Winning Is Welcome

It's too soon to say that the Yankees have snapped out of their 2-month funk. It is right on time, however, to say that these last 2 wins have been welcome.

Jameson Taillon started, and went 5 innings, and for the 1st 4 innings, he was fine, pitching shutout ball, allowing 2 hits and a walk, and there was also an error. He had a 2-0 lead, because Aaron Judge doubled in the 1st inning, and was singled home by Josh Donaldson (but he was out trying to stretch it to a double, which could have come back to haunt us); and Marwin González, uncharacteristically, hit a home run in the 3rd.

But Taillon began the top of the 5th by giving up a walk and a home run -- to former Yankee Gary Sánchez. (It's not always the ex-Yankees who do it to us, but it happens a lot.) He got into more trouble, but Aaron Boone trusted him to get out of it, and he did. Maybe there's a lesson there.

In the 6th, Judge hit a home run, his 54th of the season. He's now on a pace for 65. In the 7th, Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a home run, his 2nd of the season. He's now on a pace for 3.

Greg Weissert pitched a scoreless 6th. He and Wandy Peralta pitched a scoreless 7th. Peralta pitched a scoreless 8th. Clay Holmes pitched a 1-2-3 9th.

Yankees 5, Twins 2. WP: Weissert (2-0). SV: Holmes (19). LP: Trevor Megill (3-2).

The series continues, but not tonight: The nasty weather from earlier has already postponed today's game, setting up a doubleheader for tomorrow. The Yankees have Domingo Germán going in the opener, and Gerrit Cole in the nightcap. As of this writing, the Twins haven't announced their starting pitcher for either game.

All Is Not Well In Yankeedom

The Baseball lockout is over. The New York City vaccine mandate, which threatened to prevent unvaccinated Yankees and Mets from playing home games (as it was doing to Kyrie Irving of the Nets) has been lifted, so everyone can play. The Yankees are playing Spring Training games.

And Opening Day is next Thursday, April 7. As an old song goes, It's the most wonderful time of the year.

But all is not well in Yankeedom. Far from it.

The Yankees sent catcher Gary Sánchez and 3rd baseman Gio Urshela to the Minnesota Twins. Sánchez consistently put up good power numbers, but while he was productive in 2016, '17 and '19, his overall hitting was terrible in 2018, '20 and '21. He was mercilessly booed by the Bronx faithful, and he'll be glad to get out of that. For those of us who still want him to do well, perhaps a change of scenery will do him some good.

Giving up Urshela is a problem. He gave the Yankees 3 good seasons. He may well be missed. But giving up Sanchez may actually be a bigger problem. I'll get to that in a moment.

In return, the Yankees got 3rd baseman Josh Donaldson, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Ben Rortvedt. With Oakland, Toronto, Atlanta and Minnesota, Donaldson has been one of the best hitters in baseball since 2013. He had a 127 OPS+ last season. But he's 36 years old. He was an American League Most Valuable Player, but that was in 2015.

This looks like a classic Brian Cashman acquisition: A guy who would have been good to have a few years back, but not so much now. And before you tell me he was great last year, let me remind you of Chris Carter, who tied for the National League home run title with 41 in 2016, but had only 94 RBIs, and batted just .222, got signed by Cashman, played all of 62 games with the Yankees, batted .201, got released on July 10, 2017, and never played another major league game. He was just 30 years old.

And he was 6 years younger than Donaldson.

Also, Donaldson is a righthanded hitter, coming to Yankee Stadium. Cashman still hasn't figured out that Yankee Stadium is harder on righthanded hitters than it is on lefthanded ones.

Also, Donaldson was the player who blew the whistle on Gerrit Cole's use of "sticky substances." But Cole and Donaldson have met, and Cole says, "I'll be fine." Donaldson says, "I'm happy to be on the same team, and not have to strike out anymore." Manager Aaron Boone says, "It's buried, and a non-issue."

As for IKF -- I mean, let's get serious here, Yankee Fans aren't going to want to say that entire name -- he's from Honolulu, he turns 27 this month, and will play shortstop, as Cashman finally admits that Gleyber Torres belongs at 2nd base.

IKF never played for the Twins: They traded him to the Yankees just 1 day after acquiring him in a trade with the Texas Rangers. He won a Gold Glove in 2020, and stole 20 bases last season. But he is not a good hitter, having never topped 93 in OPS+ in his 4 major league season. And, given that 2020 was a COVID-shortened season, 2021 was his 1st-ever full season.

Rortvedt is not going to be the starting catcher. He has played a grand total of 39 games in the majors, all last season, and batted .169. For the moment, the starting catcher is Kyle Higashioka. Higgy, a good defensive catcher, with a 71 OPS+ last season. If he's your backup catcher, you're okay; if he's your starter, you're in deep trouble. By giving up Sánchez, as much trouble as he was having, the Yankees actually downgraded at the position.

And now, we find out that Rortvedt is injured. So, instead of not hitting for us because he can't freakin' hit, he'll be not hitting for us because he can't freakin' play. At all.

Gary Sheffield Jr. tweeted it out for all of us: "All I have to say this morning is that Brian Cashman shouldn't be GM of the New York Yankees."

After the 2021 season, Cashman said, "We're not as athletic as we'd like to be." Which was true. How does he handle this? He throws $50 million at 36-year-old Donaldson.

And the Yankees could still use one more good starting pitcher, and Aroldis Chapman is still a shaky closer.

Opening Day is exactly one week away.

Did Trading Sánchez and Urshela for Donaldson and IKF Weaken Yankees?

UPDATE: Yes, it did!

With the Major League Baseball team owners' lockout of the players having ended after 99 days, the Yankees made a trade. And I'm not sure if it was a good idea.

They sent catcher Gary Sánchez and 3rd baseman Gio Urshela to the Minnesota Twins. Sánchez consistently put up good power numbers, but while he was productive in 2016, '17 and '19, his overall hitting was terrible in 2018, '20 and '21. He was mercilessly booed by the Bronx faithful, and he'll be glad to get out of that. For those of us who still want him to do well, perhaps a change of scenery will do him some good.

For me, the problem is giving up Urshela. He gave the Yankees 3 good seasons. He may well be missed.

In return, the Yankees got 3rd baseman Josh Donaldson, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Ben Rortvedt. With Oakland, Toronto, Atlanta and Minnesota, Donaldson has been one of the best hitters in baseball since 2013. He had a 127 OPS+ last season. But he's 36 years old. He was an American League Most Valuable Player, but that was in 2015.

This looks like a classic Brian Cashman acquisition: A guy who would have been good to have a few years back, but not so much now. And before you tell me he was great last year, let me remind you of Chris Carter, who tied for the National League home run title with 41 in 2016, but had only 94 RBIs, and batted just .222, got signed by Cashman, played all of 62 games with the Yankees, batted .201, got released on July 10, 2017, and never played another major league game. He was just 30 years old.

And he was 6 years younger than Donaldson.

Also, Donaldson is a righthanded hitter, coming to Yankee Stadium. Cashman still hasn't figured out that Yankee Stadium is harder on righthanded hitters than it is on lefthanded ones.

Also, Donaldson was the player who blew the whistle on Gerrit Cole's use of "sticky substances." But Cole and Donaldson have met, and Cole says, "I'll be fine." Donaldson says, "I'm happy to be on the same team, and not have to strike out anymore." Manager Aaron Boone says, "It's buried, and a non-issue."

As for IKF -- I mean, let's get serious here, Yankee Fans aren't going to want to say that entire name -- he's from Honolulu, he turns 27 this month, and will play shortstop, as Cashman finally admits that Gleyber Torres belongs at 2nd base.

IKF never played for the Twins: They traded him to the Yankees just 1 day after acquiring him in a trade with the Texas Rangers. He won a Gold Glove in 2020, and stole 20 bases last season. But he is not a good hitter, having never topped 93 in OPS+ in his 4 major league season. And, given that 2020 was a COVID-shortened season, 2021 was his 1st-ever full season.

Rortvedt is not going to be the starting catcher. He has played a grand total of 39 games in the majors, all last season, and batted .169. For the moment, the starting catcher is Kyle Higashioka. Higgy, a good defensive catcher, with a 71 OPS+ last season. If he's your backup catcher, you're okay; if he's your starter, you're in deep trouble. By giving up Sánchez, as much trouble as he was having, the Yankees actually downgraded at the position.

And the Yankees could still use one more good starting pitcher, and Aroldis Chapman is still a shaky closer.

UPDATE: The answer is mixed. Donaldson has done nothing for the Yankees, while IKF has been a traditional "good-field-no-hit" middle infielder, and Urshela has gone to the Los Angeles Angels, and helped them. On the other hand, Sánchez struggled in Minnesota in 2022, was released, and was signed only to a minor-league contract for 2023 by the San Francisco Giants.

Another "Worst Loss of the Season" for the Yankees

The Yankees will finish the season 11-8 against the Baltimore Orioles. The Tampa Bay Rays, 18-1. That is not the entirety of the difference between them in the standings, but it's most of it.

You've got to take care of business in your own backyard, because of you can't handle the teams, especially the worst team, in your own Division, you don't deserve to make the Playoffs.

It used to be that Camden Yards was a great place for the Yankees' ailing bats to get well. But in this series, they didn't. They didn't quite pay the price on Wednesday night, but they sure did last night. On Wednesday, Brett Gardner singled to lead off the top of the 3rd, and Gio Urshela hit a home run. But those 2 runs were all the Yankees would get over the 1st 8.

Nestor Cortes pitched great for 5 innings, before allowing a run in the 6th, and being taken out in the 7th. That's when Chad Green was brought in, and he blew the lead in the 8th.

Then came the 9th inning. It was the kind of series of screwy events that tends to happen to the Yankees, but, this time, it happened in their favor. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, or save you, especially the leadoff variety. And Luke Voit drew such a leadoff walk. Tyler Wade was sent in to pinch-run for him. Gleyber Torres singled. Gary Sanchez flied out. Wade stole 3rd, and Torres stole 2nd on the throw. And Gardner dunked a single into center field, to score both of them.

Aroldis Chapman went against cliche, and sent the O's down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th. Yankees 4, Orioles 3. WP: Wandy Peralta (5-3). SV: Chapman (27). LP: Tyler Wells (2-3).

*

But last night, the Yankees had yet another "worst loss of the season." Brendan Kuty of The Star-Ledger tweeted: "This is about as bad as it gets for the Yankees, which is a tweet I feel like I've written at least 10 other times this season." He backtweeted this, so we know he previously said it on July 25, July 23, July 11, July 4, July 3, July 1, and June 28.

Once again Jordan Montgomery pitched very well with very little support. Over 6 innings, he allowed 1 run on 6 hits and 1 walk, with 12 strikeouts. But all they gave him came in the top of the 2nd: A home run by Joey Gallo, walks by Sanchez and Wade, and a double by Urshela.

It was 2-1 Yankees in the bottom of the 9th, and Clay Holmes couldn't hold it. He got a strikeout, but then allowed a single and uncorked a wild pitch. (Cliche Alert: Nothing except wine bottles and wild pitches ever gets uncorked.) He got a groundout, but then threw another wild pitch to tie the game, before getting another strikeout.

Most of #YankeesTwitter roasted Sanchez for not getting to those balls in time. They need to clean off their glasses, because both pitches were given as wild pitches by the official scorer, not passed balls. They were Holmes' fault, not Sanchez'.

The Yankees got nothing, even with the ghost runner, in the top of the 10th. In the bottom of the 10th, the Orioles were willing to do what the Yankees weren't: Bunt the ghost runner over to 3rd, and that made the difference as Austin Hays singled him home, just as Hays hit the home run in the 8th.

Orioles 3, Yankees 2. WP: Cole Sulser (5-4). No save. LP: Peralta (5-4).

The Yankees come home to face the Cleveland Indians, and I'm not sure what the point is. They might still win one of the American League Wild Card slots, but they're not going anywhere. That's 12 years without a Pennant. And Brian Cashman will keep his job. Why?

Mets 10, Lollygaggers 3

Before last night's game, Aaron Judge told his teammates that they have to wake up and play the game right. Turns out, he's not much of a motivator, not much of a team captain, official or otherwise.

If the New York Yankees can't wake up and play the game the right way and win against the New York Mets, then what hope is there for a Playoff run -- or even a Playoff berth, which is no longer a given?

Jordan Montgomery started last night. Once again, he didn't get the run support he needed. This time, it didn't really matter, as he didn't pitch well, getting tagged for 7 runs ("only" 5 of them earned) on 7 hits and 3 walks in 3 1/3rd innings. Joely Rodriguez and Michael King also pitched poorly.

The new guys, Joey Gallo (in the 2nd) and Anthony Rizzo (in the 9th) hit home runs. But they did little good.

The play that sums up the season happened in the bottom of the 1st inning. With 2 out, and the Yankees leading 1-0, Javier Baez singled to left. Jonathan Villar tried to score. Gallo, who has a great arm, got the ball to Gary Sanchez on the fly. Villar was out by a mile. It was the easiest play a good catcher could ever hope to make.

Except Sanchez didn't get the tag down in time, and Villar slid in. (Or "slud" in, if you're Dizzy Dean.) Initially, home plate umpire Ted Barrett called him out. End of inning, Yankees still lead. But the Mets appealed (which they had the right to do), and it became clear that Villar's foot touched the plate before Sanchez got the tag down. Run counts. Game tied.

Sanchez screwed up another play at the plate in the 3rd. Put it all together: Sanchez can't catch, Gleyber Torres can't play shortstop, Rougned Odor can't play 3rd base, and too many players swing at bad pitches and hit into the defensive shift.

Mets 10, Yankees 3. WP: Tylor Megill (3-4). No save. LP: Montgomery (5-6). In their last sets of 13 games, the Yankees are 13-0... and 2-11.

I'm old enough to remember the World Championship season of 1977, though not the Pennant season of 1976. But I'm also old enough to remember the awful seasons of 1982 and 1990. I have seen less-talented and worse-performing Yankee teams than this one. But I have never seen one so dumb, so fundamentally unsound, and so lackadaisical.

They need Skip Riggins, the manager from Bull Durham, to give them the Lollygaggers Speech:

Skip (played by Trey Wilson): You guys! You lollygag the ball around the infield! You lollygag your way in and out of the dugout! You lollygag your way down to first! You know what that makes you? Larry?

Larry Hockett (the pitching coach, played by Robert Wuhl): Lollygaggers!

Skip: Lollygaggers! What's our record, Larry?

Larry: Uh, 8-16.

Skip: Eight and sixteen. How'd we ever win eight?

Larry: It's a miracle.

Skip: It's a miracle!

The series continues tonight, at Citi Field. It will be broadcast on Fox. There will be a pregame ceremony, as the two New York City teams honor the 20th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. First pitch is scheduled for 7:45 PM. The scheduled starting pitchers are Corey Kluber and Tajuan Walker.

The Fruits of the Yankees' Labor: The Season Is Lost

It's Labor Day, and the Yankees' season is over.

"What?" you say. "Didn't they just have a 13-game winning streak?" Yes. Since then, they are 2-6. And they just lost a series, at home, to the Baltimore Orioles, the team with the worst record in baseball.

They lost 2 out of 3. They deserved to lose them all.

Nelson Cortes started on Friday night, and pitched pretty well for 5 innings. He took a 2-0 lead into the 6th, thanks to a Giancarlo Stanton home run. But Jonathan Loaisiga blew it, and the game went into extra innings. As it turned out, Loaisiga was hurt, and was placed on the 10-Day Injured List.

Thanks to the Ghost Runner Rule, both teams scored in the 10th. The Orioles didn't score in the top of the 11th. Stanton led off the bottom of the 11th with a single that scored Aaron Judge. Yankees 4, Orioles 3. WP: Clay Holmes (6-2). No save. LP: Dillon Tate (0-6).

*

Jordan Montgomery started the Saturday afternoon game, and, again, the Yankees didn't support him. He was down 1-0 when he left the game in the 5th, and Holmes got out of the jam.

Judge reached on an error in the 1st. Kyle Higashioka drew a walk in the 2nd. Higashioka and Tyler Wade both drew walks in the 5th. Over the 1st 6 innings, those were the only Yankee baserunners. Chris Ellis for 5 innings, and Tanner Scott in the 6th, were pitching a no-hitter against the Yankees. It got worse in the 7th. Wandy Peralta had nothing, and it became 3-0 Orioles.

It looked like the Yanks might break the game open in the bottom of the 7th. It began when Anthony Rizzo reached on an error. Brett Gardner drew a walk. Scott was relieved by Marcos Diplan. Gary Sanchez nearly hit one out, but it was caught. Gleyber Torres hit a grounder in the hole, and Oriole shortstop Jorge Mateo couldn't make a play. Rizzo scored, and Torres was awarded a hit on the play, breaking up the gem. But Luke Voit grounded into a double play to end it.

DJ LeMahieu led off the bottom of the 8th with a single. And Joey Gallo, who had really been struggling, crushed one to tie the game. But in the 9th, Cliche Alert: Aroldis gotta Aroldis. Despite it being a tie game, Aaron Boone -- perhaps, on Brian Cashman's orders -- sent Aroldis Chapman in to pitch. Result: Strikeout but wild pitch so the batter reached, single, walk to load the bases, strikeout, sacrifice fly, strikeout. The Yankees went down quietly in the bottom of the 9th.

Orioles 4, Yankees 3. WP: Cole Sulser (4-3). No save. LP: Chapman (5-4).

*

Yesterday's game was an abomination, and Chapman had nothing to do with it. For the 2nd time since coming off the Injured List, Corey Kluber started. For the 2nd time, he was fine for 3 innings, and then couldn't get out of the 4th. Joely Rodriguez had to bail him out.

It was 5-2 Yankees going into the top of the 6th, thanks to a grand slam by Sanchez. But Albert Abreu had nothing, and the O's closed to within 5-4. Torres led off the bottom of the 6th with a hit, and Sanchez hit his 2nd home run of the game. It was 7-4 Yankees.

Then Boone -- or Cashman -- had Andrew Heaney pitch the 7th with a 3-run lead. Heaney couldn't hold it. Peter Clemenza didn't make this many meatballs in The Godfather. Here's the sequence: Hit by pitch, single, single, double, popup, single. Peralta came in, and allowed another single before getting the last 2 outs. 8-7 Orioles.

The Yankees got men on 1st and 2nd with 1 out in the 7th, and a man on 1st with 2 out in the 8th, but no one scored, and they went down quietly in the 9th. Orioles 8, Yankees 7. WP: Diplan (1-0). SV: Tyler Wells (1). LP: Heaney (8-9).

*

Here is the Yankees' remaining schedule: 4 at home to Toronto including today's Labor Day matinee, 3 away to the Mets, a home makeup with Minnesota, 3 in Baltimore, 3 at home to Cleveland, 3 at home to Texas, 3 in Boston, 3 in Toronto, and closing with 3 at home to Tampa Bay. That last series looked, not that long ago, like it might decide the Division title.

In order for that to happen now, the Yankees would have to get serious again: Take 3 out of 4 against Toronto, sweep the freakin' Mets, win the makeup with Minnesota, treat Camden Yards like their personal vacation and sweep the 3 there, take 2 out of 3 against Cleveland, treat Texas like the lousy team they are and sweep, take 2 out of 3 in Boston, and take 2 out of 3 in Toronto. That would be a stretch of 19-4... and the Rays would still have to do no better than 14-8 for the Yankees to even have a chance at taking the East with a sweep at the end.

With 26 games to go, the Yankees are 7 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division. The Rays' Magic Number to clinch is 19.

The Yankees currently lead the AL Wild Card race. But history shows that the Yankees can't win the Pennant unless they win the Division. They won Wild Card berths in 1995, 1997, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020. On none of those 8 occasions did they win the AL Championship Series. Only in 2010 and 2017 did they even get to it.

Why bring Kluber back so soon, instead of giving him more minor-league rehab starts? Why overuse Loaisiga, so that he misses time in September? Why continue to put Torres' struggling bat and awful glove at shortstop? Why trust Chapman as the closer? Why use Heaney at all?

This will be the 12th straight season, and the 18th in the last 19, that the Yankees don't win the Pennant. On this Labor Day, that is the fruit of the Yankees' labor -- including the labor of Brian Cashman.

The season is lost.

Yankees Survive 4-Game Losing Streak as Hurricane Ida Strikes

The Yankees had a 13-game winning streak, then they lost the next 2 games against the Oakland Athletics. Then they went down to Anaheim to play the (pardon me) Los Angeles Angels.

Corey Kluber made his return from injury. He should have been given 2 more rehab starts in the minor leagues. Over the 1st 3 innings, he allowed no runs, no hits, and just 1 walk. But he was not ready to go 4 innings: In the bottom of the 4th, he struck out the 1st batter, then allowed single, single, RBI single, flyout, walk, 3-run homer, single, flyout. He turned a 2-0 Yankee lead into a 5-2 Angel lead.

The Yankees tied it back up in the top of the 5th. But Aaron Boone brought Andrew Heaney in to pitch, and he gave the lead right back, on a home run by the Flavor of the Month, Shohei Ohtani. He gave up 2 more runs in the bottom of the 6th.

Anthony Rizzo led off the top of the 7th with a walk, and Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run to tie the game. But Wandy Peralta let the go-ahead run on in the bottom of the 8th, and Clay Holmes let him score.

The Yankees went down quietly in the top of the 9th. Angels 8, Yankees 7. WP: Junior Guerra (5-2). SV: Raisel Iglesias (28). LP: Peralta (4-3).

*

Jameson Taillon started the Tuesday game, and had nothing. He allowed 6 runs without getting out of the 5th inning. Joely Rodriguez and Lucas Luetge were great the rest of the way, but it was for naught. Rizzo and Gary Sanchez hit home runs, but it was in vain. Angels 6, Yankees 4. WP: Jimmy Herget (1-1). SV: Iglesias (29). LP: Taillon (8-5).

So, now, after winning 13 straight, by doing the sort of things they should have been doing all season long, they had lost 4 straight by doing the things that they were doing before the streak: Swinging at horrible pitches, hitting into double plays, giving up home runs.

What's worse, the Tampa Bay Rays kept winning. When the Yankees won 13 straight, they only gained 2 1/2 games on the Rays. When they lost 4 straight, they lost 4 games on the Rays.

The Yankees badly needed a turnaround game. They needed a great pitching performance, and they needed to back it up with runs.

*

They had the right man on the mound: Gerrit Cole pitched 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits, no walks, and struck out 15. He became only the 3rd Yankee ever to strike out 15 or more without walking a batter. And not a speck of "Spider Tack" in sight. Oddly, the other 2 were also recent: Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda.

He got all the support he would need in the top of the 3rd, and it was a timely 2-out rally. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you -- but if you're the team drawing them, they can save you. DJ LeMahieu drew one. Rizzo singled. Aaron Judge drew another walk to loaded the bases. And Luke Voit singled home DJLM and Rizzo.

The Yankees picked up another run in the 4th, on an RBI single by Brett Gardner; and another in the 8th, on a home run by Judge. Jonathan Loasiga pitched a perfect 8th, and Aroldis Chapman went against his pattern by pitching a breezy 9th.

Yankees 4, Angels 1. WP: Cole (14-6). SV: Chapman (25). LP: Packy Naughton (0-1). And the Rays finally lost, dropping the Yankee deficit to 7 games.

*

The Yankees came home today, to a New York Tri-State Area hit hard by Hurricane Ida. On the YES Network, footage was shown of a Yankee Stadium field that was flooded. Fortunately, the best drainage system in MLB will have the field ready to go tomorrow night, as the hapless Baltimore Orioles come in.

But there was also footage of streets in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island getting flooded. And of water cascading down the steps leading into Subway stations. Here in New Jersey, there were tornadoes, and my hometown's main highway had to be closed due to flooding, although my neighborhood was spared.

Philadelphia was hit even harder. The Vine Street Expressway, Interstate 676, connecting the Ben Franklin Bridge with West Philadelphia and running below street level just to the north of Center City, was flooded. The Delaware River has decent protections against flooding, but the Schuylkill River does not, and the water almost rose to the level of the bridges crossing it. Boathouse Row got flooded. The Philadelphia Zoo is just to the north of Boathouse Row, but was lucky, only having to have a delayed opening.

The Rutgers football team was supposed to open its season at home tonight, against Philadelphia's Temple University. The game was postponed to Saturday, not because of problems at our end, but at theirs: The Temple program needed the extra time to get their things together.

Hurricane Ida had already clobbered Louisiana and Mississippi harder than anything had since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The New Orleans Saints moved their regular-season opener from the Superdome to TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Unlike with Katrina, the Superdome itself was not damaged, but power is still out in New Orleans, and is not expected to be restored in time to host the game.

New Blood Means Yanks Sweep Phils, Head to Fenway

In between series against the hated Boston Red Sox -- the one this past weekend at Yankee Stadium II, and the 1 starting tonight at Fenway Park -- the Yankees squeezed in a 2-game home Interleague series with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Domingo Germán started the Tuesday night game, and only went 4 innings, allowing 2 runs. But, between them, Luis Cessa, Lucas Luetge and Chad Green pitched 3 scoreless innings.

In the bottom of the 3rd, it was the new call-ups that led the way for the Yankees. In the bottom of the 3rd, Greg Allen led off with a triple, and came home on a ground.by Estevan Florial. That tied the game at 1-1.

In the bottom of the 5th, trailing 2-1, Allen led off with a walk, stole 2nd, and went to 3rd on a groundout by Florial. Tyler Wade hit a line shot that former Yankee Didi Gregorius couldn't handle, scoring Allen. Then, with no one left on base, Brett Gardner hit a home run. It was 3-2 Yankees.

Gary Sánchez led off the bottom of the 6th with a home run, to make it 4-2. The Phillies added a run in the top of the 8th, but on either side of that, Giancarlo Stanton hit the 328th home run of his career, and Florial hit the 1st of his. 

It was once again time to trust Aroldis Chapman with a save situation, and after striking out the dangerous Bryce Harper, he gave up a long home run to Andrew McCutchen, his 259th. But he was unhittable after that, blowing away first Rhys Hoskins, who had homered earlier, then Didi to end it.

Yankees 6, Phillies 4. WP: Cessa (3-1). SV: Chapman (17). LP: Aaron Nolan (6-6).

*

And then, last night, Asher Wojciechowski made his Yankee debut. The 32-year-old righthander from South Carolina had shown little in the major leagues to this point, and he didn't show the Yankees much, going just 4 innings and allowing 2 runs, including a home run to Jean Segura to lead off the game. Albert Abreu pitched a perfect 5th and a scoreless 6th, and Justin Wilson a perfect 7th, perhaps his best performance since joining the Yankees.

With 2 outs in the bottom of the 4th, Gleyber Torres, who could really have used a home run, hit one. Gardner singled, and Allen doubled him home to tie the game. With 1 out in the bottom of the 7th, Florial singled and stole 2nd. Following a strikeout by DJ LeMahieu, Stanton singled him home -- for him, a rare clutch hit, and an even rarer clutch hit other than a home run. But if it was a home run you wanted, Rougned Odor then hit one. 5-2 Yankees.

Zack Britton came in to pitch the 8th, and Torres went from hero to goat (not "GOAT," children), letting a ground ball through his legs to start the inning with an error. That may have unnerved Britton, as he allowed walk, groundout, walk. Aaron Boone panicked, and brought in Nick Nelson.

Rick Nelson would have been a better choice, and he's been dead since 1985. His 1st hit was a cover of Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'," and Nick allowed RBI single, walk, and run-scoring, game-tying wild pitch, before settling down and getting out of the jam, the poor little fool.

Chapman teased us in the 9th again, walking the leadoff man, before getting a flyout, a caught stealing, and a strikeout. The Yankees set themselves up well in the bottom of the 9th, but the Phillies got out of it with some good fielding. Brooks Kriskie, not very effective in his Yankee call-ups thus far, pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 10th, stranding the ghost runner.

The Yankees started the bottom of the 10th with Sánchez on 2nd base -- not great speed, reduced further by the fact that he'd taken a beating with bad pitches and foul tips all game long. But Torres made up for his earlier error with a fantastic bunt, and rookie Ryan LaMarre hit a long drive that would have been at least a double, but since the winning run scored, he stopped at 1st.

And his teammates tore his jersey open. No T-shirt underneath, and, as Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay pointed out, to any Houston Astros fans who might have been paying attention, "No buzzer!"

Yankees 6, Phillies 5. WP: Kriske (1-0, his 1st major league win). No save. LP: Ranger Suarez (4-3 -- and far from the 1st time that I could have said, "Rangers suck!").

*

So, tonight, 7 games behind the Red Sox in the American League Eastern Division, and 3 1/2 games in back of the 2nd AL Wild Card slot, the Yankees go up to face the Auld Enemy. To Fenway Park. As Obi-Wan Kenobi would say, "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." Here are the projected pitching matchups:

* Tonight, 7:10 on YES: Jordan Montgomery vs. Tanner Houck.

* Tomorrow, 7:10 on WPIX-Channel 11: Gerrit Cole vs. Eduardo Rodriguez.

* Saturday, 4:05 on Fox Sports 1: Jameson Taillon vs. Nathan Eovaldi.

* Sunday, 1:10 on YES: Domingo German vs. Martin Perez.

Come on you Bombers!

Yogi and Belushi Were Right

It looked like the American League Eastern Division race, if not yet decided in favor of the Boston Red Sox -- the Tampa Bay Rays are still hot on their heels -- was certainly over for the Yankees. And as the official 2nd half of the regular season got underway, the impression only deepened, as the Sox won the 1st game of the series, and took the lead in the 2nd.

But then, as Yankee Hall-of-Famer Yogi Berra taught us, "It ain't over 'til it's over." And, as John Belushi taught us in the movie Animal House...

What? Over? Did you say, "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell, no! And it ain't over now! 'Cause when the goin' gets tough, the tough get goin'. Who's with me? Let's go! Come on!

The movie was set in 1962, a year in which the Yankees won the World Series. It was released on July 27, 1978, just as the Yankees began a massive Divisional comeback against the Red Sox that resulted in another World Series win.

*

So, the series was supposed to start on Thursday night, at the new Yankee Stadium. It didn't, because it rained. The opener was postponed, and will be played as the 1st half of a separate-admissions doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon, August 17.

Which may be lucky for the Yankees: Aaron Judge, Gio Urshela, Jonathan Loaisiga, Kyle Higashioka, Nestor Cortes and Wandy Peralta were all placed on the COVID edition of the Injured List. And all would be missed, even Peralta, who hasn't exactly been great, but we need everybody available for the bullpen. Those guys will be back for the series beginning at Yankee Stadium on August 17, if not for the series starting at Fenway Park this coming Thursday.

So the 2nd game of this series, the Friday night game, became the 1st game, and Jordan Montgomery pitched decently. He allowed 3 runs in 6 innings. That should have been enough for the Yankees' hitters to score enough runs win the game. Instead, this stat came up on the YES Network's broadcast:

He's gotten so little support, he should sue in family court. The Yankee bats just didn't show up, only getting 4 hits all game. Red Sox 4, Yankees 0. WP: Eduardo Rodriguez (7-5). SV: Tanner Houck (1). LP: Montgomery (3-5).

*

The Saturday night game wasn't looking too good, either. It started late due to rain. The Yankees had Rougned Odor batting 3rd, a slumping Gary Sanchez 4th, an even-worse-slumping Gleyber Torres 5th, Brett Gardner 6th, rookie Chris Gittens (who hadn't impressed in his earlier callup) 7th, the ordinary Tim LoCastro 8th, and rookie Greg Allen 9th.

Someone wrote on Twitter that LoCastro, Gardner and Allen might have been the worst outfield ever fielded by a Yankee team not trying to "tank."

Gerrit Cole allowed a run in the top of the 2nd. Nathan Eovaldi once again showed how stupid Brian Cashman was to get rid of him, as he pitched shutout ball through 4 innings.

At this moment, effectively, the Yankees were 9 games out of the Division lead, and 5 games out of the 2nd AL Wild Card slot. Getting into the Playoffs was still very possible, but winning the Division was increasingly unlikely, and 12 years without a Pennant a virtual certainty.

And then, with 2 out in the bottom of the 5th, the series, if not (yet) the entire season, turned around. Allen hit a drive to deep right-center, and ended up on 2nd base with a double. DJ LeMahieu singled him home, and the game was tied. In the 6th, the 2 slumpers around whom Cashman once seemed to want to build the next dynasty around, Sanchez and Torres, hit back-to-back home runs.

And then the rains came back, and the umpires called it. Since more than 5 innings were completed, it was an official game: Yankees 3, Red Sox 1. WP: Cole (10-4). No save. LP: Hirokazu Sawamura (4-1).

*

What was supposed to be a Sunday afternoon game got moved back to Sunday night, because ESPN loves 2 things: Airing prime-time Red Sox wins, and airing prime-time Yankee losses.

But Jameson Taillon ripped up the script, pitching shutout ball into the 6th inning. Torres hit another home run leading off the bottom of the 2nd. The Yankees picked up another run in the 3rd, and another in the 5th.

In the 7th, Odor hit one out, and then the Boston bullpen issued 5 walks, including 2 with the bases loaded. In the 8th, Ryan Lamarre hit his 1st major league home run.

Aroldis Chapman was brought in to protect a 9-1 lead. Aaron Boone later said that, if it was a save situation, he would have been brought in anyway. With hardly any pressure on him, Chapman got flyout, strikeout, groundout. Yankees 9, Red Sox 1. WP: Taillon (5-4). No save. LP: Martin Perez (7-6).

There was some bad news: The recently-acquired LoCastro, whose big thing is speed (he stole 17 bases for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019), tore an anterior cruciate ligament. He had just barely gotten here, having played just 9 games for the Yankees. Now, he's out for the season.

But the Yankees now have hope. They are 48-44, 7 games behind the Red Sox for the Division lead, 6 games in the all-important loss column. They are 3 1/2 out of the 2nd AL Wild Card slot. And while the All-Star Break and the rain played havoc with our perceptions of what had been happening, they have just taken 2 out of 3 from both the Houston Astros and the Red Sox -- both known cheaters.

Maybe these new acquisitions are the new blood, the new energy the Yankees needed. The season is far from over.

Wherever they are now, Yogi Berra is smiling, and John Belushi, a Chicago Cubs fan in life, may be enjoying the show as well.

A Hell of a Way to Go Into the All-Star Break

That's a hell of a way to go into the All Star Break. Yesterday, the Yankees and the Mets each had a 5-run lead in their respective games, and both blew it.

The Mets blew  5-0 1st inning lead at home, to the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the 3rd-worst record in baseball. But it was piece-by-piece, not all at once. The way the Yankees blew it was worse.

The Yankees went down to Minute Maid Park and shut out the cheating Houston Astros twice, and they and their fans were feeling pretty good about themselves. Jameson Taillon was the scheduled starter for the series finale, but he had pitched well in his last 2 outings, so there was some reason for confidence.

Taillon pitched well again, going 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 his and 2 walks. And he got plenty of support. Walks to Gary Sanchez and Luke Voit, and Gleyber Torres ground ball that resulted in an error, got them an unearned run in the 3rd inning. Tim Locastro hit a home run to lead off the 4th. Torres singled home a run in the 5th. Gio Urshela singled home a run in the 7th. And walks to DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge set up a Sanchez homer in the 8th. That made it 7-2 Yankees.

As Sanchez approached home plate, he mimed keeping his jersey close, mocking Jose Altuve for the home run he cheated to hit that gave the Astros the 2019 American League Pennant over the Yankees. He got seriously booed by the Astro fans, but they can't handle the truth.

Domingo German pitched a perfect 7th and a scoreless 8th. Being a starting pitcher, there was reason to believe he could finish the game. But he couldn't: He allowed an infield single to Yuri Gurriel, and a double to Kyle Tucker, who had homered off Taillon.

Aaron Boone took him out, which was the right thing to do. What was not the right thing to do was bring in Chad Green. He has been seriously inconsistent this season: Either very good, or very bad. This time, he was very bad.

This would have been the right time to bring in Aroldis Chapman, to see if he could break his Minute Maid Park jinx. But Boone didn't trust him. And Jonathan Loaisiga wasn't available, being on the COVID exposure list. And Zack Britton wasn't available, being on the Injured List. So he went with Green.

Green gave up a double to Chas McCormick. 7-4. He gave up a double to Abraham Toro. 7-5. He gave up a single to Jason Castro. He got Martin Maldonado to line out to Torres.

The batter was Altuve. Because of course it was. Boom. Astros 8, Yankees 7. WP: Ralph Garza (1-2). No save. LP: Green (3-5).

So all the good feeling over the 1st 2 games of the series was wiped out in the space of 7 batters.

*

The Yankees go into the All-Star Break 46-43, a winning percentage of .517, a pace for 84-78. That will not be good enough to make the Playoffs. They are 8 games, 7 in the loss column, behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL Eastern Division. They are 4 1/2 games, 3 in the loss column, out of the AL's 2nd Wild Card berth.

This is unacceptable. And the trading deadline is 18 days away.

The Mets go into the Break in 1st place in the National League Eastern Division, by 3 1/2 games over the Philadelphia Phillies. But their 47-40 record is only 1 1/2 better than that of the Yankees, and would be 7 games behind the Red Sox. And you can't say, "Gimme a break, look at the injuries the Mets have to their rotation!" The injuries the Yankees have had to theirs are worse.

The All-Star Game will be held tomorrow night, at Coors Field in Denver, home of the Colorado Rockies. It previously hosted the game in 1998. From the Yankees, Aaron Judge will start in right field, and Gerrit Cole and Aroldis Chapman will be on the pitching staff. The Mets will be represented by pitchers Jacob deGrom and Tajuan Walker.

We knew it was going to be a long season. And even though, in terms of where the All-Star Break fell in the 162-game process, the 1st half was longer than the 2nd half will be, the 2nd half may end up feeling longer.

Yankees Dent Angels' Halos

The Yankees really needed a win last night. And with Jameson Taillon as the starting pitcher, I had as much confidence in that as I have in New Jersey Transit to properly manage evening rush hour out of Penn Station.

Indeed, Taillon did not pitch well. He went 5 1/3rd innings, alowing 5 runs on 9 hits, albeit with only 1 walk.

It was the kind of start that would lead you to think, "At least Brian Cashman has assembled a Yankee lineup strong enough to outscore that." Except, usually, it isn't strong enough to do that. 

But a funny thing happened on the way to defeat: The lineup was strong enough this time. Smart enough, too.

Gary Sanchez hit a home run in the 1st inning. Then came the 2nd inning. With 1 out, Gio Urshela drew a walk. Miguel Andujar singled, sending Urshela to 3rd. Brett Gardner hit a drive that hooked foul into the left field seats, where it was caught by Scott Schebler. He should have let it drop into the stands, because Urshela tagged up and scored. Yes, smart baserunning by the Yankees. Ah yes, I remember it well. Then DJ LeMahieu singled home Andujar. Then Aaron Judge hit a home run. 5-2 Yankees.

Shohei Ohtani, the Angels' pitching and slugging star, hit a home run to make it 5-3 in the 3rd. But Andujar led off the 4th with a home run. This was afollowed by a walk by Brett Gardner. After flyouts by LeMahieu and Judge, Sanchez doubled Gardner home. Giancarlo Stanton drew a walk. (Yes, he did.) Luke Voit doubled Sanchez home. Gleyber Torres singled Stanton and Voit home. 10-3 Yankees.

Ohtani hit another homer in the 5th, but an Andujar double capped the scoring in the 6th. Between them, Nestor Cortes and Albert Abreu pitched 2 2/3rds scoreless innings, allowing just 1 hit and 1 walk. Yankees 11, Angels 5. WP: Taillon (3-4). No Save. LP: Andrew Heaney (4-6).

The Yankees had dented the Angels' halos. It was the 1st time the Yankees have scored double digits in a game since April 30. That's too long.

The series continues tonight. Ohtani will be pitching for the Angels this time, while Domingo German toes the rubber for the Pinstripes. Let's show the baseball world what the Yankees can do to Ohtani, this season's golden story so far.

Yankees Survive Wild Ride With Royals, Red Sox Next

If the Yankees are going to drive us all crazy, the least they could do was see to it that we enjoyed the trip.

That would not be the case on Tuesday night, as they opened a 3-game home series against the Kansas City Royals. Gerrit Cole started, and went 7 innings, allowing just 2 runs. Sounds like a building block for success.

But that also requires hitting. Once again, the Yankees got runs from solo home runs, rather than homers with men on base, or "small ball." Luke Voit did it in the 1st inning, and Kyle Higashioka did it in the 2nd.

Later came an exception. In the bottom of the 7th, Voit hit a triple, and scores on a wild pitch. So it was just 3-2 Yankees when Jonathan Loaisiga was brought in to pitch the top of the 8th. 

Here's the result of that: Single, double, strikeout, single, fielder's choice resulting in everybody reaching base safely, strikeout, single, single, before Aaron Boone mercifully pulled him for Lucas Luetge, who got a groundout to end it. Four runs.

The Yankees did put up a fight the rest of the way. With 1 out in the bottom of the 8th, Brett Gardner drew a walk, and DJ LeMahieu hit a home run. And Aaron Judge doubled. But they couldn't get him home.

Gio Urshela singled to lead off the 9th. But Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier both struck out. Gary Sanchez -- catching now that Cole and his personal catcher, Higashioka, were out of the game -- was walked intentionally to set up a force play. It wasn't necessary, as Gardner popped up.

Royals 6, Yankees 5. WP: Jake Brentz (2-0). SV: Greg Holland (5). LP: Loaisiga (7-3).

An awful game. Afterward, Loaisiga faced the media like an adult, and took responsibility for his failure. He said he was ready to do better.

*

The Wednesday night game was started by Michael King, which filled few people with any confidence, unless they were Royals fans. He didn't get out of the 5th inning. In the bottom of the 4th, walks to Miguel Andujar and Giancarlo Stanton were followed by a double by Frazier, and that tied the game at 2-2.

Chad Green bailed King out of a bases-loaded jam in the 5th inning, and pitched a scoreless 6th and 7th. But Zach Britton allowed a home run to lead off the top of the 8th, and even though it was only 3-2, the game felt lost.

Not so fast: In the bottom of the 8th, Frazier drew a walk, and Rougned Odor hit a screaming line drive into the bullpen to make it 4-3 Yankees.

Aroldis Chapman came on to pitch the top of the 9th, and you never know with him. He's had his best season as a Yankee, but that just makes the times when he doesn't get the job done look even more egregious. Loaded the bases, then walk home a run to tie it, then allowed a hit to give the Royals the lead.

After he  got the final out, a YES Network camera caught him throwing his glove in the dugout. Like Paul O'Neill, he took his frustrations out on himself and his equipment, but not anybody else.

Now, it was Chapman's turn to get bailed out. With one out in the bottom of the 9th, Gary Sanchez, suddenly the hottest hitter in baseball, hit a game-tying home run, and the Stadium crowd erupted.

This was followed by Stanton getting a hit, being replaced as a pinch-runner by Tyler Wade, Wade advancing to 2nd on a wild pitch, and Voit nearly hitting one out, missing a home run by about 2 feet, and Wade scoring the winning run.

Yankees 6, Royals 5. WP: Chapman (5-2, though deserving of the win only according to the letter of the rule). No save. LP: Holland (2-3).

This game was a rough ride for Yankee Fans, but at least they arrived at the proper destination.

*

In spite of it being started by the inconsistent Jameson Taillon, the Thursday afternoon game would have considerably less drama. He pitched very well, getting into the 7th inning, allowing only 1 run.

And the Yankee bats backed him up. They got 2 runs in the 1st inning, on a home run by Judge, and an RBI single by Odor. An RBI single by Judge in the 2nd and a home run by Voit in the 3rd pretty much put the game out of reach early.

Another home run by Sanchez, this one for 3 runs in the 6th, dusted K.C. off. Stanton added an RBI single in the 8th. Yankees 8, Royals 1. WP: Taillon (2-4). No save. LP: Brad Keller (6-8).

*

The Yankees are now 40-34, 4 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division, 3 games in the All-Important Loss Column. The Boston Red Sox are half a game behind the Rays, even in the loss column. This comes after the race swept the Sox 3 straight in St. Petersburg.

And now, the Yankees head to Fenway Park for a weekend showdown with the Red Sox. Although the Rays will still have a lot to say about how the Division race turns out, the last generation of baseball suggest that it could come down to Yankees vs. Red Sox, so this series could be key to deciding it. Here are the projected pitching matchups:

* Tonight at 7: Domingo German vs. Martin Perez.

* Tomorrow night at 7: Jordan Montgomery vs. former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi.

* Sunday afternoon at 1: Cole vs. Eduardo Rodriguez.

It Was Good to Be Back, To See Yankees Win

No, I don't know why the image was reversed.

Yesterday, for the 1st time in 529 days -- since January 6, 2020, a period that included the COVID-19 protocols, recovery from my 1st hip replacement surgery, and the most contentious Presidential election (and Presidential election aftermath) in American history -- I set foot in New York City.

And for the 1st time in 729 days -- since June 23, 2019, an Old-Timers Day followed by a nasty loss to the cheating Houston Astros -- I set foot in Yankee Stadium.

Dear God, was it good to be back -- and that was before I saw the game, which turned out to be a doozy. A doozy that a lot of people chose to miss: Despite all restrictions being lifted, only 23,985 fans came out to see it, a few hundred less than the previous night's "Re-Opening Day."

From my seat in Section 213, behind 1st base, I saw Domingo German start for the Yankees against the Oakland Athletics. For the 1st 4 innings, he didn't pitch badly, although he allowed home runs to Tony Kemp in the 1st inning and Matt Chapman in the 4th. But he allowed 2 more runs in the 5th, and it looked like too much for the recently quiet Yankee bats to overcome.

Nestor Cortes finished the 5th, and pitched the 6th and the 7th, without allowing any runs. Chad Green did so in the 8th. Strong efforts.

But the Yankees needed runs. Over the 1st 3 innings, they got none. But Aaron Judge led off the bottom of the 4th with a single, and advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch. Gary Sanchez flew out, but Giancarlo Stanton drew a walk. Gleyber Torres popped up, and it looked like a wasted opportunity. But Gio Urshela singled Judge home, and the Yankees were on the board. Rougned Odor struck out, so the 1 run was all they got.

They wasted a leadoff double by Clint Frazier in the 5th. But Gary Sanchez led off the 6th with a home run, to cut the deficit to 4-2. Again in the 7th, Frazier led off with a double. But a Brett Gardner popup and a DJ LeMahieu groundout made it look like this would be wasted, too. Not this time: Judge singled Frazier home. Sanchez drew a walk, and Stanton singled home Judge to tie it.

Urshela led off the 8th with a no-doubt-about-it home run to center field. Chad Gittens pinch-hit for Odor, and drew a walk. Tyler Wade pinch-ran for him, and took over at 2nd base for Odor in the 9th. Frazier walked. Gardner got a bunt down to advance the runners. And LeMahieu singled them home. 7-4.

Aroldis Chapman did what he usually does: Made the game a little too interesting before getting serious. He struck out Elvis Andrus. Then he threw what should have been a called strike 3 to Mark Canha, but home plate umpire Sean Barber called it ball 4.

Barber's strike zone had been all over the place, all game long. This was after the Yankees had swept the Toronto Blue Jays despite atrocious ball-and-strike calls in all 3 games. Finally, Aaron Boone decided enough was enough. He came out of the dugout, and told Barber what was on his mind. What was on Barber's mind was... not much. Except, "You're outta here!" He threw Boone out of the game.

Aside from the game's final pitch, seeing Boone stand up for his players got the biggest cheer of the game, even more so than the Sanchez and Urshela home runs. 

Jed Lowrie flew out to right. But Matt Olson singled, and Ramon Laureano singled home a run. Now, it was a 2-run game, with the tying and go-ahead runs on base.

The batter was Matt Chapman. No relation to Aroldis, a black Cuban to Matt's white native of the Los Angeles suburbs. Aroldis fanned him on a 103 mile-per-hour pitch, the fastest in the major leagues in 2 years.

Yankees 7, Athletics 5. WP: Green (2-4). SV: Chapman (15). LP: Jesus Luzardo (2-4).

The series concludes this afternoon. Jordan Montgomery starts against Sean Manaea.

The Revenge of Gary Sanchez

Steve Carlton was the best lefthanded pitcher I've ever seen. I'm not old enough to have watched Sandy Koufax, but I have watched Ron Guidry, Vida Blue, Fernando Valenzuela, Randy Johnson and Tom Glavine, and I take Carlton over any of them.

One of the things he was known for was that he prefferred having Tim McCarver as his catcher, even though the Philadelphia Phillies had a n All-Star Gold Glover in Bob Boone. When you're as good a pitcher as Steve Carlton, you can get away with demanding a personal catcher.

Gerrit Cole might be the best pitcher in baseball right now (I don't want to hear about anybody who pitches to pitchers in the Natinal League), but he is not, yet, good enough to be entitled to ask for a personal catcher.

Nevertheless, he insists upon pitching to Kyle Higashioka instead of Gary Sanchez. And, for a while now, that's been justified -- not by Cole's pitching, but by Sanchez's struggles, both at the plate and behind it.

But after a year and a half of very nasty criticism from Yankee Fans, it seems as though the revenge of Gary Sanchez is at hand.

At first, it looked like the Yankees might have a lot of fun with the Toronto Blue Jays at Sahlen Field in Buffalo. The game began when DJ LeMahieu reached on an error. Aaron Judge singled. Gleyber Torres drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Giancarlo Stanton hit a sacrifice fly to score LeMahieu.

But Gio Urshela and Miguel Andujar both flew out, ending the threat. And then, the 1st batter Cole faces was Marcus Semien, and the result was a game-tying home run. In the 5th inning, Cavan Biggio, Craig's son, hit a home run off Cole, maing it 2-1 Toronto. Given how the Yankees have hit this year, the game already felt lost.

Anduar led off the top of the 7th with a single. Rougned Odor struck out. And Aaron Boone made a strategic decision: He sent Sanchez up to pinch-hit for Higashioka, even though Cole was officially still his pitcher. Sanchez hit one 446 feet, giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

Sahlen Field is 98 miles from the Blue Jays' Rogers Centre, and, due to the curve of Lake Ontario, maybe only a little over half that as the crow flies, making Buffalo an easy target for the Jays' TV and radio broadcasts. It's 377 miles from Yankee Stadium. The Cleveland (193) and Pittsburgh (218) ballparks are also closer than the Yankees.

But Buffalo is still in the United States, not Canada. And it's still in the State of New York. There seemed to be a lot more people cheering the Sanchez homer than cheered the Semien and Biggio homers.

Cole pitched to 6 batters with Sanchez as his catcher, and got them all out. He later admitted that Sanchez was the player of the game.

Cole was clearly paying attention during the bottom of the 9th. Aroldis Chapman came in, and, as he so often does, made things more difficult than they had to be. He allowed a leadoff single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a double to Teoscar Hernandez that would have scored Guerrero if he had been built like his father (instead of being built like Cecil Fielder and his son Prince), and threw a wild pitch to make it tying run on 3rd and winning run on 2nd with nobody out, and Randal Grichuk, who has hit the Yankees hard these last 2 seasons, at the plate. There might have been more wild pitches had Sanchez not done such a good job of blocking the plate.

With Sanchez's guidance, Chapman struck Grichuk out. Santiago Espinal hit the ball right back to Chapman, who threw home -- forgetting that 1st base was open, so there was no force place at home. Sanchez realized the mistake immediately, and threw to 3rd base, and Urshela caught Guerrero trying to sneak back in. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. -- unlike Vlad, Cavan and Bo Bichette, his father didn't play in MLB -- hit a line shot to center, and Brett Gardner caught it for the last out.

Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2. WP: Cole (8-3). SV: Chapman (14). LP: Ross Stripling (2-4). Two games, two nervy comeback wins for the Yankees.

The series concludes tonight. Michael King starts for the Yankees, so don't get your hopes up. T.J. Zeuch starts for the Jays.

Have the Yankees Finally Turned the Corner?

Yankee general manager Brian Cashman, normally too much of a coward to do so, met the media yesterday afternoon, at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, temporary home of those pesky Toronto Blue Jays, with the Yankees sitting at 33-32, in another injury crisis, and seemingly out of the Playoff hunt already.

He gave an update on Luis Severino: A groin injury will push his return back a month. Now, we'll be lucky to see him in Pinstripes before August.

Then, asked if he is sure Aaron Boone is the right manager for the Yankees, he said, "We made this bed and we are going to sleep in it. We are in this together."

Wow, some vote of confidence, as a series with the Jays began.

Jordan Montgomery started for the Yankees, and he did not pitch well, allowing 5 runs without getting out of the 6th inning. Gary Sanchez hit a home run in the 2nd to make it 1-1, and Chris Gittens hit his 1st major league home run in the 4th, to make it 2-2.

Gittens dedicated the homer to his newborn son. I can see the conversation now:

Son: "Dad, tell me about your first major league home run."

Father: "Well, son, it happened in Buffalo, New York."

Son: "But Buffalo doesn't have a major league team."

Father: "Well son, it was like this... "

Anyway, the Yankees went into the top of the 6th trailing 5-2. But a single by Gio Urshela, a double by the heating-up Sanchez and a groundout by Miguel Andujar made it 5-3. The Yankee announcers were talking about getting past Jays starter Hyn Jin Ryu and to their struggling bullpen. Sure enough, with Anthony Castro coming in to pitch the top of the 7th, Brett Gardner led it off with a home run.

DJ LeMahieu doubled, and advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch. Aaron Judge struck out, but with Gleyber Torres up, Castro threw another wild pitch, and the game was tied. The Yankees have done had too many comebacks this season, so this was a welcome occurrence.

Andujar led off the top of the 8th with a single off Tim Mayza. Gittens struck out. Boone sent Tyler Wade in to pinch-run for Andujar, and Clint Frazier up to pinch-hit for Gardner. A pinch-hitter for the guy who hit a home run in his last at-bat? Boone was replacing a lefty with a righty to face a lefty.

Jays manager Charlie Montoyo responded to these chess moves by bringing in Jordan Romano, a righthander and one of the few Toronto-area natives to play for the Blue Jays (from Markham, Ontario). Wade stole 2nd, and Frazier doubled him home to give the Yankees the lead.

Zack Britton, who came off the Injured List in time to pitch in the awful 7-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, pitched a hitless 8th. And Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect 9th.

Yankees 6, Blue Jays 5. WP: Jonathan Loaisiga (6-2, he only pitched the 7th and was a little shaky, but he was the Yankee pitcher when the lead was taken, so he's the winning pitcher.) SV: Chapman (13). LP: Mayza (1-1).

Cliche Alert: The Yankees have "turned the corner." Well, maybe, this time, they really have. I hope so.

The series continues tonight. Gerrit Cole starts against Ross Stripling. Now that I think about it, each of these names sounds like a bad law firm.