The Yankees Grind My Gears

Over their last 180 games, the Yankees are. Barely more than a .500 team. 91-89.

I can hear Aaron Boone now: "But they're grinding! They're savages in that box! They're not far away!"

Sorry, I forgot to say "Cliché Alert."

Hearing Boone say they're "grinding" makes me think of coffee. Actually watching them makes me want a stronger drink.

Gerrit Cole started the finale of their series away to the Colorado Rockies, and went 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and 1 walk, striking out 11. But in so doing, he threw 102 pitches, and Aaron Boone didn't have the guts to break Brian Cashman's rule and leave him in there longer. Thus did the bullpen musical chairs begin.

The Yankees led 3-1 when he left, and Wandy Peralta pitched a perfect 7th inning. But Boone didn't leave him in, either, bringing Tommy Kahnle in to pitch the 8th, and he loaded the bases. Boone brought Clay Holmes in, and he gave up a grand slam. It was 5-3 Rockies.

A 9th-inning comeback was necessary. Billy McKinney led off by being hit by a pitch. That would be a dumb thing for a pitcher to do to start an inning, but the pitcher was Daniel Bard, who used to pitch for the Red Sox, so you never know. Gleyber Torres grounded to 3rd, but Rockies 3rd baseman Ryan McMahon threw the ball away. McKinney came all the way around to score, and Torres wound up on 2nd. 5-4.

Giancarlo Stanton flew out, advancing Torres to 3rd. Anthony Rizzo drew a walk. Oswald Peraza was sent in to pinch-run for Rizzo. Boone put the delayed double steal on: Peraza stole 2nd, but the Rockies didn't take the bait, and Torres had to stay put. DJ LeMahieu was intentionally walked to set up the double play.

They got it, but not how they intended. Harrison Bader hit a line shot to left. It was caught, but Torres was able to score. And then Peraza was thrown out at 3rd. Unwritten Rule of Baseball: Never make the 1st or last out of an inning at 3rd base. Corollary question: Why make any out at any base?

At any rate, the game was tied, and Ian Hamilton pitched a scoreless 9th. Extra innings. Neither team could score in the 10th. In the top of the 11th, Oswaldo Cabrera singled home ghost runner Anthony Volpe. One thing led to another, and Peraza, who had stayed in the game, singled home a run. It was 7-5 Yankees. All they had to do in the bottom of the 11th was get 3 outs without allowing more than 1 run.

Boone brought Nick Ramirez in to pitch. This was a stupid thing to do. He gave up a leadoff home run to Nolan Jones. With the ghost runner, this meant tie ballgame. Then he got 2 outs, thus pitching to the minimum 3 batters. No reason to bring in another reliever, though. But Boone did, bringing in Ron Marinaccio, and he gave up a walkoff homer to Alan Trejo. It was his 1st homer of the season, and only the 6th of his career.

Rockies 8, Yankees 7. WP: Gavin Hollowell (1-0, his 1st major league win, having made his debut only 2 weeks ago). No save. LP: Marinaccio (4-5).

The Yankees blew a 2-run lead in the 8th, and another in the 11th. "Grinding"? After this game, the only that's grinding is my gears.

Tonight, the Yankees begin a series away to the Los Angeles Angels, featuring Shohei "Not Better Than Babe Ruth" Ohtani and Mike "Not Comparable to Mickey Mantle" Trout. Luis Severino starts against Griffin Canning. Yeah, another one of those families that turned a last name into a first name, making their son's full name sound like the name of a law firm.

The Yankees' Weak Hitting Is Getting Ridiculous

In 2023, when the Yankees score at least 3 runs, they are 40-11. When they don't, they're 1-24. That's not a typographical error: One and twenty-four when they score 2 runs or fewer.

Guess how many runs they scored last night. This is getting ridiculous.

The Yankees were so weak last night. (How weak were they?) They were so weak, they only scored 2 runs, and neither of them scored as a result of a hit. Anthony Rizzo began the bottom of the 2nd inning by getting hit with a pitch. DJ LeMahieu doubled, but Rizzo couldn't score. Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out, which couldn't score Rizzo. Then Billy McKinney grounded out, and that got Rizzo home.

The Yankees just didn't hit. Twice, they hit singles that were erased in double plays. Down 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th, IKF led off with a single, and was followed by a single by McKinney, which got IKF to 3rd. Kyle Higashioka flew to center, a sacrifice fly that got IKF home. But that was it.

Clarke Schmidt's pitching was not the problem. He went 5 1/3rd innings, allowing 1 run, which was unearned, on 6 hits and a walk. Jimmy Cordero finished the 6th, and Wandy Peralta pitched the 7th, in each case without allowing a run. Clay Holmes allowed a run in the 8th, Tommy Kahnle did not in the 9th.

Rizzo singled with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th, but they couldn't get him home. That meant extra innings, and the stupid ghost runner rule. Adolis Garcia led off with a home run off Michael King. And a 2-run deficit was just too much for these Yankees to overcome in the bottom of the 10th. IKF lined out to center. Aaron Boone sent Josh Donaldson up to pinch-hit for McKinney, which was a stupid thing to do. Donaldson struck out. And Higashioka popped to short.

Rangers 4, Yankees 2. WP: Joe Barlow (1-0). SV: Will Smith (no, not that one -- and not the other ballplayer with that name, either; 14). LP: King (1-4).

The series continues this afternoon. Luis Severino starts against Jon Gray. Given how Severino has come back from injuries, I don't know how many runs are going to be enough, but it will definitely be more than 2.

Does Anybody Want to Win This Game?

In true Mets fashion, the Mets went a long way towards giving last night's game to the Yankees.

In true Brian Cashman Team fashion, the Yankees ended up not letting them.

The starting pitchers were each team's putative aces: Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander. Each man allowed only 1 run over 6 innings: Cole, a double by Tommy Pham following one by Francisco Lindor in the bottom of the 5th; Verlander, a single by Jake Bauers following a double by Jose Trevino in the top of the 6th.

The Mets seemed determined to blow the game in the top of the 7th. Their manager, former Yankee manager Buck Showalter, brought Jeff Brigham in to pitch. He ignored my frequent warning about leadoff walks, and walked Josh Donaldson. It wouldn't be fair to say that nobody walks Josh Donaldson, but from the start of the 2021 season onward, he has 278 strikeouts to just 133 walks.

Then Brigham hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch. He struck DJ Lemahieu out, then got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to ground to short. Lindor stepped on 2nd base to force Rizzo out, but threw the ball away, allowing Donaldson to score, giving the Yankees the lead.

Showalter replaced Brigham with Brooks Raley. (Sounds like the name of a law firm.) With 2 outs, IKF showed a lot of guts in trying to steal 2nd. Met catcher Francisco Alvarez threw the ball away getting IKF to 3rd. Now, I've seen steals of home plate as the back end of a double steal. But I had never seen a Yankee attempt a straight steal of home before. IKF tried it. A good throw by Raley would have gotten him. But Raley threw the ball away. It was 3-1 Yankees.

Aaron Boone could have left Cole in the game. He'd only thrown 95 pitches. The decision to take him out could have been justified by the length of the top of the 7th. But then, why bring in Jimmy Cordero? He allowed single, flyout, single, groundout, bases-loading walk. Boone brought Ron Marinaccio in, which is what he should have done to start the inning. Or... should he? Marinaccio hit Brandon Nimmo with a pitch, forcing a run home. Then he gave up a single to Starling Marte, scoring the tying run.

But Marte, having gotten to 2nd on the throw, showed the Mets' occasional willingness to throw a game away, getting hung up between 2nd and 3rd. He tried to dive back to 2nd, where LeMahieu tagged him out. The Mets challenged the call, and it looked on the replay like they had a point. But the umpires upheld the call, and the inning was over, with the game tied, and both teams looking like they wanted to throw it away.

The Yankees wasted a leadoff double by Anthony Volpe in the 8th. With 1 out in the 9th, against former Yankee reliever David Robertson, LeMahieu doubled, and was replaced with pinch-runner Oswaldo Cabrera. Gleyber Torres, the usual 2nd baseman, was sent up to pinch-hit for IKF, meaning that Cabrera would replace IKF in center field. And you thought, with the National League finally getting the designated hitter last year, these kinds of "chess matches" would be no more.

Torres drew a walk. The Yankees had 2 runners on, and only 1 out. Billy McKinney grounded to 1st, moving the runners over, but also providing the 2nd out. And Boone made his 3rd change of the inning, sending Willie Calhoun up to pinch-hit for Trevino. This made a little sense, since Calhoun is a lefty against the righty Robertson, and has been hitting well lately. But he grounded to 3rd, and the Yankees had disgracefully wasted a chance. Nor could they do anything with the "ghost runner" in the top of the 10th.

Albert Abreu had gotten the Mets out 1-2-3 in the 9th, so Boone left him in for the 10th. He made the right decision with the bullpen, which is a toss-up with him, but it didn't work: He got the 1st out, then gave up a double to Nimmo, allowing Eduardo Escobar to score the winning run.

Mets 4, Yankees 3. WP: Dominic Leone (1-2). No save. LP: Abreu (2-2).

The Yankees had the chance to win both games against The Other Team. They also had the chance to blow both games. They managed to win the 1st, and blow the 2nd. Typical Cashman Team behavior, until I see proof of otherwise. And that can only come in October.

The Yankees have today off, to prepare for a visit to Scumway Park to face The Scum, after losing 2 of 3 to them at home last weekend.

Yet Again, Pitching Doesn't Win When Hitters Don't Hit

Supposedly, Connie Mack is the man who gave us the classic line, "Pitching is 75 percent of baseball."

Somebody once asked Billy Martin about this, and he said, "Connie Mack lied."

Cliché Alert: "Pitching wins championships." Or, "Defense wins championships." Truth: It does not. You win championships by winning games. You win games by scoring more than the other team. Whatever the sport, your defense -- and, in baseball, that includes your pitching -- gives your offense the chance to win. But your offense has to take that chance, and make the most of it, or you will lose. Pitching doesn't win when hitters don't hit.

And how many times have we seen it? The Yankees score a bunch of runs one game, considerably more than they need; then, the next night, they score 1 run less than they need, and lose.

If you had told me before the game that Clarke Schmidt would start, and would be followed by Wandy Peralta and Clay Holmes, and that, between them, they'd allow no runs on 4 hits and 1 walk, would I have taken it? Oh, hell, yes, I would have taken it! I wouldn't have believed you, given the way each man has started the season. But I would have taken it. And that's what I got.

All the Yankees needed was 1 lousy little run. But they didn't even get a baserunner until Gleyber Torres led off the 4th inning with a single, and he was caught stealing 2nd base. Kyle Higashioka singled in the 6th, and was bunted over to 2nd, but he was stranded. DJ LeMahieu singled in the 7th, but there were already 2 outs, and he was stranded.

With 2 outs in the top of the 9th, and nobody on base, and the score still 0-0, Aaron Judge, representing the potential winning run, was intentionally walked. I don't blame the Mariners. It almost didn't work: Willie Calhoun hit a long drive to deep left-center field. But it was caught.

On to extra innings, and the damn "ghost runner" rule. Oswaldo Cabrera began the inning at 2nd base. LeMahieu reached on an error that got Cabrera to 3rd. Isiah Kiner-Falefa popped up for the 1t out. Jake Bauers drew a walk. Bases loaded. Man on 3rd with less than 2 out. But Anthony Volpe grounded to 3rd, and Cabrera was thrown out at home.

Bases still loaded, with 2 out. Manager Aaron Boone said that he held Anthony Rizzo out of the lineup due to a sore neck. Well, this was the time to use him as a pinch-hitter, for Higashioka, with Jose Trevino to take the catching duties for the bottom of the 10th. Or, Boone simply could have sent Trevino up there. Instead, Boone brought Franchy Cordero and his .182 on-base percentage on, for his 1st plate appearance since going on the Injured List after the game of April 28. He struck out.

Ron Marinaccio faced 1 batter in the bottom of the 10th, Cal Raleigh, and he singled home ghost runner José Caballero. Mariners 1, Yankees 0. WP: Justin Topa (1-2). No save. LP: Marinaccio (2-2), though it was hardly his fault.

The Yankees lost 1-0 in 10 innings. Not because of the "ghost runner," but because they couldn't score 1 run in 10 innings. They had the bases loaded with 1 out in the 10th, and couldn't do it.

They scored 10 the previous night. If they had scored 9, and gotten 1 of those runs last night, they would have had a sweep of this series at T-Mobile Park.

The Yankees have today off. Tomorrow, baseball's greatest Interleague rivalry resumes in Chavez Ravine, as the Yankees begin a series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson and Tommy Kahnle have all rejoined the team, and have been reinstated from the Injured List. Cabrera, Cordero and Matt Krook -- a lefthanded reliever that I didn't even know was on the roster, and has yet to appear in a major league game -- were sent down to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Here's the schedule and the pitching matchups, for the moment, for the series with the team that was known while they were in Brooklyn, first with anger, then with love, as Dem Bums:

* Tomorrow, 10:10 PM Eastern Time (7:10 Pacific/local), on the YES Network: Luis Severino vs. Clayton Kershaw.

* Saturday, 7:15 (4:15), on Fox: Gerrit Cole vs. Michael Grove. The rotations are off by 1 day, so we won't get to see Cole vs. Kershaw -- unless, for the 12th time, but for the 1st time in 42 years, these teams face each other in the World Series.

* Sunday, 7:00 (4:00), on ESPN: Domingo Germán vs. Bobby Miller. This would have been my grandmother's 99th birthday. She rooted for the Dodgers while they were in Brooklyn. Not while they were in Los Angeles, though. She could hold a grudge like you wouldn't believe.

Yankees Hit Just Enough to Beat Angels In 10

After a very weak opening game of their home series with the Los Angeles Angels, the Yankees needed another bounce-back game. And it was another hole-in-the-rotation game, and, after 2 nice starts and 1 bad one, Jhony Brito needed one as well.

He gave us one. He threw 84 pitches before being removed in the 5th inning, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks. He would not be the winning pitcher, but he would not be responsible for a loss, either. Nor would Michael King, who took it through the 7th without allowing any further runs.

Aaron Judge certainly took his 2022 replacement of Shohei Ohatani as American League Most Valuable Player to heart. In the 1st inning alone, he robbed Ohtani of a home run, and then hit one himself, to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

The Angels scored off Brito in the 5th, but it was still 2-1 going into the 8th thanks to him and King. But Aaron Boone made the mistake of bringing Wandy Peralta in to pitch. He allowed a single to former Yankee Gio Urshela, balked him to 2nd, and then allowed a game-tying single to Hunter Renfroe.

The Yankees got men on 1st & 2nd with 1 out in the 8th, but didn’t score. And when they wasted a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the 9th, I could feel a Cliché Alert coming on: "I Hate Extra Innings."

But the long rest the bullpen got worked -- except for Peralta. Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless 9th, and Ian Hamilton pitched a 1-2-3 10th, standing ghost runner Mike Trout.

The Yankee ghost runner wad Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Anthony Volpe was told to bunt him over to 3rd. He tried, but popped up to the pitcher, Matt Moore, for the 1st out. A rookie mistake: He'll learn to be a better bunter, and we should appreciate his effort.

Judge was intentionally walked to set up the inning-ending double play. But Moore choked, hitting Anthony Rizzo with a pitch to load the bases. All that was needed was a long-enough fly ball, and Gleyber Torres hit one to center. Trout is good with the glove as well as with the bat, but, in the deepest part of the new Yankee Stadium, he was not going to throw IKF out at the plate.

Yankees 3, Angels 2. WP: Hamilton (1-1). No save. LP: Moore (1-1). A big win, showing that they could win when 2 runs over 9 innings wouldn't be enough. They hit just enough to win in 10.

The series concludes this afternoon, at 4:05. Nestor Cortés, no hole-in-the-rotation he, starts against Patrick Sandoval.

Yanks Take Extra-Inning Opener with Twins

Last night's rainout at Yankee Stadium forced a day-night doubleheader with the Minnesota Twins for today. Here's the details on the opener:

Domingo Germán started for the Yankees, and pitched decently, going 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk, striking out 6. Wandy Peralta pitched a perfect 7th. Jonathan Loáisiga pitched a scoreless 8th. And Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless 9th.

But the Twins took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st, and increased it to 3-0 in the 4th. Time for "Here come da Judge." Aaron Judge hit his 55th home run of the season. That's 1 more than Mickey Mantle ever hit in a season, 1 more than Alex Rodriguez hit in his best season as a Yankee, 8 more than Lou Gehrig's peak, and 9 above Joe DiMaggio's. The only Yankees with more home runs in a season are Roger Maris with 61 in 1961, and Babe Ruth with 60 in 1927 and 59 in 1921.

Gleyber Torres tied the game with a home run in the 6th. And 3-3 it stayed, forcing extra innings. Holmes stranded the ghost runner in the top of the 10th. In the bottom of the 10th, 2 rookies from Venezuela named Oswald had their chance: Shortstop Oswald Peraza, age 22, reached on an error; but Oswaldo Cabrera, 23, grounded into a double play.

Incidentally, Peraza was born on June 15, 2000. This makes him the 1st Yankee born in a year starting with a 2 -- and, unless you're one of these fools who says that it began on January 1, 2001, the 1st Yankee born in the 21st Century. As if I didn't feel old enough already.

And this game may have given me a gray hair or two. Ron Marinaccio pitched a 1-2-3 11th. Judge led off the bottom of the 11th. Since 1st base was open, and his run meant nothing, and Twins manager Rocco Baldelli is not a masochist, he had Judge intentionally walked. Then Torres was unintentionally walked, to load the bases with nobody out. The Yankees were in business.

But Ronald Guzmán, another newcomer (but not a rookie: The 27-year-old Dominican debuted in 2018 with the Texas Rangers), grounded into a 1st-to-home-to-1st double play. And Marwin González grounded out.

Bases loaded, nobody out, and we got nothing -- yet.

Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Marinaccio walked the leadoff batter in the top of the 12th, and allowed a go-ahead single. Greg Weissert came in to put out the fire, but it was 4-3 Minnesota.

González was the ghost runner for the bottom of the 12th. Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled him home to tie it. Estevan Florial struck out. He's now 1-for-20 at the major league level this season. But Jose Trevino singled, loading the bases with 1 out. Peraza flew out, not deep enough to score IKF. But Cabrera looped a hit to short left-center, and IKF scored the winning run.

Yankees 5, Twins 4. WP: Weissert (3-0, which is deceiving, given that his ERA is 7.36). No save. LP: Trevor Megill (3-3).

Game 2 follows.

Yankee Hitters Return Favor, Let Cole Down

Twice in the last week, the Yankees have had an alleged "battle of the aces" with the Seattle Mariners, between Gerrit Cole and Luis Castillo. The one in The Bronx was a bust, as Cole had nothing. This one lived up to the billing, but it still didn't work out in the Yankees' favor.

Cole went 7 innings, allowing just 4 hits and no walks, striking out 8. But Castillo went 8 innings, allowing 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. Andrew Benintendi singled in the 1st inning, but was stranded. Aaron Judge singled to lead off the 4th, but was eliminated on a double play. Judge drew a walk to lead off the 7th, but no Cliché Alert here: He was stranded. After a few bad starts in which Cole let the Yankee hitters down, this time, they returned the favor, and let him down.

Matt Carpenter has a broken foot, and might miss the rest of the season. In his place, Miguel Andújar has been called up. With 1 out in the 8th, Andújar singled, and Aaron Hicks drew a walk. But Jose Trevino and Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out. Aroldis Chapman then pitched a scoreless 8th, to keep the game at 0-0. DJ LeMahieu, Judge and Benintendi all struck out in the 9th, and Clay Holmes hit the leadoff batter, but got a double play and a groundout to send the game to extra innings.

"Ghost runner" time. In the 10th, with Benintendi on 2nd, Josh Donaldson was hit with a pitch. Then Aaron Boone called for a double steal, and it didn't work: Benintendi was out. One of the "unwritten rules of baseball" is, "Never make the 1st or last out at 3rd base." Blame Boone, not Benintendi. The Yankees didn't score in the 10th, but neither did the Mariners, as Scott Effross got them out, 1-2-3.

The 11th is where the Yankees forfeited any pretense to the right to win the game. With Andújar on 2nd as the ghost runner, Hicks lined out to 2nd base, and Andújar was caught off the base for a double play. Trevino then lined out to short right field. Wandy Peralta was shaky in the bottom of the 11th, but got a double play of his own to get out of it.

The Yankees made another baserunning blunder in the top of the 12th. With Trevino as the ghost runner, Kiner-Falefa grounded to 3rd, and Trevino was caught in a rundown. IKF thought he could make 2nd, but he couldn't, and both men were out. Lou Trivino got out of the bottom of the 12th unscathed.

LeMahieu was the ghost runner in the top of the 13th. With 1st base open, Judge was wisely intentionally walked. Benintendi struck out. Marwin González drew a walk. Bases loaded, nobody out. But Gleyber Torres, who had earlier made a fantastic play at 2nd base, struck out, and Andújar grounded out. So that's 3 baserunning blunders and 1 bases-loaded-one-out situation blown in a span of 4 innings. Over 13 innings, the Yankees had just 8 baserunners: 3 singles, 4 walks, and a hit batsman.

Jonathan Loáisiga was sent out for the bottom of the 13th. He allowed single, groundout, intentional walk, game-losing single. Mariners 1, Yankees 0. WP: Matt Brash (3-3). No save. LP: Loáisiga (1-3).

With 51 games left in the regular season, the Yankees remain 10 1/2 games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Eastern Division, but are now in a flat-footed tie with the Houston Astros for the best record in the AL. And with the Astros having the better head-to-head record, that means that, if the current standings hold to the end of the regular season, the Astros would have home-field advantage all the way through the AL Playoffs. In other words, unless the Yankees can win at least 1 ALDS or ALCS game in Houston, no Pennant for us.

The series concludes this afternoon. Nestor Cortes starts against Robbie Ray, not to be confused with former Buffalo Sabres thug Rob Ray.

Yanks Outlast Cubs

Last night, the Yankees started what was intended to be, weather permitting, a 3-game home weekend Interleague series with the Chicago Cubs. 

Unfortunately, over the 1st 12 innings last night, the Yankees only got 1 run on 5 hits. That sounds like a recipe for, at least briefly, disaster. Of course, it also implies that the Yankees got great pitching themselves. After all, if they only got 1 run over 12 innings, it means the opposition did as well -- at least, over the 1st 11.

Luis Severino started, and was really good: 6 innings, 1 run, 7 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts. But the Cubs' "opener" strategy also worked: Wade Miley went just 3 innings, then the next 5 Cub pitchers each went just 1 inning.

Playing his 1st game against the Cubs since they traded him to the Yankees, Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch in the 1st inning. I don't think it was intentional. Josh Donaldson led off the 2nd with a double. In the 3rd, the Yankees loaded the bases with singles by DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge and a walk by Giancarlo Stanton. But all were stranded.

Gleyber Torres, formerly of the Cubs' organization, led off the bottom of the 4th with a home run, but the Yankees couldn't follow it. And when Jason Heyward led off the top of the 5th with a home run, that tied the game.

And it remained tied. Rizzo walked with 1 out in the 5th. That would be the Yankees' last baserunner until Stanton drew a walk in the 8th, followed by Joey Gallo being sent in as a pinch-runner. Aaron Boone was gambling on winning the game in regulation, a gamble which did not pay off: Although Donaldson singled, Torres and Aaron Hicks subsequently struck out. And the Yankees got no baserunners in the bottom of the 9th.

Miguel Castro pitched a scoreless 7th, Michael King a scoreless 8th, and Clay Holmes a scoreless 9th. Clarke Schmidt stranded the ghost runners in the 10th and the 11th, Wandy Peralta pitched a perfect 12th, and Ron Marinaccio pitched a scoreless 13th.

Cubs manager David Ross -- a backup catcher on the Boston Red Sox team that won * the 2013 World Series -- had Judge intentionally walked to start the bottom of the 10th, to set up the double play. It ended up not being necessary. Same thing with Gleyber Torres in the 11th: Ross ordered him walked, and the Cubs got out of it without a double play. He did it again with Judge in the 12th, and, again, no double play required.

But he miscalculated in the bottom of the 13th. With Gallo starting on 2nd, Ross did not order an intentional walk of leadoff hitter Donaldson. For the moment, it worked: He flew out to left. Nor did he order a pass to Torres. For the moment, it worked: He flew out to center, although Gallo tagged up and went to 3rd.

But then, Ross did order an intentional walk to Hicks, he of the .230 batting average. Hicks stole 2nd, in a vain attempt to draw a throw and give Gallo a chance to score on the delayed double steal. The Cubs didn't fall for it.

The batter was Jose Trevino, and he singled to left to bring Gallo home. Ross failed to accept the cliché that walks can kill you. Ironically, he tried a leadoff walk 3 times in a row, and it worked; but when he didn't try it to start the inning, it failed.

Maybe extra innings is part of some baseball "mirror universe," where Cal Ripken Jr. used steroids, Barry Bonds didn't, and Derek Jeter wears a goatee and played for the Mets.

At any rate: Yankees 2, Cubs 1. WP: Marinaccio (1-0, the 1st major league win for the graduate of Toms River High School North in Ocean County, New Jersey). No save. LP: Alec Mills (0-1).

The series continues tonight, with Jordan Montgomery starting for the Pinstripes, against Matt Swarmer for the Cubbies. Hopefully, the Yankees can win it in 9 innings this time.

Any Way You Want It

There are 2 hit songs titled "Any Way You Want It." In 1964, the Dave Clark Five hit Number 14 with one. In 1980, Journey hit Number 23 with the other. Both are hard-driving rock and roll numbers.

The 2022 New York Yankees can win a baseball game any way you want it:

* Score a lot of runs? They are 12-0 when scoring at least 7.

* Get great pitching? They are 15-0 when allowing 1 run or none, and 25-2 when allowing 2 runs or less.

* Be clutch? They are 11-4 in one-run games, including this past Sunday, the conclusion of a 3-game home series with the Detroit Tigers.

* Get it done in extra innings? They are 3-1 when needing more than the standard 9, also including this past Sunday.

* In walkoff fashion? They've done it 6 times, also including this past Sunday.

The Tigers got 2 runs in the top of the 4th, but the Yankees responded in the bottom of the 5th: With 1 out, Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled. Jose Trevino struck out, but in his at-bat, IKF stole 2nd. He was originally called out, but the Yankees appealed, and the replay showed he was safe. And then the much-maligned Joey Gallo crushed a home run to right field. This was no short-porcher: It went halfway up the Bleachers in right-center.

Once again, Jordan Montgomery pitched well despite not getting sufficient run support: He went 6 1/3rd innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, just 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts. But he left with the game tied -- and just after getting a strikeout to start the top of the 7th. He had allowed 90 pitches. What would 5 more have been? There was no reason to bring in a reliever at that point. But Boone brought in Clarke Schmidt, who finished the inning.

The Yankees loaded the bases in the bottom of the 7th, and DJ LeMahieu drew a walk that put them on top, 3-2.

If Aaron Boone had let Montgomery finish the 7th, he could have brought Schmidt in to pitch the 8th. Instead, he brought Schmidt in too soon, and to start the 8th, he allowed a double and a long flyout. Boone brought in Miguel Castro, and he had nothing, too: Strikeout, then game-tying single, wild-pitch, lead-granting single.

The runner scoring on that play was a pinch-runner, Kody Clemens, son of Roger, who was in the ballpark. Like his father did in Boston and Toronto, Kody wears Number 21. Because K is the symbol for "strikeout," Roger gave all 4 of his sons 4-letter names starting with K: Koby, Kory, Kacy and Kody. Koby got as far as Triple-A ball, Kacy to Double-A, and Cory now plays for the Staten Island FerryHawks of the independent Atlantic League.

The Yankees struck back in the bottom of the 8th. Leading off, Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch. Josh Donaldson struck out. Rizzo stole 2nd, and advance to 3rd when Tiger 2nd baseman Jonathan Schoop (who used to drive the Yankees crazy hitting against them for the Baltimore Orioles) mishandled the throw from catcher Eric Haase. Gleyber Torres grounded to 3rd, and 3rd baseman Jeimer Candelario made a bad throw. Tie ballgame.

Wandy Peralta pitched a scoreless 9th, but the Yankees couldn't get the 1 more run they needed. Michael King stranded the ghost runner in the 10th by striking out the side. Aaron Judge started the bottom of the 10th on 2nd. Rizzo singled him over to 3rd. Boone called for the 2nd & home double steal, but it only worked well enough for Rizzo to reach 2nd, as the Tigers didn't take the bait. After all, the only run that mattered was Judge on 3rd.

Donaldson brought him home with a sacrifice fly to left. Yankees 5, Tigers 4. WP: King (3-1). No save. LP: Gregory Soto (2-3).

*

The Yankees have now won 6 in a row, 10 of their last 12. They are 39-15 overall, the best record in Major League Baseball. In the American League Eastern Division, they are 7 1/2 games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays, 7 in the loss column; 8 ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays; 12 ahead of the Boston Red Sox; and 17 ahead of the Orioles.

Compared to the other Division leaders, in the race for Playoff position: They are 8 games ahead of the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins, 4 ahead of the AL Western-leading Houston Astros, 4 ahead of the National League Western-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, 7 ahead of the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, and 3 games, 4 in the loss column, ahead of the NL Eastern-leading Mets.

"Yeah, but the Mets are doing this without... " Spare me: No team has had injury problems like the Yankees have. Except maybe Arsenal, and they don't even play the same sport, much less on the same side of the Atlantic Ocean. (Though they will play 3 games in America in July.)

Regarding the Astros: Although the Yankees had home-field advantage over them in the 2015 AL Wild Card Game, they did not have it in either the 2017 or the 2019 AL Championship Series. Home field could be critical.

Tonight, the Yankees begin a 3-game roadtrip to Minnesota, before coming home to face the Chicago Cubs in an Interleague matchup. Then comes 3 home games against the Rays, followed by another big roadtrip: 3 in Toronto, 3 in Tampa Bay.

That's 3 against the Jays, 6 against the Rays. The Yankees could have the AL East all but wrapped up in June, and concentrate on keeping key players healthy. In which case, maybe I shouldn't complain when a starting pitcher is taken out too soon, or a key hitter gets a day off. Maybe it's all part of the plan.

Somewhere, there must be a meme of Yankee general manager Brian Cashman as Heath Ledger's Joker, asking, "Do I look like a guy with a plan?" No, he doesn't.

At this point, I don't care. Any way I want it -- and "it" is winning the World Series -- via a plan, or no plan at all, that's all right by me.

Yanks Beat Nats Thanks to Torres & the Aristophanes Rule

Just because something is good for your team on a given occasion doesn't mean its good for the sport.

I still hate the Ghost Runner Rule. Or, as I prefer to call it, invoking an episode of The Odd Couple, the Aristophanes Rule: It's ridiculous!

*

It looked like that rule wouldn't come into play in yesterday's middle game of a 3-game Yankee Stadium series between the Yankees and the Washington Nationals. The game, scheduled for a first pitch of 1:07 PM, was delayed by rain until 3:29. But it didn't seem to affect either starting pitcher, the Yankees' Corey Kluber or the Nationals' Max Scherzer, who have 5 Cy Young Awards between them.

Scherzer, who's going to the Hall of Fame unless he does something stupid like Pete Rose did, pitched into the 8th inning, allowing just 1 run, on a home run by Kyle Higashioka in the 3rd. He allowed only 1 other hit, a single by DJ LeMahieu later in that inning. He allowed only 1 walk, to Clint Frazier, leading off the bottom of the 8th. He struck out 14 batters, a record for an opponent at the new Yankee Stadium. It was a dominating performance.

But Corey Kluber was almost as good. He walked home a run with the bases loaded in the 3rd, and a double and a single with 2 out in the 6th. But that was it. Chad Green pitched a scoreless 7th, and Lucas Luetge a perfect 8th and 9th.

Frazier's walk leading off the bottom of the 8th did not live up to the Cliche Alert, as he was stranded. Brad Hand came in to pitch the bottom of the 9th. Now, we can activate the Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Hand walked LeMahieu. The boiling-hot Giancarlo Stanton came to the plate, and Yankee Fans were energized.

But he could only ground to 3rd -- to Starlin Castro, the player the Yankees sent to the Miami Marlins in the 2017-18 off-season to get Stanton. Castro's only play was to 1st. Aaron Judge, 1-for-his-last-23, came up, and dunked a single to right. But it was too close for LeMahieu to score. Gleyber Torres singled him home, and it was 2-2, with men on 1st and 2nd, and only 1 out.

But Aaron Hicks struck out, and Frazier grounded out. That meant extra innings, and the Ghost Runner Rule.

Aroldis Chapman was brought on, with the runner on 2nd. He allowed a single and a sacrifice fly. It was the 1st run he had allowed all season, in his 12th appearance. However, the rule states that if the Ghost Runner scores, it is an unearned run. Chapman got out of the inning without further damage, and a seasonal ERA that remained exactly 0.00. But the Nationals had a 3-2 lead.

But with Frazier starting the bottom of the 10th on 2nd, Mike Ford, batting just .083, singled him home. The Yankees couldn't get the winning run home. Justin Wilson pitched a perfect top of the 11th. Then came the bottom of the 11th, one of those innings that makes John Sterling turn to his broadcast partner, Suzyn Waldman, and say, "You know, Suzyn, you just can't predict baseball."

Tanner Rainey was the pitcher. LeMahieu was the Ghost Runner. Stanton was up. Walkoff homer? No.

Did I say walks can kill you? He walked Stanton. Then he walked Judge to load the bases with nobody out. Those of us who have questioned the Yankees' heart -- I've used the term "Brian Cashman's Gutless Wonders" -- wondered how they were going to mess this up.

Yogi Berra once said that baseball is a simple game, because you can't use any trick plays. That was typical of American League thinking of the time. But he would later serve as a coach under his former Yankee teammate Billy Martin, who loved baseball's trick plays: The sacrifice bunt, the double steal, the hit-and-run, etc.

And, as we've seen, the infield shift -- as far as I know, first used by Lou Boudreau with the 1946 Cleveland Indians as a way to stop Ted Williams, with limited success -- is a trick play.

Nationals manager Dave Martinez tried a serious trick play: He took an outfielder out of the game, and brought in another infielder. Essentially, that gave him 7 infielders: The pitcher, the catcher, the 1st baseman, the 2nd baseman, the 3rd baseman, and 2 shortstops. Or, if you prefer this terminology, a shortstop and a "reverse shortstop."

It didn't work. The batter was Gleyber Torres. He hit a ball between the pitcher's mound and 3rd base. Hand tried to field it himself, but he couldn't pick it up, and everybody was safe. LeMahieu scored the winning run.

The play reminded me of a time at my house, in the late 1990s, when a mouse was trapped under our dining room table, surrounded by all 3 of our cats, and our dog. And none of them would go in and get the mouse. Who finally ended up getting the mouse? Me, the big, slow, klutzy, arthritic human. I grabbed an 18-inch plastic ruler, told the furfaces to get outta da way, reached in, and went WHACK! I picked the mouse up by its tail, opened the front door, threw it in the bushes, and yelled, "And stay out, you mangy mouse!"

My nieces love The Mouse Story. R.I.P. Teddie (the dog), Daphne, Ripley and Nala (the cats).

Yankees 4, Nationals 3. WP: Wilson (1-0). No save. LP: Rainey (0-2).

This time, the Aristophanes Rule helped the Yankees. But it's still ridiculous.

Getting less and less ridiculous is Torres. It's almost as if he heard the harsh criticism a couple of weeks ago, and has really stepped up his game, at bat, on the bases, and in the field. He still hasn't hit a home run this season, but he's done just about everything else right. Yesterday, he got the hit that tied the game in the 9th inning, and the hit that won the game in extra innings. No Yankee had done that in 9 years, since Raul Ibanez in the 2012 Playoffs.

The series concludes this afternoon. Domingo German starts for the Yankees, Joe Ross for the Nationals.

It Shouldn't Bother Me This Much

I'm 51 years old. I've seen 11 Pennants and 7 World Series wins. I've seen Hall-of-Famers, legends, and historic moments.

I've been to 2 Opening Days, 8 Old-Timers' Days, and a Playoff game. I've seen Joe DiMaggio throw out a first pitch and Mickey Mantle wear his Number 7 uniform.

I've seen Bill Dickey, a Yankee who played as far back as 1928; and watched the actual regular-season game-play of Roy White, a Yankee who suited up as far back as 1965.

I've seen the Yankees win at Shea Stadium, Fenway Park, Veterans Stadium, Camden Yards, and whatever Cleveland is calling its ballpark this year. I've seen a Yankee's Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Cooperstown.

I've taken the Yankee fandom of my grandfather, who walked from his apartment in The Bronx to watch them build the original Yankee Stadium in 1922. And I've passed my fandom down to my nieces, who could still be watching the Yankees play in the year 2100.

I've seen Yankees grow too old to play, seen new players come up to replace them, and seen their career end due to advancing age as well. I've seen men raise themselves to the status of icon, and I've seen icons die. Okay, I haven't actually seen their deaths, but I've been around for the tributes.

I've seen the Yankees fall, and rise, and do both all over again.

Given all that I've seen from this team, a single game lost by the Yankees shouldn't bother me this much.

But it does. And there is a reason why. Because it really isn't a single loss.

It was like when something bad happens, like you're falling, or in a car crash. Everything is happening in slow motion. And it feels like you can reach out and do something to stop it. Except you can't. And it happens. It's inevitable. And even though you knew it would happen, the knowledge doesn't reduce the pain.

*

Last night, the conclusion of a 3-game home series with the Baltimore Orioles, was the regular-season Yankee debut of Jameson Taillon. The 29-year-old righthander from the Houston area had been a good pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2016, '17 and '18, but was limited by injury to 7 games in '19 and didn't pitch at all in '20. The Yankees took a big chance on him.

His start wasn't terrible. He didn't get out of the 5th inning, having thrown 74 pitches. He allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, 2 of them solo home runs in the 4th inning. But he didn't walk any batters, and struck out 7. So this was encouraging.

For the rest of the game, the Yankees used 6 pitchers, none for more than an inning and a third. That is stupid.

Nick Nelson finished the 5th and pitched the 6th. No baserunners. He threw 20 pitches, 13 for strikes.

Darren O'Day: Pitched the 7th. No baserunners. 12, 8.

Jonathan Loaisiga: Pitched the 8th. No baserunners. 11, 9.

Aroldis Chapman: Pitched the 9th. No baserunners. 16, 11 -- although his other 5 pitches, for some reason, were way too high. Definitely not the kind of pitcher you want on the mound in an inning that starts with an opposing team's runner on 2nd base.

No, the pitching is not the reason the Yankees lost the game. In the 1st 9 innings, it was 2 runs on 3 hits and no walks. Asking for better pitching than that is not reasonable.

But the offense. The night before, every player in the starting lineup got a hit except Clint Frazier. Tis time, there were hits, but not when it counted:

* 1st inning: Stranded 1st & 3rd.

* 2nd: 1-2-3.

* 3rd: Singles by Brett Gardner, DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Hicks got the Yankees a run, and put runners on 1st & 2nd with 1 out, but Giancarlo Stanton grounded into a double play to end the threat.

* 4th: Stranded 1st & 2nd.

* 5th: Same as 4th.

* 6th: Wasted a 1-out double by Gary Sanchez.

* 7th: Wasted a leadoff single by LeMahieu.

The bottom of the 8th is where the game should have been won. The Yankees came in trailing 2-1. Frazier and Jay Bruce grounded out. But Sanchez hit a drive to left. At first, it looked like it was going out. Then it looked like the Oriole left fielder, Ryan Mountcastle, would catch it. So Sanchez didn't run it out. But Mountcastle botched it. The official scorer generously gave Sanchez a hit, but he could only get to 1st base.

The failure to hustle ended up not mattering: Aaron Boone sent Mike Tauchman in to pinch-run for him. And Gio Urshela launched a double up the gap in left-center. Tauchman did hustle, and the play at the plate was close, but he was safe. Tie game.

Gardner singled Urshela over to 3rd, but he had to stop, and couldn't score the go-ahead run. And LeMahieu grounded out. If LeMaheiu had done something there, or had Gardner hit the ball a little harder -- or if somebody else had gotten the job done in an earlier inning -- it would have een no worse than 3-2 Yankees, and there never would have been extra innings.

But the Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the 9th, and there were. Chad Green began the 10th for the Yankees, and got the 1st 2 outs. But a ground ball by Pedro Severino (no relation to Luis) went to Gleyber Torres. There are only 2 people on Earth who haven't yet figured out that Torres shouldn't be playing shortstop. Unfortunately, those people are Torres himself and Brian Cashman. Torres threw it away, and the Orioles led 3-2.

Green got out of it. With Sanchez removed for a pinch-runner, Kyle Higashioka was now the catcher. And he had to bat in the bottom of the 10th. But the Aristophanes Rule -- Odd Couple fans will recognize that I call it that because it's ridiculous -- meant that Tyler Wade was on 2nd to start the inning, and Higgy singled him home to tie the game -- and to get Torres off the hook. But every other Yankee batter in the inning struck out.

With the Aristophanes Rule, the smart thing to do is bunt the runner over to 3rd. If it works, you've got a man on 3rd with less than 2 outs, and a fly ball should get him home. The Orioles did that to start the 11th, and it worked. Green then allowed an RBI single, and a walk, and (through little fault of his own, because the rule hurt him) was replaced by Luis Cessa. He walked the next better, but worked out of it.

The Yankees began the bottom of the 11th with Urshela on 2nd. Gardner bunted him over. So far, so good. But LeMahieu hit the ball right at Oriole right fielder Anthony Santander, and he threw home, and Urshela was out by a mile. Yankee 3rd base coach Phil Nevin, who showed such good judgment in sending Tauchman home in the 8th, blew this one.

Orioles 4, Yankees 3. WP: Cesar Valdez (1-0). SV: Paul Fry (1). LP: Green (0-1).

In 11 innings, Yankee pitchers allowed 4 runs, 3 of them earned, for an ERA of 1.64. There were 4 hits, only 2 walks, none over the 1st 10 innings. There were 17 strikeouts.

Fault for the loss: The Yankee hitters, who got only 1 run over the 1st 7 innings.

So, with 1 week's worth of games in the books for this season, let's review:

* In all 6 games, the Yankees have held the opposition to no more than 3 runs in the 1st 9 innings. We began the season with pitching as our biggest worry. So far, it has been our biggest strength.

* In 3 games, the Yankees have scored at least 5 runs. They've won all 3.

* In the other 3 games, the Yankees have scored no more than 2 runs in the 1st 9 innings. They've lost all 3.

Conclusion: Cashman's strategy of "Outhit the opposition" isn't working.

And that's why this one loss bothers me. It's the same thing I said after the Yankees lost on Opening Day: I quoted Mark Twain, "Life is one damn thing after another," and then I quoted Edna St. Vincent Millay's rebuttal: "It's the same damn thing over and over."

What bothers me is not this one preventable loss, it's that it seems like every loss is preventable for the same reason.

Twain did say the line quoted above. However, he gets a lot of quotes incorrectly attributed to him. So does Albert Einstein. This line didn't appear in public until over a quarter of a century after his death, but it applies to Cashman's baseball philosophy: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result."

The Yankees have a travel day today. Tomorrow, they begin a series in St. Petersburg against the Tampa Bay Rays.

A weekend in Florida? Seems like sufficient punishment. I hope they're all vaccinated.

17 Hours In 1st Place Ruined by Cashman via Boone

Seventeen hours. The Yankees were in 1st place for all of 17 hours.

Not good enough.

Yesterday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, with both the Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays wearing special caps and commemorative patches for Armed Forces Day, Masahiro Tanaka was about as good as you can get: 6 innings, no runs, 3 hits, no walks, 6 strikeouts. He had thrown just 88 pitches.

A manager with a clue -- or with the guts to stand up to a general manager without a clue -- would have left him in. But Aaron Boone doesn't have the guts to stand up to Brian Cashman, and put Tommy Kahnle in to pitch the top of the 7th. He gave up a home run to Nate Lowe.

Other than that 1 at-bat, the Yankees' pitching was excellent. Only 1 run on 5 hits and no walks in 11 innings. Of course, if it wasn't for that 1 at-bat, there wouldn't have been a 10th and 11th inning. This one is on Cashman and his lapdog Boone.

Said pitching was excellent, that is, until the 11th inning. Boone should have left Tanaka in for the 7th, had Zack Britton pitch the 8th and the 9th (instead of only the 8th, and kept Kahnle in the bullpen), had Jonathan Holder pitch both the 10th (which he did) and the 11th (which he didn't), save Aroldis Chapman for tomorrow (instead of having him pitch the 9th), and not bring Luis Cessa in at all. Cessa blew the game in the 11th, and not only does he not belong on the Yankees, he doesn't belong in the major leagues.

The game went to extra innings because the Yankees didn't hit, either. Their only run, in the 3rd inning, didn't even score as the result of a hit: Brett Gardner scored from 3rd base when Rays starter Blake Snell threw a wild pitch.

The Yankees stranded a man on 1st in the 1st inning, had a man on 1st with 1 out erased via a double play in the 2nd, left men on 2nd & 3rd in the 3rd, wasted a man on 1st with 1 out in the 4th, had a Aaron Hicks thrown out at the plate on a Gleyber Torres single to end the 6th, wasted a man on 1st with 1 out in the 7th, stranded a man on 1st in the 8th, and Gary Sanchez grounded into a double play to blow a leadoff single by Luke Voit in the 11th, ending the game.

I hate losing. I especially hate losing in extra innings. If you're gonna lose, don't keep us hanging: Do it in 9!

Rays 2, Yankees 1. WP: Hunter Wood (1-0). SV: Jose Alvarado (5). LP: Cessa (0-1). The Yankees fall back to half a game behind the Rays in the American League Eastern Division, 1 back in the loss column.

The series concludes this afternoon. Hopefully, Cashman won't think of a way to force Boone to screw it up. Failing that, maybe Boone will say, "Screw you, Cashman," and do it his way.

Maybe not: Chad Green, who's been horrible, is penciled in as the starter, against Charlie Morton, who famously started and won Game 7 of the 2017 American League Championship Series for the Houston Astros, against the Yankees.

This could be a long game.

Damn it, Cashman, you could still sign Dallas Keuchel!

Baseball Season Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Last night, the Yankees began a West Coast road trip, away to the team currently known as the Los Angeles Angels. It was the first time they played against them when their manager was someone other than Mike Scioscia since September 6, 1999, a 5-3 loss in Anaheim. The new manager of the Angels is Brad Ausmus.

But last night's game was so long (How long was it?), the Angels actually gave up the designated hitter, forcing their pitcher to bat. So that led me to believe that their new manager was Joe Girardi.

J.A. Happ started for the Yankees, and certainly pitched well enough to win, going 7 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5. Luke Voit hit a home run in the 1st inning, and the Yankees got a 2nd run on a sacrifice fly by Gleyber Torres in the 3rd.

Gio Urshela singled in the 4th. After that, the Yankees didn't get another hit until the 12th. Their only baserunner in the interim was a walk by Brett Gardner in the 8th. That's 23 batters, only 1 reaching base.

I'd say, "That's what the injury crisis has done to the Yankees," but, the truth is, they weren't hitting well when they had a lineup full of All-Star caliber players, either.

At any rate, that Torres sac fly made it 2-2, and that score held from the 3rd inning until the top of the 12th. Clint Frazier kept up his hot streak by leading off with a double to right. Mike Tauchman grounded out, getting Frazier to 3rd with 1 out. Mike Ford was intentionally walked, so that Angels reliever Taylor Cole could pitch to the rookie Gio Urshela. That made sense, because, while Ford is also a brand-new rookie, making it men on 1st and 3rd set up the inning-ending double play.

But it didn't work: Urshela hit a long fly to center, and it was deep enough to score Frazier. 3-2 Yankees.

There was some concern that, during this sequence, Frazier might have become the latest Yankee to get hurt.

So we just needed our closer, Aroldis Chapman, to get 3 outs without allowing a run in the bottom of the 12th, and put and end to this long night: It was already after 1:00 AM, New York time. But he couldn't do it: He allowed a leadoff single, allowed a stolen base, got a strikeout, induced a fly out, hit a batter, and allowed a game-tying single, before inducing an inning-ending groundout.

Cue Danny Glover as Detective Sergeant Roger Murtaugh: "I'm too old for this shit." (And before you say I'm not, let me remind you: In the 1st Lethal Weapon film, he's about to turn 50, and I'll turn 50 at the end of this year.)

Finally, in the 14th, the Yankees made another bid to end "this shit." Torres, who is in a nasty slump, struck out, but Angel catcher Jonathan Lucroy mishandled the 3rd strike, and managed to reach 1st because Lucroy also made a bad throw.

Lucroy should get down on his knees and thank God that Angels fans aren't like Arsenal fans. If they were, he'd be getting some serious online harassment.

Frazier, remaining in the game despite his ankle hurting, struck out, but Angel reliever Luke Bard (younger brother of former Boston Red Sox pitcher Daniel Bard) threw a wild pitch that got Tauchman to 2nd. Bard then struck Tauchman out, and walked Ford intentionally to set up the inning-ending force play. But, again, Urshela foiled the strategy, singling to right-center and scoring Torres.

Jonathan Holder had pitched a perfect 13th, so Aaron Boone sent him out to pitch the bottom of the 14th. He got a strikeout and a groundout. Then, because Ausmus had maneuvered himself into losing the DH slot, the pitcher, Bard was up. Nearly out of options, Asumus sent Trevor Cahill up to pinch-hit. Cahill is a starting pitcher, and a former National Leaguer, whereas Bard has never come to bat. So, even though Cahill's career on-base percentage is .141, Asumus decided he might as well go with a guy who can throw more than a couple of innings, just in case.

Holder struck him out. At 2:42 AM New York time, it was finally over: Yankees 4, Angels 3, in 14 innings. WP: Holder (1-0). No save. LP: Bard (0-1).

Much like the baseball season as a whole, this game was a marathon, not a sprint. In the end, we won the game. We are still 2 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division.

The series with the Angels continues tonight, with Domingo German starting against Felix Stratton.

Yanks .500 at All-Star Break, Jeter Married

When the Yankees won the opener of their 4-game series against the red-hot Cleveland Indians, currently in 1st place in the American League Central Division, at Progressive Field, it looked like a good sign.

Then they played the next game. Chad Green got clobbered, allowing 4 runs in the 1st inning, 2 in the 3rd, and another in the 5th before Joe Girardi threw the binder aside and said, "This poor lad has suffered enough," and took him out. The bullpen was little better

Brian McCann hit his 14th home run of the season, but that was the only highlight as far as the Yankees were concerned. Indians 10, Yankees 2. WP: Corey Kluber (9-8). No save. LP: Green (1-2).

*

CC Sabathia started the Saturday game, and the Big Fella wasn't much of an improvement on Green, allowing 5 runs in less than 6 innings. It was 1-0 Indians after the 1st, 4-3 Indians after the 3rd, 5-3 Indians after the 5th.

Didi Gregorius hit his 11th home run of the season -- which would have been about average for an entire season for his predecessor as Yankee shortstop, ol' What's His Name -- and Brett Gardner hit a triple that gave the Yankees a 6-5 lead in the top of the 6th. But the Indians tied it in the 7th.

The game went to extra innings, which is terrifying, given Girardi's bullpen management tendencies. With 2 outs in the top of the 11th, Carlos Beltran singled, and McCann doubled him home. Aroldis Chapman, already in the game, closed it out. Yankees 7, Indians 6. WP: Chapman (3-0). No save. LP: Tommy Hunter (2-2).

*

Masahiro Tanaka started the Sunday game, but wasn't at his best. Despite being staked to a 4-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning, thanks in part to Jacoby Ellsbury's 4th home run, and a whopping 11-1 lead in the top of the 5th, he melted down in the bottom of the 5th: Double, strikeout, RBI double, single, RBI single, groundout, 2-run error, 2-run homer.

That made it 11-7 Yankees. Girardi brought Nathan Eovaldi, and he got the last out in the 5th, and stayed in the rest of the game, allowing no runs and only 1 hit (albeit 3 walks). He was the winning pitcher (7-6), with no save, while Carlos Carrasco was the losing pitcher (5-3).

The Yankees took 3 out of 4 on the road. Ordinarily, that's pretty good. But after the 1st half of the season that the Yankees have had, it doesn't seem like enough.

*

So, here we are at the All-Star Break, 14 weeks into a 26-week season. The Yankees are .500, 44-44, 7 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Eastern Division, 8 games in the loss column. They are 5 1/2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the 2nd AL Wild Card seed, although only 4 in the loss column.

As I've discussed before, it takes, on the average, 93 wins to win the AL East. There are 74 games to go. For the Yankees to get to 93 wins this season, they would have to go 44-30, a .595 pace -- over a full 162-game season, that would get you 96 wins.

Doesn't sound especially hard for a good team. But the Yankees have been so inconsistent this season, a 96-win pace over the last 74 games doesn't sound too likely.

And so, we pause, for the All-Star Game, tomorrow night, at Petco Park in San Diego. And then... the Boston Red Sox come to town. Sweeping The Scum would be a good way for the Yankees to launch a strong 2nd-half run.

*

Derek Jeter and Hannah Davis got married in St. Petersburg last night. So Derek learned from the mistake of Joe DiMaggio: Wait until after you retire to marry a fabulous blonde. Joe D married actress Dorothy Arnold while he was still playing, and it fell apart. He married Marilyn Monroe after he retired -- and it fell apart faster.

Well, Hannah isn't Marilyn: Nobody's throwing film scripts at her, hoping to capitalize on her appearance. But Derek isn't Joe: He's got a more modern perspective on things, and won't demand that his wife be a housewife first and anything else second.

I see the Jeters invited former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Given his height, or rather his lack thereof, I wonder if he was the ring-bearer.

Good luck to the happy couple.

2016 Girardi Screwup Count: 1

It is true that the Yankees didn't score enough runs last night, in the opener of their home series with the Oakland Athletics. It is also true that they could still have won the game.

Michael Pineda started for the Yankees, and he pitched well. After 6 innings, he had allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk. A manager with a clue would have let him pitch the 7th inning.

But Joe Girardi is not a manager with a clue. He is a manager with a binder. And Pineda had thrown 97 pitches. Joe Girardi's binder says that if a pitcher has thrown 97 pitches in 6 innings, you have to take him out and bring in a reliever.

At first, this looked like a reasonable move. Chasen Shreve pitched a perfect 7th. Dellin Betances pitched a scoreless 8th. Adam Warren pitched a perfect 9th. Johnny Barbato pitched a perfect 10th.

But the Yankees didn't score enough. Alex Rodriguez had an RBI single in the 1st, and Carlos Beltran had an RBI sacrifice fly in the 5th. That was it: The Yankees left a man on 1st in the 1st, wasted a leadoff double by Brett Gardner in the 3rd, wasted a leadoff single by A-Rod in the 4th (he now had as many hits in the game as he'd had all season thus far), stranded 1st & 3rd with 2 out in the 5th, stranded 2nd & 3rd with 2 out in the 6th, wasted a leadoff single by Chase Headley in the 9th (when pinch-runner Jacoby Ellsbury, in the game solely because of his baserunning, was caught stealing), and went out 1-2-3 in the 7th,the 8th and the 10th.

Barbato should not have been pitching in the 11th. At the absolute least, Pineda should have pitched the 7th, keeping Betances in the 8th and Miller in the 9th (or maybe, you know, having either pitch both innings and saving the other for the next night), then let somebody pitch the 10th. The Yankees could have used 2 or 3 pitchers in 11 innings, instead of 5.

Barbato got the 1st out in the to of the 11th, but allowed a double to former Red Sox pain in the neck Jed Lowrie. A grounder got the 2nd out, but also moved Lowrie over. But Mark Canha singled Lowrie home. The Yankees went out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 11th, doing so for the 4th time in the last 5 innings.

A's 3, Yankees 2. WP: Fernando Rodriguez (1-0). SV: Former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ryan Madson (5). LP: Barbato (1-1).

Joe Girardi 2016 Game Screwup Count: 1. There were 20 last year.

The series continues tonight. Nathan Eovaldi starts against Kendall Graveman. Sounds like a made-up name for a horror movie spoof.