No midges, but still a three-hour heart attack: Ten takeaways

Can't take many more of these. Of course, we want a victory. But if the Yankees must lose tonight, let's do it by - say - eight. Last night was a slasher flick: Whenever we seemed safe, Cleveland did a perfect Michael Myers sit-up and started killing teenagers. I missed John and Suzyn - can't synch their audio to TBS - but the Master must have been delirious. (Here's a link to his "Juannderfull, marrrvelous" call of Juan Soto's early HR.)  

Ten Takeaways:

1. If Giancarlo wins us a ring, or just stays hot, I shall never, never, EVER again whine about his contract. In the IT IS HIGH AP Style Book, he'll be a "well paid, salaried staffer." 

2. Am I dreaming, or is Anthony Volpe hitting as he did in April? (FYI: He's 8 for 25 - .320 - with eight - yeah, 8 - walks: That's a .485 on-base percentage.) 

3. If it stands, would there ever be an unlikelier Yankee postseason hero than Mark Leiter Jr.? (The ones that come to mind: Jim Leyritz, Aaron Boone.) 

4. Something's wrong with Anthony Rizzo. He should be our best fielding 1B, but he's waving at balls. He pulled a Buckner on Leiter's shovel pass in the eighth, split the uprights. Donno what to do, but it's a thing.

5. That said, Rizzo charging a potential bunt - with the batter swinging - was one of the ballsiest plays I've seen in years. He was 50 feet from the plate. Fearless.

6. Austin Wells has become a Gold Glove catcher. All night, he won deserved praise from Ron Darling & company. Saved at least five wild pitches. 

7. Biggest heart attack moment: Verdugo running down that drive off the bat of Santa Claus Noel. It looked gone, and the TBS cameras panned to the bleachers. Somehow, Verdugo got there. I cannot recall a better decision by Boone than choosing Verdugo over The Martian in LF. 

8. Glad to see Luke Weaver get a rest, though Boone had him warming in the 9th. I hope that didn't fry him. 

9. I thought Boone should have given Luis Gil a shot at the 5th inning. He'd retired the last four batters, seemed to be settling in. We knew the bullpen would be stressed. 

10. A bit surprised that Marcus Stroman didn't get called upon. Yes, he was shaky down the stretch, but at some point, we'll need him. 

10. (Tie) The end of that game will forever be frozen in time - Berdi botching the grounder, then recovering to make the play. But is it my imagination, or was the Cleveland runner exceptionally slow. That play should have been closer.