run in the 9th. Yankees 4, Rangers 2. WP: Cole (5-0). SV: King (1). LP: Andrew Heaney (2-2).

There was one rough note: Aaron Judge had to leave the game in the 4th inning, with an apparent hip injury. He has played in all 26 games this season. This will surely end tonight, but manager Aaron Boone says he is "not too concerned about it," and he might need only a day or two off.

The series continues tonight. Clarke Schmidt, coming off easily his best start of a rough season so far, will start against former Met ace Jacob deGrom.

Ghosts of Cashman Screw-ups Past Haunt Yanks In Minnesota

The Yankees' week-long road trip to Minnesota and Texas did not get off to an auspicious start last night. Especially since they were faced by 2 of the ghosts of Brian Cashman screw-ups past.

Sonny Gray started for the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Not surprisingly, given that their lineup included Aaron Hicks, but not Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees couldn't hit him. DJ LeMahieu got 2 hits, but the rest of the lineup combined for only 4. Even the 1 run the Yankees scored, at the very end, came on a fielder's choice by Oswaldo Cabrera.

Jhony Brito started for the Yankees, and while the rookie has been a nice surprise thus far, he didn't have it last night, being taken out in the 3rd inning.

And in the 4th, reliever Greg Weissert gave up a home run -- to Joey Gallo, another ghost of Cashman screw-ups past.

Twins 6, Yankees 1. WP: Gray (3-0). No save. LP: Brito (2-2).

Right now, Gallo is batting .243. That's not good, but compare it to these names in last night's Yanker lineup: Aaron Judge, .244 (remember, he was threatening for the batting title, and thus the Triple Crown, last September); Cabrera, .211; Jose Tevino, .208; Anthony Volpe, .194; Isiah Kiner-Falefa, .176; Franchy Cordero, .174; and Hicks, .107. Nope, that's not a typo: 3 hits in 28 at-bats equals one-oh-seven.

And that doesn't include these guys, who didn't get into last night's game: Oswald Peraza, .200; Kyle Higashioka, .194; Willie Calhoun, .136; and Josh Donaldson, who was at .125 when he went on the Injured List, presumably long-term.

The series continues tonight. Nestor Cortés starts against Joe Ryan.