The Redsocks are now five down in the loss column with 24 to play. Moreover, for the away-birth in the Bud Selig one-game blotch, they must overtake three teams. The next six games - four against us, two against Mighty Minny - could crush them. Already, Boston is preparing funeral arrangements and thinking about the Patriots.
"Season slipping away," says NBC sports.
"Red Sox aren't making the playoffs," proclaims Mass Live.
"Mountain gets higher," says WEEI.
Tonight, Minnesota could deliver the shiv. Meanwhile, our Death Star sits in a September orbit, with games resembling NFL exhibitions due to the one key outcome: All that matters are the broken bones.
Yeah, it's fun to chase HR records and MVP stats, but we've seen enough rough patches to know a hot streak means nothing in September. (Think of it this way: Jason Verlander can only go downhill.) We are facing NFL situations: What matters is not whether Eli Manning throws a TD pass, but whether his OT was just carted off in the Oscar Meyer Weiner-Mobile.
Last night, little mattered when Gary Sanchez came up for a shot at his third HR. The Yankees were way ahead - I won't even look it up; that's how meaningless it was - when Gary fouled one off his foot. The trainers wobbled out, and there it was: The one potential news story of the night: Sanchez hurt? Turns out, he shook it off and then - of course - took a pitch on the elbow. Another trainer visit. Another scare.
Let's be real here: Of course, we want to stomp Boston - it's an existential need, a piece of karma that needs to happen - but when Aaron Boone plays the scrubbinies - hello, Tyler Wade, hello, Ryan Dull - we should not get into a huff. What matters is whether Judge or DJ or Gleyber stay tweak-free. I believe we can survive almost any injury, but anything beyond a bruise is now, for all intents, a year-ender.
So, let's let Minny storm the Bastille. If they break Boston this week, they will a) Probably make it tougher for us, because the Redsocks can't lose them all, b) become contenders for home field advantage and c) peak a full month too soon. Yep, they can only go downhill.
Keep your fingers crossed. It's the perfect time to audition guys like Encarnacion, Hicks, Betances, Severino and Stanton. Think of it as the NFL exhibitions, with our starters resting. Did you know the Giants went 4-0 in the pre-season? Wow. They look bound for the Super Bowl!
Magic number for Yanks to clinch playoffs is 13:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.playoffstatus.com/mlb/americanwinmagicnumbers.html
Your logic is sound, Duque. What was the exact FDR quote...perhaps Hoss can help me here?
ReplyDeleteSomething like "Why shoot a man when he is committing suicide?"
Does anybody recall who said that or is it just another bad brain cell being dislodged from the 1980s?
Wasn't that Nick Cave, Bit? OK, maybe not, but it should be.
ReplyDeleteHere comes our buddy Lance Lynn
Remember when we took him in?
To save our rotation
And catch Red Socks Nation...
His season belonged in the bin
Now he's an ace with the Rangers
A symbol of all of the dangers
Of letting Cash loose
To get pitching, by Zeus...
His choices can hardly get stranger
Is Jason Verlander any relation to Justin Verlander?
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff, JM!
ReplyDeleteAnd hey, the problem wasn't Berkman. The problem was we got rid of him too fast.
He was starting to come around, even bashed a homer in the ALDS, as I recall (C'est lui! C'est lui!—maybe The Master's very oddest call)...and then we let him go as a free agent in 2011.
He signed a one-year contract with the Cards and hit .301 with 31 homers, as we once again cratered in the playoffs. Sigh.
13bit, I don't know that the quote was FDR's—he liked to say, "Never mention rope in the house of a hanged man," though I don't think that's original, either—but it is an old political saying: "Never interrupt an opponent when he's in the midst of committing suicide."
ReplyDeleteDuque, Boston actually has to pass "only" 2 teams to make it to the Wild Card Play-In—right now, TB, Cleveland, and Oakland are ahead of them.
ReplyDeleteranger, I don't know about the Wild Card clinching numbers. But right now, the TB Lungers are 82-59. That means they have 21 games still to play, and can go 103-59, at best.
Your New York Yankees are 91-49—AND own the tiebreaker with TB. Thus, all they have to do is win 12 games, and they take the division even if the Rays win every remaining game.
Hence the magic number to clinch the division (and make the playoffs) is 12.
And yes, Duque, it would be nice to see Higgy in there, spelling Sancho late in games. But of course, he's too busy bashing home runs in the Drive for the Cup.
ReplyDeleteFinally, one more Mets stat:
ReplyDeleteJacob de Grom in his last 57 starts is now 16-17...with a 2.13 ERA.
57 STARTS!
This strikes me as absolutely unbelievable. I don't believe there is any pitch in major-league history who has pitched that well, for that long, with that little luck.
There is a big upside to Scranton making the playoffs. Both Sevi and Dellen can pitch down there and continue to shake off the rust. Saving the Yankees from them doing it while we try to clinch.
ReplyDeleteDoug K.
Hoss, you're second quote, about interrupting, etc., is most likely the one my addled brain was trying to recall.
ReplyDeleteAs for the de Grom stat you listed, that's astonishing.
And needless to say—but I'll say it!—I meant to write "pitcher" not "pitch."
ReplyDelete@Doug K it's only a best 3 out of 5 and those games are every day:
ReplyDeleteGame 1: Scranton/WB @ Durham Sep. 4, 7:05 PM
Game 2: Scranton/WB @ Durham Sep. 5, 7:05 PM
Game 3: Durham @ Scranton/WB. Sep. 6, 6:35 PM
* Game 4: Durham @ Scranton/WB. Sep. 7, 4:05 PM
* Game 5: Durham @ Scranton/WB. Sep. 8, 1:05 PM
* If needed
So win or lose, it's only a half week or so.
Now if they win, it will be another half week or so for the IL finals (not to be confused with Injured List). And if they win the coveted Governor's Cup, there is a one game championship against the Pacific Coast champion on September 17th. That would be the last minor league game if the Yanks run the table.
ReplyDeleteOr you could think of it this way: Justin Verlander could plateau for the next couple of months. Wow, am I glad we never tried to sign that stiff.
ReplyDeleteFuckyouHal !!!
Ranger,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. Even so, I'll take one start by Sevi and a couple of Dellins with something on the line that doesn't impact the parent club. As you point out could even be two and four. That would line up perfectly.
Doug K.
As a Yankees mole working in Massachusetts, I can promise you all I’ve heard about for weeks is fantasy football.
ReplyDelete
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