Game 22: Rays (Civale) at Yankees (Gil) 1:35 pm EDT

As I said in a number of posts about it at the old board (YES board), Game 7 was legendary and necessary to finish the great story, and Frazier had the greatest game 7 ever in the NBA, but winning Game 5 down by 15 early and Reed going down in the 2nd quarter and coming back and beating the Lakers without a center, was the real key to the series and the "eye of the needle" the Knicks had to pass through to win the title for the first time in their history.

About 14 years ago, I wrote a long, long post covering four lengthy replies about the Knicks winning that series and especially about Game 5. It was on the 40th anniversary of the game 5 miracle comeback (Yes, the same day as the Kent State shootings), and what it was like to be a 10-year old listening to all this on the radio from Marv.  Like an idiot, when I heard the YES board was closing, I failed to save those posts. Sigh. Some of the best writing I ever posted anywhere on the internet.

Edit: Wait!! I'm not as stupid as I thought. I DID save those posts, but not in the folder I thought I did. If anyone cares, I could re-post it here, but certainly not in the game thread.

In the NL Central, the Brewers are still off to a great start despite losing Brandon Woodruff for the season and trading away Corbin Burnes. They're 13-6 so far. The Cubs are right behind in 2nd, 13-8, 1 game back. The Reds are doing OK despite numerous injuries (and one PED suspension) to several of their key hitters. At 11-9, they're in 3rd, 2 1/2 back of the Brewers. The Pirates started off the season hot, winning 5 in a row, and 9 of their first 11, but have resumed being the Pirates losiing 8 of 10 since then to fall to 1 game over .500 at 11-10, 4th place, and 3 games out of 1st. The Cards are off poorly, and at 9-12, are in last place, 6 1/2 back of the Brewers.

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As with the AL West, nobody is playing well in the NL West. The Dodgers, expected to dominate, started the season well, winning 7 of 9 and 10 of 14, but have since lost 7 of 9 including 3 in a row. They're just 1 game over at 12-11, and still somehow in first. Their starting pitchers keep getting hurt, and they're treading water as they wait for top starters Buehler, May and Kershaw to return from serious injuies some time in the next 1-3 months. They're still way too strong to lose this division, I think. Despite trading Soto away, the Padres are right there at 11-12, 1 game back in 2nd, and their offense is doing OK without him, scoring nearly 5 runs a game. The defending NL Champion Diamondbacks have scuffled as well. They're 10-12, 1/2 game behind the Padres and 1 1/2 out of 1st. The Giants made several key free agent additions this year, but they're also 10-12 so far, tied with the D'backs for 3rd-4th. The Rockies continue on in their incompetent way, and at 4-16, only the White Sox are keeping them from being the worst team in MLB. Even though the Dodgers are just 1 game over, the Rockies are already 6 1/2 games out of 1st with the season about 1/8th over.

Every pitcher who comes to the Yankees seems to increase velocity. They also seem to trade for pitchers who have big arms but lack command. Could it be as simple as they place a higher premium on velocity than command? 

Game underway, Diaz fouls back a FB at 94.
Fouls off another at 96.
Fouls off a 3rd and then a fourth above the zone, Gil throwing 95-6.
Change low, 1-2
Five pitches already, Rays implementing their strategy: spoil pitches and get him out early because of pitchcount, getting into the weakened Yankee bullpen early.
Change clips the bottom of the zone, not called, 2-2, 15-20% on Gameday.
Another FB spoiled
On the 9th pitch, he gets a waist high FB outer 3rd and grounds out to Torres, 1 down.

FB inside ball 1
FB high, 2-0
Change low, 3-0
FB down and in, 4-pitch walk for Palacios

So many foul balls, but Gil has a 1-2-3 inning.

Palacios walked.