The biggest win of the season that nobody saw

Why lie? When I nodded off to Nod, the Yankees were pissing face-down in the wading pool, hitless through four, and I whispered cruelties at Cashman until sleep finally came to steal my indignation. "He's an idiot," I told the Yankiverse. "This is Crazytown!"

And it was. For seven innings. Then, with nobody watching - as is the case with West Coast swings - the tree fell in the forest, and we're still hearing the echo.

Last night could be 2018's biggest moment to date, after that Bishop copping the feel on Ariana Grande. (Praise the Lord!) It's a monkey wrench tossed into Oakland's wood-chipper, snapping all the blades. Tonight, the A's can win by 20 runs, and it won't matter. They needed Ryan McBroom, and they got Scranton. They pressed the red button with their nose, and instead of receiving a delicious food pellet, they got an electric shock. From now on, all they can do is watch the scoreboard and shake their fists, the way we've been flailing at Boston. This was their moment, and it ended with a fat pitch from an ex-Met to Luke Voit, this month's breakout Yankee. Luuuuuuuuke.

Seven home runs in 12 games. Surely, that enshrines Voit into some mathematical comparison with the Babe, or Lou, or Mickey, or Shane Spencer, because the YES Channel has interns doing such research. We better enjoy it, because we're seeing Voit's once-around-the-league streak, (and there's nothing wrong with that; we suffered at the hands of the White Sox and Tigers for exactly the same reason.) If Voit can stay hot for - say - four more weeks, he might inscribe himself into Yankee lore forever. He'll never go hungry as long as there are baseball card conventions and airport Ramadas.

Clerical note here: We are now officially no longer waiting for Greg Bird. He will be traded in the off-season, probably in a package, for some team's comparable disappointment. My guess is Pittsburgh, where he'll actually have a decent year or two. But it won't matter. We'll have Miguel Andujar or somebody else playing first - it probably won't be Voit - and a new era will begin. Even if Bird were to get hot in the playoffs, as he did last year, I don't think the Yankees can sell tickets on his future. And once that happens, a chapter closes.

One of these days, a tree in the forest might fall on Gary Sanchez. (Though he certainly needs more time; he's just back, so we should suspend harsh judgements.) But if Sanchez' malaise continues, someone in the Yankee brain trust might just decide that Austin Romine is a fine catcher, and the team is better off in the playoffs with a defensive backstop who can hit .260 - rather than a chop-house butcher who hasn't seen the Mendoza Line since May. The Gary Era could also end this winter. Would Pittsburgh take them both?

Also of note last night: Zach Britton pitched a scoreless inning. One, two, three. In three of his last four outings, he has looked solid. (He had a hiccup against the Tigers.) If he can even remotely get back to old form, the Yankees could survive without Aroldis Chapman. 

Finally, let's give some love to Ryan McBroom, Gio Urshela, Billy Fleming, Zach Zehner, Mike Ford and - yes - Shane Robinson, the organizational tools who helped Scranton reach the International League playoffs, which might just become the Yankees' most important minor league post-season in this millennium. 

If the Railriders can stretch their first-round playoffs to five games, and then go five more in the finals, the world could conceivably watch Aaron Judge and Aroldis Chapman trying to nail down the Governor's Cup for old Wilkes Barre. Imagine Scranton playing 10 more games. Like last night, they could turn out to be the biggest games that nobody sees.