Maybe Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back

I was all set to write the season-ender posts. Not just the recap of the game on which the Yankees, were eliminated from the American League Division Series by those pesky Toronto Blue Jays, but also the "You Can't Blame" posts.

You know. The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Aaron Judge for the Yankees Losing. The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Aaron Boone for the Yankees Losing. The Top 5 Reasons Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Is a Fat Pig. (Reason Number 1: His real hero isn't his father, it's David Ortiz.) The annual "These guys were a bunch of gutless wonders" post. The annual "Brian Cashman has got to go" post.

It was all going to happen, and it was all going to be necessary.

Because Carlos Rodón had nothing last night. Guerrero hit another no-doubt-about-er off him in the 1st inning, putting him in a 2-0 hole. The Yankees pulled a run back in the bottom of the 1st, but a double, an intentional walk to Guerrero, a lineout, and 3 straight singles meant a 6-1 Toronto lead. This thing was headed for another blowout, to forge an ugly elimination game.

Then the Yankees did something that I didn't expect, something few people expected: They came from behind to win. They scored 2 in the bottom of the 3rd, on an Aaron Judge double and a Giancarlo Stanton sacrifice fly.

In the 4th, Austin Wells reached on an error, Trent Grisham drew a walk, and Judge hit one down the left-field line. Some of us thought of Carlton Fisk's World Series homer, 50 years to the month earlier (I sure did), and some of us may even have copied him by waving our arms to keep it fair (I didn't). As with Fisk's homer, it hit the foul pole. Unlike Fisk's homer, which broke a 6-6 tie to win the game, this one made a 6-6 tie.

Jazz Chisholm put the Yankees on top in the 5th, with a homer deep into the right-center Bleachers. This was followed by an Amed Rosario double and a Wells single. Ben Rice hit a sacrifice fly in the 6th, to make it 9-6.

The bullpen made that hold up: Over the last 6 2/3rds innings, Fernando Cruz, Camilo Doval, Tim Hill (credited as the winning pitcher), Devin Williams and David Bednar allowed no runs on 3 hits and no walks. Williams, arguably the most damaging Yankee player of the season, actually got Vlad to fly out. If he can't get a hit off Devin Williams, how great can he be? And Bednar got Vlad to ground to 3rd for the last out.

From the 1st to the 5th inning, the Yankees' scoreline was 10232. That ZIP Code is not in use, but if it were, it would be in Manhattan.

Last night, the Blue Jays came in as birds of prey. They left as clay pigeons. Or, to put it another way, to paraphrase Yankee Fan Bruce Springsteen: They blew up the chicken men in The Bronx last night.

Tonight, at 7:00, weather permitting, Game 4 will be played at Yankee Stadium II. Cam Schlittler will start against Louis Varland. Varland has appeared in 77 games this season, making exactly 1 start. It looks like the Jays are going with a "bullpen game." Hopefully, we can get to them early and often.  Hopefully, they can do it again tonight, and then go back over the border, get a good Game 5 from Max Fried, and not only blow up the chicken men in Toronto that night, but blow up their house, too.

Metaphorically speaking, of course, although that is one ugly stadium that the Jays play in.

As Bruce said: "Everything dies, baby, that's a fact. But maybe everything that dies someday comes back."

Yanks' Backs to the Wall, and the Wall Is Crumbling

Not that I'm happy about it, but I called it: A pitcher that the Yankees had never seen before, in an afternoon game, on Fox? That combination usually means they're going to lose.

Even having Max Fried on the mound wasn't going to help the Yankees last night, in Game 2 of their American League Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. He was taken out after not getting either of the 1st 2 batters out in the bottom of the 4th, and the Jays already up, 5-0.

Aaron Boone brought Will Warren in to pitch. At first glance, that might have been the best move: The game was probably already lost, so why bring in a good pitcher, and tax the bullpen any more than you have to? Warren pitched like he usually does: Badly. Indeed, he was a big reason why the Yankees lost the AL Eastern Division title by 1 game. He walked a batter, and the bases were loaded with nobody out.

He got an out, but then Vladimir Guerrero Jr. came up. I think we all knew that a grand slam was coming, and when Guerrero swung, for a moment, the cameras didn't switch to behind home plate to watch the ball's flight and where it landed. I was reminded of the Pennant-winning home run hit by Jack Clark for the St. Louis Cardinals, 40 years ago. That was probably the last time I didn't need to see the view of the outfield to know that this was an epic home run. 9-0.

Boone left Warren out there for a long time. Might as well. It was 12-0 after 5 innings, before an Aaron Judge single and a Cody Bellinger home run put the Yankees on the board. Trey Yesavage  was taken out right before that, having allowed no hits, a walk and an error, striking out 11. It was a companion piece to Cam Schlittler's performance in the clincher against the Red Sox. As in that case, it appears that a star has been born.

The Jays made it 13-2 in the bottom of the 6th. Thus far, in 15 innings in this series, the Yankees had been outscored 25-3. This is as pathetic as the Yankees have ever looked in postseason play. Then again, they were still 1 of the last 8 teams left. There are 22 other teams that would have loved to have been in that position, including the Red Sox, the Mets, and the Houston Astros.

And then, something funny happened. The Yankees scored 5 runs in the top of the 7th. And, with 2 out in the top of the 9th, it was 13-7, and there were 2 men on, and Giancarlo Stanton was at the plate. Suddenly, completing the comeback was not out of the question. Of course, Stanton struck out on 3 swings, and the game was over.

Now, the Yankees have their backs to the wall and the wall is crumbling. They will have to win Games 3 and 4 in New York, and then take Game 5 in Toronto, where they have been totally embarrassed in the 1st 2 games. As they say in medical dramas, "I'm not gonna lie to you, it doesn't look good."

Maybe Yankee Fans will owe Guerrero their thanks, because that game might finally be what gets Aaron Boone, and possibly also Brian Cashman, fired.  If that turns out to be the case, it will have been worth going through these last 2 games.

Game 3 is tomorrow night at Yankee Stadium II. Carlos Rodón starts for us, Shane Bieber for them. It's win, or go home.

No Clincher, No Record vs. Jays Last Night

First priority for the Yankees last night: Win, and clinch the American League Eastern Division. Second priority: A 61st home run for Aaron Judge. They didn't get either one.

Luis Severino started, and had trouble, pitching only 4 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. The bullpen was strong, however: Between them, Lou Trivino, Scott Effross, Ron Marinaccio, Jonathan Loáisiga and Clay Holmes went 5 scoreless innings.

But the bats went quiet again. The Yankees got right to it: Judge led off the game with a single, followed by a double by Anthony Rizzo and a sacrifice fly by Gleyber Torres. In the 2nd inning, Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a home run, his 4th of the season. But, after that, from innings 2 through 10, they got just 3 singles, 3 walks, and a hit batsman.

Judge drew an unofficially unintentional walk in the 3rd, struck out in the 6th, struck out again in the 8th, and was officially intentionally walked in the 10th. That loaded the bases, and set up the play at any base, and Rizzo grounded out.

Clarke Schmidt was brought in to pitch the bottom of the 10th, with Cavan Biggio on 2nd base as the ghost runner. He had 3 tough batters to start the inning. He struck George Springer out, and got Bo Bichette, son of Dante Bichette, to fly out. But Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled Biggio, son of Craig Biggio, home.

Blue Jays 3, Yankees 2. WP: Tim Mayza (8-0). No save. LP: Schmidt (5-5).

The Yankees' Magic Number to clinch the AL East remains 2. They can still clinch the Division with a win in either of the 2 remaining games of the series. Tonight, Jameson Taillon starts against José Berríos. Let's get both the clincher and the 61st homer over with tonight!

Sevy & IFK Lead a Classic Yankee Win

Now this game, the finale of the 4-game home series against the Toronto Blue Jays, felt like a classic Yankee win. The Yankees did not try to bomb the opposition out of the yard. Instead, they got the runs when they needed to, and got the pitching.

Luis Severino pitched 5 shutout innings, ending with a strikeout of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who had hit 3 home runs off Yankee pitching the night before. Lucas Luetge pitched a scoreless 6th. Miguel Castro got 2 outs in the 7th. Clay Holmes got the last out in the 7th, and the 1st out in the 8th. Chad Green got the last 2 outs in the 8th. All this pitching led to Vlad being struck out 4 times, for the 1st time in his exciting young career.

With 1 out in the 3rd inning, Isiah Kiner-Falefa began his Yankee jersey with a single to left, and advanced to 2nd on a balk. Jose Trevino singled him home. With 2 out in the 5th, IKF doubled, and was singled home by Trevino. Judge led off the 8th with a double, and scored on groundouts by Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton.

Aroldis Chapman was sent out to pitch the 9th inning. But he had nothing: Walk, walk, wild pitch, walk. Aaron Boone got him out of there, and brought in Michael King: Strikeout, double play.

Yankees 3, Blue Jays 0. WP: Severino (1-0). SV: King (1). LP: Kevin Gausman (0-1).

Their 1st homestead of the season over, the Yankees now head down to Baltimore to face the Orioles.