What the Yankees have done so far this season is insane. And I, for one, am enjoying the insanity.
Jameson Taillon started against the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday afternoon. He allowed a single in the 1st inning, pitched a perfect 2nd, and pitched a perfect 3rd.
He got some support in the top of the 4th: With 1 out, Anthony Rizzo drew a walk. Gleyber Torres singled. Joey Gallo, as he does, struck out. But Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled to load the bases. And the much-maligned Aaron Hicks doubled to right, clearing the bases. HIX STIX SLAYZ JAYZ. That made it 3-0 Yankees.
With that behind him, Taillon pitched a perfect 4th. He allowed a leadoff double in the 5th, then struck out the side. The 6th turned out to be the key inning. Torres led off with a double, Gallo flew out, and IKF doubled Torres home to make it 4-0. But Taillon began his half with a leadoff walk and a single. He got 2 flyouts, but I guess that was enough to get Michael King sufficiently warmed up, because Boone brought him in, and he got a strikeout to end it. The YES Network cameras showed that, in the dugout, Taillon was pumped about it.
King allowed a single in the 7th, but no runs. He allowed a leadoff walk in the 8th, then struck out the next 2 batters. And then, Boone brought in a reliever, for a 4-out save. This is the kind of decision that would have made absolutely no sense, except everything seems to be going the Yankees' way lately. Anyway, it was Clay Holmes, and he got a groundout, and pitched a perfect 9th to end it.
Yankees 4, Blue Jays 0. WP: Taillon (8-1). No save. LP: Alek Manoah (8-2). That's 9 in a row. How many times in a row have the Yankees won? In the immortal words of Ed Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, "Nine times." It's 16 out of 17. That's on top of an earlier 9 out of 10, and a still earlier 11-game winning streak. And, to think, the Yankees started the season 7-6.
The American League Eastern Division race is practically over. The Yankees have taken 5 straight from the Tampa Bay Rays at home and the Jays on the road. The Jays are 12 games back, the Rays 13, and the Boston Red Sox 14 1/2. In the words of our old friend Phil Rizzuto, "I tell ya, Murcer, this is unbelievable. These Yankees, holy cow."
As someone said on Facebook yesterday, Toronto lost more games this weekend then the Yankees lost all month.
In the immortal words of Star Trek's Captain Benjamin Sisko, "I think I can live with it."
I can live with it!
At any rate, the series concludes this afternoon. Luis Severino, scratched from his start on Thursday due to an unspecified illness, starts against Yusei Kikuchi.