Yogi was officially sent off to join his wife and the spirits of Yankee legends this morning with a funeral service in Montclair. It seems like everyone who's anyone was in attendance. He was eulogized by none other than Joe Torre. I honestly can't think of anyone I'd rather have read my eulogy than Torre. Couldn't have been a dry eye in the house. Much like Yogi, one of the sweetest, most genuine people on the planet. Those two probably meshed together so well in their years around each other. Like lamb and tuna fish.
Obviously the Yankees had to wait until they properly said goodbye to Yogi before they could clinch a playoff berth. They can do that tonight with a win and a Twins loss combined with either a Tigers win over the Rangers or an Angels loss to the A's. It'll be Big Mike on the bump this evening against Rick Porcello. Pineda has pitched well his last few outings and always seems to throw a good game against the Sox. It'd be great to see him hit his stride and solidify himself as the clear-cut #2 as we head into the playoffs. Porcello pitched well against the Yankees last time they saw each other in Fenway but this lineup is probably just happy to see a righthander out there for once.
You'd really like to see this offense get something going against Porcello tonight. Even if they don't tally a bunch of hits. Even if they don't put together a few rallies. Just hit a few out of the ballpark for me. That's all I'm asking. They've played their last five games at Yankee Stadium and they've hit just two home runs. That's not Yankee baseball. Whether it's McCann, Bird, Beltran, whoever. Someone's gotta run into one tonight and when they do hopefully there's a couple guys on and it's enough to win the game.
You're probably going to see Ackley start again tonight. It's pretty crazy how the second base situation has sorted itself out. The platoon went from Drew/Ryan to Ackley/Refsnyder real quick. The latter certainly don't have the defensive pedigree of the former but right now the Yankees need offense. Refsnyder's hit lefties well and if he can stay hot through the end of the regular season I wouldn't be shocked if he's hitting 9th a week from today against Dallas Kuechel if it comes to that.
Speaking of the one-game playoff, it's kind of flown under the radar how much better the Yankees' situation is than that of whoever takes the second wild card. The Yanks are inches away from locking up home field on Tuesday with their ace lined up to pitch that night. The Astros/Rangers/Angels are still fighting tooth and nail for position and probably will be up until the very end of the season. Whoever comes away with the AL West crown is in a great spot but the other two teams are kind of screwed. One team is going to miss the playoffs completely while the other might not have a chance to throw their best pitcher against the Yankees with their lives on the line.
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