Game 86 The Official Yankees vs Blue Jays Game Day Thread

Anyone who says "Wells,DJ, Grish, Volpe might be four of the worst hitters I’ve ever seen" has obviously not watched much baseball. The ignorance is showing...

OK, finally have things worked out, and I had to help my sister with something....

Yanks win 8-1, to split the series and avoid losing their 5th series in a row. A split against a 5th place team is a bit disappointing, but:

1) The Jays have 3 starters that regularly shut the Yanks down, and the Yanks got to two of them: Kikuchi and Gausman.
2) The Yanks have multiple starting pitchers doing poorly, and one of those, Rodon, absolutely buried them in the first two innings of game 1.
3) The Yanks have played poorly lately, losing 3 in a row and 8 of 10 coming in.
4) The Jays' lineup has multiple hitters who have been playing way below their career numbers, and they're just starting to get untracked now.
5) The series was on the road.
6) The Yankees lineup has multiple significant hitters out with injuries, including losing Soto for the toughest matchup, Bassitt, in the 3rd game.
7) They got crushed in the first game, and came from behind to crush the Jays in game 2. Then they got crushed the 3rd game, and turned it around again on the Jays in the series finale.

The win is just the Yanks 4th in 14 games, and moves them back to 22 games over .500 at 54-32. They move back to within a half-game of the O's, heading into the ESPN Sunday Night IScreamYouScreamWeAllScreamAtSmoltzCast game against the Rangers. The Sox and Rays won, so both keep pace with the Yanks. As of the moment, the Yanks are 1/2 game behind the O's, 8 1/2 up on the Sox, 11 ahead of the Rays and 14 1/2 up on the Jays.

Stars of the Game:

Cum Laude honors to Ben Rice, for working great at bats all game long: a double that would have been gone at the Stadoum that knocked in the Yanks' last run, and two walks that he had to work hard to get with multiple good takes, one to start the 2 run rally in the 2nd, and another to keep the 2-run rally going in the 5th. DJ Lemahieu, with a single to knock in a run in the 3rd, and a double that knocked in a run in the 5th, plus a deep fly out to right later in the game. The bat might have some life left, after all. I hope so. Trent Grisham, with a single that kept the rally in the 2nd going, the big 2-run double that broke it open for good in the 5th, and zooming all over the outfield to make fine play after play, coralling another deep drive to right center with a perfect read and route, and coming in hard to take away another hit on a sinking liner.

The three stars of the game I did choose were chosen not just because they all had good games, but for toughness and leadership in rallying the Yanks from yesterday's blowout. A lot depends on getting Rodon and Gil squared away, but the three men I'm going to name may have righted the ship today; we'll see. Anyway...

3rd Star of the Game: Aaron Judge, for getting the Yanks going with a 2-run HR in the 1st, his 31st of the season, and taking the retaliatory HBP from Gausman in the back like a man, recognizing it for what it was, and not stupidly charging the mound to start a team brawl and maybe getting himself hurt over his own ego. The Captain, indeed, right out of the Old Days.

2nd Star of the Game: Juan Soto, for giving the team a big lift on the batting side. In his usual "I'm gonna play" persona, he worked hard before the game to make sure he was OK to go, made sure the trainers and the manager knew it, and forced his way back into the lineup. He got the first hit off Gausman, scoring the 1st run on Judge's HR, and drawing two more walks, one that forced in the Yanks 4th run in the 2nd.

1st Star of the Game: It was just 5 innings and it wasn't pretty at times (2 HBP), but Gerrit Cole showed he's at least 95% back. He went 5 innings, made it through 90 pitches, held his velo at 95-98 all five innings, and pitched one-run ball, giving up just 3 hits and striking out 6. He allowed the great mass of Yankee fandom to breathe a huge sigh of relief, and got himself a well-earned W.

Reds are coming in and that means De La Cruz and his 40 stolen bases. Pitchers just have to keep him off the bases.

Thanks, qwik for the enormous amount of effort you put into the site.

Picking relievers off the scrap heap is a double-edged sword. If you can turn them around, they're a cheap source of value, and all the good analytical teams are capable of doing this. However, they don't usually last long, a good year or two is what a team generally gets before they lose effectiveness, unless they gain better command, or can add a key pitch or two.