A stinker loss to a tomato can, and the Yankees are back in the middle of nowhere

Last night's wretched effort - four errors, a shaky bullpen and the usual conga line of stranded runners - leaves the Yankees in a battle for a Silver medal within the AL East.

The division race is over; let's put that sick dog to sleep. Tampa has the AL's best record, they've won five straight, and they now lead wilting Boston by six in the loss column. Wander Franco is hitting .250, improving game by game. One of these days, the light will come on, and the league's best team will get better. The Yankees cannot counter with Andrew Valazques. 

Oakland has also won five straight, solidifying their birth as the wild card home team. (The Yanks visit the A's for four games late this month.)  

We now sit one game (loss column) behind Boston and tied with Toronto (loss column) for the final wild card slot. These days, that's our supreme goal - to become the fifth best team in our 15-city beer league. 

We play the Redsocks six more times, seven v. Toronto. The race should boil down to the end of September - series against Boston, Toronto and Tampa (though the Rays might only show passive interest, beyond their existential hatred for the Yankees.) 

At this point - especially after a stinker loss - it's hard to look down the road. Boston will soon return Chris Sale and welcome Kyle Schwarber, though the leviathan suffered a recent setback with his hamstring, which must be the size of a two-person hammock. Sale will surely lift the morale in a fractured clubhouse, unless he suffers complications, which would kick the team in the nuts. If Schwarber gets hot, he would be a massive LH infusion. (If he's cold, he'll Giancarlo them.)  

The Jays are missing IF Cavan Biggio, (sore neck), C Danny Jansen (hammy) and RH Joakim Soria, a bullpen lug nut. All year, we've feared their ascending youth. Also, returning to Toronto will boost the team. 

Compared to the exhaustive list of Yankee injuries, both franchises seem to have skated. But Covid is still out there, cases climbing across the Northeast. You have to wonder what shoes will drop? This is the second year of the outbreak, and in various parts of the country, it might be peaking around October. 

On a less existential note, Clint Frazier yesterday began a rehab assignment in Low Single A Tampa. He played DH and went 2-4 with a double and two strikeouts. I suspect he could join the Yankees late next week, probably not in time for the three-game Boston series. Right now, I honestly don't care. Not sure there is a place for a .186 hitter with little power. (Five HRs this season.) For him to get any callback to the majors, it would seem to me that he better first tear Scranton a new one.  

Frazier remains a Nancy Drew mystery. We wanted him to hit, to play LF, to anchor the batting order and to give the lineup jolt of youth and swagger. Instead, he's been a flat-out disaster, culminating in a weird affliction of dizziness and eyesight issues. (Will he return wearing glasses?) Right now, there is no place for him. (Until further notice, Joey Gallo is our LF.) Of course, by next week, who knows? By then, more Yankees will probably either test positive or tweak a nugget - why would we think otherwise? Maybe the saga of Red Thunder will bring one more chapter, one more chance at redemption? Or maybe we're just dead in the water and don't yet know it?