As they hit the final stretch, the Yankees' greatest fear might just be Newton's Third Law

Sir Isaac Newton's Third Law of Baseball states:

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Thus, a hot streak will provoke an equal and opposite cold streak, unless it happens to an over-the-hill star, who will then either tweak something and miss six months, or struggle through with occasional glimpses of hope, while undermining the team, which really pisses me off."

We have blown three in a row, just as Newton could have predicted. With 31 games left, the chances of the Death Barge catching Tampa are up there with Britney's dad winning "Father of the Year." Even if we somehow rattled off another 13 game orgasm, the Rays would have to crumble, and they show no signs of being such a Met-like organization. 

Thus, the Yankees are now competing for Bud Selig's final revenge on us - the one-game Wild Card playoff, which will determine whether our deadline trade blitz will prove to be a brilliant move... or a blight upon this decade. For 13 wonderous games, the Yankiverse praised Brian Cashman's guts and guile, as he emptied our farm system for four players, whose previous teams were itching to move. 

Now, we confront the ultimate glitch in the 2021 Yankees: Their inability to beat Newton's Third. Thus far, every sign of hope has begotten an equally soul-crushing defeat. I'm recalling the July 11 game in Houston - last game before the all-star break - when the Yankees stood three outs from a three-game sweep, leading by five in the ninth. John and Suzyn were absolutely jubilant. John was doing the math on the AL pennant race. Life was grand! Then the Astros scored six on a walk off HR by, gulp, Jose Altuve. And the message from the juju gods was quite clear: 

Newton's Third Law has not been revoked.

I don't believe the Yankees will lose 13 in a row. All said and done, the Angels are a tomato can. But we will soon learn whether the big streak represented a new level of Yankee competence -or it was just a hot stretch, which means we'll soon start feeling chilly. 

Note: There is also Aaron Boone's management. WTF? Why, why, why... does he leave Corey Kluber for the fourth, when his rehab games in the minors only lasted three innings? Was it because Kluber had not given up a hit? Yeesh. The no-hitter may have killed Kluber this year. He threw too many pitches and hasn't been the same.

We've all seen it. When the first guy gets on, you say, "There goes the perfect game!" When the next guy gets a hit, you say, "There goes the no-hitter!" Then, "There goes the shutout!" Then, "There goes the game!" 

For the '21 Yankees, a few more doinks, and we might be saying, "There goes the season!" And then... dear god... "There goes the decade?"