Can Corey Kluber's core keep kloobing? And can Higgy have a heavier holler?

Last night brought something totally unexpected: 

The Yank bullpen didn't get roused before the old Daily News 5th.

Imagine that? A starter, not named Gerrit, lasting into the 7th. The stuff of wizards and wild cards, of peyote dreams and Lotto commercials. Could Andrew Yang be mayor? Could Caitlin Jenner run California? Can the Death Barge find a No. 2?

Alas, it came against Baltimore - home to the musical team of Mountcastle and Mancini. Let's not count the teeth on this stallion. Still, for the first time in 2021, Corey Kluber transmitted a thin beam of hope through the Stygian black pandemic skies. The Yankees' most expensive free agent from last winter lasted into the seventh, the 7th!, where Jonathan Loasiga could take over.

Dare we believe the rotation has a No. 2?

Here are Kluber's 2021 game logs, last night at the top.

As you see, it hasn't been pretty. Still, last night was by far his best of 2021. The  Yanks took an early lead, steadily widened it, and  Kluber squashed the O's like a carny fat lady sitting on a heckler.

Tonight, it's Domingo German, whose last outing went six innings and gave up 2 earned runs. Thursday, it's "The River" Jordan Montgomery, who - well - has been Kluber in reverse. He started April like Whitey Ford. He's finishing like Whitey Bulger.

June and July are light years away. We could all be dead. But after basically missing two years, it's fair to think Kluber would need a month to regain command. He's like a stroke patient, relearning how to talk. He may never dominate, as he once did for Cleveland. But if he becomes a No. 2, that is a tumbler clicking into place. We'll still be three cards shy of a full house, but we won't go four days a week cringing at the cosmos. 

Secondary note: Kyle Higashioka is soooooo the starting Yankee catcher that it's no longer funny or pleasurable to badmouth on Gary Sanchez. I am hereby calling for an IT IS HIGH moratorium on ripping Gary unnecessarily  - (note the qualifier.) 

Traditionally, the Yankees go through a phased mating dance with diminishing sluggers, before they finally invoke the Scranton option. If the slugger accidentally leans into one - blasts it 500 feet - raising his average to .120, the YES announcers zestfully rejoice, proclaiming that this was just the hit he needed to snap out of the funk. Thus, he gets to go another 0-30. 

Gary Sanchez is deep into that sad cycle, so well into the drain that it will even be hard for Aaron Boone to claim rebirth and resurrection. He is now the backup catcher, and a hitter who needs to seriously rethink his game before it's too late. It's no longer worth treating him like the IT IS HIGH pinata. Frankly, we should worry. 

Meanwhile, John Sterling needs to upgrade the Higgy call, which is "Higashioka... the home run stroke-ah!" Many Yankees have a prefix and suffix HR holler - (Example: It's a Tex message... Oh, you're on the Mark, Texieira!") Did I  miss something? Has The Master created a suffix for Kyle? If not, I would like to submit one.

Higgy... comes up biggy!

That's all I got.