Let's Be Honest....

The Yankees fashioned their longest, and best, win streak of the season on the road.
Five victories in a row have brought us within 1 game of what?  A .500 season.

And I understand that you can't make an assault on the league leaders until you at least get even in wins and losses.  In the old days, we used to watch the Yankees until they were 10 games over .500, then 15, etc. as they moved toward championship play.

Now, we are satisfied just to sit in the, " all even ," chair, if we ever get there.  Despite the win streak, this is not a competitive team.  We just had a good week on both offense and with our starting pitching.  Our bullpen, while healthy, means the Yankees  win with a lead in the 7th.

But a return to poor starting pitching, no clutch hitting, and poor defense/base running ( a hallmark of this team ), will quickly return us to the depths of less than mediocre play, with a losing record.  And the team can revert to this in a flash.

Tonight, if truth be told, we face an impossible task.

A-Rod returns to DH, which puts our slowest outfielder ( Beltran ), with the weakest arm, back in right field.  Playing the full game in right field tires out his legs, which impacts his team-leading hitting.  A-Rod, by contrast, will make up for nothing upon his return tonight.  But to, " save face, " on A-Rod's contract ( by pretending he can still contribute), the Yankee brass sacrifices both offense and defense.  Joe and Ashman will gladly lose games as long as no one attacks them for A-Rod's contract ( really, dumb son Hal's doing, as he bid against himself and doubled down on idiocy ).

The TV cameras have an easy night of it ( the game will be boring ) because they can have multiple shots of A-Rod spitting out pumpkin seed shells.  Always a favorite of mine.

And if  scrambling up a winning formula isn't enough of a managerial mistake ( ever hear the phrase, " if it ain't broke, don't fix it, " I am informed that AJ Dickey pitches tonight for Toronto.  We have all watched the Yankees look like teenagers in stay-puff marshmallow suits, trying to hit Dickey.  And it screws up the team for the next game, too, as hitters re-adjust to normal pitching.

So the reality is;  we are likely to lose the next two games.

I have predicted that the win streak will get us to .500, and  that we will win tonight despite all evidence to the contrary.

But I no longer feel the karma of the west coast streak. Just the outrageous hope that something unusual will occur in tonight's game, giving us a late lead.

 Maybe a peregrine falcon will shit in Dickey's eye.