For Coronavirus-related reasons beyond their control, the Philadelphia Phillies hadn't played in 8 days. Now, they were set to play the Yankees, who have been hitting the tar out of the ball, at Yankee Stadium II, which is even more of a hitters' park than the Phils' Citizens Bank Park.
For the 1st time in 6 games, Aaron Judge did not hit a home run, although he did go 2-for-4. But Gio Urshela led off the bottom of the 1st inning with an opposite-field home run. In the top of the 3rd, Jay Bruce tied it with a solo home run, off Gerrit Cole, in his Yankee Stadium home debut. But Brett Gardner led off the bottom of the 3rd with a home run. After groundouts by Tyler Wade and LeMahieu, Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks hit back-to-back doubles, and it was 3-1 Yankees.
Urshela hit another home run in the bottom of the 6th, a 3-run job, to make it 6-1. Then the rain came, and, after the delay, Cole's night was finished. Brooks Kriske allowed a run in the top of the 7th, and Luis Avilan allowed one in the 8th, before Zack Britton pitched a 1-2-3 9th.
Yankees 6, Phillies 3. WP: Cole (3-0). SV: Britton (4). LP: Jake Arrieta (0-1). The Yankees are now 8-1, with the best record in Major League Baseball. And, beyond any reasonable doubt, Gerrit Cole was the best pitcher for a New York team last night. (Jacob deGrom pitched for the Mets last night, but Cole had a better night.)
What was supposed to be the 2nd game in the series, tonight, has been postponed, due to Tropical Storm Isaias, which drenched the Tri-State Area last night (including the rain delay) and today (although, at this writing, while the winds are still stronger than usual, the clouds have parted and the Sun in shining).
The current schedule is as follows, and, as always, especially these days, is subject to change:
* Tomorrow, 4:05 PM: The game that was supposed to be played at Yankee Stadium II tonight will be played at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, 108 miles to the southwest. This will be confusing, because the Yankees will be designated the home team, and will bat in the bottom half of the innings.
* Tomorrow, 7:05 PM: The game that was supposed to be played at Citizens Bank Park will be played on schedule. This could turn out to be one of those twi-night doubleheaders where both games get limited to 7 innings. Hopefully, that won't be done again after this season. Hopefully, that will also apply to the dumb "start an extra inning with a runner on 2nd base" rule that's been put into place for this shortened season. (I know, it sounds like the season should have an asterisk, but as long as every team is playing by the same rules, we can't complain that much.)
* Thursday, 6:05 PM: Yankees vs. Phillies in Philly again.
* Then the Yankees head for the Coronavirus State itself, Florida, to play 4 weekend games against the Tampa Bay Rays, including a twi-night doubleheader on Saturday.
Under normal circumstances, playing in that dome is not something to look forward to. After all, inside that dome, there are no normal circumstances. But playing in there, in this situation? Pardon me for using a technical term, but... Hoo, boy.