Yanks lose third straight to Boston, still haven't clinched anything

Everything was laid out perfectly for the Yankees to finally breath that sigh of relief and clinch a wildcard spot.  They got the two losses they needed from the Angels and Twins.  They had a billion opportunities to score runs.  They got a huge go-ahead home run from A-Rod.  They handed a lead to Dellin Betances with two outs in the 7th and they still couldn't get the job done.  Now the bullpen is bone-dry heading into tomorrow's series finale.  Wilson, Betances and Miller are most likely all unavailable.  Just an absolutely awful loss every which way you slice it.

The Red Sox walked six of 11 batters in the 7th and 8th innings and the Yankees couldn't score.  The bottom of the 8th was maybe the worst inning of the entire season.  Four walks.  No runs.  How is that possible?  Ellsbury gets picked off at first to start it off.  Gardner has the worst at-bat of the season to end it.  After Ackley walked to load the bases he swings at the first pitch and rolls over to second base.  Can anybody in this lineup get a big hit?  Not a big home run.  A big hit.  A little ol' single with runners in scoring position.

The only good news is that Tanaka's healthy.  Yea he looked like a guy who hadn't pitched in a few weeks.  His splitter was off.  He got hardly any swings and misses.  But I'm going to go ahead and attribute that to a little rust.  He's got a week here to get in his regular routine and once he does I believe he'll be good to go.  The rest of these guys I'm not so sure about.  You couldn't possibly watch these last three games and feel any worse about this team heading into the postseason. 

And I already hate Mookie Betts.  Fuck this guy.  Just chugging around the bases all night with that big stupid ass chain flying all over the place.  Him and Jackie Bradley Jr. catching anything that flies out in death valley.  Fuck both of those guys.

I have nothing but empathy for this guy who botched three foul balls last night

Couldn't possibly have a worse night at a game then this guy @BarstoolBigCat @BarstoolJJ @KFCBarstool pic.twitter.com/B04C60EdFJ

— Jay Relay (@JayRelay) September 30, 2015

First of all I can't imagine a more perfect idea for a first date.  Impress her with a few Legends Suite seats on the third base line to a late September game that you don't really have to pay attention to cause it doesn't really mean anything.  You casually drop some comprehensive knowledge of baseball on her throughout the night cause the setting is right and all of the sudden she thinks you're a competent individual who's worthy of a second date and/or an OTPHJ during Kate Smith's rendition of God Bless America.

That is of course unless you bungle three opportunities at a foul ball in front of her.  There's no coming back from that.  If it was once, fine.  You can spin that in a goofy, loveable way.  Everyone has a good laugh and you've generated a lasting, funny memory between you and your date.  Not the worst thing in the world.  But you've got to field that second one to let her know you're still a man.  I don't care if it took a tough hop.  Corral it in with your body.  Use your chest.  Whatever it takes.

Once he was hit with that second error you knew it was over.  His mind was all over the place.  The ball boy could have walked over and handed him that third one and he would have took it off his forehead.  At that point I think you just have to leave cause there's no way to spin your lack of fielding ability into any kind of endearing quality.  She now knows you're a full-blown spazz and that's it.  Which is why my heart bleeds for this guy.  He could've been any of us.  We all think we're ready for the big time until the bright lights come on.  When I was 17 Hideki Matsui hit a foul ball into the upperdeck directly at me and it bounced off my collarbone and into my friend's lap.  Ball was in the air for about 30 seconds and I still couldn't get a read on it.  If I was trying to trick a girl into thinking I was a cool guy it would take no more than three foul balls to fully expose me.

Yanks take the field after Yogi's funeral

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. 

Dogshit.

I can't think of anything I would have rather done less than watch this game on a Friday night.  It felt like anything BUT a playoff team working to clinch a postseason berth while clinging to division title hopes.  No buzz whatsoever, stands as empty as can be and a game rendered all the more meaningless by a Toronto win over the Rays.  Another atrocious offensive effort by the Yankees.  Rondon had absolutely nothing tonight.  Five walks, two hit batters and the only runs the Yanks could push across were on Didi's two-run single.  They hit into four 6-4-3 double plays tonight.  Gag.

The only bright spot tonight was CC.  He was on the verge of turning in another stellar outing before serving up a couple solo shots in the 7th.  Despite his final line his effort tonight helped his case to get into the postseason rotation.  Other than that tonight was dogshit.  A-Rod still can't find his way.  Headley may be the worst player in baseball right now.  And to top it all off Tanaka's hamstring is still barking.  Garbage night all around.

Chase Headley error count pic.twitter.com/k9m88YSUBO

— NOT Joe Girardi (@Joe_Girardi_28) September 26, 2015

Yanks honor Yogi at the Stadium, beat Sale 3-2

After Yogi passed away yesterday I said if the Yankees won last night in Toronto that they were going to win the World Series.  That it would be Yogi's spirit joining the ghosts of Yankee legends past to guide this team to the promise land.  Well the Yankees didn't win the game.  I thought I had made a huge mistake.  Then I realized, hey, the guy hasn't even gotten settled down yet.  Dude has been in heaven for like five minutes and I'm already asking miracles of him.  Maybe let him unpack his bags first before he wills this team to a World Series.

So it may have taken him a day but I'm pretty sure he made his way out to the Bronx tonight for his commemoration.  There were so many awesome tributes.  From the military sendoff to all the wreaths in monument park to Girardi and all of the active catchers memorializing him behind home plate.  The whole thing was great but we all knew the only way to complete the night and to properly honor Yogi was to go out and get a win and that's exactly what they did.

Michael Pineda built off his strong performance against the Mets by outpitching Chris Sale in a 3-2 win over the White Sox in the first game of an eight game homestand.  Big Mike pitched great, but for the second straight start Girardi went out and got him before he hit 90 pitches in the middle of tossing a gem.  Not really sure what Michael Kay is talking about when he says "the Yankees just aren't getting any length out of their starters."  Umm I'm pretty sure they aren't getting any length out of their manager.  If I had the back-end of the Yankee bullpen to call on every night I'd probably have a short leash on my starters too.  But sometimes the guys you have out there that night are better than Justin Wilson.  It didn't burn them tonight but it's kind of starting to get annoying.

Once Wilson was pulled with runners on first and third it was more of the same from Betances.  No command upon coming in, walking in a run and putting you on the brink of a full blown panic attack before finally getting out of it.  Not sure when he plans on getting himself back together but hopefully it happens before the calendar flips to October.

The only runs the Yankees were able to manufacture all night came via Carlos Beltran's three-run homer.  What else is new.  If you're having a hard time being inspired by this team right now the one thing you can hang your hat on is that when the lights shine the brightest this guy is absolutely going to come to play.

The Blue Jays were off tonight so the Yanks picked up a half game in the division.  Not that it feels like it matters much anymore but it's at least worth mentioning until the AL East is officially locked up.  The wild card lead is now 4.5 over Houston.  The magic number to clinch a playoff spot...

Yanks drop series to Toronto, fall 3.5 games back

It felt like a long shot a couple of weekends ago but the Yankees actually put themselves in a position to take the division lead heading into these three games.  Had Tanaka been healthy enough to start last night we may have been talking about a division race coming down to the wire these final 11 games but it most likely wouldn't have mattered.  The Yankee lineup got blanked in the biggest game of the season and had had absolutely nothing for Marcus Stroman as he cruised through 7 innings.

The Yankee bullpen, once a deep and versatile group, has now become a three-man-band of reliable arms.  That's why pulling Nova there in the 6th frustrated me so much.  I get that he has 110 pitches.  I get the lefty-lefty match-up.  Let Nova finish that inning.  It was his game.  You want to bring in Justin Wilson there?  Be my guest.  But James Pazos has been pitching all year long for the fucking RailRiders.  Maybe I'm nitpicking but I don't trust a guy with four career major league innings deciding one of the biggest at-bats of the year.  But that was going to be the consequence of Tuesday.  Not only were the odds stacked against the Yanks with Nova on the mound but the team's biggest strength was minimized by Miller's unavailability.

So the division is a wrap.  It would take nothing short of a miracle to make up 3.5 games at this point in the season.  Now the only thing the Yankees need to concern themselves with is winning enough games to ensure the one-game playoff is going to be in the Bronx and making sure Tanaka is healthy enough to pitch it.  Of course you want to see Ellsbury continue to get his groove back, Pineda build off his recent success and Betances get back command of his fastball but all of that is moot unless the Yanks can win one game on October 6th.

RIP Lawrence Peter Berra

The mood this morning is obviously much more somber than you'd expect coming on the heels of the biggest Yankee win of the season.  Yogi Berra passed away overnight at the age of 90.  I don't sit here with a heavy heart writing about his passing.  I never watched him play.  But he had been around the Yankees for as long as I can remember and there's every indication that he was just about as good of a guy as there was in the world.  They'd roll him out on every Old Timers day and every number retirement ceremony and he'd just stand there in the boiling hot sun not knowing where he was and the fans and the active players would flip.  That's when you know you're the man.  You also know you're the man when you're leaving George Costanza stuck in the mud with witticisms. 

He really led just about as charmed and as full a life as you can possibly live, epitomizing everything that was great about his generation.  While ballplayers today are taking themselves out of games to help ensure they can get every last million on their next payday, Yogi spent his off-days as a gunner's mate on the USS Bayfield during the D-Day invasion of Normandy.  Not only one of the great baseball players of all time but one of the great Americans of all time.  One of the other reasons Yogi always appealed to me was all of the parallels there were between him and Jeter.  Both not quite on that Ruth/Gehrig/Dimaggio/Mantle level but just a cut below.  Both staples of their respective Yankee dynasties.  Both universally revered throughout the baseball community.  And it seemed like they always got a kick out of one another whenever Yogi came around the clubhouse. 

I know it's probably pretty cavalier to say that Yogi's passing is going to somehow tie into this current Yankee run but I think we can all agree that the ghosts of Yankee Stadium just made a huge September call-up.