It took 41 games, but, for the 1st time this season, I failed to get a blog entry on a Yankee game done before the next one started. Real life intervened. (Nothing really bad, but time-consuming.)
So I decided to wait until the 4-game series was over. But Corey Kluber and baseball history had other ideas. But, since the next game was the dreaded day game after a night game, I decided to wait anyway.
The Yankees played the Texas Rangers. Because of the COVID-rejiggered schedule last season, the Yankees did not visit the Rangers, who were playing their 1st season in their new retractable-roof, but artificial-turf, stadium, Globe Life Field, built in Arlington, about halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, adjacent to their previous stadium, Globe Life Park, which was built adjacent to their original stadium (1972-93), Arlington Stadium. (This will be on the test.)
Due to the COVID restrictions, Globe Life Field was selected as the controlled-environment neutral-site home for the 2020 World Series, between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays, which the former Brooklyn team won.
This means that, for the 1st time ever, an American League ballpark hosted a World Series before it hosted a regular-season visit from the Yankees. (Even ballparks that opened in midseason didn't do that: Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1910, Griffith Stadium in Washington in 1911, the SkyDome/Rogers Centre in Toronto in 1989, and Safeco Field/T-Mobile Park in Seattle in 1999.)
The opening game of the series was not good. We expected that it would be, because we had Gerrit Cole starting for us. But he had his worst start of the season, going only 5 innings, and allowing 5 runs. He did, however, set a new major league record, going through 61 strikeouts since he last walked a batter, before walking 2 in this game.
But what difference does it make? The Yankees still lost the game. To a crap team. In a crap stadium. In a crap State. Luke Voit came off the injured list, and hit a home run. But that was pretty much it. To make matters worse, the Rangers' closer is Ian Kennedy, whom the Yankees infamously traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009, and 2 years later led the National League in wins.
Rangers 5, Yankees 2. WP: Jordan Lyles (2-3). SV: Kennedy: (11). LP: Cole (5-2).
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Well, if you can't win the game that Gerrit Cole starts, that's not a good sign. Jameson Taillon started the 2nd game for the Bronx Bombers, and he had nothing, not getting out of the 5th, allowing 4 runs.
But the bullpen got the job done. Wandy Peralta pitched an inning, and allowed only a walk. Jonathan Loaisiga pitched a perfect inning and 2/3rds. Chad Green pitched a perfect inning.
But you gotta get hits and runs. With 1 out in the top of the 4th, Aaron Judge singled, Gio Urshela doubled him home, Rougned Odor (returning from the Injured List) popped up, Gary Sanchez doubled home Urshela, and Miguel Andujar singled home Sanchez. Ford singled, new acquisition Ryan LaMarre drew a walk, and DJ LeMahieu doubled home Andujar and Ford. The Yankees went from 3-0 down to 5-3 up.
The Yankees got another run in the 6th, and another in the 9th. Aroldis Chapman came in and slammed to door. Yankees 7, Rangers 4. WP: Peralta (3-1). SV: Chapman (10). LP: Mike Foltynewicz (1-4).
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Game 3 is certain to be the highlight of the regular season. Whether it remains the highlight of the entire season depends on whether the Yankees make the postseason, and do well in it.
Corey Kluber started. From 2016 to 2018, he went 56-20. But injuries limited him to 7 starts in 2019, and one inning in 2020. This was his 9th start of this season already.
The Yankees against struggled to score runs. It was 0-0 after 5. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. It was only fair that Kluber got picked up by his catcher, Kyle Higashioka, who began the top of the 6th with a walk. The much-maligned Tyler Wade hit a triple tht scored Higgy. Then LeMahieu hit a sacrifice fly to score Wade.
It was 2-0 Yankees. In spite of the impending possible historic achievement, pretty much anybody who's supported the Yankees the last few years had to be worried about simply winning the game.
Read ye now the Wednesday night, May 19, 2021 performance of Corey Kluber:
* Bottom of the 1st inning: Struck out Willie Calhoun. Struck out Nick Solak. Got Nate Lowe to ground to 1st, unassisted.
* 2nd: Struck out Adolis Garcia. Got Joey Gallo to fly to center. Got Krhis Davis to ground to 2nd.
* 3rd: Got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to line out to right field. Walked Charlie Culberson. Struck out Jose Trevino. Got Calhoun to pop up to 2nd.
* 4th: Struck Solak out. Got Lowe to fly to right. Got Garcia to line out to center.
* 5th: Struck out Gallo. Struck out Davis. Got Kiner-Falefa to ground to 3rd.
* 6th: Got Culberson to pop up to 2nd. Got Trevino to fly to right. Got Calhoun to ground to short.
* 7th: Struck out Solak. Struck out Lowe. Got Garcia to ground to short.
* 8th: Got Gallo to ground to 1st, unassisted. Got Davis to ground to 3rd. Got Kiner-Falefa to hit a long fly to right, but it was caught by LaMarr. (Judge was the DH in this game.)
* 9th: Got Culberson to ground to 2nd. David Dahl pinch-hit for Trevino, and hit a long fly to right, but LaMarr caught this one, too. And got Calhoun to ground to short.
Ballgame over. No-hitter over. Corey Kluber writing his name in the book of baseball immortality over. Yankees win. Theeeeeeee Yankees win!
Yankees 2, Rangers 0. WP: Kluber, a lone walk short of a perfect game (4-2). No save. LP: Hyeon-jong Yang (0-1).
It was the 1st Yankee no-hitter since David Cone's perfect game in 1999 -- 22 years. It was the 1st Yankee no-hitter on the road since Allie Reynolds in 1951 -- 70 years. (Reynolds pitched 2 no-hitters that season, the 2nd at home, in the opener of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, and the Yankees clinched the Pennant in the nightcap.)
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So that led to yesterday's finale, with Domingo German as the starter. He's been inconsistent so far this season, with both very good starts and very bad starts. Yesterday, he had a very good one: 7 innings, no runs, 6 hits, no walks, 5 strikeouts.
He almost didn't get the win, anyway. The game remained scoreless going into the top of the 7th. Ranger starter John King did not start the inning with one of those walks that can "kill you." But it was just as bad (for him): He hit Odor with a pitch.
Torres grounded out, but that got Odor to 2nd. Sanchez singled, but it wasn't deep enough to score Odor, who had to stop at 3rd. Now, it looked like one of those frustrating #YankeeRISPfail innings.
But Urshela stepped up, and singled Odor home. Andujar struck out. Aaron Boone had given Judge the day off, with Wade starting in right field. But he Boone sent Judge up to pinch-hit for Wade. Judge had never gotten a hit in a pinch-hitting role before. This time, he did, singling Sanchez home, and making it 2-0 Yankees.
Chad Green pitched a perfect 8th. Chapman walked a batter with 1 out in the 9th, but got out of it. Yankees 2, Rangers 0. WP: German (4-2). SV: Chapman (11). LP: King (4-3).
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So the Yankees' longest roadtrip of the year ended 7-3. They took 2 of 3 in St. Petersburg, 2 of 3 in Baltimore, and 3 of 4 in Arlington, as the Yankees violated the 1st Rule of Dealing With Texas: "Don't Mess With Texas." They did.
We are 46 games into, 28 percent of the way through, the regular season. The Yankees are 25-19, a .568 percentage, and that works out to 92-70 over a full 162 games. As I've previously shown, since the dawn of Divisional Play in 1969, it has taken an average of 93 wins to win the American League Eastern Division, and the Yankees are just short of that pace.
They are a game and a half behind the despised Boston Red Sox, just 1 game in the all-important loss column. The Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays are also 1 behind in the loss column. The only team in the AL East not currently close is the Baltimore Orioles, 9 games back.
So things are looking up for the Yankees. However, it should be noted that, if you take away the 5-run 4th inning in Game 2, they played 35 innings in this series in Texas, and scored just 8 runs. That's not good. You can't count on great pitching every time.
They return home, to begin a weekend series with the Chicago White Sox, who have the best record in the AL, but are currently in a nasty spot due to the words and actions of their manager, Tony La Russa. I'll have more on that tomorrow, after this series opens.