Ain't Nothin' But a Giancarlo Thang

Things I like include the Yankees winning. Things I really like include the Yankees beating the Boston Red Sox. Things I love include the Yankees sweeping the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

The Yankees took the 1st games of the series, on the slugging of Giancarlo Stanton. The finale was scoreless going into the bottom of the 4th inning, as, once again, the Yankees simply weren't hitting for Jordan Montgomery. He allowed a run to put the Sox on the board.

But Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Gleyber Torres, who has been considerably better lately, drew a walk to lead off the top of the 5th. Gary Sanchez singled. Brett Gardner singled. This being Fenway, a single doesn't necessarily bring a runner home from 2nd. But it gave the Yankees the bases loaded with nobody out.

Gio Urshela grounded into a double play, scoring Torres, but the air went out of Yankee Fans' balloons. We were thinking that the 1 run was all we were going to get from the inning. But DJ LeMahieu singled home Sanchez, to make it 2-1.

Montgomery pitched a scoreless 5th. Clay Holmes struck out the side in the 6th. Aaron Boone should have left Holmes in. He didn't: He brought in Joely Rodriguez, and it was a big mistake: Rodriguez allowed 2 singles, threw a wild pitch, and allowed a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

Boone brought Chad Green in, and the Yankees didn't help him, committing 2 errors that brought another run in before the 3rd out was gained. 3-2 Boston.

But the cliche about leadoff walks reared its head again. Urshela led off the top of the 8th with a walk. Tyler Wade was sent in to pinch-run for him... and was caught stealing 2nd. LeMahieu drew a walk. Anthony Rizzo doubled him over to 3rd.

In to pitch came Adam Ottavino, who has hurt the Yankees both as one of their own pitchers and as a Red Sock. The Yankees punished him: Judge doubled home LeMahieu and Rizzo, and the Stanton launched another home run over the Green Monster. 6-3 Yankees.

In this series, Stanton had 3 home runs and 10 RBIs against the Red Sox. Other Yankees to do that: Babe Ruth in 1927, Lou Gehrig in 1931, and Mickey Mantle in 1954. The only other Yankee to hit at least 3 homers in a series at Fenway Park? Joe DiMaggio had 4 in 1949 -- but had "only" 9 RBIs. Hideki Matsui is the only other Yankee to have 9 RBI in a Fenway series. Pretty good company.

The Red Sox as a whole scored 9 runs. Stanton drove in 10 all by himself. Ain't nothin' but a G-iancarlo thang.

Green pitched a scoreless 8th. So a 3-run lead was turned over to Aroldis Chapman for the 9th. Popup to short. So far, so good. Grounder to 2nd. Looking good. A walk to Enrique Hernandez, followed by defensive indifference leading the player to steal 2nd and 3rd.

The batter was Kyle Schwarber, the Sox' big trade deadline acquisition. The pressure on Chapman wasn't that much: Even a home run would only make it 6-5. It didn't matter: Chapman blew a perfect pitch past Schwarber, who let it go for called strike 3.

Yankees 6, Red Sox 3. WP: Green (10-7). SV: Chapman (30). LP: Garrett Richards (7-8).

So the Yankees swept The Scum. At Scumway Park. Just the way I like it.

*

The Yankees enter the final week of the regular season 8 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division. In other words, the Rays have already clinched. So have the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central, and the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central. The Houston Astros will almost certainly win the AL West.

The Atlanta Braves are 2 1/2 games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. The San Francisco Giants are 2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. One will win the Division, the other will host the NL Wild Card Game. They will probably host the St. Louis Cardinals, who have won 16 straight games for the 1st time in franchise history.

But the AL Wild Card race is still very much up for grabs. The Yankees lead it by 1 game over the Red Sox. In other words, if the current standings hold, then the Yankees will host the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Game. The Toronto Blue Jays are 1 game behind the Red Sox. The Seattle Mariners are 2 back. The Oakland Athletics are 3 back. So that's 5 teams with a legitimate chance at 2 slots.

To put it another way, those 5 teams have the following percent chances to make the Wild Card Game, given their respective remaining schedules: Boston, 87.8; the Yankees, 81.8; Toronto, 27.4; Seattle, 2.5; Oakland, 0.6. If the A's lose any of their remaining games, they're out; same for the Mariners if they lose 2.

The Yankees start a series in Toronto tomorrow night. The Jays embarrassed the Yankees 3 straight in The Bronx a few weeks ago, but will probably need to do it again at the Rogers Centre in order to have a serious chance at the Playoffs. Then the Yankees come home for 3 against the Rays, a series we once thought was going to decide the Division, but now, will not.

The Red Sox have 3 in Baltimore against the hapless Orioles, whose 106 losses ties them with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the most in MLB; and then 3 in Washington against the Nationals, who have collapsed (92 losses), and look nothing like the team that won the World Series just 2 years ago. 

But if the Yankees win 2 out of 3 in Toronto, and 2 out of 3 at home to Tampa Bay, the Red Sox will have to win 5 out of 6 the rest of the way take home field away from the Yankees for the Wild Card Game. And, as this series that just ended shows, the Yankees do not have reason to fear either the Sox or their little green pinball machine in the Back Bay.

Here's the pitching rotation for the rest of the regular season:

Tuesday: Jameson Taillon

Wednesday: Cole

Thursday: Corey Kluber

Friday: Nestor Cortes

Saturday: Undecided, probably Montgomery

Sunday: Undecided, possibly Taillon or a "bullpen game"

This means that, for the AL Wild Card Game on Tuesday, Cole will have had a full 5 days' rest. And, with Monday being a day off, the entire bullpen will be available.

If everybody -- especially Stanton -- stays healthy and keeps hitting like this, then the Yankees' chances to at least reach the AL Division Series are pretty good.

But that won't be enough. We want Title 28.