Holder Almost Blows Big Yankee Win

In their last 9 games, the Yankees have won 8, and 8 have had the threat of rain.

Guess which one they lost. And guess which one had beautiful sunshine. Right, it was Sunday, when I was there, and got a loss and a nasty sunburn.

Last night, in the opener of a 3-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium, CC Sabathia started for the Pinstripes, and did his job: 6 innings, 2 runs, 6 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts. Those 2 runs came in the 1st inning, which was worrying, given the 9-0 hole the Yankees fell into against Houston in the 1st 4 innings on Sunday. But he settled down, and gave the Yankee bats the chance to win the game.

It was still 2-0 Toronto in the bottom of the 5th, when, with 1 out, DJ LeMahieu got the team going again, grounding to 2nd base, and beating out an infield single. Luke Voit singled to left. And Aaron Hicks hit a home run into the right-field seats. As I've said before, "HIX STIX SLAYZ JAYZ." 3-2 Yankees.

The Bronx Bombers unloaded in the 6th. Didi Gregorius led off with a single, Gleyber Torres doubled, Gio Urshela beat out an infield single to get Didi home, Brett Gardner grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Torres, LeMahieu singled, Voit doubled home Gardy and DJLM, Hicks drew a walk, Gary Sanchez struck out, and then Giancarlo Stanton did what we got him to do, hitting one 445 feet to center field, over Monument Park. 10-2 Yankees.

Surely, the Yankee bullpen wasn't going to blow that lead. Tommy Kahnle pitched a perfect 7th. But then Aaron Boone brought Jonathan Holder in to pitch the top of the 8th. As it was on Sunday, when he was fine, it was the kind of situation where, if you gotta bring a struggling pitcher in to boost his confidence, this was the time to do it, except, this time, the big lead was in the Yankees' favor.

And it almost became the biggest debacle of Boone's managing career so far. Here is what Holder allowed: Home run, single, single, single, grand slam home run. Five batters, 11 total bases, 5 runs, no outs. An infinite ERA.

Boone brought in Chad Green, who was supposed to start tonight's game. Green struck the next 2 batters out, but then allowed 2 infield singles. So Boone brought Adam Ottavino in, and he got the last out, the shakiest striking out of the side I've ever seen. Nevertheless, it ended the threat. 10-7.

Aroldis Chapman came on for the 9th, in what never should have been a save situation, but now was one. And he almost blew it, although it wasn't all his fault. He got the 1st out, then allowed a double, which Stanton mishandled, putting the runner on 3rd. The next batter hit a sacrifice fly, and now it was only a 2-run lead. Cliche Alert: As John Sterling taught us, "That's just a bloop and a blast." Or a walk and a wallop. But Chapman got the last out.

Scoring 10 runs at home and blowing an 8-run lead? That would have been the Yankees' worst loss of the year. Instead, it ended Yankees 10, Blue Jays 8. WP: Sabathia (5-4). SV: Chapman (22). LP: Aaron Sanchez (3-10).

The Tampa Bay Rays were idle, so the Yankees moved to 5 games ahead of them, the same number in the all-important loss column. The Boston Red Sox won, so the Yankees stay 8 ahead of them, 9 in the loss column. The Yankees' Magic Number to win the American League Eastern Division is 80.

Apparently, the Yankees have had it with Holder: They've sent him down to Scranton, and called up Stephen Tarpley. He could be bad, but, at least functionally, he can't be any worse than Holder's been.

The series continues tonight. As it turns out, Boone still intends to start Green, and then bullpen it the rest of the way. The Jays are planning to start Clayton Richard: 0-3, 7.46 ERA. In the immortal words of Chicago Cubs fan Bill Murray, "So I got that going for me, which is nice."

Stanton On Principle

I was hoping the Yankees would take at least 2 out of 3 from the Tampa Bay Rays, and maybe 3 out of 4 from the Houston Astros. Now, they're 1 win away from sweeping all 7.

Masahiro Tanaka started for the Yankees last night, and did his job: 6 innings, 2 runs on 8 hits, just 1 walk. But Astro starter Wade Miley had a no-hitter going until the 5th inning. With 1 out, Aaron Hicks drew a walk. Edwin Encarnacion flew out, but Gio Urshela hit a home run, ending the no-hitter and the shutout. 2-0 Yankees.

Unfortunately, as so often happens, Tanaka has one bad inning where he gives up a key home run. That was in the 6th, and it tied the game. But in the bottom of the 6th, Miley issued a leadoff walk to DJ LeMahieu, and another walk to Aaron Judge. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Luke Voit singled to load the bases with nobody out.

Astro manager A.J. Hinch made a pitching change, bringing Will Harris in. Giancarlo Stanton, whose batting average was then .217, came up with a clutch at-bat for the 1st time all season (remember, he's been injured for most of it), by singling home Judge and LeMahieu. Harris got the next 3 batters out, but it was 4-2 Yankees.

If this were Match Game, this would be the point at which we'd be saying that Yankee manager Aaron Boone is so dumb! (How dumb is he?) He's so dumb, he brought Jonathan Holder in, with a 2-run lead and 9 outs to go. Holder has been mostly unreliable. This time, he got the 1st 2 outs, then allowed single, single, home run. 5-4 Astros.

A pitcher who blows a lead should be automatically ineligible for the win, every bit as much as a starting pitcher who doesn't go 5 full innings is. But with 1 out in the bottom of the 7th, Austin Romine hit a home run to tie the game.

LeMahieu was up next, and beat out an infield single. He advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch. With 1st base open, Judge was walked intentionally to set up the double play. Voit grounded to 1st, moving them over. And Stanton singled them home.

Adam Ottavino pitched a hitless 8th, and, giving Aroldis Chapman a night off, Boone sent Zack Britton out to pitch the 9th. He walked the bases loaded, putting the tying and potential winning runs on, but stranded them all to end it.  Yankees 7, Astros 5. WP: Holder (5-2). SV: Britton (3). LP: Ryan Pressly (1-1).

After the game, Boone said of Stanton, "I hope everyone takes note... Sometimes we forget what a good player he is. Again, I hope they saw those at-bats."

Good player? He's a one-dimensional player. Winning games with singles is rare for him. Nevertheless, it's good to see Boone standing up from his player. It's a good principle to have. He's Stanton on principle.

Voit also addressed the booing that Stanton gets: "I mean, you gotta give the guy a break. He's played, what, 5 games? You gotta get the feel back... He won MVP for a reason. It's nice having an MVP hit behind you."

With the win, and the losses by the Rays and the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees now lead the American League Eastern Division by 5 1/2 games over the Rays, 6 in the loss column; and by 8 games over The Scum, 9 in the loss column.

Is it too early to talk about a Magic Number to clinch the AL East? Yes. At least, rationally. But being rational all the time is no fun, so... It's 81: Any combination, the rest of the way, of Yankee wins ans Rays losses adding up to 81 wins the Division for the Yankees. In other words, all 30 teams start the season tied for 1st, with a Magic Number of 162, and 81 is half of that, and, now, the Yankees are halfway there.

The series concludes this afternoon. J.A. Happ starts against the probable Hall-of-Famer, Justin Verlander. This will be the last game between the Yankees and the Astros during the regular season. A Playoff matchup between the teams is still very possible.

It is also Old-Timers' Day. As usual, I am counting on the current Yankees to not embarrass the man who helped to build the legend. The ceremonies start at 11:30 AM, with the current players' game scheduled to start at 2:05 PM.

CC's Last Game In Cleveland Is a Bust

CC Sabathia began his career with the Cleveland Indians in 2001. He's been with the Yankees since 2009. Barring a Playoff matchup, yesterday's game at Progressive Field was probably his last appearance against the Indians.

It didn't go so well. He was staked to a 2-0 lead before the Indians even came to bat, thanks to Didi Gregorius hitting his 1st home run of the season. He took that lead into the bottom of the 4th, but fell apart. He only went 5 innings, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits, albeit with 5 strikeouts and only 1 walk.

Given the state of the Yankee bullpen, especially with Masahiro Tanaka missing his start today because his wife had a baby, the right thing to do would have been to ask CC, who'd thrown 69 pitches, to pitch the 6th inning despite his balky knee.

But Aaron Boone -- possibly on the orders of Brian Cashman, who doesn't know a damn thing about pitching -- took CC out. Bad Move 1. Boone brought in Jonathan Holder. Bad Move 2. Or was Bad Move 1 having Holder on the major league roster in the first place?

Is Holder the new Bob Shirley, the new Greg Cadaret, the new Phil Coke, the new Ted Lilly, the new Scott Proctor, the new Boone Logan, the new Tyler Clippard? I mean, what's the point, seeing as how Luis Cessa is already on the roster?

Holder allowed 3 runs in the 6th, putting the game out of reach. And then Boone (or Cashman) decided we hadn't suffered enough, and brought Cessa in, and he allowed a run in the 8th.

Indians 8, Yankees 4. WP: Adam Plutko (2-1). No save. LP: Sabathia (3-3). The Yankees are now 1-4 on this roadtrip, which began in Toronto.

The series concludes this afternoon. Once again, the Yankees will start Chad Green, hope that he can give them 2 innings that aren't an absolute disaster, and go eeny-meeny-miney-mo with the bullpen -- which, of course, since the 2013 retirement of Mariano Rivera, has no Mo. Shane Bieber is the intended starter for Cleveland.

Bullpen Implosion Didn't Need to Happen, Did Happen, Yankees Lose to Blue Jays

Let's not kid ourselves: Last night's game at the Rogers Centre in Toronto was the Yankees' worst game of the season thus far.

James Paxton started, and didn't have much. He allowed 2 runs in the 1st inning, another in the 2nd (on an RBI single by Cavan Biggio, so Craig's son joins Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as 2nd-generation players beating the Yankees), and another (error-aided) in the 5th, before he was taken out.

Certainly, the Yankees tried. Gary Sanchez hit a home run in the 4th inning. Brett Gardner tried to activate a Cliche Alert by drawing a leadoff walk in the 5th. Gio Urshela singled. Cameron Maybin singled Gardner home. DJ LeMahieu singled Urshela home. Luke Voit walked to load the bases. Sanchez singled home Maybin. That gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

But that was as far as it got: Kendrys Morales and Gleyber Torres struck out to end the rally. And the Jays tied it in their half of the inning when Vlad Jr. singled and Urshela committed an error.

LeMahieu homered in the 6th, Clint Frazier and Maybin having singled before him, and it was 7-4 Yankees. Things were looking good.

But, perhaps on orders from Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone played musical chairs with the bullpen again. Adam Ottavino finished the 5th and pitched into the 6th. Tommy Kahnle finished the 6th. But instead of letting Kahnle pitch into the 7th, Boone brought Jonathan Holder in, and he was victimized by an error, then hit a batter and allowed a double to make it 7-6 New York. Boone brought Zack Britton on, and he finished the inning.

He kept Britton in for the 8th, but it was a disaster. After he got Freddy Galvis to ground out, he allowed a single to Danny Jansen, a walk to Lourdes Gurriel, and a home run to Vlad Jr. 9-7 Toronto.

At that point, Boone should have taken Britton out, and brought in a pitcher who was not Luis Cessa. Instead, he left Britton in to face Justin Smoak, who grounded to 2nd. And then he took Britton out. Dumb move. And replaced him with Cessa. Dumber move. Cessa allowed back-to-back home runs to Randal Grichuk and Brandon Drury.

It was a bullpen implosion, and it did not have to happen.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Yankees had an 88 percent chance of winning the game in the 7th inning, and a 59 percent chance before Vlad Jr.'s homer. Instead, because Boone followed orders, it ended Blue Jays 11, Yankees 7. WP: Sam Gaviglio (4-1). No save. LP: Britton (2-1).

The series concludes tonight. J.A. Happ starts against Edwin Jackson.

Sanchez and Bullpen Beat Red Sox

It would be nice if the Yankees were beating the Red Sox in spectacular fashion. But as long as the Yankees are beating the Sox, does it really matter how?

After a 9-1 start to the season, Domingo German has now had 2 bad starts in a row. Last night at Yankee Stadium, he went just 3 2/3rds innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks, although he did strike 8 batters out.

This time, instead of being a very brief starter, as he has been used recently, Chad Green had to be the emergency reliever. He finished the 4th inning, and pitched the 5th. It took both Tommy Kahnle and Adam Ottavino to finish off the 6th. Jonathan Holder pitched the 7th, Zack Britton the 8th, and Aroldis Chapman the 9th. And yet, while that makeshift bullpen allowed 5 hits and 2 walks, there were no further runs.

Just as they did the night before, Yankees fell behind 1-0 in the 2nd inning before taking the lead. This time, it was in the bottom of the 2nd, and singles by Gio Urshela and DJ LeMahieu brought home 3 runs between them.

With Luke Voit aboard in the 5th, Gary Sanchez hit another home run. This one, his 18th of the season, a 403-foot blast to the opposite field, proved that he's back against more than just the Baltimore Orioles.

The bullpen kept things quiet from that point onward. Yankees 5, Red Sox 3. WP: Green (1-2, because the starter did not go 5 innings). SV: Chapman (17). LP: Rick Porcello (4-5). The Yankees have now taken 2 straight from the Red Sox, despite, on both occasions, falling behind and not having their starting pitcher go 5 innings.

The Yankees remain in 1st place, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, and 9 1/2 ahead of The Scum. In the all-important loss column, it's 2 and 10 games, respectively.

Is this reason for complacency? Not by a long shot. This was only the 57th game of the season, and we know what the Red Sox -- both management and players -- are capable of. We cannot presume that they are out of the race for good, as long as there's still a mathematical chance.

The series concludes tonight, in the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball showcase, with CC Sabathia going for his 250th career win against David Price.

Three games against the Sox, 3 night games. TV wants its prime time ratings, never mind what the fans want -- and, weather-wise, it looks like it's going to be a nice day. Whether it will be a nice night remains to be seen, and since when is any day with a Yankees-Red Sox game "nice"?

The result, as we have seen, can be very nice. But the game? Rarely.

*

Days until the next Women's World Cup kicks off: 5, this Friday, in France. The U.S. team is 3-time and defending Champions.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 6, this Saturday night at 7:30, against the Philadelphia Union, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. They beat Real Salt Lake 4-0 last night.

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


Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 16, on Tuesday, June 18, against the South American nation of Guyana, at the brand-new Allianz Field in St. Paul, home of Minnesota United, in the opener of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series (after the current one) begins: 27, on Saturday, June 29. Under 4 weeks. This is the 2-game series at the London Stadium, home base of the 2012 Olympics, and home field of soccer team West Ham United.

Days until Arsenal play again: 43. A little over 6 weeks. Following their debacle on Wednesday night, losing the UEFA Europa League Final 4-1 to fellow Londoners Chelsea, the Gunners' next game will be in America.

Days until Arsenal play in America: 43. On July 15, they will visit the Denver suburbs to play the Colorado Rapids. On July 17, they will visit the Los Angeles suburbs to play Bayern Munich. On July 20, they will visit Charlotte to play AS Roma. And on July 23, they will visit the Redskins' stadium in the Washington suburbs to play Real Madrid.

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, as both Premier League matches, and a League Cup match, have been played this season. The next season starts on August 10, which is 69 days from now. Under 10 weeks. But the PL never puts a Derby on the opening weekend. The Gunners and Spurs usually play each other in N5 in October or November, and then in N17 in February or March.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 90, on August 31, home to the University of Massachusetts. Under 13 weeks.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, because the 2019 schedule hasn't been released yet. Usually, the next season begins on the 1st Friday in September, which would be September 6, which would be 96 days. It has been announced that East Brunswick and its arch-rivals, Old Bridge, will no longer play each other on Thanksgiving Day. In fact, many of the local Thanksgiving rivalries have been moved back to the opening night, September 6. Whenever the Big Green play the Purple Bastards, it will be under a new head coach, because Bob Molarz, in charge for the last 6 seasons, has resigned.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: Unknown. Traditionally, a new NHL season begins on the 1st Thursday in October, which would be October 3, which is 123 days from now. A shade over 4 months. The new schedule is usually released around June 20 or so. We shall see.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: Unknown. But the Devils never open against either the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum; the New York Islanders; or the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 181, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. A little under 6 months.

Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 199, on December 18, 2019. Under 7 months.

Day until the premiere of the final Star Wars film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: 201, on December 20, 2019.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 233, on January 21, 2020. Under 8 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 418, on July 24, 2020. A little over a year, or under 14 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 520, on November 3, 2020. Under a year and a half, or about 17 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 581, on January 3, 2021. About a year and a half, or about 18 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 598, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 20 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 978, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or just over 32 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,268, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. A little over 3 1/2 years, or under 42 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.

Yankees Pound Padres, Ready for Red Sox

In the opener of their home interleague Series against the San Diego Padres, the Yankees got the runs they needed. In the middle game, they didn't quite get enough. Yesterday afternoon, in the closer, they got the runs they needed, and more.

James Paxton came off the Injured List, and was fantastic. Being cautious, the Yankees limited him to only the 1st 4 innings, but he allowed no runs and no hits, just 2 walks. Chad Green pitched the 5th inning, Adam Ottavino the 6th, Jonathan Holder the 7th and the 8th, and Nestor Cortes the 9th. Between them, the 5 Yankee pitchers allowed 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 10.

A pitching performance like that deserves good hitting. And the Yankees gave it to them. The 1st 2 Yankee batters of the game, DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit, both hit home runs. Gio Urshela hit a home run in the 2nd, and Brett Gardner got another run home with a sacrifice fly in the 5th. An error led to another Yankee run in the 6th, and in the 7th, Voit hit a triple and Gleyber Torres hit a home run.

Those last 3 runs were all allowed by two-time former Yankee, and Brian Cashman fave rave, Adam Warren.

Knock knock. "Who's there?" Orange. "Orange who?" Orange you glad we don't have Warren anymore?

Yankees 7, Padres 0. WP: Difficult to determine, because the rules say that, no matter how well the starting pitcher pitches, he does not get the win if he does not go the first 5 innings. In a situation such as this, any later pitcher may be selected, at the discretion of the game's official scorer. In this case, the selection was Holder (4-2). No save. LP: Chris Paddack (4-3).

The Yankees close this series 1 game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East, although even in the all-important loss  column.

Now, into Yankee Stadium II, here come The Scum, the Boston Red Sox. Their big story is the injury to Dustin Pedroia, which has led him to take an indefinite leave of absence. There is already concern that he may never be able to play again.

I might do a piece on whether he is already a Hall-of-Famer. Probably not. At this point, he's not the next Ted Williams or Carl Yastrzemski. More like the Red Sox version of David Wright. Except, he actually has won a World Series. (Three, in fact.) But, to hear the Chowdaheads tell it, this one injury is more worthy of reporting, and the Sox' success without him more worthy of praise, and what's happened with the Yankees, even though there are so many more injuries, and the Yankees are 7 1/2 games ahead of Sox in the standings.

As I was putting this post together, it was announced that tonight's game was postponed, due to rain. So posting the intended starting pitchers for the series would be pointless.

Come on you Pinstripes! Beat The Scum!

Big Comeback Wasted as Yankees Lose In 10

I hate losing. I really hate losing in extra innings. I especially hate wasting a good comeback and losing anyway.

I was sure that manager Brian Cashman's orders to have his lackey Aaron Boone wear the bullpen out, especially starting Chad Green yesterday, was going to come back to bite the team. Sure enough, yesterday afternoon, in the finale of the series away to the Kansas City Royals, it did.

Domingo German started, looking to extend his surprising 9-1 record. This time, he had nothing: He went 5 innings, allowing 7 runs on 9 hits, including 4 home runs. The facts that he walked none and struck out 6 were good, but it was his worst performance of the season.

It was 7-1 Royals going to the top of the 6th inning. But the Yankees got a couple of runners on, and Gleyber Torres hit a home run. Suddenly, at 7-4, the lead seemed surmountable. Nestor Cortes pitched the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th innings, and while he allowed 4 hits and 2 walks, he allowed no runs.

The top of the 9th inning included the kind of comeback that championship teams make. With 1 out, Clint Frazier and Gio Urshela hit back-to-back singles. Brett Gardner struck out, but DJ LeMahieu singled Frazier home. Luke Voit drew a walk to load the bases. Aaron Hicks singled, tying the game. There was hope. But Gary Sanchez flew out to end the inning.

Cortes got into trouble in the bottom of the 9th, but got out of it. It was on to extra innings. Kendrys Morales walked with 1 out in the 10th, but both Frazier and Urshela popped up.

Cashman, through Boone, didn't want Cortes out there for the 10th. So he called on Jonathan Holder, who's been, Cliche Alert, consistently inconsistent. He struck Martin Maldonado out. But, Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you. He walked Billy Hamilton, who then stole 2nd. Holder got Nicky Lopez to ground out. But Whit Merrifield hit a bad-hop single to left to end it.

Royals 8, Yankees 7. WP: Kevin McCarthy (1-1). No save. LP: Holder (3-2).

*

So here's where things stand, after 52 games, 32 percent of the way through the season, nearly 1/3rd:

* The Yankees are 34-18, in 1st place in the American League Eastern Division, despite not having had Luis Severino, Dellin Betances and Didi Gregorius at all this season; despite not having Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar and Aaron Hicks for most of it; and despite not having James Paxton, their only big off-season acquisition, for much of it.

* They lead the Tampa Bay Rays by 2 games (1 in the loss column), the Boston Red Sox by 6 1/2 (6), the Toronto Blue Jays by 13 1/2 (14), and the Baltimore Orioles by 18 1/2 (19).

* If the current standings hold to the end of the season, they would have the 2nd seed in the American League Playoffs. Only the Minnesota Twins, currently running away with the AL Central Division, have a better record. In the National League, only the Los Angeles Dodgers have a better record.

* Injury updates: Paxton possibly this week; CC Sabathia in early June; Judge, Stanton, Gregorius, Betances and Troy Tulowitzki by mid-June; Severino, Jonathan Loaisiga and Jordan Montgomery after the All-Star Break; Greg Bird unknown, Andujar next season, and Jacoby Ellsbury will probably never play for the Yankees again.

The Yankees come home to start an Interleague series with the San Diego Padres, including a Memorial Day matinee today. (The era of holiday doubleheaders is over.) Here are the projected pitching matchups:

* Today, 1:05: The Yankees are as yet undecided, while the Padres intend to start Matt Strahm.

* Tomorrow night, 6:35: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Eric Lauer.

* Wednesday afternoon, 1:05: Again, the Yankees are undecided, while the Padres intend to start Chris Paddack.

Then, on Thursday, The Scum come to town. I hope the Yankees don't use up all their runs on the Padres. Because that's been done before: Score a lot of runs in the series before facing the Red Sox, and then not having enough to beat them.

"Triple-A" Yankees Reclaim Their Throne: 1st Place

Clint Frazier on the Iron Throne,

wearing the T-shirt given away at last night's game

The Yankees began another showdown with the 1st place Tampa Bay Rays last night. It was Game of Thrones Night, in honor of the pop-culture phenomenon whose last first-run episode airs on HBO this Sunday night. A replica of the show's Iron Throne was placed on the Yankee Stadium concourse, and commemorative T-shirts were given away to all adult fans.

The irony is, series creator George R.R. Martin is a Mets fan. Which explains why so many of his characters die horribly, get disfigured, or go mad -- or some combination thereof. Forget "You gotta believe": Happy endings are not his style.

They are the Yankees' style. At least, they're supposed to be. Valar Defeatus. High Valyrian for "All men must lose." Well, what do we say to the God of Defeat? "Not today."

Carsten of House Sabathia, second of his name (CC's full name is Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr.), the Well-Fed, Paw of the South, Fanner of the Three Thousand, started for the Yankees. He went 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits and 2 walks. Ordinarily, that would be enough to win, especially against the Rays, with their "no starter" philosophy.

Kendrys Morales gave CC a 1-0 lead with a home run in the 2nd inning, but the Rays tied it in the 4th. It was still 1-1 going into the 7th, when Aaron Boone brought Adam Ottavino in to pitch. He got the 1st 2 outs, but then walked a batter, and Boone brought in Tommy Kahnle. He allowed a hit, before getting a strikeout to end the threat.

There was no need to relieve CC: He had thrown only 84 pitches. And when Boone sent Chad Green out to pitch the top of the 8th, he allowed 2 runs, on 2 doubles, a single and an error by Gleyber Torres. "The night is dark, and full of errors." It was 3-1 Rays, and then came a rain delay. If the game were called, the score would revert to what it was at the end of the last inning: 1-1.

The game was resumed, and the Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 8th. Jonathan Holder pitched a perfect 9th, and Jose Alvarado came out to close down the win for the Rays.

But the 1st batter he faced was Luke Voit, and he hung a slider to him. Voit hung it over the fence. 3-2. Gary Sanchez singled. Thairo Estrada was brought in to pinch-run for him: Boone was either going for the win, or trusting Austin Romine to both bat and catch from the 10th inning onward. (Gulp.)

Morales struck out. But Torres made up for his earlier error with a double, getting Estrada to 3rd. Now, I ask you: What was the point of bringing in a pinch-runner, if he wasn't going to be able to score on a double? Clint Frazier was intentionally walked, to set up a play at any base.

Cameron Maybin was the batter, and Alvarado threw a wild pitch that got Estrada home. Tie ballgame. Maybin grounded to 3rd, and the force play was made at home plate. The Yankees now had the tying run, Frazier, on 3rd, and the winning run, Maybin, on 1st, but were down to their last out, and a sacrifice fly would no longer be sufficient.

The batter was 3rd base find Gio Urshela. Following Maybin, whose run meant nothing, stealing 2nd on defensive indifference, maybe the right call would have been another intentional walk, setting up a play at any base, and pitching to DJ LeMahieu, who was already 0-for-4.

The Rays didn't do that. They pitched to Urshela. Big mistake: He ripped a drive to right-center. Frazier scored easily. Ballgame. Yankees 4, Rays 3. WP: Holder (3-1). No save. LP: Jose Alvarado (0-3).

With the win, the Yankees are now 27-16, in 1st place in the American League Eastern Division, half a game ahead of the Rays, even in the all-important loss column.

This bunch of "Triple-A" Yankees are a lot like Arya Stark (played by Maisie Williams on the show): They may not be big, and they may not be the hero we expected -- "the princes that were promised" -- but they are getting the job done, slaying the enemies, exacting the revenge. And, like Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) did last Sunday, we have taken what is ours -- not with fire and blood, but with leather and wood.

The South Bronx remembers. So bend the knee, Tampa Bay.

The series continues this afternoon. Masahiro Tanaka starts against Blake Snell. Hopefully, Winning is coming. Brace yourselves!

Rays Get Dirty Again, Beat Yankees

I used to think the problem with the Tampa Bay Rays was their manager, Joe Maddon, whom I've previously described as "a classless thug," prone to planning, or at least approving of, dirty play.

But that seems not to be the case. Since he became the manager of the Chicago Cubs, they haven't been noticeably dirty -- and they've been better than the Rays have ever been.

The Rays, on the other hand...

It's not "part of the culture" in the Tampa Bay area. It's had plenty of big baseball figures not known for dirty play, including Yankee-connected men like Lou Piniella, Wade Boggs and Tino Martinez.

But the Rays? They are a dirty team, and we can't blame it on the former manager. As noted baseball fan Richard Nixon might have said, You don't have Maddon to kick around anymore.

The Yankees used 3 pitchers, none of whom was sharp: CC Sabathia (2 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks in the 1st 5 innings), Jonathan Holder (2 runs in the 6th), and Nestor Cortes Jr. (a recently-acquired Cuban lefthander, 3 runs in the 7th and 8th). Yandy Diaz hit 2 home runs for the Rays, Avisail Garcia 1.

The Yankees didn't do much at the plate. Clint Frazier had an RBI double in the 5th inning, and DJ LeMahieu hit a solo homer in the 6th. That was it. Rays 7, Yankees 2. WP: Yonny Chirinos (5-1). No save. LP: Holder (2-1). The Yankees drop back to a game and a half behind the Rays, and now even winning this afternoon can't put them in 1st place.

And if the poor performance, both hitting and pitching, was the extent of it, it would be disappointing, but not anger-inducing.

The anger came in the top of the 6th, right after LeMahieu's homer, which tied the game at 2-2. Luke Voit was up next, and Chirinos, who had relieved starter Ryan Stanek in the 3rd inning, hit Voit with a pitch.

This is nothing unusual: Pitchers have been hitting the batter after giving up a home run since time immemorial. And when Brett Gardner grounded into a double play, taking Voit off the bases, that should have been the end of it.

It wasn't. The next batter was Gary Sanchez, and Chirinos hit him, too. There was no point to this. If Rays manager Kevin Cash wanted to "light a fire under his team," shouldn't the plunking of Voit have been enough? It certainly looked like it at the time, as the Rays scored 2 runs off Holder in the bottom of the 6th, the difference-making runs in the game.

Part of the objection is where Voit was hit. You want to send a message, you can hit a guy in a spot that probably won't injure him, usually on the back or the leg, with less than your best fastball. He might get bruised, and be in a little pain, but he's not going to go on the Injury List.

Voit was hit on the shoulder. It's the 5th time this season he's been hit with a pitch -- and we're only 1/4 of the way through the season. Only Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals has been hit more, a shocking 8.

Voit: "It's frustrating. He can hit me anywhere else. This one is up and in. It's a situation that can be career-ending. He's a sinkerballer. and that was pretty straight."

Sabathia: "It's just the same thing, you hit a home run, and then they throw up and in. It's stupid."

It got worse -- perhaps not intentionally, but the fact that it was Sanchez, who was hit earlier, makes it suspicious. In the bottom of the 8th, Guillermo Heredia was batting, and his backswing hit Sanchez on his catching helmet. In this era of "concussion protocol," Sanchez stayed in the game, but underwent postgame tests.

"Feel good right now," he said, through an interpreter. "Got to wait and see how I feel tomorrow."

If that had been the only incident, I'd be over it, and presume it was an accident. But the Rays? As we say around here, maybe they made it look like an accident.

Cash has some explaining to do. Interestingly, his playing career, which includes the Rays in 2005, also includes time with World Series-winning teams with the Boston Red Sox in 2007 and the Yankees in 2009 -- but he was released on September 5, 2009, and thus wasn't on the Yankees' postseason roster. Maybe he holds a grudge? Maybe he's still got the Sox' cheating mentality?

The series concludes this afternoon. Masahiro Tanaka starts against Blake Snell.

Aaron Hicks could be called back up tomorrow. A lot of people on #YankeesTwitter are looking forward to this, because they're tired of the slump that Mike Tauchman is in. Tauchman did a few jobs for the Yankees, but the return of Hicks could be a big plus.

Yankees: Infinity War

I often chide today's young people by saying, "Don't call anything 'iconic' until it's at least 40 years past."

It's like the girl who posted a picture of Kendall and Kylie Jenner, the 2 youngest Kardashian sisters, and said, "Name a more iconic duo. I'll wait." And she got schooled with everything from John Lennon and Paul McCartney to Barack and Michelle Obama.

Sports-wise, there could have been Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, and many others.

By having a 40-year cutoff point, I can include the late 1970s Yankees, such as Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Catfish Hunter, Ron Guidry and Goose Gossage as "iconic."

I do make exceptions. One that truly sticks out is the death scene for Spider-Man (played by Tom Holland) in Avengers: Infinity War.

That movie led to, among other things, a parody of Colin Kaepernick's Nike ad, showing Thanos (Josh Brolin):

Last night, the Yankees did 2 things they've done a lot of already this season. They won a game, and lost a player due to injury.

It was the opener of a 3-game home weekend series against the Minnesota Twins, currently leading the American League Central Division. James Paxton, the only starting pitcher acquired by general manager Brian Cashman in the offseason, started, but only lasted 3 innings before leaving the game with a sore knee.

He's going to have an MRI today, But, as they say in medical dramas, I'm not going to lie to you, it doesn't look good.

Jonathan Holder pitched the 4th and 5th innings, Adam Ottavino the 6th, Tommy Kahnle the 7th, Zack Britton the 8th, and Aroldis Chapman the 9th. Britton allowed 2 runs. The rest, none.

It shouldn't take 6 pitchers to win 1 baseball game. The Yankees should have had what used to be known as a "long man," who could have pitched the 4th through 9th innings. On that late 1970s Yankee team, it was Dick Tidrow. On the late 1990s dynasty, it was Ramiro Mendoza.

After all, that's just 6 innings. A man who is normally a starting pitcher, or, at least, has been a starting pitcher, should be able to pitch 6 innings on a moment's notice, unless he pitched the day before.

Of course, no matter how good your pitching is, you have to score. Fortunately, Gary Sanchez has been on a tear since coming off the Injured List. Last night, he hit a pair of solo home runs, a 429-foot blast in the 5th, and a 412-foot shot in the 7th.

Nelson Cruz of the Twins actually hit one longer, a 436-foot drive off Britton for 2 runs in the 8th, putting the outcome of the game back in doubt. But Chapman shut the Twins down in the 9th.

Yankees 6, Twins 3. WP: Holder (2-0). SV: Chapman (6). LP: Kyle Gibson (2-1).

The series continues this afternoon. J.A. Happ starts against Jake Odorizzi.

And there is actually more good news than bad news on the injury front. For today's game, Miguel Andujar is going to be activated. It is also possible that DJ LeMahieu, who's been day-to-day after getting hit with a pitch, will also be able to play. Clint Frazier is expected to be activated on Monday, and, on that day, Aaron Hicks could begin a minor league rehab assignment.

Still, the thought of losing a starting pitcher doesn't sound encouraging. Paxton tried to downplay any worries, saying after last night's game, "It's just something that's nagging at me enough that I couldn't execute pitches. I'm not real worried it's going to be something long-term. I'm hoping it's something that's just a quick fix."

A quick fix. As an Arsenal fan, having watched them through several injury crises, I am reminded of all the times that manager Arsène Wenger would say something like, "He has picked up a small knock. He will be back in 3 weeks." That usually turned into 3 months, or, perhaps, the rest of the season.

Now, Paxton says he's hoping his knee injury is "something that's just a quick fix."

Mr. Steinbrenner, I don't feel so good.

And I don't know what Brian Cashman's Endgame is.

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 Start Season 2-4, and It's All Cashman's Fault

Yesterday's series finale between the Yankees and the Detroit Tigers was one of those games that looked lost before it started, since it was one of the holes in the starting rotation that Brian Cashman refused to fill.

As it's turned out however, the pitching wasn't the issue at all. Jonathan Loaisiga, not really a starter, got the start, and went 4 innings. Jonathan Holder pitched the 5th and the 6th, Chad Green the 7th and the 8th, and Zach Britton the 9th. Between them, they allowed to just 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks, striking out 8.

The Tigers' Christin Stewart drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the 4rth, and Gordon Beckham hit a home run off Green in the 8th. That was it. If 1 single pitcher had pitched all 9 innings and done that, we would have been ecstatic.

The problem was that the Yankees, billed as the team that could bomb other teams out of the yard, outscoring anybody anytime, couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat.

In the 2nd inning, Greg Bird singled and Clint Frazier drew a walk, but were both stranded. In the 3rd, DJ LeMahieu doubled, and Aaron Judge singled him home. Gary Sanchez walked, and it looked like it could be a big inning.

Gleyber Torres reached on infield single, but the reason the Tigers couldn't throw him out is that the ball hit Judge, trying to get from 2nd to 3rd, and the rule meant that he was out, through no fault of his own. End of the threat.

Judge drew a walk in the 5th, but was stranded. Sanchez led off the 6th by reaching on an error, and Frazier singled, but w're stranded. Luke Voit led off the 8th with a walk, but, this time, the cliche that walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety, did not work in our favor.

Those were all the baserunners the Yankees had. The team set a record with 18 strikeouts. Tigers starter Matthew Boyd pitched into the 7th, and got 13 of them. This pathetic performance broke the record of 17 that Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox got against us in 1999.

18 strikeouts. And Giancarlo Stanton isn't even playing!

At least, unlike Pedro, the Tiger pitchers weren't trying to injure our hitters. As it turned out, though, that didn't matter much, because we got another injury anyway. Troy Tulowitzki, signed to take the place of Didi Gregorius, who is out with an injury, probably until at least the All-Star Break, hurt his hamstring, and who knows how long he'll be out?

At any rate, Tigers 2, Yankees 1. WP: Buck Farmer, who took over for Boyd in the bottom of the 7th, and was thus the Tiger pitcher of record when Beckham hit the home run in the 8th (1-0). SV: Shane Greene (4, including the last 2 days against his former team, the Yankees). LP: Chad Green (0-1).

The Yankees are now 2-4, as they begin a road trip, including the home opener of the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon at 3:05. To make matters worse, the Mets are cruising, as, yesterday, Jacob deGrom not only won, but hit a home run. The Mets are 5-1: Only the Seattle Mariners (7-1) and the Milwaukee Brewers (6-1) have better records.

Only the Red Sox (one saving grace to this 1st week, the Houston Astros, the Miami Marlins, the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the Los Angeles Angels have a worse record than the Yankees: The Sox, Astros, Marlins and Giants are all 2-5; the Cubs and Reds 1-4. and the Angels 1-5.

As it turned out, only one more man was needed to make the Mets better than the Yankees. And his name was Brian Cashman.

It's all his fault. He's the guy who ignored everything Gene Michael taught him in assembling the 1996-2003 dynasty: You can never have too much pitching, and it's better to have contact hitters who can hit to all fields than a bunch of big boomers.

It worked so well. Never in the 150-year history of professional baseball has a team had so many guys who could not only hit, but do it to the opposite field, as well as those Yankees. Righthanded hitters Derek Jeter and Chuck Knoblauch. Lefthanded hitters Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, and, at least at the beginning, Wade Boggs. They had Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada, who could hit to all fields from both sides of the plate.

Cashman wanted "prospects" who would bomb balls out of the yard for the next 10 to 15 years. Instead, he's built a team that always swings for the fences, and doesn't connect nearly enough.

He's created a monster. And not in our favor.

No Division titles in 7 years. No Pennants or World Championships in 10 years. 1 Pennant in 16 years. 1 World Championship in 19 years.

Think about that: A child born in November 2000 would now be in his or her freshman year of college, and have seen the Yankees take the massive resources at their disposal, and go all the way only once in his or her lifetime.

I have twin nieces that will turn 12 in July. They know the Yankees have won the World Series in their lifetime, but not in their memory. To them, the Yankees' 27 World Championships are history, but not history that they witnessed.

And even that 2009 title was won with a core of Stick's players, and George Steinbrenner's money. The next year, George died, and Cashman began to break it up. Since then: 3 losses in the American League Championship Series, 2 losses in the AL Division Series, a loss in the AL Wild Card Game, and 3 seasons in which the Yankees missed the Playoffs completely.

Brian Cashman has built this legacy, and he has built this current team, which is on a pace to finish 54-108.

It is time for him to go. And to bring in a general manager who will clean up this mess.

Week of Mondays

You've heard of the expression "a month of Sundays"? It's not that long: 30 or 31 weeks.

Well, to me, this week was a week of Mondays. All kinds of things went wrong for me, at home, at work, and certainly on the ballfield.

The Yankees went into the belly of the beast. They walked into Mordor. Into a wretched hive of scum and villainy. I speak, of course, of Fenway Park, home of their despised and despicable rivals, the Boston Red Sox.

The Yankees began this 4-game weekend series 5 1/2 games behind the Red Sox, with 56 games to play, including 10 against the Sox. If they could take 3 out of 4 in this series, or even sweep, they would be back in business. Otherwise, it would be the Wild Card or bust.

At this point, the likeliest scenario is "bust." The Yankees had been doing so well for so long, but they reverted to the "gutless wonders" status they forged for themselves earlier in the season.

*

The Yankees couldn't have gotten off to a better start. Brian Johnson -- no, not the lead singer for AC/DC -- started for the Sox, and here's the 1st 3 batters of the game: Aaron Hicks reached on an error, Giancarlo Stanton singled, and Didi Gregorius blasted a home run to right-center, the deepest part of the 106-year old Back Back ballyard. That's 3 runs in the top of the 1st inning.

Hicks added a homer in the top of the 2nd. 4-0 Yankees, which should have been a great boost to starting pitcher CC Sabathia. But he allowed a home run to Steve Pearce in the 2nd, and another run in the 3rd, and then left the game without taking the mound for the bottom of the 4th. (UPDATE: We now know that his knee was bothering him.)

Aaron Boone sent Jonathan Holder as an emergency long reliever. "Long"? This was one of the longest innings in Yankee history. Walk. Double. Run-scoring fielders choice. Another home run by Pearce, for 3 runs. Double. RBI single. RBI double. Boone mercifully lifts Holder, and sends in Chad Green. Strikeout. Lineout. Bleeding stopped? Not yet. RBI double. Single. RBI single. Boone lifts Green, and brings in Luis Cessa, who gets a groundout to finally end the inning.

It was 10-4, and there were no good buddies.

8 runs, 8 hits, no errors 2 men left on base. In just 1 inning. Not a game, not a game, not a game. We talkin' 'bout an inning. According to Baseball-Reference.com, when the inning began, there was a 69 percent chance the Yankees would win it. Right before Cessa got that last out, the chance of winning was 97 percent to the Red Sox.

When baseball historians look back on the 2018 Boston Red Sox, however far they go in the postseason, they can point to this inning, on August 2, as when they won the AL East.

And it was only the 4th inning. Didi homered again in the 5th, but the Sox got the run back in the bottom of the inning. Pearce hit his 3rd homer of the game in the 6th. Stanton hit one out in the 7th, but no one was thinking that this would be one of those famous Yankee comebacks.

Final score: Red Sox 15, Yankees 7. WP: Johnson (2-3). No save. LP: Holder (1-2).

*

Luis Severino started the Friday night game, and Pearce made it 4 homers in 2 nights in the 1st inning. For all intents and purposes, this game was already over. Rick Porcello allowed just 1 baserunner. Actually, Miguel Andujar hit a home run off him in the 3rd inning, so, since he wasn't exactly running the bases, does he count as a "baserunner"?

Red Sox 4, Yankees 1. WP: Porcello (14-4). No save. LP: Severino (14-5).

*

The Saturday afternoon game, and every game thereafter for the 2018 Yankees, was, essentially pointless, but they were scheduled, so they had to be played.

Nathan Eovaldi pitched very well. Unfortunately, he no longer pitches for the Yankees. The Red Sox picked him up near the trading deadline, in the kind of deal that Brian Cashman should be making.

With the Yankee rotation riddled with injury, Chance Adams was brought up from Scranton, and made his major league debut. The righhander from the Phoenix suburbs, about to turn 24 and wearing Number 43, was put into the cauldron of the Yanks-Sox rivalry, and at Fenway, no less. The pressure didn't seem to get to him -- or maybe, after the preceding 2 games, there was no more pressure. He wasn't terrible, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 1 walk, with 2 strikeouts, in 5 innings.

But Eovaldi was brilliant, going 8 innings, allowing 2 doubles to Stanton, another double to Gregorius, 2 walks to Hicks and another to Gleyber Torres, and that was it. Again, the final score was Red Sox 4, Yankees 1. WP: Eovaldi (5-4). No save. LP: Adams (0-1).

*

ESPN was hoping for a classic game in a classic Yanks-Sox race when they scheduled Sunday Night Baseball for August 5. Well, they got half of what they wanted. The race didn't become a classic, but this game sure did.

Masahiro Tanaka and David Price traded goose eggs until the bottom of the 5th, when Tanaka's gopher spoke up and demanded to be fed, and Mookie Betts took advantage. But Tanaka settled down after that, and it was still 1-0 Boston going into the top of the 7th, and that's when the Yankees appeared to snap out of their funk. Walks, an error and a wild pitch aided the Bronx cause, and when it was over, it was 4-1 to the Good Guys.

Zach Britton pitched a scoreless 7th. Dellin Betances pitched a scoreless 8th. Things were looking up. The Yankees would come away from this horrible series with some consolation, and some hope that they could still catch the Sox for the Division if they kept winning and the Sox got cold later on.

Aroldis Chapman took the mound for the bottom of the 9th. His mission was simple: Get 3 outs, and don't allow any more than 2 runs. It shouldn't have been hard, even in Fenway, even with the Sox using whatever steroids may have been left in David Ortiz' locker.

Chapman struck Brock Holt out, to start the inning right. But... Cliche alert: Walks can kill you. Chapman walked Sandy Leon. He walked Betts. Uh-oh... He struck Andrew Benintendi out, then he walked Pearce. Jackie Bradley Jr. was sent in to pinch-run for Pearce.

Okay, there's only 1 more out to go, and (not a cliche, but it should be) it is better to give a hot hitter like Pearce four balls for one base than one ball for four bases. But the bases are loaded. And this was Fenway.

J.D. Martinez singled home Leon and Betts. 4-3. You could feel defeat coming, you just weren't sure how.

The batter was Xander Bogaerts. He hit a ground ball to Andujar, the only saving grace on Friday. But he threw it away, and Bradley scored the tying run. Chapman then struck Mitch Moreland out. He had struck out the side, but also allowed 3 runs to blow the save.

The Yankees went down weakly in the top of the 10th, 1-2-3. Boone sent Holder, the melter-downer of Thursday night, to pitch the bottom of the 10th, and if any Yankee Fan from Poughkeepsie to Atlantic City, from Scranton to Montauk, said he was optimistic at this point, he was kidding himself and all others.

Holder got the 1st 2 outs. But he gave up a single to Leon. He threw a wild pitch, sending the winning run to 2nd. Seeing that 1st base was no open, Boone ordered an intentional walk to Betts, to set up an inning-ending force play at 2nd.

It didn't matter. Benintendi hit a grounder up the middle, and Leon scored. Red Sox 5, Yankees 4. WP: Matt Barnes (4-3). The Sox swept the Yankees 4 straight, without recording a single save. LP: Holder (1-3), but the real fault is with Chapman for blowing the save in the 9th, and Boone for not figuring out that Holder shouldn't be pitching in Fenway Park.

The Yankees skulked out of Boston 9 1/2 games out, with 52 games to go.

The ghost of Yogi Berra called. He said, "It's over."

So was my Week of Mondays. And, as the Mamas & the Papas taught us, "Monday, Monday, can't trust that day. Monday, Monday, sometimes, it just turns out that way."

Montgomery Wards Off Jays, Rewarded With 7-Run Inning

It never occurred to me until today, but Jordan Montgomery reminds me of Tom Glavine. It's not just that he's also a lefthanded pitcher who wears Number 47. His pitching motion looks like Glavine's as well. And, as a South Carolina native who grew up in the 1990s and 2000s, he would have had the Atlanta Braves as the closest major league team, and he was lefthanded, so he wouldn't have copied Greg Maddux or John Smoltz.

Now, as a Yankee Fan, I don't need Montgomery to pitch as well as Glavine every time. I just need him to pitch well consistently, and he's done that since he got here. He did it again yesterday, going 6 innings, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits and 3 walks.

Chasen Shreve pitched a perfect 7th inning, and Jonathan Holder a perfect 8th and 9th. That those two were able to pitch that well is a very good sign, especially since we may need relievers to come in for CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, and Sonny Gray more than we would have liked.

Good pitching needs to be backed up by good hitting, and the Yankees got that, too. Only 1 home run was hit, a smoking 2-run 443-foot blast by Aaron Judge in the 3rd inning. That turned out to be all the Yankees needed, but no one knew that at the time.

Because no one knew the Yankees would score 7 runs in the bottom of the 6th. Brett Gardner led off with a single, and Marcus Stroman sent him to 2nd with a wild pitch. That didn't matter, because he walked Judge. Didi Gregorius singled Gardner home. Then another wild pitch, then another walk, of Giancarlo Stanton -- even he wasn't willing to swing at Stroman's pitches. This one loaded the bases with nobody out.

Aaron Hicks bunted, and catcher Luke Maile threw to 3rd, but threw it away, scoring Judge and keeping the bases loaded. Stroman struck Neil Walker out, but Miguel Andujar cleared the bases with a double that nearly went out.

Jays manager John Gibbons had seen enough, and pulled Stroman for John Axford. He immediately walked Austin Romine. Then he gave up a single to Ronald Torreyes, and the bases were loaded again. The Yankees had batted around. Gardner hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Andujar. Judge followed with an RBI single. Axford struck Didi out to end the emergency.

Yankees 9, Blue Jays 1. WP: Montgomery (2-0). No save. LP: Stroman (0-2).

The series concludes today. Luis Severino starts against one of last year's Yankees, Jaime Garcia. If Garcia pitches as well for the Jays as he pitched for the Yankees, the Yankees should win.

The Yankees Are Arsenal Through and Through

Multiple injuries. Offensive stars fail to come through when needed. A late collapse. Abandoning the wonderful, atmosphere-filled old stadium for the soulless, corporate new stadium. Owners don't care, as long as they're making money.

The Yankees are Arsenal through and through.

Those of you who are both Pinstripers and Gooners will get that. Those of you who aren't, which I suspect is most of you, maybe you should keep it that way, for your own sakes.

CC Sabathia didn't pitch badly against the Baltimore Orioles last night, but neither didn't have particularly good stuff. He pitched 4 innings, and face up 3 home runs, 2 them to Manny Machado.

Then he left with hip soreness. Brandon Drury had a migraine, and had to be taken out. Tyler Sads apparently had the flu. And, in the 14th inning, Gary Sanchez was removed with a leg cramp. The Yankees used 20 players in the game, everyone except Adam Warren and the remaining starting pitchers.

They picked up single runs in the 2nd, 4th, and 8th Innings, the last of these a home run by Didi Gregorius, his 3rd of the young season. But when the game went to extra innings, I knew the Yankees would not win it, because Aaron Boone manages the same way that Brian Cashman wanted Joe Girardi to manage: Using every pitcher he can.

The Yankees had their chances. They went down in order, 1-2-3, in the 9th, and again in the 10th. They had men on 1st and 2nd with 1 out in the 11th, but didn't score, partly thanks to a weird play that got Gregorius tagged out at home plate with what should have been the winning run. They went down 1-2-3 in the 12th. They got the leadoff man on in the 13th, but stranded him.

Jonathan Holder pitched a perfect top of the 13th, but melted down in the top of the 14th. He loaded the bases with nobody out, got a strikeout, and then faced Pedro Alvarez. In 2013, with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Alvarez led the National League with 36 home runs. He's been plagued by injuries ever since.

It didn't matter. Grand slam. And the Yankees, predictably went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 14th. Orioles 7, Yankees 3. WP: Pedro Araujo (1-1). No save. Think about that: It was not a save situation for Brad Brach, who pitched the bottom of the 14th. LP: Holder (0-1).

So, for all the off-season and preseason hype, the Yankees are now 4-4, 2 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League Eastern Division.

The "experts" told us we would pound the opposition into submission. Five runs in 23 innings against a weak pitching staff suggests otherwise.

The series continues this afternoon. Sonny Gray starts for the Yankees. Chris Tillman pitches for the Orioles, and he usually pitches well against the Yankees. It's already a long weekend, and it could get longer.

How soon before Yankee Fans start acting like a small group of Arsenal fans, and start having anti-Cashman demonstrations?

That's the difference between the Yankees and The Arsenal: With the Yankees, the general manager is the problem. Arsène Wenger wants to win. Brian Cashman just wants publicity and money.

Yes, In Didi! Gregorius Powers Win In Home Opener

After a snowout, the Yankees had to be concerned that their home opener might get rained out. And it did rain through much of the game at Yankee Stadium yesterday afternoon, but they got all 9 innings in.

The pregame ceremonies were cut out, except for the ceremonial first ball, thrown out by 1978 World Champion Yankee heroes John Milton "Mickey" Rivers and Russell Earl "Bucky" Dent, in honor of the 40th Anniversary of their title. Then, it was play ball.

Jordan Montgomery started, and gave the Yankees 5 solid innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and 4 walks, with 4 strikeouts. Alas, manager Aaron Boone, under a lot of criticism for his pitching changes in the last 2 games, took him out after 5 innings, only 80 pitches.

This would prove to be a mistake. Boone brought Jonathan Holder in. Although he threw 11 of his 13 pitches for strikes, they got hit: Strikeout, but then double, single, RBI single, single. Boone pulled Holder for Tommy Kahnle, who'd helped to blow the Sunday game, and he inserted a game-tying 2-RBI double between a strikeout and a groundout.

It doesn't seem fair that a guy who blew a save should be credited as the winning pitcher, does it? Yet that's how things worked out, mainly because Didi Gregorius became the 1st Yankee ever to have 8 RBIs in a home opener.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning, let the Rays tie it 1-1 in the top of the 3rd, and then Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge singled to lead off the bottom of the 3rd. A situation tailor-made for new, super-hyped slugger Giancarlo Stanton. But he struck out looking. His 2nd strikeout of the game. Then Gregorius came up and hit a short-porch homer to the right field corner. 4-1 Yankees.

And so it remained until Holder's game-tying meltdown in the 6th. Tyler Austin doubled to lead off the bottom of the 7th. Now, Boone came up with the right strategy: He had Brett Gardner bunt. The bunt was mishandled and thrown away, and Austin scored the go-ahead run. 5-4.

Judge singled. 1st & 3rd, nobody out, Stanton up. Stanton struck out. For the 4th time in the game.

Going 0-for-4 is known as "taking the collar," or "wearing the collar," because a collar resembles a zero, and also has the implication of "choking." Striking out 3 times in 1 game is, like scoring 3 goals in a hockey or soccer game, is a "hat trick," which came from the early hockey instance of fans throwing their hats onto the ice when a player scored 3. Striking out 4 times in 1 game is known as "the golden sombrero," because it requires a bigger hat.

But this was the dawning of the Age of Gregorius. He came up against Austin Pruitt, and cranked one down the right-field line, into the 2nd deck. While his 1st homer was a short-porcher, his 2nd was a no-doubt-abouter. As the great W.C. Fields might have said, "Yes, in Didi!" 8-4 Yanks.

Although he spent much of his youth in his parents' native Curaçao, an island off the coast of South America that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mariekson Julius Gregorius was born in the Netherlands' capital. This home run led me to say, "Amster... damn, son!"

With 1 out in the bottom of the 8th, Pruitt, with nothing left to lose, lost his control. He walked the Two Tylers, Wade and Austin. Rays manager Kevin Cash mercifully pulled him, and brought in Sergio Romo, who gave up an infield single to Gardner. Judge drew a walk to force home a run.

Bases loaded, only 1 out, and, with a 4-run lead, absolutely no pressure. A few years ago, this would have been the time for an Alex Rodriguez home run.

The batter was Giancarlo Stanton. At least this time, he took the damn bat off his shoulder. Nevertheless, he persisted -- in striking out. His 5th strikeout of the game. What's more expensive than gold? Platinum. Striking out 5 times in one game is "the platinum sombrero."

(Six times is "the titanium sombrero," or a "horn," after Sam Horn did it once, for the 1991 Baltimore Orioles. That's happened 8 times in baseball history, most recently by Geoff Jenkins of the 2004 Milwaukee Brewers, although it's never happened in less than 13 innings. But 5 in 9 innings has happened many times.)

For the 1st time, Giancarlo Stanton was playing a home game at Yankee Stadium. His Pinstriped debut was considerably less satisfying than that of Hideki Matsui (a grand slam helping to beat the Minnesota Twins in 2003). Stanton heard boos. If he were a soccer player putting on a corresponding display in England, certain chants would have gone up, among the more printable being, "What a waste of money!"

But the Mighty Curaçaoan was not done yet. Didi singled home Austin and Gardner, to make the score 11-4. Kahnle (1-0) got through the 7th, David Robertson pitched a perfect 8th, and Chasen Shreve pitched a perfect 9th. There was no save opportunity. Pruitt was the losing pitcher (0-1).

The series with the Rays continues this afternoon. Luis Severino starts for us, Blake Snell for them.

I would be just fine if Didi continues the hellacious hitting he's already done in this season's 1st 5 games. As for Stanton, well, "Welcome to New York." Now, produce.

How Many More Times... Treat Me the Way That Joe Do?

To paraphrase an old blues song (Howlin' Wolf, adapted by Led Zeppelin), How many more times... treat me the way that Joe do?

Joe Girardi couldn't help but mess up the bullpen last night, because of how he'd messed it up the night before, rendering Dellin Betances, his only pitcher both uninjured and a viable closer, unavailable.

The only way the Yankees were going to win last night's game with the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum was if starting pitcher Luis Severino pitched a complete game, pitched well, and get the necessary run support.

He only went 6 innings, allowing 4 runs, 4 hits, 4 walks. So Girardi had to send Chasen Shreve out to pitch the 7th, and he allowed another run. So Girardi had to send Jonathan Holder out to pitch the 8th, and he blew a 6-5 lead.

Aaron Judge hit his 23rd home run of the season. Chris Carter hit his 8th. Judge, Starlin Castro and Ronald Torreyes each got 2 hits.

But because Aroldis Chapman was hurt (though it's still being said that he'll be activated tomorrow), and Brian Cashman traded Andrew Miller for some as-yet-useless prospects last Summer, and Girardi had rendered Betances unavailble, and even Adam Warren (of whom I am no fan) was unavailable due to an apparently minor injury, the Yankees scored 6 runs on the road and it wasn't going to be enough.

A's 7, Yankees 6. WP: Daniel Coulombe (1-1). SV: Santiago Casilla (11). LP: Holder (1-1). And, with the Boston Red Sox winning last night, the Yankees' lead in the American League East shrank to 1 game.

That's 4 straight losses because of Girardi's bullpen idiocy. Not 4 such losses all season: The last four games in a row ruined that way.

How many more times, Joe?

Hal Steinbrenner, how many more games are you going to let Binder Boy blow because he can't manage a pitching staff?

Maybe he's just waiting until we get back home to fire Girardi. I wouldn't. I'd say, "Here's your Samsonite, sucker, what's your hurry?" I'd pay for his separate flight back. Hell, I'd give him a "Bobby Bonilla contract," just to make him go the hell away!

The series continues at 4:05 (our time) this afternoon, with Masahiro Tanaka (who hasn't needed a good start this badly since the 2015 Wild Card game) starting for us, Jesse Hahn for the A's.

Yankees Drop Memorial Day Matinee in Baltimore

Not that long ago, the Yankees dropping a game to the Baltimore Orioles would have been very bad.

Now, it's just very embarrassing. After all, going into yesterday's series opener, a Memorial Day matinee at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the Yankees had continued their surge, the Orioles had lost 7 straight games, and the Boston Red Sox had passed them for 2nd place in the American League Eastern Division.

Both teams were wearing khaki-lettered uniforms in honor of Memorial Day, which, while a fitting tribute to our military losses, looked very weird to those of us used to the Yankees' road gray shirts and navy blue caps, lettering and sleeves, and the Orioles home whites with orange lettering and black trim. Don't mess with the uniforms: A ceremony and a moment of silence before the game is enough.

Jordan Montgomery started for the Yankees. He allowed 3 runs over the 1st 3 innings, and with 1 out in the 5th, allowed back-to-back singles. That brought him to an even 100 pitches. Girardi gotta Girardi, and so, Joe Girardi panicked, and took him out. I can't argue with the results, though: Between them, Jonathan Holder and Chasen Shreve went the rest of the way, and allowed only 1 baserunner.

That's all you can ask your pitchers to do: Give your offense a chance to win. People say, "Pitching wins games" or "Pitching wins championships" never learn: You can't win unless you score. And the Yankees did not get the job done against Oriole starter Dylan Bundy, who, if not quite Ted Bundy, was a lot closer to King Kong Bundy than Al Bundy.

Aaron Hicks got a run home with a sacrifice fly in the 2nd inning. Aaron Judge + the Baltimore Bandbox = home run, right? Right: A 429-foot blast to center field in the 7th, his 17th dinger of the season, and we're still in May. He's actually ahead of Roger Maris' pace in the 1961 record season.

But that was it. The Yankees wasted a leadoff single in the 1st and a double in the 3rd, both by Brett Gardner. They stranded 2 runners following Hicks' sac fly in the 2nd. They wasted leadoff singles by Hicks in the 5th and Gary Sanchez in the 6th. They stranded a runner in the 7th, and went down 1-2-3 in both the 8th and the 9th. You can't do that, especially when your pitchers hold the opposition to 3 or fewer runs and you're in a hitter's haven like Camden Yards.

Orioles 3, Yankees 2. WP: Bundy (6-3). SV: Brad Brach (10). LP: Montgomery (2-4).

The series continues tonight. Luis Severino starts for the Bronx Bombers, Chris Tillman for the Baltimore Birds. And the Yankees better take advantage of Camden Yards and get some more runs.

*

Days until the Red Bulls play again: 4, this Saturday night at 7:30, away to the Montreal Impact. They beat the New England Revolution 2-1 in a "derby" this past Saturday night.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 4, this Saturday night, at 8:00 local time (10:00 Eastern), against Venezuela, in an international friendly at Rio Tinto Stadium, the Sandy, Utah home of MLS' Real Salt Lake. Under 4 weeks. This is a warmup for the following week's CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers, the following Thursday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver suburbs, against Trinidad & Tobago, and the following Sunday against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. At the very least, the T&T game is a must-win.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 19, on Sunday, June 18, against the Philadelphia Union, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. They will next play a Hudson River Derby against New York City FC on Saturday, June 24, at Red Bull Arena. They will next play the New England Revolution on Wednesday, July 5, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. And they will next play the D.C. Scum on Saturday, September 27, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series: 7, a week from tonight, at 7:05 PM, at Yankee Stadium.

Days until The Arsenal play again: That depends. If you mean any game, the Gunners, who won the FA Cup over Premier League Champions Chelsea, this past Saturday, will next play on Thursday, July 13, when they begin their preseason tour of Australia and Asia, with a game against A-League winners Sydney FC at Stadium Australia in Sydney. That's 44 days. If you mean a game that means anything, well, FIFA counts the FA Community Shield (formerly known as the Charity Shield), the annual season kickoff between the holders of the League title and the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium in London, that's on Saturday, August 5, and that's 67 days. If you mean a Premier League game, a game that actually counts for something, the season begins the following Saturday, August 12, and that's 74 days, or a little under 11 weeks. There is a chance, of course, that the TV networks could have Arsenal's match moved to the following Sunday or Monday.

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, since the schedule for the 2017-18 season won't be released until June 14. But, regardless of the teams involved, derbies are rarely played in August.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 94, on Friday, September 1, home to the University of Washington. A little over 3 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, as the 2017 schedule hasn't been released yet. I now know that high school football games have been scheduled in Middlesex County, New Jersey for Friday night, September 8. That's 101 days from now.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: We don't know, as the 2017-18 NHL schedule has yet to be released. The NHL season usually begins on the 2nd Friday in October, which, in 2017, would be... ugh... Friday the 13th. that's 136 days. Under 4 months.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: See the previous answer, although the 1st game isn't likely to be against either the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders or the Philadelphia Flyers.

Days until the Alex Rodriguez Contract From Hell officially runs out, and the Yankees can spend his salary on new players: 154, on October 31.

Days until the next election for Governor of New Jersey: 161, on Tuesday, November 7. A little over 5 months.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 165, on Saturday, November 11, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving high school football game: 177, on Thursday morning, November 23, at 10:00. Under 6 months, and thank God it's at home, at Jay Doyle's Green Grove, rather than at that purple shit pit on Route 9.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Pyeongchang, Korea: 255, on February 9, 2018. A little over 8 months.

Days until the next World Cup kicks off in Russia: 380, on June 14, 2018. A little over a year, or just over 12 months. Has Bruce Arena turned our chances around? Maybe, with the tournament on his soil, Vladimir Putin will tell Donald Trump to tell Bruce Arena to tank the games. Maybe not. Or maybe only if we end up playing Russia. I don't think Arena will listen. If he doesn't, I hope his life insurance is paid up, because Putin has people killed for defying him.

Days until September 2018 roster call-ups, when we can finally start to expect seeing some of those wonderful "prospects" for whom Yankee general manager Brian Cashman threw away a chance at the 2016 Playoffs: 459. Under a year and a half, or just over 15 months. Of course, we could end up seeing one or more of them sooner than that, but since most of them are at Double-A Trenton now, if that, who's kidding who? Then again, at the rate the Yankees are going now, we may not need them!

Days until the next Congressional election: 525, on November 6, 2018. Under a year and a half, or a little over 17 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Mariano Rivera: 589, on January 9, 2019. A little over a year and a half, or a little over 19 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 954, on January 8, 2020. A little over 2 1/2 years, or a little over 31 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 1,159, on July 24, 2020. A little over 3 years, or a little under 38 months.

Days until the next Presidential election: 1,621, on November 3, 2020. Under 3 1/2 years, or a little over 41 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 1,699, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 4 years, or a little under 44 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy rather than kleptocracy with plutocracy.