No Yankee got hurt yesterday, and the Redsocks have lost two in a row

For all the gnashing of teeth - and we at IIHIIFIIc are gnatural gnutcases when it comes to gnashing - here are 10 totally upbeat, inspirational and gnice thoughts for today.

1. The Empire has the second best record in baseball. By a wide margin: Four in the loss column. If not for Boston's cartoonish season, we would be hailed as a dynasty in its infancy. 

2. Unless his name is Ellsbury, a player cannot get hurt when already injured. So, yeah, we're missing Judge, Didi, Frazier and the part of Sanchez that hits home runs, but they should all return by mid-September. (Not certain about Frazier.) By October 4, we should be at full-strength. And that's all that matters. 

3. Our next 13 games are against certified tomato cans: Miami, Baltimore, White Sox and Detroit. Yeah, we've stank against the O's, and Uncle Buck will fire up his troops through sheer nuclear hatred, but we won't look past them. We should win at least five. Maybe a winning streak?

4. Suddenly, Houston is tanking - winning 2 of their last 10. We knew Blondie would eventually exhaust old man Verlander. By October, he'll be out of Viagra and under the bed. 

5. The Redsocks have received magical seasons from the bottom of their lineup and belly of their bullpen. Aside from their two MVPs - Betts and Martinez - they have about 13 characters playing way over their heads. Having won the AL East, they have nothing to conquer. That's when a team starts to drift. They lost last night when Cora left Porcello in one batter too long. The previous night, they were shut out by the Rays... at Fenway.

6. Chris Sale. No timetable. Second visit to the DL this month. 

7. Every now and then, Greg Bird flashes life. First base remains the missing ingredient. 

8. We have enough infield depth to withstand the loss of Didi for 10 days. If Gleyber Torres runs into trouble at SS, Tyler Wade deserves another chance, anyway. And there is always Big Toe, the glue in our dugout.

9. The blitz of makeup games - due to the rainy spring - is over. We have movie days, like yesterday, to eat Twizzlers and flush the papa portholes. For two months, we've been sucking air and playing on what had been originally scheduled as off days. 

10. We may have just survived the worst part of 2018 - humiliation in Boston and continual injuries. Yeah, there could be more bad juju out there. But we are still the second best team in baseball, and that's gnot gnuthin.