Field of Disasters

Shoeless Joe Jackson (played by Ray Liotta): "Hey! Is this Heaven?"

Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner): "No, it's Iowa!"

-- Field of Dreams

Major League Baseball, as an overseeing organization, does few things well. But it got last night's Field of Dreams Game right. It managed to be sentimental without being maudlin. It was a great moment for the sport, and it was a great game.

But the result, oy vey.

Fitting in with the film's subject matter, including the 1919 Chicago White Sox and their scandal, the Yankees and the current White Sox wore copies of their 1919 uniforms -- with Nike swooshes added.

Yankee starter Andrew Heaney didn't have it, allowing 7 runs in his 5 innings. Lance Lynn, a former Yankee, could have pitched in place of Heaney last night, but Brian Cashman let him go. Aaron Judge turned a 1-0 Chicago White Sox lead into a 3-1 Yankee lead with a home run in the top of the 3rd inning. But the ChiSox took the lead right back in the bottom of the 3rd. It was 7-3 after 4 innings.

Brett Gardner led off the top of the 6th with a home run. It stayed 7-4 Pale Hose going into the 9th inning. Tyler Wade led off with a single, but DJ LeMahieu and Gardner struck out. The Yankees looked finished. But Judge hit another home run to make it 7-6. There was hope. Joey Gallo drew a walk, and Giancarlo Stanton sent a long drive into the cornfield. 8-7 Yankees!

So now Zack Britton, the closer since Aroldis Chapman is on the Injured List, had to get 3 outs without allowing a run. He got the 1st. But then, Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you. Britton walked Seby Zavala. That brought Tim Anderson to the plate as the winning run, and he hit one out.

White Sox 9, Yankees 8. WP: Liam Hendriks (7-2). No save. LP: Britton (0-1).

The teams have today off -- the 3rd Friday off for the Yankees this season, the 2nd not counting the day after Opening Day. That is rare. They play again tomorrow and Sunday in Chicago.

Good Pitching Will Beat Good Hitting, Except When It Doesn't

This past Thursday, the Yankees began a home series against the Detroit Tigers. J.A. Happ started, but couldn't get out of the 5th inning. The 1st batter of the game was Jeimer Candelario, and Happ served him up a home run.

It was still 1-0 in the bottom of the 3rd, when Giancarlo Stanton tied the game with a home run. The teams traded homers in the 4th, Ronny Rodriguez for us, Gleyber Torres for them. But a Victor Martinez homer in the top of the 5th made it 5-4 Tigers, and Happ was done.

But a Detroit throwing error allowed the Yankees to tie the game in the bottom of the 5th, and a double by Stanton and a home run by Luke Voit, in the 7th, gave the Yankees a 7-5 lead.

Chad Green had gotten the Yankees through the 6th. Did Aaron Boone leave him in for the 7th? No, he brought David Robertson in. Robertson got through it 1-2-3. Did Boone leave him in for the 8th? No, he brought Zach Britton in. Britton pitched a scoreless inning. Did Boone leave him in for the 9th? No, he brought Dellin Betances in.

Three times, Boone had the chance to leave a pitcher who was pitching effectively in to continue pitching effectively. Three times, he pulled a stupid movie right out of Joe Girardi's binder. The 1st 2 times, it didn't hurt the Yankees.

The 3rd time, it did. Betances struck out the side, fanning Mikie Mahtook, Rodriguez and McCann. Unfortunately, between Mahtook and Rodriguez, he walked Nick Castellanos (Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you), and gave up home runs to Martinez and Niko Goodrum. The Yankees went down quietly in the bottom of the 9th.

Tigers 8, Yankees 7. WP: Alex Wilson (2-4). SV: Shane Greene (28). LP: Betances (4-4), although this one was clearly on Boone.

*

Again on Friday night, the Yankees scored 7 runs. This time, it was enough.

Luis Severino started, and struck out 10 batters and walked none in 6 innings. But he also allowed 3 runs on 6 hits. But the Yankees bailed him out in the bottom of the 6th, with 3 home runs, hit by Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar. It was 4-3 Yankees.

But Jonathan Holder got in trouble in the 7th, and Britton allowed the tying run before getting out of it. Britton allowed another run in the 8th. 5-4 Tigers. Given the circumstances, Britton should not have gotten credit for the win if the Yankees were to come from behind to win.

Which they did, and he got credit for the win. Gardner led off the bottom of the 8th with a double. Stanton, in a clutch situation, struck out. Hicks drew a walk, but Andujar struck out. Voit drew a walk to keep it going. Torres singled Gardner and Hicks home. Neil Walker was walked intentionally, and Austin Romine singled Torres home.

Robertson got into a little trouble in the 9th, but didn't let the Tigers score. Yankees 7, Tigers 5. WP: Britton (2-0). SV: Robertson (5). LP: Joe Jimenez (4-4).

*

Sometimes, you score 7 (or more) runs, and it's not enough. Sometimes, you score 2 (or even 1), and it is. On Saturday afternoon, Masahiro Tanaka pitched brilliantly for 7 innings, allowing just 1 run on 7 hits and 1 walk, with 6 strikeouts. Torres hit a home run, and Betances redeemed himself with a scoreless 9th. Yankees 2, Tigers 1. WP: Tanaka (10-5). SV: Betances (2). LP: Daniel Norris (0-3).

Like I said: Sometimes, you score 7 (or more) runs, and it's not enough. On Sunday afternoon, Lance Lynn had nothing. He didn't get out of the 4th inning, allowing 6 runs. Tommy Kahnle couldn't stop the bleeding, allowing a run.

Sonny Gray pitched decently in relief, allowing just 1 run in 4 innings. But Stephen Tarpley, a 25-year-old righthander from Los Angeles, wearing Number 71, made a mess of his major league debut, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in the 9th. The Yankees were already losing 8-5, but he put a comeback out of reach.

Hicks and Voit homered, and there was a comeback attempt in the 9th. But without good pitching, 7 runs wasn't nearly enough. Tigers 11, Yankees 7. WP: Matthew Boyd (9-12). No save. LP: Lynn (8-10).

Yogi Berra supposedly once said, "Good pitching will beat good hitting, and vice versa." The Yankees scored 7 runs 3 times in the series, and won only 1 of those games; but scored just 2 in the other, and won it. Good pitching beats good hitting, except when it doesn't.

Yogi also supposedly once said, "In baseball, you don't know nothin'."

So the Yankees got only a split. Next up: A Western trip. Not entirely a Pacific Coast trip: Oakland, then Seattle, then Minnesota.

Yanks Get Hosed by White Sox

The Yankees came home to open a 3-game series against the Chicago White Sox. At first, it was the "Baby Bombers," Brian Cashman's precious prospects, who came through. Cliche alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Miguel Andujar drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the 4th, and then Gleyber Torres hit his 20th home run of the season.

This gave Masahiro Tanaka a 2-0 lead. Ordinarily, when Tanaka gets out of the 1st inning without allowing any runs, that's a good sign. Not this time: He allowed 3 runs in the 6th, and another in the 7th. A.J. Cole put it out of reach in the 9th, his error leading to 2 more ChiSox runs.

White Sox 6, Yankees 2. WP: Carlos Rodon (6-3). No save. LP: Tanaka (9-5).

The Yankees rebounded on Tuesday night. The game was scoreless until the top of the 5th, when Lance Lynn allowed a run. Then the Pale Hose scored 3 more in the 6th, and it was 4-0, and it looked over.

But Andjuar took James Shields deep in the bottom of the 6th to make it 4-2. Aaron Hicks tied it in the 8th with a home run, and Neil Walker crushed one to right-center for a walkoff homer in the 9th.

Yankees 5, White Sox 4. WP: Betances (4-3). No save. LP: Dylan Covey (4-12).

The momentum from that game didn't last into last night. CC Sabathia didn't have it -- or, to be more accurate, had not quite enough of it to overcome a pathetic Yankee attack that got only 6 hits and 2 walks. The only run came on a Ronald Torreyes single in the 5th.

White Sox 4, Yankees 1. WP: Reynaldo Lopez (5-9). SV: Jace Fry (4). LP: Sabathia (7-5).

Yanks Get Lame Split in Miami

The Yankees went down to Miami for 2 Interleague games against the Marlins, now "run" by Derek Jeter. Without Giancarlo Stanton (now with the Yankees) and Christian Yelich (Milwaukee Brewers), they are not a good team. Actually, they weren't a good team with those guys, but now, they're worse.

So the Yankees should have taken both games without trying very hard.

But these are Brian Cashman's Gutless Wonders, so they didn't.

Masahiro Tanaka started the Tuesday night game, and did very well, going 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk. He should have been allowed to pitch longer by manager Aaron Boone. After all, he'd only thrown 82 pitches.

But Boone is under the Cashman Pitch Count, so he took Tanaka out, and put in Zach Britton for the 7th inning, Dellin Betances for the 8th, and Chad Green for the 9th. That worked: Between them, in 3 innings, they allowed no runs on 2 hits and 2 walks.

But you gotta score runs to win. Neil Walker singled home a run in the 4th, but that was it for regulation, and then some: The Yankees grounded into a double play in the 1st, left 2 men on in the 2nd, left a man on in the 3rd, left the bases loaded in the 4th, squandered a leadoff double by Stanton in the 5th, went down 1-2-3 in the 6th, left a man on in the 7th, went down 1-2-3 in the 8th, and wasted a leadoff walk by Walker in the 9th. Cliche alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Except the Yankees didn't close in for the kill.

The game went to extra innings. The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the 10th, and Jonathan Holder struck out the side. The Yankees left a man on in the 11th, and A.J. Cole loaded the bases with nobody out, but got out of the jam.

Finally, in the top of the 12th, Kyle Higashioka led off with a single to left. Brett Gardner drew a walk. 2 men on, nobody out, his former home park, perfect time for Stanton to come through. No, he struck out. But Aaron Hicks got hit by a pitch to loaded the bases, and Miguel Andujar's sacrifice fly to left scored Higgy to make it 2-1 Yanks. The Yankees got no more runs, and you could feel that those non-runs might have meant something.

They almost did. Aroldis Chapman triggered the cliche alert by walking the leadoff man. Boone immediately took out his closer for Tommy Kahnle, and Yankee Fans all over the world had the same thought: "Are you nuts?" As it turned out, the answer was, "No." Kahnle got out of it.

Yankees 2, Marlins 1. WP: Cole (4-1). SV: Kahnle (1). LP: Javy Guerra (1-1).

*

The Yankees weren't so lucky on Wednesday night. A double by Walker opened the scoring in the 4th, and Walker struck again with a sac fly in the 6th. Thus far, Lance Lynn had a shutout going. But he fell apart in the bottom of the 6th, allowing 4 runs, and setting Kahnle up to allow another.

And, wouldn't you know it, a later Marlin run scored on a single by former Yankee All-Star 2nd baseman Starlin Castro, whom we traded to the Fish to get Stanton.

Marlins 9, Yankees 3. WP: Jarlin Garcia (2-2). No save. LP: Lynn (8-9).

It was the lamest of splits against a lame team. Series like this are why the Yankees aren't winning the Division this season.

Yankees Unload Lumber, Sweep Those Pesky Blue Jays

Those pesky Toronto Blue Jays came into Yankee Stadium for a 3-game weekend series. Lance Lynn started the Friday night game, but allowed 4 runs in the 1st inning, and didn't get past the 4th. Between them, though, Chad Green and David Robertson pitched 3 shutout innings.

The Yankees answered that 4-run Jays 1st inning with 2 runs of their own, and then took the lead on Neil Walker's 3-run home run in the 5th. The Jays tied it in the top of the 5th. Then came the bottom of the 5th. Cliche alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Aaron Hicks provided one, Miguel Andujar singled him over to 3rd, and Gleyber Torres grounded into a force play that got Hicks home and gave the Yankees the lead.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run in the bottom of the 7th to make it Yankees 7, Blue Jays 5. But after one more at-bat, a strikeout by Hicks, it started to rain. Given how far along the game was, the umpires called it, and the current score became official and final. WP: Green (6-2). SV: Robertson (3). LP: Joe Biagini (1-7).

*

Five runs wasn't enough for the Jays on Friday night. Six wasn't close to enough for them yesterday afternoon. Luis Severino wasn't great, but he didn't have to be, as the Yankees broke out the lumber. Didi Gregorius homered in the 1st inning, Stanton did it in the 4th, Andjuar in the 5th, and Greg Bird in the 8th.

Yankees 11, Blue Jays 6. WP: Severino (16-6). No save. LP: Sean Reid-Foley (0-2).

*

The Yankees kept pounding this afternoon, and got the sweep. Bird added another homer in the 1st inning, a grand slam. That was all the cushion that J.A. Happ would need, as he got into the 6th inning, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, just 1 walk, and 8 strikeouts. Ronald Torreyes contributed 3 hits, Torres 2. In addition to Bird's 4 with 1 swing of the bat, Andujar and Kyle Higashioka each had 2 RBIs.

Yankees 10, Blue Jays 2. WP: Happ (14-6). No save. LP: Ryan Borucki (2-3).

Still, the Yankees are 9 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League Eastern Division. There are 6 weeks to go. We are not winning the Division, and we will have to win a single win-or-go-home game just to set up an AL Division Series matchup with the Sox. Add winning that, and it's a tall order for the Yankees to meet what should have been the minimum requirement for the season: Equaling last season.

Yanks Take 3 of 4 From Texas, But Don't Get Your Hopes Up

After a Sox-filled roadtrip, getting humiliated by the Red ones in Boston and taking their frustrations out on the White ones in Chicago, the Yankees came home to play 4 against the Texas Rangers.

Didi Gregorius drew a walk in the 1st inning, and Aaron Hicks hit a home run. Miguel Andujar (2 runs) and Neil Walker (solo) had back-to-back jacks in the 4th, to make it 5-1 Yankees. Giancarlo Stanton added a homer in the 5th, and Walker hit another in the 6th.

That was more than enough for J.A. Happ, who wwent 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk, striking out 9. David Robertson pitched a scoreless 7th, and Dellin Betances a perfect 8th. Aroldis Chapman hadn't pitched at all in the Chicago series, so they had to give him some work. Sometimes, that doesn't work out well: He's been known to take some big leads and make them shaky. Not this time: He walked 2, but allowed no hits and no runs.

Yankees 7, Rangers 3. WP: Happ (12-6). SV: None. For the 4th straight game, the Yankees won without a save. LP: Ariel Jurado (2-2).

*

The Yankees got 7 runs on Thursday night, and it was plenty. They also got 7 runs on Friday night, and it wasn't nearly enough. Brett Gardner hit a home run in the 5th inning, and Austin Romine in the 7th. Romine and Gregorius each got 3 hits.

But the pitching wasn't there. Masahiro Tanaka allowed 6 runs in 5 innings, A.J. Cole 4 in 2, Chad Green 2 in 1. Only Zach Britton, in the 9th, emerged unscathed.

Rangers 12, Yankees 7. WP: Mike Minor (9-6). No save. LP: Tanaka (9-3).

*

The Saturday afternoon game looked like it was going to go the Yankees' way. They got 2 runs in the 1st inning, including another homer by the on-fire Stanton. Lance Lynn had pitched very well, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 8.

And then, Aaron Boone pulled a blunder right out of Joe Girardi's binder. Lynn had thrown 99 pitches. A smart manager would have left him in, but Boone either isn't smart, or (this may be more likely) is, as Girardi may have been, under orders from Brian Cashman, who isn't smart, to adhere to a pitch limit.

So David Robertson was brought in, and he pitched a perfect 6th. Naturally, a smart manager would leave him in. Boone didn't do this. He brought Britton in to pitch the 7th, and then brought Betances in to finish the inning. Between them, they blew it, allowing the game to be tied.

But Andujar hit a home run in the bottom of the 7th. Betances shook off his bad 7th to pitch a perfect 8th. Chapman loaded the bases in the 9th, but got out of it.

Yankees 5, Rangers 3. WP: Betances (3-3). SV: Chapman (30). LP: Chris Martin (1-3).

*

Stanton kept his hot streak going in the Sunday afternoon game, hitting one out in the 1st inning. Other than that, it was a tight pitching duel between CC Sabathia and Martin Perez, until the bottom of the 5th. With 1 out, Romine beat out an infield single. Gardner doubled, and Hicks singled Romine home. Stanton singled. Andujar got Hicks home on a groundout. And Gregorious hit a home run.

Sonny Gray almost blew it in the 7th, but Jonathan Holder got through the 8th and the 9th with no runs. Yankees 7, Rangers 2. WP: Sabathia (7-4). No save. LP: Perez (2-5).

I often say that, as long as the number of weeks left in the sregular eason exceeds the number of games behind a baseball team is, they have a chance. There are now 7 weeks to go, and the Yankees trail the Boston Red Sox by 9 1/2 games in the American League Eastern Division, albeit by "only" 8 in the all-important loss column. 8 > 7, so the Yankees don't have a very good chance.

They do, however, remain in the driver's seat to host the AL Wild Card game. But, given that this is the most gutless bunch of Yankees in the last 100 years -- since before Babe Ruth arrived -- I don't like their chances in the Wild Card Game.

Then again, I didn't like said chances last season, and they won. And they won the AL Division Series, too. But they still looked really bad in losing the AL Championship Series.

And, let's not forget: If the Yankees do win the Wild Card Game, they advance to the ALDS, where they would give up home-field advantage to the team with the AL's best record. And that will probably be the Red Sox.

So don't get your hopes up.

Take 3 From the White Sox and Call Me In the Morning

After their worst regular-season series in memory, a 4-game debacle at Fenway Park, the Yankees went out to Chicago to play the White Sox, who are having an awful season.

The South Siders turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. New acquisition Lance Lynn pitched beautifully, going 7 1/3rd innings, allowing no runs, 2 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 9. The Yankees backed up him with 2 runs in the 4th inning, 2 more in the 5th, and 3 in the 8th thanks to home runs by Gleyber Torres and Neil Walker.

A.J. Cole finished what turned out to be a 3-hit shutout. WP: Lynn (8-8). No save. LP: Dylan Covey (4-8).

The Tuesday night game was a bit tougher. CC Sabathia got into the 6th inning, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 3 hits, striking out 12. And then Aaron Boone turned to Joe Girardi's binder, and played musical chairs with the bullpen: Chad Green got the last out in the 6th, David Robertson pitched a perfect 7th, Dellin Betances struck out the side in a perfect 8th, and Jonathan Holder pitched a perfect 9th. But except for a Miguel Andujar homer leading off the top of the 7th, the Yankees couldn't score, either.

So it went to extra innings. In the top of the 10th, Brett Gardner drew a walk, and Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run, to make it 3-1 New York. And then this turned into a game that turned the Yankee season as we know it on its head. Zach Britton blew the save by hitting Omar Navarez with a pitcher and giving up a homer to Jose Abreu.

It turned out to be Sonny Gray, who can't seem to beat anybody but the Baltimore Orioles, who was the winning pitcher. He pitched a perfect 11th inning, and worked in and out of trouble in the 12th. With 1 out in the top of the 13th, Didi Gregorius drew a walk, Luke Voit single, and Andujar singled Didi home. Gray went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 13th, and it was over.

Yankees 4, White Sox 3. WP: Gray (9-8). No save. LP: Luis Avilan (2-1).

Luis Severino got into immediate trouble in the Wednesday night game, allowing 2 runs in the 1st inning. But the Yankees not only bailed him out, they blew up the jail.

Cliche alert: Walks can kill you,, especially the leadoff variety. Torres led off the top of the 2nd with a walk. Andujar struck out, but Walker singled, Austin Romine singled Torres home, and Shane Robinson singled Walker home. Gardner was hit by a pitch. Bases loaded. And Stanton hit a screamer down the right field line for a grand slam. 6-2 Yankees.

Aaron Hicks added a home run in the 5th, which the White Sox answered, but other than that Severino cruised until the 7th. Green pitched a scoreless 8th, Holder a scoreless 9th. Yankees 7, White Sox 3. WP: Severino (15-5). A 3-game sweep with no saves, and I have no idea how long it's been since the Yankees did that. LP: Lucas Giolito (7-9).

Not a Happy Homecoming For Phelps In St. Louis

As I said, if the Yankees can just get decent, if not great, pitching performances from the likes of David Phelps until the injured starters come back, and score enough runs to win those games, we'll be all right.

Phelps had been delivering lately. Last night, against the St. Louis Cardinals, the team he grew up near and cheered as a boy, he did not. It should be noted that 2 errors resulted in 2 unearned runs. Still, he allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings, so it was not a good performance.

Not that it would have mattered how well he did, because the Yankees just didn't hit. Lance Lynn started for the Cards. He's already a proven starter in the major leagues, having gone 39-19 since the start of the 2012 season; nevertheless, due to Interleague play, he's the proverbial "pitcher the Yankees have never seen before." You know what that means: Loss. He went the distance and pitched a shutout. (UPDATE: He would later pitch for the Yankees.)

Brian McCann doubled to lead off the 2nd inning, and Brian Roberts doubled in the 5th, but neither got any further. McCann and Derek Jeter walked in the 4th, but a double play prevented a run. Brett Gardner singled and Jacoby Ellsbury doubled in the 6th, but neither could be brought around to score. Ellsbury and Brendan Ryan singled in the 8th, but no dice.

That was it: 8 baserunners, none got to 3rd base. Cardinals 6, Yankees 0. WP: Lynn (6-2). Complete game, so no save. LP: Phelps (1-2).

The series concludes, just a few minutes away as I post this. Hiroki Kuroda starts for the Yankees, Shelby Miller for the Cards.

Tomorrow, the Yankees have an off day, then come home for a 6-game stand against the Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics.