"All right, you primitive screwheads, listen up!
You see this? This... is my boomstick!"
(With apologies to Bruce Campbell.)
Last night, the Yankees not only made it 9 out of their last 10, but hit a home run in their 28th consecutive game, setting a new major league record.
The record is nice. The win, of course, is more important.
Chad Green, the night's intended starter, had pitched the night before, so he was only going to pitch 1 inning this time. He pitched a perfect top of the 1st. As he had in previous Green starts, Nestor Cortes Jr. took over from there, and pitched into the 6th inning. The Yankees got scoreless innings from Tommy Kahnle, Stephen Tarpley and Zack Britton.
The Yankees hit 4 home runs, all solo shots: DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge hit them in the 1st inning, Gleyber Torres in the 2nd, and Edwin Encarnacion in the 8th.
That Encarnacion homer seemed like an insurance run, and it really became one. Aroldis Chapman, as he so often does, even when he does shut it down, ran into trouble in the 9th inning: Single, wild pitch, strikeout, strikeout, RBI single, groundout.
He's gotta stop doing that. What if it happens in October, and he can't get out of it?
At any rate, Yankees 4, Blue Jays 3. WP: Cortes (3-0). SV: Chapman (23). LP: Clayton Richard (0-4).
The Tampa Bay Rays lost, so the Yankees are now 6 games ahead of them, and their Magic Number to clinch the AL East drops to 79. The Boston Red Sox won, so they remain 8 games back.
The series concludes this afternoon. James Paxton starts for us, and Trent Thornton goes for them. Then the Yankees and the Red Sox fly to London for perhaps the biggest 2-game series in Major League Baseball history.
*
Hours until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 14, tonight at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 Central/local), against Panama, at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, home of Sporting Kansas City, in the last Group Stage game of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. These are the top 2 teams in the Group, and both will advance to the knockout stage, the only question being which will be 1st in the Group, and which 2nd. If the U.S. wins or (thanks to goal difference) draws, it will play Curacao in the Quarterfinal. If it loses, it will play Jamaica. Either way, the next game would be this coming Sunday in Philadelphia. The women's team is doing quite nicely in its defense of the Women's World Cup in France, and will play the host nation on Friday, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time, at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 2, Friday night at 8:00, home to the Chicago Fire.
Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 3, at 1:00 PM our time (6:00 PM local), this Saturday, June 29. This is the 2-game series at the London Stadium, home base of the 2012 Olympics, and home field of soccer team West Ham United. They will play again on Sunday, at 10:00 AM New York time (3:00 PM London).
Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 18, on Sunday night, July 14, home to New York City FC. The next game against the New England Revolution will be on Saturday night, August 17, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against D.C. United will be on Wednesday night, August 21, at Audi Field in Washington. The next game against the Philadelphia Union will be on Sunday night, September 22, at Red Bul Arena.
Days until Arsenal play again: 19. Under 3 weeks. Following their debacle in the UEFA Europa League Final, the Gunners' next game will be in America.
Days until Arsenal play in America: 19. On July 15, they will visit the Denver suburbs to play the Colorado Rapids. On July 17, they will visit the Los Angeles suburbs to play Bayern Munich. On July 20, they will visit Charlotte to play AS Roma. And on July 23, they will visit the Redskins' stadium in the Washington suburbs to play Real Madrid.
Days until the 2019-20 Premier League season begins: For Arsenal's purposes, 46, on Sunday, August 11, at 9:00 AM New York time, away to Newcastle United. Yes, the next season's schedule -- sorry, forgot to speak English there, fixture list -- has been released.
Days until the next North London Derby: 66, on Saturday, August 31, at the Emirates Stadium. It is unusual for Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur to play each other so early in the season, but not unprecedented: As recently as the 2013-14 season, they did so on September 1.
Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 66, on August 31, at 12:00 noon, home to the University of Massachusetts. A little over 2 months.
Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 72, on Friday night, September 6, at 7:00 PM, home to arch-rival Old Bridge. A little over 10 weeks. Like most of the local rivalries that were once played on Thanksgiving Day, this one has been moved back to the opening game. It will also be the head coaching debut of Andy Steinfeld, a longtime assistant and a two-way lineman on the school's 1984 Conference Champions. It will also be the start of a Yankees-Red Sox series. So I'm getting a double dose of "Scum" on the night. Lucky me. At least it'll be at Jay Doyle's Green Grove off Cranbury Road, instead of at the purple shit pit on Route 9.
Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: 100, on Friday night, October 4, at the Prudential Center, against the Winnipeg Jets. The new NHL season's schedule was released yesterday.
Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 105, on Wednesday night, October 9, against the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The season's 1st game against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, will be on Thursday, October 17, at the Prudential Center. The 1st game against the New York Islanders will be on Thursday, January 2, 2020, at the Barclays Center.
Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 157, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. A little over 5 months.
Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 175, on December 18, 2019. Under 6 months.
Day until the premiere of the final Star Wars film, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker: 177, on December 20, 2019.
Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 209, on January 21, 2020. Under 7 months.
Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 394, on July 24, 2020. A little over a year, or a little under 13 months.
Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 496, on November 3, 2020. Under a year and a half, or a little over 16 months.
Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 557, on January 3, 2021. About a year and a half, or a little over 18 months.
Days until Liberation Day: 574, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 19 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.
Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 954, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or a little over 31 months.
Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,244, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. A little over 3 1/2 years, or under 41 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.