For the Yankees at this stage of their season, it hardly matters who their opponent is or what the box score looks like; they’ll take a W…
The Yankees box score from last night’s win over the Orioles at Yankees Stadium will not show a lazy fly ball hit into right field by Giancarlo Stanton that dropped in for a base hit, clearing the bases to extend the Yankees’ lead to four runs – but at this point in the 2021 season, who should care?
Jameson Taillon delivered on his pledge to pick the team up while they battle the loss of Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery, both lost for an indeterminate number of games after testing positive for the COVID virus, pitching into the seventh inning while surrendering only two runs on four hits, and striking out ten.
Say it’s only the Baltimore Orioles (38-69), mired in last place in the AL East standings, but with less than sixty games left in the regular season, this is a win the team needed if they are (indeed) a team to be seriously worthy of the playoffs – and beyond.
Perhaps more than anything, though, the Yankees needed the game delivered by DJ LeMahieu more than anything.
Three for five with four RBI is what the team signed up for when the dance between the two captured the attention of Yankees fans during the offseason before DJ came into the fold on a long-term deal.
Alas, LeMahieu, along with most of his teammates, has befuddled everyone with their impotence at the plate amidst a season-long struggle to support a pitching staff that’s been far better than most had thought in March.
Yankees: A Blip Or A Much-Needed Trend
It’s no secret in baseball that the Yankees have continuously failed to hit when it counts.
And don’t tell me it’s only the Orioles because no matter who the opposition is, major league batters are charged with delivering, a feat the Yankees did for the second game in a row going 6-14 after going 7-13 last night with runners in scoring position (RISP).
Yankees: In Baseball – Tomorrow Never Knows
Nevertheless, the Yankees cannot afford to rest on recent laurels as the upstart Seattle Mariners arrive at Yankee Stadium for a four-game set before they head off to a road trip that takes them to Kansas City and Chicago to face the AL Central-leading White Sox.
In baseball, as we know, yesterday means nothing. While the Yankees have gone from a -3 run differential to a + 13 in a matter of two days, and while hitting is advertised as contagious, nothing in this Yankees season has proven to be probable.
The Yankees have Nestor Cortes Jr. scheduled for tomorrow’s start, with a blank spot for Friday, and Andrew Heaney on Saturday, with Gerrit Cole, penciled in for Sunday. But it remains to be seen if that’s only wishful thinking for Aaron Boone and the Yankees.
Yankees: Count Them Out At Your Peril
Still, the Yankees were not predicted as the pre-season favorites to be in the 2021 World Series because of their pitching, so the Bombers must keep bombing to remain in the chase.
No one can count the number of times this team has been counted out (including here) because of their feeble bats.
But after all is said and done, the Yankees have demonstrated their lineup is one of the most powerful in the league, if only it can continue…
Here’s What Readers Are Saying…
Joe Kepler This the most balanced and dangerous lineup the Yankees have had since the dynasty and they’re still not at 100%. If the pitching staff can get healthy and the hitters that have been mired in season-long slumps can manage to hit at a league-average rate this team can still go all the way.
Arthur Schwartz Just thinking about the games we blew in Boston. Know we have to move on but they still sting
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
