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 Bounce Back vs. Guardians

Last night, at Progressive Field, after a weak effort at the plate the night before, the Yankees needed a bounce-back win over the Cleveland Guardians. The bats obliged. They picked up a run in the 2nd inning, then scored 5 in the 3rd, including on a home run by Franchy Cordero. They got 2 more runs in the 4th, 2 more in the 5th, and 1 more in the 9th.

And the Yankees had the right pitcher on the mound to take advantage of such an output, Gerrit Cole. He struck out an uncharacteristically low 3 batters, and had a shaky 1st inning in which he allowed 2 runs. But after that, he cruised through the 7th, allowing no runs on 2 hits and 2 walks. Albert Abreu shut the Guardians out over the last 2 innings. Between them, Cole and Abreu saved the rest of the bullpen for today.

Yankees 11, Guardians 2. WP: Cole (3-0). No save: As strong as Abreu was, the Yankees had a big lead, so he would have had to pitch 3 innings to qualify for a save. LP: Hunter Gaddis (0-1).

The series concludes today. But don't get your hopes up: It's an afternoon game started by a pitcher other than Cole. And not just any pitcher other than Cole: It's going to be Clarke Schmidt. And the Yankees will be facing not just an unfamiliar pitcher, which is never a good sign, but one making his major league debut, Peyton Battenfield. Pitch clock or no, this could be a long afternoon for the Bronx outfit.

Calm Down, the Yankees Have Got This

The Yankees concluded a 3-game series away to the Baltimore Orioles with an Easter Sunday matinee. They struck right away: With 1 out in the top of the 1st inning, they got 3 straight singles from Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton, and it was 1-0 Yankees.

In the 3rd inning Judge crushed a home run to dead center, with the deepest part of the ballpark being just to the left of that, 410 feet away. That made it 2-0. The Yankees have now played 9 games this season, and hit at least 1 home run in every one of them.

The Orioles got tired of the Yankees bombing them out of their own Yards, so, last season, they moved their left-field fence back. It managed to stop Gleyber Torres. It has not stopped Judge, nor Stanton, who hit one well over that fence yesterday. It's like this:

Orioles: Ha-ha, we moved our left field fence back.

Torres: Noooooooo!

Stanton: Calm down, Gleyber, I got this.

Judge: Me too.

Apparently, also Franchy Cordero. He hit one in the 5th, and that made it 4-0 Bronx Bombers.

Nestor Cortés started for the Yankees. He got through the 1st 5 innings without allowing a run. The Orioles scored a couple in the 6th, and the bullpen took over. In the 8th, Judge hit another home run, giving him 4 on the season. Not to put any pressure on him, but that's a pace for 72. Adley Rutschman, last year's rookie sensation and now the Orioles' biggest star, homered in the bottom of the 8th, but Baltimore got no closer.

Yankees 5, Orioles 3. WP: Cortés (2-0). SV: Clay Holmes (3). LP: Tyler Wells (0-1).

So the Yankees conclude the 1st full week of the season at 6-3. The Tampa Bay Rays have started 9-0, but the combined record of the teams they've faced -- the Detroit Tigers, the Washington Nationals, and the Oakland Athletics -- is just 7-21, meaning it's 7-12 even without counting their games against the Rays.

Oddly, the last team to beat the Rays, in their Spring Training finale, was the Yankees. Who won't face them in the regular season until Friday, May 5. By then, the Rays will have lost a few. So, as Stanton and Judge seemed to be saying, Calm down, the Yankees have got this. (At least, until they face the Houston Astros in the Playoffs.)

They now move on, making their only visit of the regular season to the Cleveland Guardians. First pitch tomorrow is scheduled for 6:10 PM. Domingo Germán starts against Shane Bieber.

Schmidt Happens, Yankees Lose to Orioles

Yankee radio broadcaster John Sterling likes to turn to his partner, Suzyn Waldman, and say to her, "You know, Suzyn, you just can't predict baseball."

That's a crock. Under Brian Cashman, the Yankees are so predictable. For example, when I heard that the starting pitcher for yesterday afternoon's game was going to be Clarke Schmidt, who's not a good relief pitcher, and messed up his chances of starter last Saturday, I knew the Yankees were going to lose the game.

Well, they did put up a good fight in yesterday's game, against the Baltimore Orioles, who were playing their home opener at Camden Yards. The thing is, though, when you score 6 runs, you should win.

It didn't, because, to coin a phrase, Schmidt happens. He started, because Cashman has assembled a Yankee starting rotation that would be the best in baseball if fully healthy, but never will be fully healthy. Schmidt gave up 2 runs in the 2nd inning, 2 more in the 3rd, and didn't get out of the 4th.

And yet, in the top of the 4th, Franchy Cordero hit his 1st Yankee home run, and we closed to within 4-3. In the 6th, we scored 3 runs, the key hit being a 2-run double by Oswaldo Cabrera, and led, 5-4.

Now, we needed some good work by the bullpen to hold the Birds off. We didn't get it. Ian Hamilton allowed a run in the 6th, and both Ron Marinaccio and Jimmy Cordero allowed a run in the 7th. The Yankees trailed, 7-5.

They did make a run at it. They started the 8th with a Giancarlo Stanton double, and singles by Gleyber Torres and Cabrera, to make it 7-6. But a pitching change meant 3 straight outs. After 2 strikeouts to start the 9th, Aaron Judge drew a walk, stole 2nd, and advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch. But there would be no fulfillment of the cliché about walks "killing" anybody: Anthony Rizzo got under a pitch, and flew out to left.

Orioles 7, Yankees 6. WP: Cionel Pérez (1-0). SV: Félix Bautista (3). LP: Marinaccio (0-1), though this loss is on Cashman first and Schmidt 2nd.

After the game, manager Aaron Boone said of Schmidt, "Stuff is fine. He has the pitches, and he has all the weapons. Can he get to that next level to be that starter, that front-line starter? That’s what it's gonna take. That's all there is to it."

Pardon my French, but DeFuque? Schmidt can't pitch! His "stuff" is not fine! He has no pitches! He has no weapons! In his case, "that next level" is mere major league competence! He shouldn't even be on the Yankee roster.

The Yankees have started the season 4-3. Not good enough, under any circumstances. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Rays have started the season 7-0.

The series continues tonight. Jhony Brito, who did a pretty good job of filling a hole in the rotation this past Sunday, starts against Cole Irvin.