The Yankees had to start somewhere, and with two wins against a good team in Seattle, both games showed possibilities. Now comes the hard part.
Maybe the Yankees needed to get out of Dodge to put their team back together, or maybe what Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman have been saying is true – that the Yankees are a good team, and it’s only a matter of time before we show it.
Author’s Postscript 7/8/201 6:30 pm ET
Okay, the counter-punch wasn’t there today as the Yankees lose the finale in Seattle via four solo home runs while running into a rookie pitcher who gave us nothing but one hit over seven innings. Next…your guess is a good as mine…
Two games, one a blowout and the other a squeaker against a formidable team, the Seattle Mariners, set the stage for a sweep this afternoon, with Jordan Montgomery making a start for the Yankees.
And then, it’s on to Houston for a weekend set against the most powerful team in the majors, with Gerrit Cole, who is hopefully ready to put two dismal starts behind him, taking the ball Friday night.
Yankees Set Their Sight On Small Things
A few days ago, we talked about how small things lead to big things.
Scrape out a win here and a win there, and pretty soon, you find yourself having built a layer of confidence and success. It was an idea that Joe Torre taught, and it followed a similar thought of his that a Yankees’ winning season is built in fives.
Get to five over .500 first, then shoot for ten over, and so on. So far this season, the trouble for the Yankees is their lego set keeps collapsing, throwing them back to square one.
Last night’s box score might be a good place for the Yankees to begin anew as a pre-set for the second half of the 2021 season.
With two hits last night, making for a total of seven in two games, Luke Voit has raised his batting average from .198 to .248. Nothing earth-shattering, a small thing.
Add to that home runs in back-to-back games by Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge last night, and another piece of the puzzle fills itself in.
At Last, Aaron Boone Goes With His Gut
Then, we have pitching coach Matt Blake and Aaron Boone making a tough but crucial decision to abandon Aroldis Chapman as the Yankees’ closer.
Instead of going with Jonathan Loaisiga in the eighth inning and Chad Green to close out a 5-4 Yankees’ win, striking out four of the six batters they faced.
After the game, Boone said, “I just felt in my gut that it called for (Green) in that spot, and that’s why I went with it.”
Granted, it’s only a three-game win streak for the Yankees, but it’s a sign the team they have is a good one, no matter what Brian Cashman does or doesn’t do at the trade deadline.
The Yankees showed they could play small ball as they did last night in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead, getting walks by Judge and Gary Sanchez, followed by two two-out RBI singles from Voit and Gleyber Torres.
Later, Aaron Judge put it this way.
“It’s big. You can just tell the flow of the game is different,” Judge said. “Our pitchers can attack guys differently. Guys at the plate maybe a little more comfortable knowing that we already got a lead now I can focus on really trying to get my pitch and drive it instead of trying to do too much.”
This, versus the previous night when the Yankees sent 45 batters to the plate, collecting twelve runs on eighteen hits while going 7-15 with runners in scoring position.
Two games, two different attacks, two wins. Small things.
Yankees Ace Must Be The Ace On Friday
Lord knows the hole the Yankees have dug for themselves is deep, and the weekend series in Houston before the All-Star break looms large as another confidence builder going into the second half of the season.
And make no mistake, Gerrit Cole cannot fail in that first game on Friday. Paid the big bucks, he has to come up with a win that sets up a series win for the Yankees.
But first, there’s another small thing this afternoon in Seattle…
Here’s What Readers Are Saying…
Hubie Mercado It all starts with one victory at a time.
Frank Kovach Don’t get excited just yet
Andrew Pal I’d like to think it’s going to be different in the second half, but we’ve seen this time and again throughout the first half. Win four or five series in a row, then fall apart to drop back to .500 ball. Not sure what to expect differently moving forward, but at least we can hope.
David Paseornek I agree. So far so good. I would put Seattle at the same level as Toronto – Houston is going to have all their big arms against us. Cole must give us a quality outing
Anthony Whiteman We’ll see. This team has had a roller-coaster of a season so far. I’m a realist. I need more proof. If they take two of three from Houston they could be turning it around. Could is the keyword with this current club.
Rod Wells Seattle is not really a good team but I will take the Ws
Michael Franklin Yeah, consistency is the hardest part in a sport that considers failing 2/3 of the time a success if you’re a hitter
Closing Off Comments And Final Thoughts
With game time on the West Coast approaching, I’ll close off published comments on this article.
Readers continue to show there are believers and Believers among Yankee fans. But the team has at least shown they can do it…
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.
