A Hell of a Way to Go Into the All-Star Break

The Mets blew  5-0 1st inning lead at home, to the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the 3rd-worst record in baseball. But it was piece-by-piece, not all at once. The way the Yankees blew it was worse.

The Yankees went down to Minute Maid Park and shut out the cheating Houston Astros twice, and they and their fans were feeling pretty good about themselves. Jameson Taillon was the scheduled starter for the series finale, but he had pitched well in his last 2 outings, so there was some reason for confidence.

Taillon pitched well again, going 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 his and 2 walks. And he got plenty of support. Walks to Gary Sanchez and Luke Voit, and Gleyber Torres ground ball that resulted in an error, got them an unearned run in the 3rd inning. Tim Locastro hit a home run to lead off the 4th. Torres singled home a run in the 5th. Gio Urshela singled home a run in the 7th. And walks to DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge set up a Sanchez homer in the 8th. That made it 7-2 Yankees.

As Sanchez approached home plate, he mimed keeping his jersey close, mocking Jose Altuve for the home run he cheated to hit that gave the Astros the 2019 American League Pennant over the Yankees. He got seriously booed by the Astro fans, but they can't handle the truth.

Domingo German pitched a perfect 7th and a scoreless 8th. Being a starting pitcher, there was reason to believe he could finish the game. But he couldn't: He allowed an infield single to Yuri Gurriel, and a double to Kyle Tucker, who had homered off Taillon.

Aaron Boone took him out, which was the right thing to do. What was not the right thing to do was bring in Chad Green. He has been seriously inconsistent this season: Either very good, or very bad. This time, he was very bad.

This would have been the right time to bring in Aroldis Chapman, to see if he could break his Minute Maid Park jinx. But Boone didn't trust him. And Jonathan Loaisiga wasn't available, being on the COVID exposure list. And Zack Britton wasn't available, being on the Injured List. So he went with Green.

Green gave up a double to Chas McCormick. 7-4. He gave up a double to Abraham Toro. 7-5. He gave up a single to Jason Castro. He got Martin Maldonado to line out to Torres.

The batter was Altuve. Because of course it was. Boom. Astros 8, Yankees 7. WP: Ralph Garza (1-2). No save. LP: Green (3-5).

So all the good feeling over the 1st 2 games of the series was wiped out in the space of 7 batters.

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The Yankees go into the All-Star Break 46-43, a winning percentage of .517, a pace for 84-78. That will not be good enough to make the Playoffs. They are 8 games, 7 in the loss column, behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL Eastern Division. They are 4 1/2 games, 3 in the loss column, out of the AL's 2nd Wild Card berth.

This is unacceptable. And the trading deadline is 18 days away.

The Mets go into the Break in 1st place in the National League Eastern Division, by 3 1/2 games over the Philadelphia Phillies. But their 47-40 record is only 1 1/2 better than that of the Yankees, and would be 7 games behind the Red Sox. And you can't say, "Gimme a break, look at the injuries the Mets have to their rotation!" The injuries the Yankees have had to theirs are worse.

The All-Star Game will be held tomorrow night, at Coors Field in Denver, home of the Colorado Rockies. It previously hosted the game in 1998. From the Yankees, Aaron Judge will start in right field, and Gerrit Cole and Aroldis Chapman will be on the pitching staff. The Mets will be represented by pitchers Jacob deGrom and Tajuan Walker.

We knew it was going to be a long season. And even though, in terms of where the All-Star Break fell in the 162-game process, the 1st half was longer than the 2nd half will be, the 2nd half may end up feeling longer.