A bad week could send the Yankees to Minnesota, where HRs die at the track

One of humankind's great paradoxes is how "the biggest game of the season (TM)" constantly shifts. For example, tonight: Gerrit Cole will pitch the biggest game of the season (TM). Then, tomorrow, we'll play a bigger game. Then come three against the Mattingly's of Miami: Biggest games of the season, (TM), each.

Shout it loud: Last Games Matter!

But wait... arguably, these games don't. A week from now, the Yankees almost certainly will play their favorite cat toy, the Twins, in a best-of-three playoff - each game expanding in its supreme bigness.  

Still, tonight could foreshadow the juju gods' plans for 2020, an already cursed season. We hoped our recent 10-game winning streak reflected the Yankee Normal: a supercharged lineup with Judge, Stanton, Urshela, a newly retooled Sanchez and Gardner, and Second Coming of of Pedro. Now, if we lose three straight - including two blowouts - those wins look like a glitch in the Matrix, the blue pill... a weather pattern rather than climate change. 

Here's where things stand, if the season ended today:

#1 Rays host Toronto.
#2 White Sox host Cleveland.
#3 A's host Houston.
#4 Twins host Yankees. 

With five to play, we trail Minnesota by one in the loss column. (Forget the Rays, we're four behind.) If we run the table - win all five - we can overtake the Twins. (In their last 10, they are 6-4, winning two in a row.) Anything less, and they probably take home field advantage. (If we end up tying them in losses, the Twins will have the advantage, because - remember those COVID cancellations? - they will have played one more game.

While we're in italics, a thought: If the Yankees take their next two, and pull ahead of 'Sota in winning percentage, have someone - thinking of you, crazy Eric Kratz! - FAKE a Covid test, forcing the team into quarantine for the final two games. We rest our starters while the Twins must play. Diabolical, eh? Come on, Cashman, you need me in the front office!) 

So... where was I? Oh, shit, the italics are off... um... humina-humina-humina... big game tonight, eh?

Maybe not. Without screaming fans, how important is home field advantage? Yeah, it's nice to sleep in your own bed, crap on your own throne, and eat your game-day bagel at Sal's Kosher-Rama. And those fake fans will surely be loud. Aside from that, certain Yankees might find another concern about playing in Minnesota: Target Field.

I'm referring to DJ LeMahieu, Luke Voit and Clint Frazier, who have adapted their swings to the short Yankee Stadium right field porch. (Note: In no way am I suggesting they hit cheap HRs. On the contrary, kudos to them for showing the ability to change!)

Statistically, Yankee Stadium is the third most homer-happy park in MLB (behind Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati and the Rogers Center in Toronto.) Target Field, on the other hand, ranks 23rd out of 31. (This year, Sahlen Field in Buffalo ranks 25th.)

The difference is hard to ignore: Target's right field line measures 331 feet - 17 feet farther than Yankee Stadium. Our HRs that reach the first five rows in NY... next week, they're fly ball outs. And we're a team that wins by the HR.

Of course, the grass cuts both ways. J.A. Happ - king of the gopher ball - might throw a few less goners. Same with Masahiro Tanaka. Each might have a big game in him. In a three-game set, that's all you need. 

Either way, tonight, it's the biggest game of the season (TM). And from now on, they just get bigger.