Yankees Restore Hope vs. Red Sox

If Gerrit Cole, at home, couldn't beat the Boston Red Sox, what hope did the Yankees have for winning a game in this series?

"Even in the darkest times, hope cuts through. Hope is the light that lifts us out of the darkness."

-- Superman (Brandon Routh), in the TV version of DC Comics' Crisis On Infinite Earths

Domingo Germán started for the Yankees. He's no superhero, but he gave the Yankees what they needed from the mound: He pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5.

At first, it looked like the Yankee bats would waste that performance, as they didn't produce a single baserunner over the 1st 3 innings. But Gleyber Torres, who has been heating up lately, led off the bottom of the 4th with a home run. Rafael Devers did the same in the top of the 6th to tie it, but Willie Calhoun restored the Yankee lead with a home run in the bottom of the 6th. A Kyle Higashioka single brought Isaiah Kiner-Falefa home in the 7th.

The bullpen did its job, with Wandy Peralta, Tommy Kahnle and Clay Holmes each pitching a scoreless inning. Yankees 3, Red Sox 1. WP: Germán (4-3). SV: Holmes (8). LP: Tanner Houck (3-6). Hope, yet again, has been restored. 

The series concludes tonight, a 7:00 start on ESPN. Clarke Schmidt is scheduled to pitch for the Good Guys, and Brayan Bello for The Scum.

Yankees Get Screwed In the Smog In Doubleheader Opener

The dangerous air quality from the smog caused by the Quebec wildfire postponed last night's home games for the Yankees, the New York Liberty (even though they play home games indoors, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn), Gotham FC (the National Women's Soccer League team, formerly Sky Blue FC, who play at Red Bull Arena); and, one metro area over, the Philadelphia Phillies. 

The Yankees announced a single-admission doubleheader with the Chicago White Sox for today, and the improved air quality has made it possible. Things are supposed to be considerably better tomorrow and Saturday. 

Still, Governor Kathy Hochul, with the final word over the New York Racing Association, and thus over Belmont Park, is considering tbe possibility of postponing the Belmont Stakes, set for Saturday.

Luis Severino started today's opener for the Yankees. In the top of the 2nd inning, he gave up a home run to Jake Burger (not to be confused with Yankee outfielder Jake Bauers), and the South Siders had a 2-0 lead.

The Yankees tied it in the bottom of the 2nd with a triple by Scranton callup Billy McKinney, a double by Kyle Higashioka, and a single by Willie Calhoun. But Severino gave up a pair of solo homers in the 3rd, to Luis Robert Jr. and Yoan Moncada, to make it 4-2 Chicago.

Higashioka reached on an error in the 4th, and Calhoun hit a home run to tie the game. The Yankees took the lead in the 5th, when Bauers doubled and Oswaldo Cabrera singled him home. But Michael King, who'd been really good lately, gave up a 2-run homer to Eloy Jiménez in the 7th, and it was 6-5 Pale Hose.

In the bottom of the 9th, Josh Donaldson drew a leadoff walk, and was removed for pinch-runner Anthony Volpe. Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a grounder that was mishandled by 2nd baseman Romy González, putting the tying run on 2nd and the winning run on 1st with nobody out. Gleyber Torres hit a drive down the right field line, but it was just 8 feet foul. He then popped up.

Anthony Rizzo grounded into a double play to end the game. But Aaron Boone challenged the call, and White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson's foot was definitely off 2nd base when he got the throw from González. So it should have been tying run on 3rd, winning run on 2nd with 2 outs. The umpires lied, and called IKF out, anyway.

Now, there's no guarantee that the next batter would have gotten a hit. But it was Giancarlo Stanton, and how nice would it have been for Yankee Fans, dealing with this smog for 3 days, to get a walkoff home run? Or at least a hit.

But the umpires lied. And so, White Sox 6, Yankees 5. WP: Gregory Santos (2-0). SV: Kendall Graveman (6). LP: King (1-2).

The nightcap starts half an hour later. Randy Vásquez will start for the Yankees, Mike Clevinger for the ChiSox.

Clarke Schmidt Was Not the Problem: Not Hitting Was

Just a couple of weeks ago, I could not have imagined that letting Clarke Schmidt continue to pitch would have been a good thing for the Yankees. Well, last night, against the Baltimore Orioles, it would have been. It didn't matter, though: They didn't hit.

Aaron Boone let Schmidt pitch 5 innings, in which he allowed 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks. But that added up to 97 pitches, and Boone didn't dare defy Brian Cashman and let Schmidt pitch more. All bow down before the Holy Pitch Count.

So Nick Ramirez was brought in to start the 6th, and he pitched to the minimum 3 batters: Single, flyout, error. Boone brought in Jimmy Cordero, who got a double play. He only pitched to 2 batters in the 7th, with a runner reaching on another error. Wandy Peralta was brought in, and in the 8th, he gave up 2 walks and a double.

That put the game out of reach, because, as I said, the Yankees didn't hit. They wasted a leadoff single with a double play in the 1st inning, a walk with 1 out in the 3rd, 2 walks in the 4th, a walk with 1 out in the 5th, and another a leadoff single with a double play in the 7th.

Walks, especially the leadoff variety? Just as they can "kill you," they can "give you new life." Aaron Judge drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the 9th. Anthony Rizzo grounded out, but that moved Judge to 2nd. Harrison Bader struck out. Willie Calhoun doubled Judge home. There was hope: Rookie sensation Anthony Volpe was the batter. He certainly tried: He hit a drive to deep center field. But a great catch by Oriole center fielder Ryan McKenna ended the game.

It should be noted that Edwin Moscos, the home plate umpire, was squeezing Yankee pitchers all night. He wouldn't give us pitches that were clearly on the edge of the strike zone. Boone didn't like that, and yelled at him from the dugout. He threw Boone out of the game, Boone's 4th ejection of the season, and his 2nd in the last 4 games. During the argument, Boone spit on Moscos -- or so Moscos claimed. It was clearly an accident: It's not the sort of thing that Boone does.

Sometimes, a manager will get himself thrown out to throw a charge into his team. If that was Boone's idea, it didn't work: Orioles 3, Yankees 1. WP: Kyle Gibson (6-3). SV: Yennier Cano (4). LP: Schmidt (2-5). The Yankees are now 30-22, 7 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division, and in the 5th AL Playoff slot.

The San Diego Padres now come into Yankee Stadium for 3 games. One of the preseason favorites due to their high spending, it hasn't worked out too well for them so far. They are 23-27, 7 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Western Division, and 2 games out of the last NL Playoff slot. They need this series more than we do, so they may be playing hungry. Joe Musgrove, hero of their Playoff win over the Mets last season, starts for them tonight. For us, Randy Vásquez, a 24-year-old Dominican, will start, making his major league debut.

"Opener Game" Works, Barely, Yanks Beat Jays

When your favorite baseball team goes on the road, and starts a new series against a known good team, and jumps out to a 7-0 lead, that feels good. You certainly don't think they're going to blow it.

Last night, the Yankees almost did. Say this for them: They do love their drama.

Aaron Boone decided to go with an "opener game," starting reliever Jimmy Cordero, and then moving to Jhony Brito, who has usually filled this hole of the rotation caused by injuries to Yankee starters. Cordero pitched the 1st 2 innings, and didn't allow a hit. Clearly, Boone didn't think Cordero was going to pitch a no-hitter, so he brought Brito in, on schedule. From the 3rd through the 7th inning, Brito was just fine, also allowing no runs and no walks, although 3 hits.

Pitching like that deserves run support. It was provided early, with Aaron Judge and Willie Calhoun hitting 1st-inning home runs to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. The Yankees tacked on 2 more runs in the 4th inning, another in the 6th, and Judge homered again in the 7th. The Blue Jays made a big deal about "renovations" to the Rogers Centre in the off-season. If, like the Baltimore Orioles pushing the left-field fence back at Camden Yards, it was designed to make it harder for the Yankees to hit home runs there, it didn't work last night.

Boone let Brito keep pitching into the 8th. Ordinarily, I would encourage this. And if you want to find out whether he can pitch longer than he has so far, this was the time to do it.

But there's a reason I tend to call the Toronto ballclub "those pesky Blue Jays." No matter how good or bad they are, and no matter how good or bad the Yankees are, the Jays always seem to give the Yankees trouble.

Brito ran out of gas, allowing a run on 3 hits, and loading the bases with only 1 out, before Boone removed him in favor of Ian Hamilton. He allowed 2 hits and 3 more runs, making Yankee Fans wonder if maybe, just maybe, we were going to blow a 7-0 lead with only 6 outs to go, but he got out of the inning.

Michael King was brought in to finish the game, and he did, without further damage. Yankees 7, Blue Jays 4. WP: Brito (3-3). SV: King (3). LP: Alek Manoah (1-4).

The series continues tonight. Domingo Germán starts against Kevin Gausman.

Yanks Take Walkoff Win Into Big Series With Rays

Clarke Schmidt as the starting pitcher? Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton still hurt? Oswald Peraza and the newly-reactivated Harrison Bader both injured during the game? The offense still weak? The Cleveland Guardians being a Playoff team from last season? It all seemed to add up to another Yankee defeat.

It didn't. Schmidt got into the 5th inning, allowing only 2 runs, neither of them earned, both in the 1st inning, and he calmed down from there. With a day off today, Aaron Boone knew he could use whoever he wanted out of the bullpen, and they'd get rest today. Ian Hamilton finished the 5th, and pitched the 6th. Jimmy Cordero pitched the 7th. Ron Marinaccio pitched the 8th. No further runs scored.

The Yankees tied the game in the 5th. Willie Calhoun hit a home run for the 2nd game in a row. He's now batting .250, after batting only half that a week ago. And the newly-called-up Jake Bauers homered as well.

Marinaccio got the 1st 2 outs in the 9th inning. But Boone took him out after that, and brought in Clay Holmes. This was an incredibly stupid thing to do: Holmes allowed a double and a single, giving the Guardians a 3-2 lead. To make matters worse, the single was a looper, and 3 Yankees came together to try to catch it, and none did. It was a Mets-type play.

To make matters worse still, 2 of those Yankees, center fielder Bader and left fielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa collided. Bader was hurt, and had to leave the game. IKF was able to stay in, and moved to center field. Oswaldo Cabrera moved in to left field.

Guardians manager Terry Francona, our old nemesis from the Boston Red Sox, brought in his closer, Emmanuel Clase. But the Yankees didn't give up. Anthony Rizzo led off with a single, and Boone pinch-ran Peraza for him. Peraza stole 2nd, but he hurt his ankle in the attempt. Aaron Hicks was sent in to pinch-run for him. After DJ LeMahieu grounded out, Calhoun singled Hicks home to tie the game. But Cabrera grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Albert Abreu, who has been less than reliable, was brought in to pitch the 10th inning. He struck out the leadoff batter, then intentionally walked the next one, to set up an inning-ending double play. It worked, and that stranded the "ghost runner."

So, with the walk being intentional, perhaps we can avoid the Cliché Alert. No, we can't: Bauers was the leadoff hitter for the Yanks in the bottom of the 10th, and Guardians reliever Trevor Stephan walked him. IKF bunted him and ghost runner Cabrera over. And Jose Trevino singled Cabrera home with the winning run. Commissioner Rob Manfred's stupid rule worked in the Yankees' favor this time.

Yankees 4, Guardians 3. WP: Abreu (1-0). No save. LP: Stephan (1-1).

After the game, Boone said that Bader would undergo some tests on his head and neck area but appeared to be in "good spirits, laughing in the training room." He also said that Peraza would undergo X-rays, and did not know if the rookie would need a stint on the Injured List.

As I said, the Yankees have today off. Tomorrow night, they start their first big series of the year, away to the Tampa Bay Rays. Here's the schedule, and the projected starting pitchers:

* Friday, first pitch at 6:40 PM: Jhony Brito vs. Yonny Chirinos.

* Saturday, 4:10: Domingo Germán vs. Drew Rasmussen.

* Sunday, 1:40: Gerrit Cole vs. Josh Fleming.

Much-Needed Win for Yanks vs. Guardians

The Yankees had lost 4 straight. All 4 of them were, in varying ways, bad. None of them could be assuaged with, "Well, at least they played well/hard, the (other team) were just better on the night." They needed a win last night, at home to the Cleveland Guardians.

They sent the right starting pitcher out: Gerrit Cole. He pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 8. That should have been enough for the Yankee bats to...

Stop laughing. I said should have been enough. Yes, I know: Both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are on the Injured List. It should still have been enough.

It wasn't. The Yankees left a runner on 1st base in the 1st inning, and one on 2nd in the 5th. That was it: One hit and one error. Finally, with 1 out in the bottom of the 6th, Anthony Volpe hit a home run, Gleyber Torres doubled, and Anthony Rizzo singled him home. That tied the game, 2-2.

Harrison Bader returned from injury, and played center field. He went 1-for-4.

Cole had already thrown 108 pitches through 6, so Aaron Boone turned to the bullpen. Somehow, Ron Marinaccio, Wandy Peralta and Michael King got through the last 3 innings, allowing no runs, 1 hit and 2 walks.

And in the bottom of the 7th, Willie Calhoun, who has been mostly a hole in the lineup since he began substituting for Judge in the outfield, hit a screaming line drive that just cleared the short-porch fence in right field. Volpe led off the 8th with a single, and stole both 2nd after the 1st out and 3rd after the 2nd. DJ LeMahieu singled him home.

Yankees 4, Guardians 2. WP: Peralta (2-0). SV: King (2). LP: James Karinchak (0-4). A much-needed win.

The series concludes tonight. Clarke Schmidt starts against Shane Bieber. So, enjoy last night's win while you can, unless Schmidt has learned how to pitch since his last lousy start. The Yankees then have a day off, which will be a good rest for the bullpen in case Schmidt starts the way he usually does. Then comes the 1st big test of the season, away to the 1st-place Tampa Bay Rays. I'm not lookin' forward to this.

If the Yankees Can't Beat the Twins...

Nestor Cortés usually gets good run support from the Yankees. Not last night, at Target Field in Minneapolis. And it might not have mattered if he had gotten it.

He was staked to an early lead, as DJ LeMahieu singled a run home in the top of the 1st inning. But he gave up 2 runs to the Minnesota Twins in the bottom of the 3rd. A groundout and an error tied the game in the 4th, but that would be the best the Yankees could do.

Cortés gave up a 2-run homer in the 6th, and that was it for him. Ron Marinaccio gave up another before getting out of that inning.

Twins 6, Yankees 2. WP: Joe Ryan (5-0). No save. LP: Cortés (3-1). This clinched the Twins' 1st win in any series over the Yankees since 2001. Brandon Buxton, who hit one of the home runs, said of the last time it happened, "I was 6!"

The Yankees have had a lot of success against the Twins over the last 25 years. But if they can't beat the Twins anymore, there's a problem.

The team simply isn't hitting. Last night, Anthony Volpe got 2 hits, which raised his batting average to .211. Willie Calhoun, who shouldn't be playing at all, got 2 hits, and that raised his average to .192. Aaron Hicks got a hit, and that raised his average to .129. Franchy Cordero fell to .160, and Oswald Peraza to .158.

This is unacceptable. And we're already 7 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division.

The series concludes this afternoon. Domingo Germán starts against Kenta Maeda.