It's been a while since we manhandled the Blue Jays

Let's not count chickens just yet - we face the malaise known as Marcus Stroman today - but as the missiles yesterday flew off the launchpad formerly known as Jason Grilli, the Yankees were doing to Toronto what Bautista, Encarnacion, et al have done to NY since 2014: We humbled the bully boys and bat-flippers who have eaten our cafeteria lunches ever since Josh Donaldson applied for a Canadian work visa. But not yesterday, folks.

Nope. Yesterday, we entered a new era of U.S./Canada relations.

Another hot scoop: It's not May anymore. Summer reruns have begun. (Spoiler alert: Gilligan screws up a chance to escape the island.) Schools are letting out, Sally Fields is starring as Gidget, street-corner ragamuffins are hawking newspapers, and dirty-faced kids are playing stick-ball in the alleys. And the Aarons, our Aarons, are still hitting.

Yes, every time one of them comes to bat, I think, it's over... time to wake up... he'll foul one off his toe, tweak something, and go into a Chris Carter career demolition 0-for-30, and we'll think this was a dream... And then Hicks draws a walk, or Judge hits a video game laser so hard to center-field that DARPA should weaponize it. And it's NOT over. Gary Sanchez is heating up - last summer was not a mirage. Jordan Montgomery has not turned into a pumpkin - (at least not yet.) And who knows, maybe it WAS Greg Bird's foot. Maybe he'll return and hit like he did in spring training. The June swoon still lingers out there, like a troll under the bridge. We're still a month from the all-star break, and with every pop fly to shallow right, I relive the terror of Starlin Castro backpedaling into a 290-pound wagon train. (Yesterday, John and Suzyn had a conniption over just such a fly ball. They described the potential nightmare.)

Dare we say it? This team looks real. We just gave the Blue Jays an old-fashioned playground wedgie - like back in the days of Bernie, Paul and Jorge. This afternoon, it's Stroman, who normally shuts us down. Then it's the Redsock '17 Hall of Fame Superteam of Destiny (TM). It's still early. The days are still getting longer. But Jason Grilli will attest to the difference. Things have changed on the U.S./Canadian border. Things have changed in the AL East. One chicken, two chicken, three chickens...