My Yankees Report 6/23/22

 

          No win feels sweeter than this one as the Yanks come all the way back to defeat the Houston Astros or as I like to call them, the asterisks. It looked like the game was all but over in the bottom of the 9th, but once again the Yanks had something to say about that as they flipped the switch and took the game into their hands. 

          Whenever the Yankees play the Houston Astros the stakes are much higher and recent history will tell you that. A shaky start and a great finish was how the Yanks came out on top in this one. Jameson Taillon did not look like his normal self after giving up six runs on two pitches. But, the bullpen was once again there to save him and give the Yanks a path to come back.

          It was the game of three run homers as both teams blasted 2 each and 4 combined which is definitely a rarity. The biggest homer came in the bottom of the 9th by who else but the hottest Yankee as of late, Aaron Hicks. Hicks has certainly earned his clutch badge as he has picked up some very big hits for this Yankees squad as of late. 

          The icing on the cake came from Aaron Judge as he picked up his 2nd walk off hit and the Yanks 9th on the year. They now have one of the best records in baseball all time through 70 games. This team is special and something I’ve never seen before. 52-18 sounds pretty nice don’t you think? 

          It is definitely going to be a long and grueling weekend with this Astros team in town, but the Yanks are more than capable of dealing with Houston. They do have to face Justin Verlander who they haven’t seen in multiple years, but he has had their number especially in the postseason. 

My Yankees Report 6/21/22

 

          It seems like whenever the Yanks and Rays match up, the game comes down to the wire and it certainly did it in last nights game. Aaron Judge was about 3 feet away from tying up the ball game, but the difference of 3 feet gave the Rays to win. It was a bit of a weird game nonetheless.

          To start off, Nestor Cortes was pulled early after giving up three home runs early in the ball game. He was then pulled and Clarke Schmidt gave up another homer to give Cortes 4 earned runs. Whenever Cortes gives up more than three earned runs, it’s a pretty weird start because it is a rarity. 

          Schmidt and Cortes gave up 3 home runs to Issac Paredes who is not known as a home run hitter. They were all solo shots, but they were the difference in the ball game. After Schmidt was pulled, Marinaccio and Luetge gave the Yanks three dominant, no-hit innings. It’s not everyday you see Cortes going only 4.1 innings and giving up 4 earned runs.

          The Yankees were in it until their last at bat as Marwin Gonzalez belted a two run homer in the top of the ninth to give the Yankees a chance to pinch-hit Aaron Judge to try and possibly tie up the game. Gonzalez is starting to get some power as he has homered in the last two series.  

          Judge stepped to the plate and the first pitch he saw he flew out to the warning track in left field. If the pitch was just a little more outside than it would’ve been a tie ball game. The Yankee show yet again and that they are never out of any ball game and always fight back.

          The Yanks try to win yet another series today with Jordan Montgomery on the mound in the rubber game of this three-game series. If the Yankees can get a better starting pitching performance from Montgomery then Cortes, then they could easily take this series against the injury-riddled Rays and head home happy. 

My Yankees Report 6/20/22

     The Yanks did not make it easy, but they came away with their 50th win of the season last night against the Rays. So many twists and turns, ups and downs, and everything else was incorporated into this game, but a win is a win and the Yanks did just that. 

    Last night it felt like the Yanks were playing in Yankee Stadium South as I would say at least 75 percent of the fans in attendance were rooting for the Yanks. I don't know if it was because all of the Rays fans were at the Stanley Cup watching the Lightning or just Yanks fans travel well like always. 

    Back to the game, the McClanahan vs Cole matchup was just as advertised as both of these aces pitched like Cy Young candidates. McClanahan again gave up an early mistake when Anthony Rizzo belted a homer in the 1st, but was dominant after that. Gerrit Cole took a no-hitter into the 8th inning and then lost it to Issac Paredes, but only gave up 1 run as well. This is the second time this year that Cole has had a no-hit bid through 6 or more innings. 

    But, the most dramatic part of the game did not involve any starters, for it involved the most unlikely suspect of them all, Clay Holmes. The Yanks brought in Clay Holmes to clean up the small mess that Gerrit Cole left, but for the first time since Opening Day, Holmes allowed 2 runs. Only one of the runs was earned, but it left me in such shock that he actually gave up a run, I forgot he could give up a run with how dominant he has been all season long. The Rays ended up tying up the game at 2 as we headed to the top of the ninth where things got even crazier.

    Rays reliever Jason Adam, who has registered an under 1 ERA similar to Holmes, took the mound to try and get 3 outs and give the Rays a chance to win it in the bottom of the frame. Adam gave up a leadoff single to Donaldson and then a couple batters later, Aaron Hicks came through yet again as he belted an RBI triple to left. It was such an intense moment because Rays outfielder Manuel Margot got hurt while trying to make the play and he had to be stretchered off, and then when Aaron Hicks reached third he was the most fired up I've ever seen him. Also, Yankee Stadium South was rocking as Yankee fans were making a ton of noise overpowering the minuscule amount of Rays fans in the building. 

    Hicks has been the difference maker in the last 2 of 3 games the Yanks have played, so that is a great sign for him. In a game where both offenses were struggling severely, Hicks came through once again and was the difference maker yet again for this Yankee team.

    Onto the bottom of the 9th we went and of course, the Rays had to make things interesting till the final out. The Rays got 2 on with 2 out and a shallow fly ball was hit to center and 3 yankee defenders were in reach of the ball and I was thinking, oh no this is definitely going to drop, and for a second I thought it did, but guess what. Aaron Hicks was there to make the play and win the ballgame! 

    The player of the game for the Yanks was of course Aaron Hicks as he drove in the game-winning run and made the game-winning catch to fend off the Rays. Nestor Cortes takes the mound in game 2 of this series as he will face the Rays for the 3rd time this year. The Yanks now sit at 50-17 and are the first team to reach 50 wins on the campaign this season. 

My Yankees Report 6/19/22

     Well it's confirmed, this team is human after all. The Yanks finally lose a game after they had previously won 9 in a row and won 16 of their last 17 as well. They ended up losing 10-9 because of an ugly pitching performance by the entire pitching staff which has been rare all season.

    The game started off in the Blue Jays favor as Vladdy Guerrero, after struggling the first two games, belted a two-run homer to left to put the Jays on top 2-0. Then the Yanks scored 6 unanswered thanks to a Josh Donaldson two-run homer and a Torres solo shot as well. It looked like the Yanks had the game locked up when they lead 6-2 early, but that was certainly not the case as the game was FAR from over.

    A rare homer from Martin Gonzalez and another one added by Kyle Higashioka made it 8-3. These runs looked like insurance runs at the time, but they only kept the Yanks in the game in the later innings. Lourdes Gurriel quickly answered back with a grand slam and then a Hernandez three-run shot made it 10-8 Toronto just like that. They scored 7 unanswered and did it in bunches. 

    But, the Yanks stayed in it as Anthony Rizzo came into the game and had a pinch-hit homer to make it 10-9 and the Yanks had multiple runners on in the 8th and 9th, but could not get the job done. 

    Wandy Peralta had arguably his worst appearance of the year as he gave up the game-winning runs and Miguel Castro also gave up some runs as well. Luis Severino didn't help them out either as he gave up 5 earned runs as well. Now while saying this, this game was the first time through 66 games the Yanks allowed 10 or more runs. The pitching has been so dominant that we are shocked when they implode sometimes like yesterday's game.

    Besides yesterday's game where the Yanks had multiple chances to win, if you had told me 6 days ago that  in the next 6 games the Yanks would go 5-1, I would be more than satisfied with that. And that's exactly what they did as they head back to Tampa. They face McClanahan tonight and hopefully the Yanks can have the same success as they did the last time these two teams faced off and start yet another winning streak. Gerrit Cole gets the ball for the Yanks as they start off a 3 game set in St. Pete. 

My Yankees Report 6/18/22

     Surprise surprise! The Yanks pick up another victory, this time in shutout fashion to take yet another series. The pitching was brilliant and the bats were good when they needed to be as the Yanks took down the Blue Jays yet again by a score of 4-0.

    I was worried along with many other Yankee fans about the Yanks facing Alek Manoah because he has dominated them in his brief professional career, but the Yanks got to him twice and it was enough to get the job done. It felt so good as a Yankee fan to finally see this team come through against Manoah. He first made his major league debut against the Yanks and absolutely dominated and then had 5 more starts where his ERA was in the mid 1's, so he has left a very sour taste in many Yankees fans mouths whenever he matches up against the Yanks. 

    It only took one hit to give the Yanks the victory in this game and it was courtesy of Aaron Hicks. Hicks belted a 3-run double to give the yanks a 3-0 lead and they didn't look back from there. Although it's only one hit from Hicks, it's very nice to see him make good contact and help the team out a little. I still think he needs to prove that he's consistent enough to continue to play everyday.

    IKF added an insurance run later in the game against Manoah as well. For a pitcher that had a very low ERA against the Yanks and then giving up 4 earned runs to them is a really good sign for this team and the direction they are headed in. Its not everyday where you're able to successfully get to a potential AL Cy Young candidate and knock him out of the game early. 

    Jameson Taillon had another great start as he adds to his potential All-star campaign. Being non-biased right now I would definitely vote Taillon into the all-star game with the numbers and story that he has. The amount of surgeries and injuries that he has had to go through to pitching like an all-star and absolutely dominating teams is a great story and Taillon continues to make it better each and every start he gets. 

    King and Holmes were called on to relieve from the Bullpen and they did what they've done all year, dominate. King is a reliever that not only gives the Yanks good appearances, but he also gives them length as he pitched 2 full innings in yesterday's game. Clay Holmes came on in a non-save opportunity situation, but I liked that Boone put him in because he has not pitched in the past couple of days so it was important that he got some pitches in. Michael Kay said it best when Alejandro Kirk came to bat and Clay Holmes was coming in, he said Kirk must be really scared right now to face Holmes and to be honest, he probably was.

    Hopefully the Yanks can have a successful Father's Day and pick up their 3rd consecutive sweep, 10th consecutive win, and 50th win on the season. 50 wins through 66 games is unheard, but this Yankee team is doing a lot of unheard things this season. Luis Severino gets the call after a long gap between starts, so hopefully that doesn't affect his pitching today. 

My Yankees Report 6/17/22

     The Yanks keep rolling as they win their 8th straight in dominant fashion north of the border against the Blue Jays. Thanks to a huge 8-run fifth inning the Yanks cruised their way to another dominant victory against their AL East rivals.

    It's crazy to think just a season ago the Yankees struggled to beat the Blue Jays game after game, and now this year they have dominated them so far. Through the first 10 games these teams have faced off, the Yanks are 7-3 against Toronto. This is a great sign for the Yanks coming off a sweep of the Rays and now starting off the series dominantly against the Blue Jays. If they can keep up this consistent winning in the division, they should have no problem winning the AL East.

    The Yankees came into the 5th inning of last night's ballgame up 2-1 and about 5-10 minutes after the inning started, it was 10-1. Stanton connected for a two-run homer, LeMahieu hit a solo shot to go back to back, a Gallo RBI double, and then an Anthony Rizzo grand slam to cap it all off. I said in my last report that that game against the Rays where Rizzo hit the walk-off homer, that one swing should start to get him going a little better and it certainly did as he proved it with the grand salami. 

    Joey Gallo is also starting to heat up once again as he had the RBI double in the fifth and a two-run homer in the 9th that was absolutely destroyed to right field. As the Yanks win more and more, my main focus for the team is getting the guys who haven't produced much this year to produce more and Joey Gallo has definitely been doing that over these past couple of series's. For example, Aaron Hicks still has not come around much even after that big series in Minnesota. The Yanks need much more production out of him if he wants to maintain being an everyday player in the outfield.

    Jordan Montgomery once again had another dominant outing as he pitched 6 solid innings as he lowered his ERA down to 2.82. The Yanks did not need much from their bullpen as they had such a big lead, so it gave some big arms such as Clay Holmes, Wandy Peralta, and Michael King a day off after they had worked most of the Rays series. 

    It seems like almost every time the Yanks and Blue Jays meet up, the Yankees kryptonite Alek Manoah always is on the mound once a series. Manoah since coming into the big leagues last year has absolutely dominated them and is on the verge off earning a "Yankee killer" nickname in my opinion. He is taking the mound in the 2nd game of the series and I would not be surprised if the Yanks offense takes a bit of a toll down after last night since they are facing Manoah today. 

My Yankees Report 6/16/22

 

    The Yankees are on another level once again. They sweep the Rays out of New York and defeat them on yet another walk-off 2-1. Anthony Rizzo was the MVP as he drove in not only the walk-off homer but the other RBI as well earlier in the game.

    A late scratch to Luis Severino as the starter did not affect the Yankees pitching negatively at all. They had a weird but great combination of pitchers in the game as they went with Clarke Schmidt as the opener to Ryan Weber to Ron Marinaccio to Michael King. Weber was just called up before the game and he delivered 3.2 innings of solid work for the Yanks. Clarke Schmidt opened the game for the first 3 innings as well. When you can get a great 6.2 innings from these two pitchers, then that is a really good sign for this ball club. It seems like basically any pitcher this season they've had to call on has stepped up when they needed them to. Ryan Weber and Clarke Schmidt prove this once again.

    The Yanks had a mediocre offense all series as they combined for only 8 runs, yet they still found a way to sweep the series! The pitching once again shutdown the opposing offense as the Rays combined to score only 4 runs the entire series as well. 

    The Yanks entire offense was through Anthony Rizzo as he drove in the game-tying run and the the walk-off run in the bottom of the 9th. Rizzo has been a very up and down player this season I believe and he only needs a couple of good swings to get himself going again. Hopefully this game can help Rizzo get his offensive groove back.

    It seems like there is always a new theme for every Yankees win and the theme of this game was definitely the incorporation of the next man up. Luis Severino was scratched right before the game, but there was no panic as Clarke Schmidt and the rest of the Yankee bullpen filled in for him and pitched to absolute domination. Schmidt was the next man up and he was great.

    Since Clarke Schmidt made his major league debut I have seen him make such a big leap and become a more and more dominant pitcher especially this year. When he was first called up in 2020, he had a couple of shaky outings and then was sent down back to the minors and then came up last year and improved. Now in 2022, this is definitely the best he has played in his career. It seems that since Matt Blake has taken over as Yankee pitching coach, he has made every single Yankee pitcher better and he has certainly done that with Clarke Schmidt as well.

    This was a great start to this tough 9 game stretch against the Rays and Blue Jays as they sweep the Rays and now head to Toronto with a smile on their faces. A mini 6 game road trip coming up for the best team in baseball as they are now 31 games over .500. They continue to impress me each and every game they play. 

My NL East Report

 

    Arguably the most talked about division in baseball this season, the NL East, has had its ups and downs as a whole now sitting just over 60 games into the year. This division has multiple contenders that can not only win the division, but can make a run in the postseason once the calendar hits October.

    Lets start off with the Washington Nationals. It's hard to believe that just a couple of years ago in 2019, the Nationals lifted the World Series trophy in Houston as they had just won their first ever World Series. Now, the Nats seem to be the one team in this division with not many things to look forward to in the near future besides their young, emerging superstar, Juan Soto. The Nats currently sit last in the division with one of the worst records in baseball and arguably the worst pitching in baseball. Again back in 2019, the Nats had arguably one of the best pitching staffs in the league with Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg headlining the rotation. The Nats then traded Scherzer and Strasburg has been hurt ever since that magical 2019 season. 

    They have been left with a bunch of young pitching that has done them no good and has been the main reason for their struggles the past couple of years. It's safe to say the Nats are in a rebuild mode as they have traded away some big names in recent years such as Trea Turner and Max Scherzer. This rebuild needs to be centered around Juan Soto and another focus should be getting some better all-around pitching. But, as of now, the Nats are not a threat to the rest of the powerful NL East.

    Moving onto the Miami Marlins. The Marlins have made some nice additions in the past year and also have developed their pitching staff into arguably a top 5 pitching staff in all of baseball. They have 2 potential NL Cy Young award candidates in Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez, and a bunch of other young arms that are still developing and can be very solid in the near future. They are lead offensive by Jazz Chisholm who has proven this season that he is one of the better middle infielders in the league. The Marlins have been in a rebuild for quite some time now since trading away Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich, but even in those years they were not a very good team. They showed some promise in 2020 when they made the playoffs for the first time in 17 years and have certainly acquired some nice pieces since then.

    Unfortunately, I still believe that the Marlins are not quite finished yet with their rebuild and for them it will be very tough to compete in this division when they have to look up at the Mets, Braves, and Phillies. Yes, they have acquired lots of power bats this season including Jorge Soler and Avisail Garcia, which is what they have been missing in previous years, but their main weakness that will prevent them from making progress in this division is their bullpen. Until their bullpen is upgraded, that is when the Marlins will make the leap from being a mediocre team in this division to a legit contender in the NL East. 

    Lets talk about the Philadelphia Phillies. Now this team has been an absolute roller coaster since the season commenced in early April. They started off with such high expectations after they acquired Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, and some relievers for their bullpen, yet they have not lived up to those expectations yet. The Phillies even got to a point where they fired their manager, Joe Girardi. Everyone expected the Phillies with the power bats that they already had and just added and the rotation as good as it is and the bullpen getting better and better year after year to be somewhat of a threat in the NL this year, yet they have not lived up to it yet.

    Even after acquiring some new arms for their bullpen, this is what has kept them out of games a lot this season. The offense has been good for the Phils this year, but what overrides that all is the bullpen blowing game after game for these Phillies. If you look at the Phillies on paper, they have it all on the offensive side and their starting rotation is nothing but sharp, but their bullpen definitely needs some adjusting if they want to have a legitimate of making the playoffs and eventually coming out of the NL East on top.

    Now the defending world champion Atlanta Braves. Currently as I write this, the Braves are on a 14-game winning streak and they don't look like they are going to lose again. At one point their record was way below .500 and they were more than 11 games behind the Mets for first in the division, now they have crept their way up to only 4 games behind the Mets in the NL East. The Braves have it all even after losing their MVP Freddie Freeman they still acquired all-star Matt Olson to fill his role. The Braves just came off of a successful World Series run without arguably their best player healthy, Ronald Acuna. Acuna is now back and better than ever this season and he can definitely help get this Braves team to the promise land yet again.

    Slow starts have been nothing unusual for this Braves team, for they had a very slow start during the regular season of last year's World Series team. As long as they can keep up their winning ways as of late and keep being consistent on both sides of the ball, it's going to be very tough to stop this Braves team from potentially going back to back. The only weakness I can give them as of now is slow starts, but once they get over that hump, it's no looking back for the Atlanta Braves. 

    Finally, the first-place New York Mets. The Mets along with the Yankees have put New York back on the map as a baseball state as they have been absolutely thriving this year. Even with the injury-riddled starting rotation with no Jacob DeGrom and no Max Scherzer, this Mets team finds ways to win each and every night. If they can be this successful without these two former Cy Youngs, then look out for this team when they get these two guys back and healthy again. The pitching has certainly done its job for the Mets and the offense has done the same as well. In previous years for the Mets it was always a concern that the pitching was doing its job, but the offense could never execute. This year they have proven those past teams wrong as they have been doing it well on both sides of the baseball.

    Potential NL MVP Pete Alonso leads baseball in RBIs and Francisco Lindor is having a bounce back season from his first season for the Mets. The offense has been great with multiple .300 hitters and lots of nice and sneaky additions for this team including outfielders Starling Marte and Mark Canha, and infielder Eduardo Escobar. These additions have helped this Mets offense thrive throughout the start of the season. The Mets bullpen has also been giving them some great shutdown innings and closer Edwin Diaz has really been the headliner of this bullpen as he has been a phenomenal weapon from the bullpen through the first 60 plus games. The one thing the Mets need to do if they want to be successful going into October is keeping up the consistency and if they do that, they will be just fine and a major threat to any team in their way.

    The NL East is filled with some great teams and in the end this year it is going to come down to the race between the Mets and the Braves. Some people will say, what about the Phillies? The Phillies in the end really lack the consistency this year and in previous years to keep up in this division. Especially in games against divisional opponents, the Mets have had their number this year. Consistency is key in this division and whoever is the most consistent will come out on top in October. 

My Yankees Report 6/15/22

 

    Another day, another victory for the Yanks as they win a nail-biter against the Rays 4-3. Another successful series as well for the Yanks as they are now sitting pretty in the AL East and they are now 30 games above .500. 

    The potential AL Cy Young pitching matchup did not live up to its name as both Nestor Cortes and Shane McClanahan had shaky outings. McClanahan only had 2 mistakes through his 6 innings of work when he gave up a solo shot to Aaron Judge and a 3-run bomb to Kyle Higashioka. Cortes only allowed one run, but he had a shorter start than many would expect, he only went 5.1 innings. 

    Miguel Castro did give up 2 runs, but Clay Holmes and Lucas Luetge covered for him and preserved the lead for yet another victory. Holmes wrapped up his 11th save of the season and now has pitched 30 consecutive scoreless innings! Yet, Aaron Boone says that Holmes' role is not solidified when Aroldis Chapman returns from his IL stint. Since taking over for Chapman in the closer role, Holmes has been nothing but perfect throughout his time in this role. If I was Aaron Boone, I would make Aroldis Chapman earn his role back and when he comes back ease him back into the bullpen. 

    Aaron Judge cranked his 25th homer of the year and looks like the definite AL MVP in my opinion. Whenever he steps to the plate, he always looks like he is going to do something good up there, whether it's hitting a home run or just getting on base in general. He has been so astronomically great this year and if he keeps it up, the Yankees should hand him a blank check this coming offseason.

    The player of the game for the yanks was definitely Kyle Higaskioka as his 3-run homer was the difference maker in this game. Higashioka is finally starting to heat up as yankee fans have hoped to see since the end of Spring Training. It makes no sense how through such a short amount of time Higashioka was on fire in Spring Training and then put that all behind him in the regular season and slump as bad as he had been. With a lot of swirling trade rumors centered around the yankees and a potential new starting catcher, Kyle Higashioka is now making his case that he belongs in pinstripes in a solidified role for this team. If Higashioka can get back on track with his offense and Trevino can stay as consistent offensively and defensively as he has been, I have no doubt in my mind that the Yanks have the best catcher tandem in the league.

    The homers by Judge and Higashioka were the yanks 99th and 100th homers on the year making them to be the first team to reach the 100 homer milestone this season. Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Anthony Rizzo are all in the top 20 for most homers in the MLB as well. Once again the Yanks are living up to their name, The Bronx Bombers, as they continue to win games courtesy of the long ball. Today, they look to sweep the Rays before they start a brief road trip in Toronto Friday night. 

    

My Yankees Report 6/14/22

     After a well-deserved off day the Yanks started their 9 game stretch against the Rays and Blue Jays with a victory 2-0. Gerrit Cole pitched great and the bullpen backed him up as well as the pitching kept the yanks in this game as the offense did not produce much.

    The yanks found another way to win as they won without scoring an earned run against Corey Kluber and the Rays bullpen. 2 errors in the bottom of the 4th made the two runs that the Yanks scored in that inning unearned for Kluber. After that inning both team were held scoreless for the rest of the game. The Yanks have shutout the rays in the last 2 games combined that they have played at the stadium dating back to the season finale of last year. That game they clinched the wild card spot when they eventually lost to the Red Sox.

    Gerrit Cole had a very smooth bounce back start from his last horrendous start in Minnesota. He went 6 scoreless innings, in my opinion Boone should've left him in for the 7th as well, but I'm not complaining they still found the way to win, and had 7 strikeouts on the night as well. Anytime you have one of the worst starts of your career, all you're thinking is how you're going to bounce back in your next start, and he did just that.  

    Peralta to King to Holmes combined to allow 2 hits through 3 great innings of relief. Clay Holmes has now pitched 29 straight scoreless innings and the last run he allowed was on Opening Day. The stat is so crazy and it gets even crazier because this is not the major league record for most consecutive innings without allowing a run. Holmes continues his outstanding work and if I were the Yankees I would not give Aroldis Chapman his role back when he returns from the IL. Holmes has been too good in this role to just give Chapman it back.

    Although the Yanks are sitting very comfortably where they are now in the standings and with what their record is, these next 8 games are critical to making more breathing room in the standings for the Yanks. The Rays and Blue Jays are currently 2nd and 3rd in the AL East and own the AL 1st and 2nd wild card spots, so it is critical the Yanks keep their distance from them.

    For the 2nd game of the series tonight it is a potential AL Cy Young matchup between Shane McClanahan and Nestor Cortes. Both come in with sub 2 ERA's and are frontrunners to potentially start in the all-star game for the American League. Both pitchers pitched in the series back in Tampa and they absolutely dominated and I would expect nothing less than that tonight. 

My Yankees Report 6/11/22 and 6/12/22

 

    It was an absolute weekend of domination for the Yanks, so I thought why not combine both reports into one. They absolutely obliterated the Cubs in both games over the weekend and swept the series as well. They outscored Chicago 26-4 during Saturday and Sunday's games combined.

    Once again everything was clicking for the Yanks in both games. The offense could not be contained and the pitching was dominant once again. The Yanks blasted 10 home runs during the 2 games including Kyle Higashioka's first two blasts of the season which should be a great sign for Yankee fans that he is starting to turn it around.

    The Yanks blasted 6 solo home runs during Saturday's game and of course two came from Aaron Judge. He has continued to have an unbelievable year and looks like the clear AL MVP as of now. Jose Trevino also picked up 3 hits and a home run as well during this game. To me, Trevino has been the biggest surprise to me this year after being acquired in a small trade that was overlooked by some, to potentially taking over the starting catcher position and doing it in dominant fashion as well.

    During the Sunday game, the MVP of that game was definitely Matt Carpenter. Carpenter was not even supposed to start Sunday's game until just before the game the Yanks ruled Gleyber Torres out with an illness. Carpenter has been another huge surprise for the Yanks after taking him off of the Rangers Triple-A team. To think that just a month ago Carpenter was playing in Triple-A, to now he's racking up 2 home runs and 7 RBIs for the hottest team in baseball is crazy. If Carpenter keeps this up, he might be too good to keep on the bench for the Yanks.

    The pitching was great for the Yanks whether it was the bullpen or the starters. Jordan Montgomery had 7 shutout innings on Saturday night and Jameson Taillon followed up on Sunday with 5 good innings as well. The bullpen did their job to perfection on both Saturday and Sunday like usual. 

    Through their first 60 games, the Yanks are 44-16 and this is the best start by a Yankee team since 1998. You know a team is going to be pretty good when you average almost 5 runs per game and only give up 3 a game. 

    I know the Cubs are in a rebuild mode and are not a very good team, but I am absolutely blown away with how this Yankee team played this weekend. No matter who the opponent was, they put up astronomical numbers and did it in absolutely dominating fashion on both sides of the ball. This team continues to look like a potential World Series team and keeps on cruising as the season goes along. The Yanks will now enter a tough week with an off day today and then a 3 game set against the Rays and then off to Toronto for a three game set with the Blue Jays. 

My Yankees Report 6/10/22

 

    Well it certainly was not pretty at all, but the Yanks came out on top in last night's game against the Chicago Cubs, 2-1. It took 13 innings for the Yanks to finally take the 1st game of a 3 game set against the Cubs.

    The Yanks came back home and their pitching immediately turned back to dominant as Luis Severino pitched 6 innings of 1 run baseball with 10 strikeouts to go along with his dominant performance. The one run he gave up was a solo shot by Jason Heyward that surprised everyone that it actually got into the stands. 

    Gleyber Torres started the scoring for the Yanks with a solo shot in the bottom of the 4th, and then the Yanks didn't score until the 13th inning when they walked it off. The Cubs basically had a mini 9 inning game that was incorporated into this one where they shutout the Yanks. Both pitching staffs were in control the entire game as both teams had over 30 attempts with runners in scoring position combined and were only successful one time.

    Cubs starter, Wade Miley, left the game early as he suffered an injury opening up the 4th inning, but the Cubs bullpen was great for them and was the reason why they stayed in the game that long. Their offense wasn't doing them any favors, so the bullpen had to back them up and hold them up strong for 10 innings.

    The Yankee bullpen was once again dominant as Castro to King to Holmes to Schmidt to Peralta to Marinaccio only allowed 2 hits combined through 7 innings of work. Like the Cubs bullpen, the Yanks offense was not doing the team any favors, so the bullpen kept them in the game.

    It was a pinch-hit game-winning RBI single for the Yanks as Jose Trevino came on to pinch-hit for Kyle Higashioka and lined a single into left field to finally win the game in 13 innings. Higashioka continues to struggle and it does not look any bit promising that he will start to pick it up. Trevino should be the Yanks everyday starting catcher, unless the Yanks make a trade for another catcher. One potential target for the Yanks was on the other side of the field last night in Wilson Contreras. Contreras is an all-star catcher and one of the best catchers in baseball, so it would probably take some assets to acquire the all-star.

    The Yanks now have a nine-game home winning streak and that has been a result of the dominance they have gotten from not only their starting pitching, but their bullpen as well as both were shutting down each and every Cubs batter last night. The Yanks picked up their 42nd win last night and look to get their 43rd in the 2nd game of the 3 game set tonight against the Cubs in the Bronx.

My Yankees Report 6/9/22

 

    Wow, lots of huge storylines in this game as the Yankees somehow managed to get a huge comeback victory over the Twins and take the series. This game had so many ups and downs, it was definitely the craziest game that the Yanks have played and won this season so far.

    This 3 game series for Yankee starters had been horrendous coming into this game and it only got worse with Gerrit Cole on the mound. He couldn't even complete 3 innings of work as he gave up 7 runs and his ERA skyrocketed almost 100 points. The Yankees found themselves down big early, but not completely out of it.

    Just a couple of games ago I was very unhappy with Aaron Hicks and Joey Gallo and what they've done this season statistically, but this series they have started to definitely turn it around. I would name this game the Hicks and Gallo game as they combined for 6 RBI's and 3 homers. Gallo now has 3 homers in his last 4 games and Hicks broke a long streak of not having a homer when he blasted a moonshot to right field.

    Whenever Hicks plays his former team, the Twins, he seems to turn it up a notch and he certainly did last night. His batting average has soared upwards as the series has gone on. Maybe Hicks just needs to play the Twins all the time and he could be this good always? Either way this is a great sign for Aaron Hicks as he has really been struggling before this series. 

    Joey Gallo also has been improving with the 2 homers last night. The Yanks knew when they got him that he is a 50 percent strikeout hitter and a 50 percent home run hitter. This season it has been very lopsided towards strikeouts, but as of late he has started to hit the long ball more. I hope Gallo keeps this up and regains the confidence he once had when he played in Texas.

    Gerrit Cole had his worst start of his career after he gave up a career-high 4 home runs in just 2 innings of work including back to back to back home runs to start off the game. We have seen Cole sometimes blow up in front of our faces when he allows a couple of homers in one game, but never like this. Ultimately, it was not a good series overall for Yankee starters after they had been so dominant before this series had began, but the Yankee offense and bullpen was able to bail them out and take 2 of the three games in this series.

    The bullpen once again was dominant after taking over in a very tough situation for Gerrit Cole. From Luetge to Castro to Peralta to King to Holmes for the save, they combined to give up one singular hit to the powerful Twins offense. Yet still the bullpen is depleted as they are still missing Chapman and Loaisiga, but they continue to dominant and improve each and every game. I love what I am seeing from this bullpen.

    This Yankee team continues to show that no deficit is too big to count them out as they came back from a 7-3 deficit against the Twins and scored 7 unanswered runs to defeat the Twins and take the series in Minneapolis. They pick up their 41st win on the season and now will begin their first inter-league series tonight against the Chicago Cubs back in the Bronx tonight. This will be the first time the two teams have met since May of 2017 and it will be Anthony Rizzo's first game against his former club, since the trade, that he won a World Series with. 

    

My NBA Finals Report (Game 3)

     The Celtics have certainly surprised a lot of people this season and all of a sudden they are sitting 2 games away from their 18th NBA championship. After taking game 3 against the Warriors on Wednesday night, they look to maintain their home court advantage and possibly take a commanding 3-1 lead before going back to San Francisco.

    Coming into this series, the one aspect that I viewed the Celtics heavily outweighed the Warriors in was their size and rebounding. They have certainly shown it off in this series as bigs Al Horford and Robert Williams have completely dominated the paint throughout the first 2 games and especially in game 3. The Warriors have always played small ball, especially in past playoffs when using Draymond Green as their big man and they have definitely succeeded using this method after winning 3 championships. But, this method has certainly not worked against Boston and the Celtics will definitely be looking to exploit this weakness that the Warriors possess in game 4 Friday night.

    The two main duos for each team, Curry and Thompson for the Warriors, and Brown and Tatum for the Celtics both played pretty well for their respective teams. Brown was on fire right as the game started and Tatum soon followed him with another big night. The splash brothers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, put on a shooting clinic for the Warriors until the 4th quarter. The 4th quarter was the ultimate collapse for the Warriors as Curry and Thompson had combined for over 50 points before the quarter had started, and it looked like they really lost their magic touch once the final quarter had began. 

    The game was close going into the 4th quarter and the Warriors definitely needed to rely on their shooting to help them win the game, but their shooting magic just disappeared when they needed it most. They somehow only managed to score 11 points in the 4th quarter and ended up losing by 16 points. Golden State last lead 83-82 in the third quarter and ever since then they fell apart.

    Whenever Golden State came down the floor with a basket, Boston always had an answer back and that is why they won this game by such a wide margin. Besides the 3rd quarter, the Celtics played perfect basketball on both sides of the ball as they limited the Warriors to just 100 points and bounced back after their struggles in the 3rd quarter.

    Draymond Green was another big story in this game as he has definitely turned into an enemy of this Boston fanbase. He had an absolutely terrible game on Wednesday and he also fouled out. The Warriors are going to need much more from Green if they want to succeed in this series. Instead of focusing on throwing off other Celtics' players games he should focus on his own game and improve that. This Warriors team is going to need to improve their game a lot on Friday if they want to keep this series close and head back to San Francisco with this series tied at two apiece. 

My Yankees Report 6/8/22

 

    For the first time, all season I believe, the Yankees were totally out of it and did not look sharp in the slightest bit the entire game. They got trounced on by the Twins by a final score of 8-1.

    It was a quiet first 3 innings with nothing really happening until the 4th inning when the Yanks had a bases loaded opportunity that they blew and then let up a couple runs to the Twins. As soon as Nestor Cortes got his pitch count up higher and higher, it was obvious that this wasn't going to be a good start for him. 

    Cortes throughout the season has always been great with his pitch count, not letting the game get away from him in the early innings and going deep in games, but this game was not the case. He was already at over 60 pitches through 3 innings and did not look sharp at all. Then, the Twins started to get to him with multiple moonshot home runs and another 2 runs added on until he was knocked out of the game.

    The offense looked like it was all used the night before as they only put together 3 hits total and one run scored. The bullpen gave up 4 runs in addition to the 4 that Cortes gave up. Minnesota definitely showed why they are sitting nicely in first place in the AL Central as they just absolutely dominated this game on both sides of the ball.

    The bats need to get going again like they did in the first game and the pitching definitely has to get back to pitching like they were before coming to Minnesota if they want to have any shot at taking the series tonight. Yankee ace Gerrit Cole takes the mound tonight and hopefully could give the Yanks a solid 6-7 innings with some good run support. 

My Yankees Report 6/7/22

 

    These Yankees just keep rolling. They storm into Minnesota and win their 7th in a row and reach yet another milestone of 40 wins on the season. They are the first team so far to reach the 40 win mark on the season. It wasn't the prettiest of wins, but a win is a win and the Yanks came out on top.

    The yanks started off strong right away with a three-run first inning with homers from who else but Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. The stats show that the yanks don't lose when these two both homer in the same game. Judge continues to rake as his unbelievable season continues and Stanton is looking more and more like his normal self since returning from the IL. 

    One surprise from this game was the defense for the Yanks. Jameson Taillon started this game after his phenomenal performance against the Angels, but this start was the complete opposite. Taillon surprisingly only went 4 innings after allowing 4 runs and 9 hits. Luckily for him, the yanks offense was great all game and backed him up. For the first time in awhile the yanks had to rely on the bullpen more than their starters for a good amount of the game.

    Meanwhile, the bullpen held their ground as they dominated for the 5 innings they were called on for. Luetge to Peralta to Marinaccio combined for 5 innings of 3 hit baseball and shutdown the Twins offense for the rest of the game. As the yanks pitched better the bats came more and more alive as Anthony Rizzo smashed a 3 run shot to blow the game open. 

    The entire offense was on fire as DJ LeMahieu reached base 5 times, Aaron Hicks reached 4 times, and Joey Gallo reached 3 times. The production from Hicks and Gallo is vital for this team as this could possibly be a step forward for them and a chance to get out of their slumps. Every yankee picked up a hit and got on base at least once during yesterday's game as the offense was on fire. They could've padded on more runs as they did leave 20 runners on base, but 10 was enough to defeat the Twins Tuesday night.

    Another surprising thing that I picked up from yesterday's game was that the Yanks committed a season-high 3 errors and almost had a debatable 4th error in the game as well. Luckily these errors did not come back to haunt them in the end result, but for the entire season before this game, the Yanks have committed barely any errors in games they've played. 

    Loved the way the offense played and how the bullpen stepped up in relief of Jameson Taillon. In my opinion this was probably the best offensive game the yanks have played all season as everyone picked up a hit, they had 14 of them combined, and 10 runs to add on. In the end, the yanks won 10-4 and improved their record to 40-15 which is the best in the majors. They bring their 7 game winning streak into today's game as "Nasty" Nestor Cortes takes the mound in the 2nd game of a 3 game set against the first place Minnesota Twins. 

My Yankees Report 6/5/22

 

    Yanks pick up another great win against the Detroit Tigers to sweep their 2nd consecutive series and extend their winning streak to 6. The game had as many twists and turns as you can imagine but somehow these Yankees always find a way to come out on top.

    Jordan Montgomery was the starter for the Yanks and he had yet another great outing as he went 6.1 innings. As I said before, whenever a Yankee starter can give the team 6 or 7 solid innings, that is definitely a great thing to have. Montgomery did allow the first runs of the series for the Tigers thought, but it was only two.

    When it was 2-0, Joey Gallo came to bat and hit a home run and boy did he ever need that one. He finally connected with a mammoth homer to left which yankee fans expected to see from Gallo ever since he was traded over to New York. 

    The Yanks took the lead in the bottom of the 7th on an RBI walk from DJ LeMahieu, but the Tigers clawed their way back with 2 runs in the eighth of off Miguel Castro. Now Castro has been lights out this entire season so far, but he had a rare shaky appearance, but that should be expected, for he had not pitched in some time because of how well the yankee starters have been. 

    I've been discovering that this is definitely a common theme with all of the arms in the bullpen which is, more time off equals more struggles. Although we all think that resting their arms and letting them take days off is good, it has been the opposite for the yankee bullpen. For instance, Clay Holmes had 3 relief appearances in 3 back to back to back games and pitched phenomenal. Then, the other day he came in for save opportunity against the Angels off of a couple days rest and was not the same Clay Holmes we have been seeing.

    Although he did not let up any runs and didn't blow the save, he had almost 30 pitches and left the bases loaded to end the game. So you have a bit of a problem here with the yankee bullpen with rest being good, but rest affects the pitchers' ability to pitch at the high-level they have been pitching at like Miguel Castro on Sunday's game against the Tigers. This was also a common theme with Aroldis Chapman before he got hurt and in previous seasons when the Yankees did not need him to save games for a good amount of time.

    Getting back to the game, in the bottom of the 8th, Anthony Rizzo had some phenomenal base running as he made it first to third on a steal attempt and then made it home on a ground ball hit by Gleyber Torres with the infield shifted in. The game was tied at four and both teams could not push any runs across in the 9th, so extra innings were coming up.

    Michael King came on for the 10th and he was dominant, looking like his old-self, setting the Tigers down in order. The Yankees came to bat in the bottom of the 10th and Josh Donaldson had his second walk-off of the year as he hit a game-winning sac fly to left to give the Yanks the sweep over the Tigers and a 5-4 win in extras. 

    This Yankee team continues to prove that they should never be counted out in these games, they found themselves trailing multiple times to the Tigers in this game, yet they still came out on top. They get a well-deserved off day today and then its off to Minneapolis for a big three game set against the Twins who have been on a tear this season. There they will see a couple of familiar faces as they reunite with Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez. 

Miguel Andujar

 

    It's hard to make any complaints about the Yankees this season as they continue their magical run, but there is one that I would like to point out. It is about Yankee third baseman/left fielder, Miguel Andujar's status as a Yankee.

    A couple of days ago Andujar told Aaron Boone that he doesn't want to be a Yankee anymore and for what he has had to go through, I don't blame him. For the past couple years he has been called up to the bigs for a brief tenure and then sent back down to Triple-A numerous times. For a player of his talent he does not deserve to be a consistent traveler, for he should have a solidified role on a major league team.

    Many other Yankee fans and baseball fans would say that there's not a spot on the team for Andujar, so he doesn't belong on this team. If the Yankees really wanted to keep him, which I think they should, they should look into moving Joey Gallo or Aaron Hicks off of this team. They have been really the only vulnerable spots on this team as they have been really disappointing this year. Both have struggled to hit the ball and they have even made a few miscues in the field. 

    Almost every game you'll hear yankee fans booing Gallo or Hicks from striking out or making a bad play. They have had ample time to get out of their slumps and start to turn it around, but this just has not been the case. Moving one of them will permit Andujar a permanent spot on this team.

    In Andujar's brief tenures, he has showed some nice highlights and other positives that the Yanks can definitely use. He has developed into a solid left fielder while just a little while ago, he had no idea how to even play the position. Not many people realize this but learning a whole new position in baseball is a very tough thing to do when you are accustomed to playing another position. 

    Many people forget but just a couple of years ago Andujar was second in voting for AL Rookie of the Year behind Shohei Ohtani. Now personally I believe Andujar should have definitely won that award over Ohtani, he was definitely the better player that year in my opinion. But, after that year things started to go downhill for Andujar as he suffered injury after injury and never really got back to playing consistently. If Andujar could stay healthy and have a similar season compared to his rookie one, he could be a great player for this Yanks team. 

    Sadly, it looks like the Yankees are probably going to move on from Andujar whether he gets traded or cut. I still believe that they should look into moving either Hicks or Gallo off of the team to make room for Andujar, but this seems very unlikely at this point. Whatever team that Andujar finds himself on in the future, he will make a solid impact and be a great player for whatever team he lands on. I feel the Yankees are making a big mistake if they do get rid of him and do not deal with the Hicks and Gallo situation accordingly. 

My Yankees Report 6/4/22

 

    Another easy victory for the Yanks yesterday as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Tigers and now have won the series. Luis Severino took the mound and did exactly what he was supposed to do.

    In my past report, I said that if Severino had 6-7 innings of shutdown pitching then that would be perfect and he did just that. He had 7 innings with only allowing one hit. He was pitching so well that I was surprised that Boone didn't bring him back out for the 8th, but the Yankees have said numerous times that they're going to be cautious of Sevy's limits. 

    The only hit allowed was off of a line drive that went off of the glove of IKF that could've been easily caught if he reacted better. Without that miscue, the Yankees could've had a no-hitter. I find it incredible that for the past 3 games the yanks have had legitimate perfect game bids and a one hitter. The rotation just continues to impress yet again and again. 

    On the offensive side, the yankees only needed 4 hits to fend off the Tigers and two of them were from the long ball. Of course the MLB league leader in homers had to hit one, Aaron Judge, and Anthony Rizzo added a solo shot later in the game. Judge now has 21 homers and if he keeps this up he could shatter Roger Maris's single-season home run record for a Yankee. At this pace, I wouldn't be surprised if he does. 

    The Yankees extend their winning streak to five games as they just keep winning and winning. It feels like after every loss they go on a mini winning streak like now. Michael King came in for the 8th and he was great, he looks like he's bounced back from his struggles just a couple of weeks ago which will be huge for the Yanks down the stretch if he can keep this up consistently. 

    Clay Holmes picked up his 8th save of the year and he continues to improve his ERA to numbers that seem like they're impossible to achieve. Not many teams can have an All-Star closer get hurt and then call on another future all-star closer to fill his place. Clay Holmes has been unbelievable this season and to add to that he just won AL reliever of the month for the month of May so congrats to him on an unbelievable job he's been doing.

    Another note, Giancarlo Stanton came back off of the 10-day IL and looked like his normal self when he smacked a double into center field in the 1st inning. I expect to see him back in the field soon even though he was just hurt. Aaron Boone said that playing in the field actually helps Stanton's health overall because he is more active rather than sitting on the bench for nine innings waiting for 4-5 at-bats during the game.

    

My Yankees Report 6/3/22

    Another day, another win for this Yankee team. They continue to impress as they picked up a 13-0 win last night against the Detroit Tigers. Another game with great pitching and great hitting which has been the key to success this season with the Yanks.

    First, lets talk about Gerrit Cole. Cole like Taillon also had a perfect game bid through 6+ innings until it was broken up on a single by Jonathon Schoop. They are the first combination to have back to back games of 6+ innings of perfection since 1961! I would say that that is pretty good.

    Cole's perfect game bid was not the only thing that impressed me, but how he bounced back from his last start against the Tigers as well. Cole was pulled early in the game when the Yankees were in Detroit as he could just not find the strike zone and was pitching horribly. But in this start he looked like the Gerrit Cole the Yanks signed for an 8 year $324 million deal. I am really excited for Cole now that he has gotten back to his normal self as now he can return to his normal ace of the rotation role. 

    The Yankees again used the long ball to their advantage as they tallied four home runs. One from Carpenter, Rizzo, Judge, and Trevino. Matt Carpenter continues to impress and when the team is back and at 100 percent, I expect Carpenter to be a secret weapon off the bench whenever the Yanks need him. Judge continues to show off his MVP ways with his 20th homer of the year and another RBI added on as well. Jose Trevino is making it really hard for Kyle Higashioka to return to his starting position as he has been an unbelievable addition for this squad.

    When the Yanks first traded for Trevino, they expected a solid backup catcher who was known for his defensive ways. He has contributed his defensive ways to the team as one of the best framing catchers in the league, but offensive stats have blown me away so far this year as well. After trading away Gary Sanchez, Ben Rortvedt going down with an injury, and Higashioka in a huge slump, Jose Trevino has really stepped up and I believe that Aaron Boone should make the executive decision to solidify Trevino in the starting catcher role. 

    Everyone in the lineup had a hit last night except Josh Donaldson who was just activated off of the 10-day IL prior to the game. Just more and more good signs for the Yankees with Donaldson being activated and Stanton being activated today prior to the second game of the set against the Tigers. 

    Yankee starters have really benefited this team not only with their success, but their longevity in games as the Yanks have not had to rely on the bullpen as much anymore. This is very beneficial because of all of the injuries the bullpen has had this season with Chapman, Loaisiga, and Green all going down. The starters have continued to give the shortened bullpen more and more rest for when the Yanks will eventually need those arms in high-leverage situations.

    Overall, I am really happy with how this team has been performing, not only are they doing it on the offensive side but they are bringing it on the defensive side as well each and every game. They continue to possess the best record in the league on June 4th at 37-15. Severino gets the ball today against the Tigers, and if I'm Aaron Boone, if he gives you at least 6-7 innings of shutdown pitching, I would be more than satisfied.  

My Yankees Report 6/2/22

     So the Yankees had quite a long and eventful day yesterday against the Los Angeles Angels. They played a doubleheader and swept the Angels out of town for their 35th and 36th victories of the year. 

    The first game of the matinee featured a stellar pitching matchup between last year's AL MVP Shohei Ohtani and Nestor Cortes Jr. who has been absolutely incredible for the Yanks in his last 2 seasons. The Yankees did exactly what they needed to do to get Ohtani out of the game early as they hit 3 early homers off of him. Ohtani had one previous start in the Bronx where he lasted 0.2 innings with 7 earned runs.

    Now, this start for Ohtani wasn't much better. He went 3 innings with 4 earned runs allowed and left it up to the Angel bullpen the rest of the way. So in his 2 brief starts in the Bronx, he's pitched 3.2 innings and given up 11 earned runs. Yikes.  

    On the other hand, Cortes Jr. was once again his dominant self. He has been absolutely spectacular and he proved it again as he had 7 shutout innings and improved his season ERA to 1.50. This man looks like a definite AL Cy Young candidate and a potential starter for the AL in this year's upcoming all star game in Los Angeles. 

    The Yankees offense was on fire in the first game and it started right from the beginning as new Yankee Matt Carpenter hit his 3rd homer as a Yank to lead off the game and Torres followed up with a solo shot in the 1st as well. Aaron Judge also left the yard with a solo shot which eventually knocked Ohtani from the game. That was all the Yankees needed as they cruised to a 6-1 victory in game 1 of the doubleheader.   

    Absolutely loved how the Yankees dominated in Game 1. The pitching was spectacular as usual and the bats were alive and well throughout the game which made it an easy victory for the Yanks.

    Moving onto Game 2 of the doubleheader, the Angels yet again were desperate for a victory, not only to avoid the sweep, but avoid extending their losing streak to eight games. The pitching matchup was Reid Detmers vs Jameson Taillon. Many know of Detmers because of his no-hitter earlier in the year against the Tampa Bay Rays back in Anaheim. But since the no-hitter, Detmers has been not very good and he also made a brief start for the Angels as he only went 4.1 innings. 

    The real story of this game was Yankee starter, Jameson Taillon. Taillon was absolutely brilliant throughout his start. Taillon took a perfect game bid into the 8th inning before it was broken up by Angel first baseman Jared Walsh. Taillon concluded his start after the end of the inning and only allowed one run through eight innings. 

    Taillon has been so good for the Yanks ever since his terrible start against the Philadelphia Phillies last season. He had an absolutely terrible start and since then he changed his entire mindset and pitching form and he has not looked back since then. He's been a bit overlooked by everybody this season because of how good this Yankee rotation is. Jameson Taillon deserves more respect for his dominant performance throughout the season and if he can keep this up and stay healthy, this Yankee rotation is going to be a scary site for their opponents come October. 

    Going back to Game 2, the Angels tacked on a run in the top of the 8th and then the Yankees answered right back in the bottom of the 8th. They loaded the bases against Angel reliever Oliver Ortega and then took the lead against the next Angel reliever Archie Bradley. Anthony Rizzo pinch hit for the struggling Kyle Higashioka and with 2 outs and 2 strikes he gave the Yanks the lead on a go-ahead two-run single.

    Clay Holmes came on for the save in the top of the 9th and we saw Holmes struggle a bit in the 9th. He first walked Ohtani, then hit Trout with a pitch, and hit Walsh as well before he got Rengifo to groundout and end the game. 

    In the end, a win is a win and what a gutsy win by this Yankee team it was. They sent the Angels out of New York and handed them their 8th consecutive loss. All season we have seen this team battle back every game and this was just another example of how good they have been. This team is never out of it no matter the circumstances. They Yankees improved their record to 36-15 on the year and continue to dominate. They now start a 3 game set against the struggling Detroit Tigers in the Bronx. 

The (Almost) Perfect Game

    On June 2, 2010, the baseball world was put into a complete shock. A twenty eight year old, right-handed pitcher from Venezuela was set to take the mound against the Cleveland Indians (now known as the "Guardians"). His name was Armando Galarraga. 

    Galarraga first appeared in the majors in 2007 when he made his debut for the Texas Rangers. He was then traded to the Detroit Tigers at the end of the 2007 season where he would almost make history. 

    The definition of a perfect game in the game of baseball is a game in which all the batters from one team are retired in order, with no one reaching base. Twenty eight year old Galarraga was a hand gesture of the runner is safe call away from achieving this superb accomplishment. 

     It was a nice Wednesday evening in Detroit, Michigan when Armando Galarraga and the Detroit Tigers took the field to take on the Cleveland Indians. Galarraga was perfect right out of the gate as he retired batter after batter in the Indians lineup. 

    The Tigers offense gave Galarraga 3 runs of run support to help him through his start, but nothing was getting in the way or slowing down Armando on this night. The Tiger starter had eight perfect innings of pitching thrown and the only thing standing between him and history was the ninth inning.  

    The top of the 9th inning came up soon enough for Galarraga and the Tigers as they ran right back onto the field where they were on the verge of making history. Galarraga quickly set down Mark Grudzielanek and Mike Redmond for the first two outs of the inning. All of a sudden a twenty eight year old from Venezuela was an out away from history.   

    The batter was Jason Donald that stood between Galarraga and history. Donald quickly found himself a strike away from letting Galarraga achieve a perfect game. The entire crowd at Comerica Park was on its feet. The 1-2 pitch was hit on the ground to Miguel Cabrera, Cabrera fired the ball to Galarraga at first he stepped on the bag and 1st base umpire Jim Joyce ruled Donald safe at first. Galarraga was that close to achieving one of the greatest feats in all of sports.

    Replays clearly showed that Galarraga got to first base before Donald, but there was no replay system to overturn the call. The baseball world was shocked and upset that Galarraga did not get rewarded for a perfect game. To this day, fans call this game the "28-out Perfect Game."