Yankees: Keep Or Dump?

God only knows what the Arsenal fans interested in "body language"

would make of Chapman's reaction to the Altuve home run.

It's time to do a "Keep Or Dump" for the 2019 New York Yankees.

Keep, Easy Choice
17 Aaron Boone, manager: Given the restrictions on him, and the injuries he's dealt with, winning 203 games in 2 seasons is phenomenal. He made some bad choices, but many of those were forced on him. And, unlike the last 3 Yankee managers before him -- Joe Girardi, Joe Torre and Buck Showalter -- he does a great job of standing up for his players. Face it: Before Boonie, when was the last time you heard a Yankee manager refer to his players as "my guys" to an umpire? Was it Billy Martin?

11 Brett Gardner, outfielder: The fact that he's the last remaining player who played home games at the old Yankee Stadium is a nice distinction, but it should be irrelevant. He should be kept because he's our fastest runner, showed surprising power this season, and provides leadership.

18 Didi Gregorius, shortstop: He had a horrid ALCS, but he's a very good hitter, a good fielder, and a positive presence in the clubhouse.

19 Masahiro Tanaka, pitcher: He is a definite Number 2 pitcher, if not the ace we so desperately need.

24 Gary Sanchez, catcher: He needs to be more selective at the plate. If he is, he can once again be a gem.

25 Gleyber Torres, 2nd baseman-shortstop: At times, these last 2 seasons, he's made the trade of Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs look justified. And, certainly, he bore hardly any responsibility for the Yankees flop in the 2018 ALDS against the Red Sox. But in the 2019 ALCS, he had a spectacular Game 1, and then disappeared. When it truly matters, he has proven nothing. Still, he's not quite 23. His best years should be still to come -- but for that trade to be fully justified, he's going to have to help us win at least 1 World Series.

26 DJ LeMahieu, infielder: Given his hitting and his defensive versatility this guy was, hands down, the most valuable player in the American League this season, not counting any Astros.

29 Gio Urshela, 3rd base: He and DJLM were big surprises that I don't think anybody expected to do as well as they did.

31 Aaron Hicks, outfielder: He was plagued with injuries, but he can flat-out play when he's healthy.

36 Mike Ford, 1st baseman: He could be an odd man out, and therefore trade bait, but he's a good hitter.

38 Cameron Maybin, outfielder: He's a good hitter, he's got some power, and, aside from Gardner (2009) and Chapman (2016), he's the one guy on the team with a World Series ring (2017 Houston Astros).

39 Mike Tauchman, outfielder: He's a good backup, and it's too soon to give up on him.

40 Luis Severino, pitcher: We need to see if he's all the way back from injury. If he is, he can be a solid Number 2 pitcher, if not the ace we so desperately need.

41 Miguel Andujar, 3rd baseman: No athlete should lose his job because of injury. And, before getting hurt, he was, like Torres, looking like a prospect for whom a controversial trade might have worked out after all.

45 Luke Voit, 1st baseman: Like Ford, he could be an odd man out, and therefore trade bait, but he's got lots of power.

47 Jordan Montgomery, pitcher: No athlete should lose his job because of injury.

48 Tommy Kahnle, pitcher: He came through for us a lot this season.

53 Zack Britton, pitcher: He's not a closer, but he's a good setup man.

56 Jonathan Holder, pitcher No athlete should lose his job because of injury.

61 Ben Heller, pitcher: No athlete should lose his job because of injury.

65 James Paxton, pitcher: His ALCS matched his regular season: Bad 1st half, very good 2nd half. He's about to turn 31, and probably has at least 5 good years left in him.

66 Kyle Higashioka, catcher: He's better offensively and defensively than Romine.

67 Nestor Cortes Jr., pitcher: He showed us a little, especially as the 2nd man in Green's "starts," and deserves another chance.

68 Dellin Betances, pitcher: No athlete should lose his job because of injury. Besides, if he can come back to full strength, maybe he can become the closer to replace Chapman, or at least the co-closer with Chapman.

73 Mike King, pitcher: It's too soon to judge him.

87 Albert Abreu, pitcher: It's too soon to judge him.

90 Thairo Estrada, infielder: He's a versatile backup.

99 Aaron Judge, outfielder: He showed us some good glove this season -- he made a play in Game 6 of the ALCS that would have been compared to Lou Piniella's play in the Bucky Dent Game if we had won it. -- and his power hitting makes him the face of New York baseball, no matter what the Flushing Heathen say.

Keep, Tough Choice

14 Tyler Wade, infielder: He doesn't yet offer anything that better players don't already offer, but it may be too soon to give up on him.

33 Greg Bird, 1st baseman: A very tough call. No athlete should lose his job because of injury. But when he has played, he hasn't hit. He batted .261 in half a season in 2015, but has batted .194 since. I like the guy, but personal feelings, good or bad, should be irrelevant. He's about to turn 27. He deserves one more chance.

34 J.A. Happ, pitcher: Yes, he's inconsistent. But until we get an ace, or at least a more solid starter than Happ, we have to keep Happ.

43 Jonathan Loaisiga, pitcher: He was shaky this season, but he's young, and it's too soon to give up on him.

54 Aroldis Chapman, pitcher: This may be the toughest call of all, as his meltdowns have been bad, and he did give up a Pennant-losing home run. Not that anybody who's watched the Yankees since the retirements of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera expected them to win the Pennant, anyway. But what elite closer is available? Until one is, or until we develop one in our farm system, we have to keep Aroldis.

55 Domingo German, pitcher: His status is up in the air, due to legal issues. That suspension really hurt us in the ALCS: Instead of having a rotation of (not necessarily in this order) German, Tanaka, Paxton and Severino, we had one of Tanaka, Paxton, Severino, and all-bullpen. Brian Cashman's refusal to buy an ace starter wasn't necessary as long as German was going 18-4. But with German unavailable, it was obvious that Cashman had blown it. It doesn't look good to have 2 guys on our pitching staff accused of domestic violence (Chapman is the other), and in each case we may never know his level of guilt. But if German can be cleared to play (if not exonerated), I think we have little choice, competitively, but to keep him, however reluctantly.

57 Chad Green, pitcher: We need a reliever who can go at least 2 innings. Unfortunately, he can't go any more than 2 innings. Not even 2 1/3rd.

Dump, Tough Choice
28 Austin Romine, catcher: Awful hitter, and not a major league catcher, either. I'd say Keep, but only if we didn't have Higashioka. That's what makes this a tough choice: We need 3 catchers, but Romine really shouldn't be any of them.

52 CC Sabathia, pitcher: It's out of our hands, as he's retiring, anyway, and it appears to have been right on time: He had half a good season left.

61 Jake Barrett, pitcher: No athlete should lose his job because of injury, but even when healthy, he didn't offer our staff anything that better pitchers weren't already offering.

Dump, Easy Choice
0 Adam Ottavino, pitcher: He is our least consistent pitcher, and he's a head case.

22 Jacoby Ellsbury, outfielder: As recently as May 2015, he was one of the best players in baseball. But he's battled injuries ever since, and hasn't played an inning since September 30, 2017.

27 Giancarlo Stanton, outfielder-designated hitter: This will be the most controversial of my choices, but when we needed him most, the man was invisible: Either injured, or ineffective. He's now gone through 2 postseasons for the Yankees, and has made 2006 Alex Rodriguez look like 1977 Reggie Jackson. If we offer to pay his salary, he can be great trade bait. But we can't keep him. He's like Jack Clark: He feasted off National League pitchers, but, with the Yankees, he was an injury-prone strikeout machine who couldn't play any position well, and wasn't exactly a stabilizing presence in the clubhouse. Some team would improve with him on their roster, but it won't be the Yankees.

30 Edwin Encarnacion, 1st baseman-designated hitter: He's a one-dimensional player who provided power but little else. He didn't put the ball in play enough. That kind of hitting used to be called "oafish clout."

35 Cory Gearrin, pitcher: He is not a major league pitcher.

70 Tyler Lyons, pitcher: He offers us nothing that better pitchers don't already offer.

71 Stephen Tarpley, pitcher: He offers us nothing that better pitchers don't already offer.

72 Chance Adams, pitcher: He is not a major league pitcher.

77 Clint Frazier, outfielder: He is the easiest trade bait we have, and he has to go, because he's got a million-dollar bat, a five-cent glove, and a five-cent head.

85 Luis Cessa, pitcher: In spite of a good ALCS performance, his regular-season performance was atrocious.

Brian Cashman, general manager: The easiest choice of all. To paraphrase the evil Chancellor in V for Vendetta, We are being buried beneath the avalanche of your inadequacies, Mister Cashman!

My Guys Win Without Their Manager

"There are two kinds of people in the world. There's my guys, and there's not my guys. Now, if you wanna be one of my guys, we can have that conversation."
-- Lieutenant Gene Hunt, NYPD (Harvey Keitel), Life On Mars (episode took place in 1973 but aired in 2009)

I divide the world into 3 groups of people. There's my guys, there's guys who could become my guys, and then there's guys who are never going to be my guys.

Aaron Boone may not know I exist, but, for what he did at 12:16 AM on October 17, 2003, he will forever be one of my guys.

Several of the current Yankee players are already my guys. Edwin Encarnación, tonight's Yankee hero, could become one of my guys. Brennan Miller, who umpired this week's Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays series, will never be one of my guys.

Early in the opener of Thursday's rain-forced doubleheader with the Rays, Miller was umpiring behind the plate, and his strike zone was about as wide as the Major Deegan Expressway. Phone was calling him on it from the dugout, using "George Carlin words."

Finally, Miller yelled toward the dugout, "I hear you, Aaron!"

Good, that means your ears work fine. If only your eyes did.

That's what I would have said. That's not what Boone said, though. He said, "Bear the fuck down!" And Miller threw him out of the game.

Boone came out of the dugout, and defended his players in a way that we haven't seen from a Yankee manager for a long time. Not from Joe Girardi, perennially passive. Not from Joe Torre, who, as great as he was, was frequently too concerned with appearing "classy." Not from Buck Showalter, who didn't seem to find his courage until well after George Steinbrenner told him to take a hike.

The Yankees do strike out more than they should. But they also make contact a lot, sometimes fouling pitches off until they get one they like. Boone essentially told Miller, "If the pitch actually is a strike, my guys will swing at it."

It's not often that we get good audio on arguments without a prearranged mike-up with one if the participants, but let's give some DAP to the YES Network, because we got Boone's full tirade:

My guys are fucking savages in that box! And you're having a piece of shit start to this game! I feel bad for you, but fucking be better! That guy is a good pitcher, man, but our guys are fucking savages in that box! Our guys are savages in the fucking box! Tighten it up right now, OK? Tighten this shit up!

You'll notice that Boone was criticizing him, but not actually insulting him. He didn't say, "You're a bad umpire." He said, "You're having a bad game." Not that Miller was incompetent or corrupt by nature, just that he wasn't getting the job done today. Boone had already been thrown out, so we didn't have much left to lose, but he still could have been considerably less respectful.

The jokes already made the rounds on Twitter within a couple of innings. People posted designs for T-shirts saying "F*CKING SAVAGES," or some other way of obscuring letters so the message could be gotten across without kids seeing the word "fucking" in public. (As if they haven't become aware of it already.)

I made suggestion that Yankee Stadium II be nicknamed Savage Square Garden, and that led me to muse that maybe, if we make it to the World Series, the band Savage Garden be asked to sing the National Anthem.

But it occurred to me: Everyone is focusing on the wrong words here. The key words are not "fucking savages."

The key words here are "my guys."

Did you ever hear Girardi try to protect his players from an umpire by asserting that they were his players? Or Torre? Or Showalter?

The Yankees went on to win the game, and the nightcap. For his tirade, Boone got suspended for last night's opener of a 3-game home Interleague series with the Colorado Rockies. He chose not to appeal it, perhaps agreeing with me that it was totally worth it.

He had sent a message. He had sent it to his own players, saying, "You're my guys, and I will stand up for you, all the way." He sent it to the umpires, saying, "I will stand up for my guys, no matter what you do." And he had sent it to the Rays, saying, "We are the New York Yankees, and you are not, and you are not going to beat us."

It's about time a Yankee manager did that.

*

So the game was played last night. I haven't heard who did the actual managing for Yankees and I don't think it matters now.

As was the case in each game of the previous day's doubleheader, Yankees fell behind 2-0 early, and then came back forcefully. With 1 out in the bottom of the 3rd, former Rockie DJ LeMahieu singled, and then Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez drew walks. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. Edwin Encarnación came up, and hit a grand slam. 4-2 Yankees.

LeMahieu singled home another run in the 4th. In the 6th, he grounded into a fielder's choice that got another run home, and then came around to score on a home run by Judge.

J.A. Happ threw 90 pitches over the 1st 5 innings, but didn't allow any runs after the 1st inning. It was decided to take him out, and another former Rockie, Adam Ottavino, pitched a scoreless 6th, with a slider that Yankee Legend Paul O'Neill,  on the YES Network, called "absolutely disgusting." This, of course, was a play on the common saying for a slider. Cliché Alert: "That's not just filthy, that's nasty."

And to think, I thought Ottavino was an idiot, following his remarks about Babe Ruth in the off-season, before we acquired him.

Stephen Tarpley, who has struggled this season, was put in to protect the lead for the last 3 innings, and got the job done, allowing no runs. Yankees 8, Rockies 2. WP: Happ (8-5). SV: Tarpley (2). LP: Kyle Freeland (2-7).

The Rays lost last night, so they are now 9 games behind the Yankees in the American League Eastern Division. The Boston Red Sox also lost, so they are 11 games back.

The series continues this afternoon, with Masahiro Tanaka starting against Antonio Senzatela. Come on, my guys! Come on, Aaron Boone's guys! Come on you Yankees! Come on you Pinstripes! Come on you Bombers! Come on you Fucking Savages!

Judge's Jolt and Didi's Dutch Salami Punish Rays

Monday night's 9th inning home loss to the Tampa Bay Rays left a foul taste in Yankee Fans' mouths. Last night's game needed to be considerably sweeter.

CC Sabathia did his part, starting and going 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits, no walks, and 6 strikeouts. But he left trailing 3-2: Edwin Encarnacion and DJ LeMahieu had hit solo home runs, but the Rays had gotten just a little bit more out of their offense.

Nestor Cortes got into a little trouble in the 7th inning, and Aaron Boone had to bring David Hale on to bail him out. Hale pitched the top of the 8th inning as well. But going into the bottom of the 8th, it was still 3-2 to the Montreal Bay Expo Rays.

The Yankees didn't need a particularly big inning, but, Cliche Alert: It wouldn't hurt. Well, it would hurt the Rays. Gleyber Torres began the proceedings by drawing a walk on Rays pitcher Colin Poche. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety.

At first, it looked like Poche might get away with it, as he struck Brett Gardner out, and got LeMahieu to fly out to center. But here came Da Judge. Aaron Judge took Poche deep to the opposite field, and that gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

The proceedings were far from over. Luke Voit singled. Gio Urshela was sent in to pinch-run for him. Gary Sanchez doubled, but Urshela couldn't score. Encarnacion was intentionally walked.

Didi Gregorius was up. The Yankee Stadium sound-effects guy, whoever that is, played the chorus to The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army," and the fans sang along: "Oh, whoa-oh-a-oh, whoa!" To an Arsenal fan like me, that's "Oh, Santi Cazorla!" But it fits Didi: "Oh, Didi Gregor-yus!"

Encarnacion had been intentionally walked to load the bases, and, to set up a play at any base. Didi made sure that there would be a play at no base, cranking a 406-foot no-doubt-about-er into the right-center field Bleachers. This was not a short-porcher. Call the Amsterdam Deli, it's a Dutch Grand Salami. With Curaçaoan spices.

Boone left Hale in to pitch the 9th, but he let a couple of runners on, and Zack Britton was called on to get the last 2 outs, and he did. Yankees 8, Rays 3. WP: Hale (3-0). No save. LP: Poche (2-3).

The Boston Red Sox lost, so, as things currently stand, the Yankees lead the American League Eastern Division by 6 games over the Rays, and the Red Sox trail by 10 -- in the loss column, respecively, that's 8 for Tampa Bay, and 11 for Boston. The Yankees have the best record in the AL, and among National League teams, only the Los Angeles Dodgers have a better record.

The series continues tonight. Domingo German starts against Yonny Chirinos.

We Need to Talk About Aroldis

My fellow Yankee Fans, we need to talk about Aroldis Chapman. Can we trust him to come through for us in big games?

Because last night's game at Yankee Stadium was between the 1st place team in the American League Eastern Division, ours, and the 2nd place team in the Division, the Tampa Bay Rays. It's a little early to say it's a particularly big game, and we did go in with a 6-game lead. But we are now in the 2nd half of the season. There will be bigger games than this in which we need to trust him. Can we?

Last night was The Travis d'Arnaud Show, literally from beginning to end. James Paxton once again had a bad 1st inning, and pitched much better the rest of the way. He went 6 innings, allowing 2 runs, both on solo home runs to d'Arnaud, with 7 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. The homers came as the leadoff of the game, and again in the 3rd inning.

The Yankees' bats should have been able to overcome 2 runs. They did. Edwin Encarnacion hit a home run in the 4th inning, Gio Urshela tied the game with a dinger in the 7th, and then Encarnacion hit another tater in the 8th, with Aaron Hicks aboard, to make it 4-2. That should have made a winning pitcher out of Chad Green, who pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th.

But, as so often happens, Chapman made the 9th inning "interesting." This time, in the words of the great comedian who just died at age 90, Laugh-In veteran Arte Johnson, "Verrrry interesting... but stupid!"

First, Kevin Kiermaier led off the top of the 9th with a grounder to 3rd, and Urshela couldn't quite throw him out. It was scored as a hit. Then, Guillermo Heredia singled. The tying runs were on. That's when Chapman did what he usually does, and struck guys out: Willy Adames and Joey Wendle. All he had to do was prevent d'Arnaud from driving in 2 runs.

But instead of throwing his best fastballs, Chapman threw a hanging slider, and d'Arnaud drove in 3 runs, with his 3rd home run of the game, an opposite-field short-porcher to right, 355 feet. Funny, but nobody ever says it's too easy to hit home runs at Yankee Stadium II when it's the other team with a short-porch job that wouldn't be out of any other ballpark.

Aside from Aaron Judge drawing a 2-out walk, the Yankees went down quietly in the bottom of the 9th. Rays 5, Yankees 4. WP: Andrew Kittredge (1-0). SV: Oliver Drake (1). LP: Chapman (2-2).

This was Chapman's 6th blown save of the season, and the most important, since it came against the team chasing us for 1st place in the AL East. With this result, the Rays close to within 5 games of the Yankees, 7 in the loss column. The Boston Red Sox won, so they close to within 9 games behind the Yankees, 10 in the loss column.

Can we trust Chapman down the stretch? In the Playoffs, if we get that far? If we get even further, in the World Series? Yes, he helped the Chicago Cubs win the 2016 World Series, but he did blow a lead in Game 7, even though the Cubs eventually won it with another pitcher closing out the 10th inning.

Someone suggested that, when Luis Severino or Domingo German gets off the Injured List, one of them should become the closer. German has relieved. But he and Severino have both done so well as starters, I'm not sure it's a good idea.

Dellin Betances has begun throwing at the Yankees' minor-league complex in Tampa, but while he's been a very good 7th inning and 8th inning pitcher, he's been dreadful as the closer. I don't think we should try him again.

But the time has come to decide how much of a future Aroldis Chapman has as the Yankees' closer. We may need to make a move before next season. We may need to make a move at this season's trading deadline, which is now just 15 days away.

The series continues tonight. CC Sabathia starts against Ryan Stanek.

There Was One Germán "Bomber" On the Mound

"Pitching is 75 percent of baseball." -- Connie Mack
"Connie Mack lied." -- Billy Martin

I don't know for sure that Mack originated that saying. I do know that Billy was told Mack had originated it, and that he was told this in 1985, when the Yankees were challenging those pesky Toronto Blue Jays for the American League Eastern Division title, and the Yankees were one good starting pitcher short, producing Billy's response. The Yankees ended up losing to the Jays by 2 games.

From 1985 to 1993, the Jays won 5 American League Eastern Division titles (and probably should have won at least 1, possibly 3, more), and the 1992 and 1993 World Series; while the Yankees had close calls for the AL East title in 1985, '86, '87, '88 and '93, but won nothing, including losing the Division to the Jays in '85 and '93.

Since then, though, the Yankees have reached the postseason 20 times, winning the Division 14 times, the Pennant 7 times, and the World Series 5 times; while the Jays have reached the postseason twice, in 2015 and 2016; won the Division once, in 2016; and are still looking for their 1st Pennant since Joe Carter touched 'em all in 1993.

The secret to each team's success -- and failure? Having enough pitching -- or not.

With the Yankees' rotation this season struck by several injuries, the emergence of Domingo Germán has been huge. Last night, in the 2nd-half lid-lifter and the opening of a 3-game Yanks-Jays series at Yankee Stadium II, he went 6 innings, allowing no runs on 3 hits and no walks, striking out 7 -- right in the "You can't ask for much more than this" file.

To the tune of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain," English soccer fans, when England plays Germany, sing a song referencing World War II:

There were 10 German Bombers in the air.
There were 10 German Bombers in the air.
There were 10 German Bombers
10 German Bombers
10 German Bombers in the air.

And the RAF of England shot one down.
And the RAF of England shot one down.
And the RAF of England
RAF of England
RAF of England shot one down.

There were 9 German Bombers in the air...

And so on, until there's no German Bombers. Forgetting, of course, that it was the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom, not just England, which has about 82 percent of the population of the country. The RAF had Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish pilots in it, too -- not to mention exiles from Nazi-occupied nations such as France and Poland, and even a few Americans who volunteered to enter the war, even when their country wouldn't, as yet. They wouldn't have survived as a nation long enough for the U.S. to get in without those other pilots, including those other British pilots and the foreign pilots.

Well, there was one Germán Bomber on the mound -- a Bronx Bomber, albeit a pitcher, and that's pronounced Hair-MON, the Spanish way, not JER-man. And he "shot the Blue Jays down."

He only threw 78 pitches, and Tommy Kahnle only threw 10 pitches in getting through the 7th inning without a run, so Germán probably could have done that, too. It's due to his recent injury that Aaron Boone didn't risk him any further, and the bullpen did get the job done, so, this time, taking a cruising starter out so soon wasn't a big problem.

Perhaps even more encouraging was Chad Green, who pitched the 8th and the 9th, throwing just 29 pitches, and allowing only 1 baserunner. He'd been fine pitching the 1st 2 innings of games, but shaky as a reliever. The fact that he could come into this game without a large lead, and give none of it up, was a good sign.

For the 1st 4 innings, Aaron Sanchez was equal to the task, holding the Yankees scoreless. In fact, the 5th inning was the only one in which the Yankees scored. But, as occasionally happens to the Yankees, the Jays were struck by "onebadinningitis." Brett Gardner led off with a triple. DJ LeMahieu got him home with a groundout. Aaron Judge singled, Aaron Hicks doubled, Gary Sanchez was hit by a pitch to load the bases with just 1 out, and Edwin Encarnacion hit one to the wall in left-center, a double that cleared the bases.

That was it, but it was enough. Yankees 4, Blue Jays 0. WP: Germán (11-2). No save. LP: Sanchez (3-13).

The Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox also won last night, so the Yankees remain 6 1/2 games ahead of the former and 9 ahead of the latter.

The series continues this afternoon, which happens to be LeMahieu's 31st birthday. (It's easy to forget he's not one of the "Baby Bombers": He's been in the majors since 2011, and was a 2-time All-Star, a 3-time Gold Glove, and a 2016 National League batting champion for the Colorado Rockies.) It will also be Luke Voit's return from the Injured List. As Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow on Friends) would say, "Which means yay!" J.A. Happ will start against his former team, against Clayton Richard.

Yankees Afflicted with "Senioritis"

The Yankees treated the last 2 games before the All-Star Break like the last couple of days before school lets out for the Summer, as if they sort-of mattered, but sort-of didn't.

Except the games counted just the same. Having "Senioritis" doesn't work in July when you've still got games through the end of September.

Manager Aaron Boone gave his All-Stars the day off. For Masahiro Tanaka, this didn't matter, as he wasn't going to be pitching today, anyway. For Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu, it mattered, as they were replaced by Austin Romine and Breyvic Valera (pictured), with Sanchez DHing and Edwin Encarnacion put at 1st base.

I know what you're thinking: "What the hell is a Breyvic Valera?" He's a Venezuelan infielder who didn't crack the major leagues until he was 25. That was 2 years ago, with the St. Louis Cardinals. He divided last season between the National League Champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the worst team in the majors, the Baltimore Orioles. Total major league plate appearances coming into this game? 86.

How did the Yankees get this scrub? The Yankees claimed him off waivers from the San Francisco Giants, who'd bought him from the Orioles. That makes 4 different major league organizations in less than 2 full years. As I called him a moment ago, he's a scrub.

James Paxton started the series, and official 1st half, finale for the Yankees against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. He gave up 2 runs in the 1st inning, and the YES Network put up a graphic that showed that his 1st inning ERA this season is 10.20, but after that, it drops to 2.72. Throw in the fact that he's a lefthander, and he's the new Greg Cadaret. As Dick Smothers would say, That was not a compliment.

Overall, Paxton pitched well, going 6 innings, not allowing any runs over the last 5, allowing 7 hits and no walks, and striking out 11. Tommy Kahnle, Adam Ottavino, and the previous game's goat, Chad Green, each pitched 2/3rds of a scoreless inning. So the Yankees got the pitching they needed.

But Charlie Morton started for the Rays. He drove the Yankees crazy for the Houston Astros in the 2017 American League Championship Series. He didn't get out of the 6th inning this time, but that's because he'd hit the 100-pitch mark, and Rays manager Kevin Cash is as much of a coward about pitch counts as Brian Cashman. Still, he struck out 10 Yankees.

Brett Gardner hit a solo home run in the 2nd inning. Valera and Romine singled to start the 3rd, but were stranded. Gardner doubled in the 4th. Aaron Hicks drew a walk in the 5th. Sanchez singled in the 6th. That's all the Yankees got in the game: 6 baserunners.

Encarnacion, Brian Cashman's latest "Chris Carter," is now batting .216. Which happens to be Valera's lifetime batting average.

Rays 2, Yankees 1. WP: Morton (10-2). SV: Emilio Pagan (5). LP: Paxton (5-4).

*

So, as we head into the All-Star Break, here's how things stand:

* American League Eastern Division: The Yankees lead the Rays by 6 1/2 games, the Boston Red Sox by 9, the Toronto Blue Jays by 24 1/2, and the Baltimore Orioles by 30 1/2.

* AL Central: The Minnesota Twins lead the Cleveland Indians by 5 1/2, the Chicago White Sox by 12 1/2, the Detroit Tigers by 26, and the Kansas City Royals by 27.

* AL West: The Houston Astros lead the Oakland Athletics by 7 1/2, the Texas Rangers by 9, the Los Angeles Angels by 12 1/2, and the Seattle Mariners by 20.

* National League East: The Atlanta Braves lead the Washington Nationals by 6, the Philadelphia Phillies by 6 1/2, the Mets by 13 1/2, and the Miami Marlins by 19 1/2.

* NL Central: The only Division with a real race at the moment, and what a race, with all 5 teams within 5 games. The Chicago Cubs lead the Milwaukee Brewers by half a game, the St. Louis Cardinals by 2, the Pittsburgh Pirates by 2 1/2, and the Cincinnati Reds by 4 1/2.

* NL West: The Los Angeles Dodgers lead the Arizona Diamondbacks by 13 1/2, the San Diego Padres by 14, the Colorado Rockies by 14 1/2, and the San Francisco Giants by 17 1/2.

* If the current standings end up being the final standings, the Yankees would have home-field advantage against any team in the postseason, except for the Dodgers.

* The AL Playoffs would be (the lesser-seeded team listed first) Cleveland vs. Tampa Bay, winner to face the Yankees, and Minnesota vs. Houston. The NL Playoffs would be Philadelphia vs. Washington, winner to face Los Angeles; and Chicago vs. Atlanta.

The All-Star Game will be tomorrow night, in Cleveland. The Yankees resume on Friday night, home to Toronto.

One piece of good news: Except for 2 more games in late September, the Yankees won't have to play in that stupid St. Petersburg dome again this season.

Sanchez Saves Chapman's Bacon

There is a myth in Major League Baseball, dating back to the era of 16 teams, 8 in each League, 1 Division in each League, that the team that is in 1st place in the League on the 4th of July goes on to win the Pennant.

Ted Keith of Sports Illustrated looked up the myth for a 2012 article. He found that it went back at least as far as the cover story for a 1934 issue of Time magazine, whose author (Time tended not to credit its author in those days, so the writer will have to remain unknown) suggested that it was already a well-known superstition, if not a previously published one:

Baseball superstition says that the team which is leading each major league on July 4 will come out ahead at the end of the season and play in the World Series. What lends weight to this superstition is that, during the past 25 years, it has been substantiated by fact two-thirds of the time.

Keith, writing in 2012:

More than three-quarters of a century later, the schedule has lengthened from 154 to 162 games, the majors have expanded from 16 teams in two leagues to 30 spread out over six divisions, and the playoffs now include 10 teams in a four-tiered system including this year's addition of the Wild Card play-in. Still, the old saw still has teeth: A team leading its division on July 4 will win it roughly 60 percent of the time, and including the Wild Card, will reach the postseason more than two-thirds of the time.

The stats he cited:

1901-1968, 1 Division per League: 89 out of 142 teams in 1st on July 4 finished 1st, 62.7 percent.
1969-1993, 2 Divisions per League: 57 out of 101, 56.4 percent.
1995-2011, 3 Divisions per League, 65 out of 109, 59.6 percent.

This year, the Yankees went into the 4th of July in 1st lace in the American League Eastern Division, with a nice lead of 6 1/2 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, against whom they began a 4-game series last night, at the Rays' ridiculous home, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Good old Aroldis Chapman: He sure knows how to make a relief outing interesting. Last night, he made it a little too interesting.

He had come into the game having converted 23 out of 25 save opportunities this season. A guy on Twitter told me that this was "elite." No, it's not. This is the New York Yankees, and we have different standards.

Wilcy Moore, Johnny Murphy, Jim Turner, Joe Page, Bob Kuzava, Bob Grim, Ryan Duren, Luis Arroyo, Sparky Lyle, Goose Gossage, John Wetteland and Mariano Rivera. These men have been elite closers for the Yankees. Why do I say this? Because they have been the closers on Yankee teams that won the World Series. That is the Yankees standard, none other.

(So why the hell does Don Mattingly have a Plaque in Monument Park?)

Going into this game, the Yankees had won seven of nine against the Rays this season. A Borg record? As it turned out, resistance would be futile, but it wasn't easy for the Yankees.

J.A. Happ started, and pitched into the 6th inning, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks, striking out 5. Adam Ottavino finished the 6th, Tommy Kahnle pitched a perfect 7th, and Zack Britton pitched a scoreless 8th.

The Rays scored in the bottom of the 1st, but the Yankees took the lead in the top of the 3rd. Mike Ford led off the inning with a single, and took 2nd base on a passed ball. Mike Tauchman singled him home. After Brett Gardner struck out and DJ LeMahieu flew out, Tauchman got to 2nd on a wild pitch. Aaron Hicks doubled him home to make it 2-1 New York. Edwin Encarnacion made it 3-1 with a home run in the 7th.

It remained 3-1 when Aaron Boone sent for Chapman to start the 9th. The mission: Get 3 outs, allowing no runs or 1, but not 2.

Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Chapman walked Nate Lowe to start the inning. He struck Willy Adames out. But then Chapman gave up a double to Joey Wendle. 3-2. He got Travis d'Arnaud to fly out. Just 1 out to go.

Then Chapman decided to give us all, as Phil Rizzuto would have said, agita. He threw a wild pitch, allowing Wendle to reach 3rd. Then he threw another, and Wendle scored with the tying run. Then he gave up a single to Guillermo Heredia. Then he gave up a single to Yandy Diaz. Then he walked Tommy Pham. You know what I'm saying, blud? (Arsenal fans will get that joke.) He seemed determined to lose the game. Then he struck Austin Meadows out, to leave the bases loaded.

We went to the 10th inning, which should not have happened. Fortunately, the next 2 Rays pitchers were even worse than Chapman.

The 1st was Oliver Drake. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Drake walked Gio Urshela. Then he walked Aaron Judge. Then Gardner laid down a fantastic bunt, which went from sacrifice to hit, because he beat it out. Bases loaded and nobody out. As they said on Seinfeld, "Got to love The Drake!"

Emilio Pagan came in to pitch, and LeMahieu, once again, was LeMachine: He singled home Urshela and Judge to give the Yankees the lead. Hicks struck out. Then Pagan put one right in Gary Sanchez' kitchen, and Sanchez cooked it. You might even say Sanchez saved Chapman's bacon. He drilled this ball into the upper deck in left field, 461 feet from home plate. That made it 8-3 Yankees.

And yet, having blown the save, but still officially being the Yankees pitcher when they retook the lead, Chapman stood to end up as the winning pitcher. There should be a rule that a pitcher who blows the save is ineligible for the win. As would be the case if the starting pitcher left with the lead before going 5 full innings, the decision for who should be the winning pitcher should then be up to the official scorer.

Boone sent Luis Cessa out to pitch the bottom of the 10th. Surely, even Cessa couldn't blow a 5-run lead. And, to be fair, he had been pitching much better lately.

Not this time: He began by striking Avisail Garcia out. But then he walked Lowe. Adames reached on an infield single. Cessa struck Wendle out. But d'Arnaud singled Lowe home. And then Cessa walked Heredia. And so many of us Yankee Fans started saying, "Oh no, here we go again."

Boone knew that Cessa was not going to get the last out before the Rays scored again. He brought in David Hale. He ended it by getting Diaz to ground to short, and Didi Gregorius took it, and stepped on 2nd base for the force play that eliminated Heredia.

Whew. Yankees 8, Rays 4. WP: Chapman (2-1). SV: Hale (2). LP: Drake (0-1). Attendance: 21,974, bad for a Yankee road game, but damn good for a Rays home game.

The Yankees have now won 8 out of 10 games against the Rays this season, and lead them by 7 1/2 games in the AL East. The Boston Red Sox also won last night, so the Yankees remain 11 games ahead of them.

The series continues tonight. Masahiro Tanaka starts for the Yankees, in his 1st start since getting shelled in London, and Brendan McKay starts for the Rays.

Yankees Fly Solo to Beat Jays

"All right, you primitive screwheads, listen up!

You see this? This... is my boomstick!"

(With apologies to Bruce Campbell.)

Last night, the Yankees not only made it 9 out of their last 10, but hit a home run in their 28th consecutive game, setting a new major league record.

The record is nice. The win, of course, is more important.

Chad Green, the night's intended starter, had pitched the night before, so he was only going to pitch 1 inning this time. He pitched a perfect top of the 1st. As he had in previous Green starts, Nestor Cortes Jr. took over from there, and pitched into the 6th inning. The Yankees got scoreless innings from Tommy Kahnle, Stephen Tarpley and Zack Britton.

The Yankees hit 4 home runs, all solo shots: DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge hit them in the 1st inning, Gleyber Torres in the 2nd, and Edwin Encarnacion in the 8th.

That Encarnacion homer seemed like an insurance run, and it really became one. Aroldis Chapman, as he so often does, even when he does shut it down, ran into trouble in the 9th inning: Single, wild pitch, strikeout, strikeout, RBI single, groundout.

He's gotta stop doing that. What if it happens in October, and he can't get out of it?

At any rate, Yankees 4, Blue Jays 3. WP: Cortes (3-0). SV: Chapman (23). LP: Clayton Richard (0-4).

The Tampa Bay Rays lost, so the Yankees are now 6 games ahead of them, and their Magic Number to clinch the AL East drops to 79. The Boston Red Sox won, so they remain 8 games back.

The series concludes this afternoon. James Paxton starts for us, and Trent Thornton goes for them. Then the Yankees and the Red Sox fly to London for perhaps the biggest 2-game series in Major League Baseball history.

*

Hours until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 14, tonight at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 Central/local), against Panama, at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, home of Sporting Kansas City, in the last Group Stage game of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. These are the top 2 teams in the Group, and both will advance to the knockout stage, the only question being which will be 1st in the Group, and which 2nd. If the U.S. wins or (thanks to goal difference) draws, it will play Curacao in the Quarterfinal. If it loses, it will play Jamaica. Either way, the next game would be this coming Sunday in Philadelphia. The women's team is doing quite nicely in its defense of the Women's World Cup in France, and will play the host nation on Friday, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time, at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 2, Friday night at 8:00, home to the Chicago Fire.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 3, at 1:00 PM our time (6:00 PM local), this Saturday, June 29. This is the 2-game series at the London Stadium, home base of the 2012 Olympics, and home field of soccer team West Ham United. They will play again on Sunday, at 10:00 AM New York time (3:00 PM London).

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 18, on Sunday night, July 14, home to New York City FC. The next game against the New England Revolution will be on Saturday night, August 17, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against D.C. United will be on Wednesday night, August 21, at Audi Field in Washington. The next game against the Philadelphia Union will be on Sunday night, September 22, at Red Bul Arena.

Days until Arsenal play again: 19. Under 3 weeks. Following their debacle in the UEFA Europa League Final, the Gunners' next game will be in America.

Days until Arsenal play in America: 19. On July 15, they will visit the Denver suburbs to play the Colorado Rapids. On July 17, they will visit the Los Angeles suburbs to play Bayern Munich. On July 20, they will visit Charlotte to play AS Roma. And on July 23, they will visit the Redskins' stadium in the Washington suburbs to play Real Madrid.

Days until the 2019-20 Premier League season begins: For Arsenal's purposes, 46, on Sunday, August 11, at 9:00 AM New York time, away to Newcastle United. Yes, the next season's schedule -- sorry, forgot to speak English there, fixture list -- has been released.

Days until the next North London Derby: 66, on Saturday, August 31, at the Emirates Stadium. It is unusual for Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur to play each other so early in the season, but not unprecedented: As recently as the 2013-14 season, they did so on September 1.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 66, on August 31, at 12:00 noon, home to the University of Massachusetts. A little over 2 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 72, on Friday night, September 6, at 7:00 PM, home to arch-rival Old Bridge. A little over 10 weeks. Like most of the local rivalries that were once played on Thanksgiving Day, this one has been moved back to the opening game. It will also be the head coaching debut of Andy Steinfeld, a longtime assistant and a two-way lineman on the school's 1984 Conference Champions. It will also be the start of a Yankees-Red Sox series. So I'm getting a double dose of "Scum" on the night. Lucky me. At least it'll be at Jay Doyle's Green Grove off Cranbury Road, instead of at the purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: 100, on Friday night, October 4, at the Prudential Center, against the Winnipeg Jets. The new NHL season's schedule was released yesterday.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 105, on Wednesday night, October 9, against the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The season's 1st game against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, will be on Thursday, October 17, at the Prudential Center. The 1st game against the New York Islanders will be on Thursday, January 2, 2020, at the Barclays Center.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 157, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. A little over 5 months.

Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 175, on December 18, 2019. Under 6 months.

Day until the premiere of the final Star Wars film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: 177, on December 20, 2019.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 209, on January 21, 2020. Under 7 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 394, on July 24, 2020. A little over a year, or a little under 13 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 496, on November 3, 2020. Under a year and a half, or a little over 16 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 557, on January 3, 2021. About a year and a half, or a little over 18 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 574, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 19 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 954, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or a little over 31 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,244, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. A little over 3 1/2 years, or under 41 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.

Statement-Making In Progress for Yankees

As I've previously said, this is a week of statement games for the Yankees. I wanted them to win at least 2 out of 3 against the Tampa Bay Rays, and they swept all 3. Good statement. I wanted them to at least split with, if not take 3 out of 4 from, the Houston Astros. So far, statement is well in progress.

Last night was Hole In the Rotation Day, the time in the starting rotation when Chad Green has the start, pitch 2 innings, and we hoped he wouldn't screw things up too much. He didn't, allowing no runs and just one hit.

Nestor Cortes, as he tends to be sent in to do, took over from there, and was a little shaky in his 3 innings, allowing 2 home runs in the 5th. Tommy Kahnle allowed a run in the 6th inning.

It ended up not mattering, because the Yankees unloaded the lumber on the Astros. As they did twice in the previous series' finale against the Rays, the Yankees had a 6-run inning, in this case the 4th. The inning included home runs by Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu.

The Yankees added 2 runs in the 5th, and 2 more in the 7th, the latter courtesy of a home run by new acquisition Edwin Encarnacion.

It was 10-2 Yankees going into the top of the 8th. In the 7th, Aaron Boone figured that a laugher like this game was a good time to see what David Hale can do on the mound. The answer turned out to be "bad things." He hit his 1st batter of the game, and also allowed a single, but got out of the 7th with no damage on the scoreboard.

But he began to lose his control in the 8th, as 2 singles and a wild pitch led to 2 runs scoring. For once, Boone made the opposite mistake of the Brian Cashman era, and left an ineffective pitcher in for too long. He sent Hale back out to pitch the 9th, and he made the game a lot more interesting than it should have been. He allowed home run, walk, flyout, fielder's choice, double, infield single.

This game never should have become a save situation, but Hale made it one. Boone took him out, and brought Aroldis Chapman in to get the last out. He did.

Yankees 10, Astros 6. WP: Cortes (2-0). SV: Chapman (20). LP: Framber Valdez (3-3).

With the win, the Yankees moved to 4 1/2 games ahead of the idle Rays in the American League Eastern Division, and 7 games ahead of the idle Boston Red Sox. The Yankees also moved ahead of the Astros into the 2nd best record in the AL, behind the Minnesota Twins, which does matter for Playoff position.

*

And how did the Yankees think Nestor Cortes for his fine pitching performances, including being the winning pitcher again last night? Why, of course, they sent him back down to the minor leagues.

Hey, somebody had to be removed from the roster so that Aaron Judge could be activated today. I get that. But why would you send Cortes down, when Hale almost blew another game, and Luis Cessa has already blown some games?

Supposedly, the Yankees have reached their limit as to what they could do with those two, and didn't want to designate them for assignment. To hell with that, get rid of them! I don't care if you get nothing for them: It is addition by subtraction. They do not belong on the Yankee roster!

At any rate, the series resumes tonight, and with the rain having been gotten out of the way this morning, it's been a beautiful afternoon, so we should be able to start on time and get all 9 innings in tonight. James Paxton starts for us, and Mike Peacock for them. Come on you Pinstripes!

Maybin, I'm Amazed

Despite an hour and 15 minute delay, the Yankees got last night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays in. J.A. Happ started, and while it was probably too much to ask for him to match Masahiro Tanaka's performance the night before, he got the job done. He only went 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, but no walks, striking out 3.

The Yankees got a run in the 1st inning, on a sacrifice fly by Gary Sanchez. The 5th inning turned out to be the key. With 1 out, the Yankees got 4 straight singles, from Gleyber Torres, Cameron Maybin, DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit. That turned a 2-1 Tampa lead into a 3-2 New York lead. Aaron Hicks struck out, but Sanchez singled home LeMahieu to make it 4-2.

The Rays got a run back in the 7th, but home runs by Maybin and Edwin Encarnacion, his 1st as a Yankee, forged the final score. Yankees 6, Rays 3. WP: Happ (7-3). SV: Aroldis Chapman (19). LP: Chaz Roe (0-3).

With this win, and the Minnesota Twins' 17-inning win over the Boston Red Sox despite an amazing catch by Jackie Bradley Jr., the Yankees now lead the Rays by 2 1/2 games and the Red Sox by 6 1/2 -- by 3 and 8, respectively, in the all-important loss column.

The Yanks-Rays series concludes this afternoon, weather permitting. The scheduled starters are CC Sabathia for us, and Blake Snell for them.

To paraphrase Sir Paul McCartney -- whose 77th birthday was yesterday -- Maybin, I'm amazed. He certainly is making his case to stay on the roster once Aaron Judge comes back. Who would get sent down instead? Is it too much to hope for that it's Luis Cessa and his gasoline can arm?

The U.S. men's soccer team opened the CONCACAF Gold Cup by beating Guyana 4-0 at Minnesota United's stadium in St. Paul. The women's team completes the Group Stage of the Women's World Cup tomorrow afternoon (our time), playing Sweden in Le Havre, France.

Up Go Yankees, Down Goes Frazier

Note: Just as MLB teams wear pink accoutrements on Mother's Day,

to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research,

they wear light blue ones on Father's Day, for prostate cancer research.

Before yesterday's game, I was concerned that Odrisamer Despaigne, a journeyman pitcher, would be just the kind of guy to have the start of his life against the Yankees. Thankfully, it didn't turn out that way.

Jose Abreu hit a home run off Yankee starter James Paxton in the bottom of the 1st inning, but it was a solo shot. Paxton settled down after that, going 6 innings, allowing a total of 2 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk, striking out 7.

The Yankees struck in the top of the 3rd, and Aaron Boone's team did it in the Joe Torre style, piece by piece, instead of with home runs. DJ LeMahieu singled with 1 out. Despaigne may have gotten rattled by that, because he then walked both Luke Voit and Gleyber Torres. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you.

Clint Frazier flew out, but Brett Gardner singled home DJLM and Voit to give the Yankees the lead. Gio Urshela singled home Torres. Mike Tauchman drew a walk to reload the bases. Austin Romine, playing to give catcher Gary Sanchez a rest in a day game after a night game, singled home Gardner and Urshela. 5-1 Yankees.

Despaigne began the top of the 5th by hitting Gardner with a pitch. Almost certainly, this was not intentional. If it was, then it was a dumb move, because Urshela doubled. Tauchman popped up, but Romine struck again, doubling home Gardner and Urshela. 7-1.

Has Romine finally learned how to be a big league hitter? Atrocious Pun Alert: Romine wasn't built in a day.

The Pale Hose pulled a run back in the bottom of the 5th, but the Yankees small-balled their way to another run in the top of the 6th. Finally, Yankee Fans wanting a home run were properly served in the 7th, as Cameron Maybin hit one.

The teams traded runs in the 8th, but the bullpen of Adam Ottavino, David Hale and Zack Britton got the job done. Yankees 10, White Sox 3. WP: Paxton (4-3). No save. LP: Despaigne (0-2).

*

With the win, the Yankees are 43-27, half a game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division. The Boston Red Sox are 5 1/2 back, but, due to rainouts meaning the Yankees have 3 games in hand on them, the Sox are 7 games behind us in the all-important loss column.

The Yankees needed to make a move to accommodate the arrival, tomorrow, of Edwin Encarnacion. So they sent down outfielder... Clint Frazier? And kept Mike Tauchman on the big league roster?

True, Frazier has finally learned how to hit -- if not in clutch situations. But his fielding has been bad, and his attitude hasn't been good, either. Boone said the argument is that Frazier needs to play every day, which he can do at Triple-A Scranton.

Which means that, when Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton come back -- both of which may happen this coming week -- Tauchman will go down, and Maybin, despite his contributions, may have to be designated for assignment, given the rules regarding player transactions. It's considerably less fair to him than getting sent down is to Frazier. But the rules are the rules.

The Internet has been hit with the pun, quoting Howard Cosell's ABC Wide World of Sports call of George Foreman winning the Heavyweight Championship of the World in 1973, by demolishing Joe Frazier in Jamaica: "Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!"

Interestingly, 2 former Yankees were winning pitchers today: Sonny Gray, in the Cincinnati Reds' 11-3 win over the Texas Rangers; and Andrew Miller, in the St. Louis Cardinals' 4-3 win over the Mets, who are 34-37, 7 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East, 5 games out of the NL Wild Card hunt, and not looking like they're going to make any kind of run for the Playoffs.

At any rate, the Yankees come home, to start a series with the Rays, and can do some damage to their hopes. Tonight, Masahiro Tanaka starts against Yonny Chirinos. Tomorrow night, it's J.A. Happ vs. Ryan Yarbrough. And in the Wednesday matinee, a getaway day, CC Sabathia will again try for his 250th career win, against Blake Snell.

Then the Houston Astros come in for a 4-game series that may be a Playoff preview, and will include Old-Timers' Day on Sunday.

Yankees Use Green Energy and Cortes to Beat White Sox

Well, Brian Cashman has done it again. Not learning his lessons from getting Chris Carter and Giancarlo Stanton, he has traded for Edwin Encarnación. The Dominican is the American League's current leader in home runs, with 401 career home runs to his credit. He is a 3-time All-Star, and led the AL in RBIs in 2016. He's also one of these guys who always seems to hit the Yankees hard, so not having to face him anymore is a plus. (I call this the Chili Davis Theorem.)

But he is a 1st baseman, when we already have Luke Voit and (at least in theory) Greg Bird, and plenty of potential designated hitters; a righthanded hitter, who would thus be at a disadvantage in Yankee Stadium; and 36 years old.

At least Cashman didn't give much up: He sent the Seattle Mariners a minor-league pitching prospect, Juan Then, and what's being called "cash considerations." The Mariners would rather have that money than pay Encarnación's salary. 

But the Yankees are still in need of starting pitching. Once again, with his children needing new shoes, Cashman decided to spend the rent money on a night out with the boys.

The truly shocking thing, or perhaps not shocking at all, is that he did this on a day when the Yankees' starting pitcher was Chad Green. If the Yankees do manage to win anything this season -- and I mean an actual Championship: Division, Pennant, and/or World Series, not merely another Wild Card berth in the Playoffs -- one thing that will have to be acknowledged is the massive luck they have had in winning some of the games that Green, a two-inning starter, has started.

Or, maybe Green has simply found his niche: We can't trust him as a reliever, but we can trust him to use his "Green energy" to go 2 innings as a starter without disaster resulting.

In his 2 innings against the Chicago White Sox last night, Green allowed no runs and just 1 hit, no walks, and all 6 of his outs were strikeouts. Theoretically, he could have been left in for another inning.

But you can't argue with success. Aaron Boone put Nestor Cortes in for the 3rd, and he was energetic as well, going 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, no walks, and 7 strikeouts. Overall, Yankee pitchers struck 16 batters out in this game.

But you've got to score runs, or else it doesn't matter how good your pitching is. It was still scoreless going into the top of the 4th, when the Yankees broke it open. Luke Voit led off with a single, Aaron Hicks added another, and Gary Sanchez doubled them both home. After Didi Gregorius flew out, Gleyber Torres hit a home run to make it 4-0 Yankees.

In the 6th, Sanchez drew a walk, Gregorius singled him over to 3rd, and Torres hit a sacrifice fly to get him home. Cameron Maybin led off the 7th with a home run, and the Yankees got another run in the inning with small ball.

Boone was willing to stick with Cortes for the 8th inning, which may be a good sign. But he allowed 2 singles, and Boone decided that was enough. Relieving him was the right thing to do. Relieving him with Jonathan Holder was not. Holder got the 1st 2 outs, but this was followed by a single and an error on the play, letting 1 run home. And that was followed by a 3-run homer, to put the result back into doubt.

Fortunately for the Yankees, the White Sox' bullpen isn't very good. The Yankees added a run in the 9th, on a bases-loaded walk. Yankees 8. White Sox 4. WP: Cortes (1-0, his 1st major league win). No save. LP: Reynaldo Lopez (4-7).

As a result of yesterday's games, the Yankees are back in 1st place in the AL Eastern Division, half a game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, one game in the loss column. The Boston Red Sox are 5 1/2 games back.

Far be it from me to suggest that the "Chad Green starts and pitches 2 innings" experiment should be ended. But if Cortes can pitch like this, why not make him the 5th starter, until Luis Severino, Domingo German or Jordan Montgomery comes off the injured list?

The series continues this afternoon. James Paxton starts for us, and Odrisamer Despaigne for South Siders. No, I'd never heard of him, either. He's a 32-year-old Cuban journeyman with a career ERA of 4.93, and a 1.500 WHIP this season. Just the kind of pitcher to have the game of his life against the Yankees, right? Especially with Paxton struggling lately.

Or maybe Encarnación will hit one out off Despaigne in his Yankee debut. John Sterling is wrong: Sometimes, Suzyn, you can predict baseball. But, as the late Houston and St. Louis pitcher Joaquin Andújar (no relation to Miguel) once said, "Baseball can be summed up in one word: Youneverknow."