Yankees Inconsistent with Lumber & Bullpen, But Hanging On

Is it me? It is the fact that I'm not trying to do a writeup after every game, and sticking to once a week, the reason the Yankees haven't gotten off to the kind of slow start they got off to these last few years?

I know what you're thinking: "Come on, Uncle Mike, the world does not revolve around you. Didn't your parents ever teach you that?"

Yes, they did. But it's not true. As far as any of us knows, the world only exists through our own perceptions. Self-preservation, and thus selfishness, is a default position. Or else Donald Trump never would have become President.

Cliché Alert: But I digress.

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So the Yankees played 4 games at home against the Oakland Athletics, then 3 on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers. Nothing wrong with that, to me. I can remember when that was no big deal. But, since 1994, the Brewers have no longer been in the same Division as the Yankees. Since 1998, they have not even been in the same League.

At least, next season, they'll still be in the same city. It looks like the A's won't.

The Monday game -- an afternoon game, being that it was Passover -- was a great pitcher's duel. Carlos Rodón went 7 innings, allowing just 1 hit and 2 walks. For the A's, former Yankees JP Sears -- like CC Sabathia, he doesn't use periods or a space -- went 6 innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk. After 8 innings, the game was scoreless.

But to start the top of the 9th, Victor González allowed a single and a home run. Mason Miller struck out the side in the bottom of the 9th: Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto, and Aaron Judge. Those were the bats a Yankee Fan wants in the bottom of the 9th, but they all struck out. A's 2, Yankees 0.

And when Marcus Stroman allowed a run in the top of the 1st inning on Tuesday night, recent fears returned. But the Yankees gave him 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st, including a 2-run homer by Anthony Rizzo. Stroman gave up a pair of solo homers, but the bullpen tossed 3 2/3rds innings of hitless, 1-walk relief. Yankees 4, A's 3.

Judge gave Clarke Schmidt a 2-run homer in the 1st on Wednesday night. Rizzo and Soto added homers. Rizzo's was the 300th of his career. Schmidt wasn't great, but he was good enough. Yankees 7, A's 3.

Nestor Cortés fell victim to "onebadinningitis" on Thursday night. In his case, he allowed 3 runs in the top of the 4th. That was all the A's got, but that was all they needed: Aside from a solo homer by Jose Trevino, the Yankees wasted a bunch of opportunities, leaving 11 men on base. A's 3, Yankees 1.

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On to Milwaukee. Luis Gil had 4 fine starts to begin the season. His 5th start, in the Friday night game, was a bad one, allowing 5 runs in 5 innings. But the Yankees hit well, too: Soto, Alex Verdugo, and Trent Grisham, who came over in the Soto trade and played center field that night, hit home runs.

The game went to extra innings, and each team scored a run in the 10th. Michael Tomkin, a newly-acquired former Met, allowed a run in the bottom of the 11th, and the Brewers won, 7-6.

The Yankees made the Brewers pay dearly for that. Twice. Rodón pitched well on Saturday, while the Yankees got homers from Judge, Rizzo, Verdugo and Giancarlo Stanton. Verdugo had 4 RBIs, and Stanton and Gleyber Torres each had 3. Yankees 15, Brewers 3.

The Yankees used 6 pitchers yesterday, starting with Stroman, who, again, did not pitch well. He was succeeded by Ron Marinaccio, making only his 6th appearance of the season. But, the way the Yankee runs came, he ended up as the winning pitcher.

The Yankees unloaded the lumber again, including 7 runs in the top of the 6th inning. Judge, Rizzo and Volpe homered. Judge's season-beginning slump seems to be over. Yankees 15, Brewers 5.

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We are 18 percent of the way through the season -- a little over 1/6th. The Yankees are 19-10, one game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Eastern Division, 3 ahead of the Boston Red Sox, 5 ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays, and 6 ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays. In the all-important loss column, they are tied with the O's, 3 ahead of the Sox, 5 ahead of the Jays, and 6 ahead of the Rays.

The only team in the AL with a better record is the Cleveland Guardians, 19-9. The only National League team with a better record is the Atlanta Braves, 19-7. In case anyone is interested, the Mets are 14-13, counting yesterday's extra-inning win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

When the Yankees score at least 3 runs, they are 19-3. When they don't, they are 0-7. However, that 19-3 includes a game where they scored 6 and another where they scored 7, and in each case lost in extra innings. In extra-inning games, they are 1-3. This suggests that they simply need to step up and score enough runs, but also that they still need to improve their bullpen. That kind of inconsistency, with both the lumber and the bullpen, may hurt them at some point.

This has still been accomplished without Gerrit Cole, DJ LeMahieu and Jonathan Loáisiga, all injured.

The roadtrip continues tonight, against the Baltimore Orioles. Clarke Schmidt starts against Grayson Rodriguez. Huh? Those two names don't go together!

Reason for Cautious Optimism

Another week, another reason for cautious optimism for the 2024 Yankees.

They continued a roadtrip with a 12-4 record, and took on the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. Luis Gil allowed 3 runs in 5 innings. He struck out 6, but walked 7. The Yankees only got 4 hits, and lost, 3-1.

The next night, Carlos Rodón only got through 4 innings, and reliever Luke Weaver put the Yankees further behind. Alex Verdugo got 2 hits, but the rest of the team, combined, only got 4. They stranded a runner on 3rd in the top of the 9th, and lost, 5-4.

The Yankees now had a 3-game losing streak. It was time to step up, show some character, and let the fans know that this was a different team from the one of the last few years.

At first, it didn't look like it would happen. Marcus Stroman allowed 2 runs in the 2nd inning. They were down 4-1 after 7 innings, and it was the kind of moment when a fan wondered if the season was now going down the drain.

But in the 8th, Juan Soto hit a home run. Giancarlo Stanton led off the 9th with a tremendous home run, to make it 4-3. Gleyber Torres singled, and Verdugo doubled.

Oswaldo Cabrera grounded out, and the runners couldn't advance. But Jose Trevino singled Torres home, and the game was tied. Anthony Volpe popped up, but Soto drew a walk, and Aaron Judge singled Verdugo and Trevino home. 

Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless bottom of the 9th, and the Yankees salvaged the last game of the series, 6-4. Victor González, who got the last out in the 8th, was the winning pitcher.

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They came home to face the Tampa Bay Rays. Clarke Schmidt allowed just 1 run over 5 1/3rd innings, but the Yankees were still down 1-0 going to the bottom of the 7th. It was another moment to find your inner Yankee.

They found it -- with help. Two errors, a single by Volpe, and a home run by Soto meant 5 runs. Ian Hamilton allowed 2 runs in the 8th, but Holmes got out of a jam in the 9th, and the Yankees won, 5-3.

The Saturday game followed an on-field ceremony honoring broadcaster John Sterling, retiring after 36 years with the team.

It was a pitchers' duel. Nestor Cortés pitched 7 innings of shutout ball, but the Yankees only got 4 hits all game. It went to extra innings scoreless, and a combination of the ghost runner and Caleb Ferguson's shakiness gave the Rays a 2-0 win in 10 innings. 

Yesterday, Gil pitched into the 6th inning, allowing 1 run, unearned, on 2 hits, although he walked 3. He struck out 9.

The Yankees got an RBI single from Anthony Rizzo in the 1st inning, followed in the 5th by 3 straight walks by Stanton, Rizzo and Torres -- and think of the lack of control it takes to walk all of those in a row -- and 3 straight RBI singles by Verdugo, Trevino and Cabrera.

Weaver was fine in relief of Gil, but Dennis Santana allowed 3 runs in the 8th. In the 9th, González got the 1st 2 outs, but walked Randy Arozarena, putting the tying run on base.

Harold Ramirez was sent up to pinch-hit. He's a right-handed hitter with a good record against lefthanded pitchers, like González. It was beginning to look like one of those games, especially after he hit a line drive up the middle that González couldn't field.

But González, showing excellent awareness, got to the ball, and wisely tossed it underhanded to 1st base. Although Ramirez slid, the ball got into Rizzo's glove first. Ballgame over. Yankees 5, Rays 4.

Someone online said that last year's Yankees would have lost that game. I'll take it further than that: Last year's Yankees would have e lost all 6 of these games.

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Nevertheless, the Yankees finished the week at 15-7, in 1st place in the American League Eastern Division, half a game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles.

This has been done without Gerrit Cole, DJ LeMahieu or Jonathan Loáisiga. It's been done with Aaron Judge batting .183, Torres batting .200, Stanton batting .227, Rizzo batting .235, and catchers Trevino and Austin Wells batting a combined .171.

And it's been done with a few good relievers, but, as yet, no single closer.

Today, the Yankees start a 4-game series against the Oakland Athletics. Rodón starts against former Yankee JP Sears. It's an afternoon game, because tonight is the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover.

In all likelihood, it will be the last visit of the A's to Yankee Stadium as an Oakland team. Their current plan is to leave the Oakland Coliseum after this season, play 3 seasons in Sacramento, and then move to a retractable-roof stadium in Las Vegas for 2028.