On a day of California dreaming, Yanks cut Tampa's lead to three.

All the trees are brown
And the sky is grey...

Last night, while the Death Barge grooved down California State Route 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, Tampa phoned it in against Texas, and the Rays' loss-column lead in the sickly AL East has shriveled to three.

It sorta doesn't matter, because the AL remains a league of bumpkins and butchers. The Pope's White Sox, leaders of the AL Central, are seven losses behind the Yankees, five behind Boston. And Houston - in a summer of AI slop and 110-degree afternoons - is nine behind us. Nine. The ever-cheating Astros are three above .500. The final wild card slot could go to a sub-.500 team. This year is a joke. 

Some takeaways from the bus ride to the Plymouth of the West.

1. George Lombard Jr. should return this weekend. Turns out, young guys heal. Who knew? Should be interesting, as he's had a rare opportunity to rest and reflect upon the incredible changes - and inhuman pressures - heaped upon him over the last month. Lombard needs an error-free weekend to chase away the demons that seemed to be taking root back east.  

2. Lombard and Spencer Jones are the new Future of the Yankees (TM.) 

3. On behalf of the former Future of the Yankees (TM), Anthony Volpe homered last night in Scranton, on YES. He went 3-4, playing 2B. He's hitting .267 in Triple A. (While I have you, The Martian went 0-4, hitting .274.) Remember Volpe and Domiguez? Seems a million years ago. 

4. There's infield chatter of Volpe playing 2B next season, during the lockout. Hell, during a lockout, I could play 2B.

5. Trip to San Diego conjures another chance to imagine the last eight years, if Old George had not devoured so many overcooked, marbled steaks and lived another 10 years. (He was 80 - Trump age - when the Reaper came.) 

6. It was 2019 when Manny Machado, on his free agency tour, visited NYC to seduce the Yankees into a contract. Cooperstown Cashman and Food Stamps Hal hid under their beds and let the phone ring. Manny wanted to play in NY, his wife's home town. Happy, wife, happy life, right? 

7. Close your eyes and imagine the Yankees with Machado for the last eight years. Instead of Josh Donaldson, Miggy Twobags and Geo Urshela - instead of wandering a 3B desert, we'd savor a guy someday going into the Hall with a Yankee cap.

8. Over eight years in SD, Machado has hit 218 HRs and batted .268. This year, in a down season, he has 24.  

9. And let's not forget Bryce Harper, who also courted the Yankees in 2019. Close your eyes, and the Yankees could have a fistful of rings. Instead, it's Cabby and Ryan McMahon.  

9. Tonight, Max Fried. Tomorrow, Rodon. Why is this not inspiring confidence? And Sunday, we face Michael King. Wow. Another item to reimagine.