In 2013, Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and T.I. (Clifford Harris Jr.) came out with a song titled "Blurred Lines." To put it politely, it was controversial.
In 2014, parody master "Weird Al" Yankovic came out with "Word Crimes," using the preceding as his base song, and took on various forms of bad grammar, including one in particular that I can't stand, saying, "I could care less," when what you really mean is that you couldn't care less:
I hate these word crimes!
Like, "I could care less."
That means you do care.
At least a little.
Given the Yankees' difficulties with beating the Houston Astros, tarnishing what has otherwise been a spectacular season, every victory between now and what seems to be an inevitable postseason showdown, resulting in a sure Texas Cheatsaw Massacre, seems to hold little meaning.
In other words, I still want to win, because I always want to win. That's the nature of sports. But any such regular-season win isn't going to help much, even if we end up with home-field advantage all the way through the postseason. Because, even if we get Game 7 at home, we still have to win our home games in that series with the Astros.
So, last night, the Yankees won. And I could care less.
It was the start of a weekend series away to the Baltimore Orioles. In recent history, the Yankees have dominated the O's. But they started this season having moved the left-field fence at Camden Yards back a bit, a move seemingly designed to specifically stop the Yankees from hitting so many home runs against them. Never mind that the Yankees have still hit a few there this season, and that the right-field fence remains rather close. Nevertheless, they have gotten to the .500 mark, and should not be overlooked.
Jameson Taillon, who has struggled lately, started, and was granted a 3-0 lead in the top of the 3rd inning, when Aaron Judge hit a 436-foot home run. Nice job moving the fence back, Orioles.
But he ran into trouble in the bottom of the 3rd, allowing single, RBI double, RBI single, strikeout, flyout, single, walk. Aaron Boone didn't take any chances, and got him out of there. Lucas Luetge got a popup to end the inning, and he pitched a scoreless 4th and 5th.
The Yankees added a run on a Jose Trevino double in the 4th, and Judge hit another homer in the 5th, this one 465 feet. He now has 36 on the season, putting him on pace to tie the Yankees' single-season record, Roger Maris' legendary 61 in '61.
Jonathan Loáisiga allowed a run in the 6th, but that was canceled out by a home run by Joey Gallo in the 7th. Gallo's batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage "slash line" is now .164/.291/.351. Still terrible, I know, but the OBP is only slightly lower than the .293 of Trevino, and he's an All-Star. As another Yankee All-Star catcher, Yogi Berra, would have put it, "In baseball, you don't know nothin'."
Aroldis Chapman was brought on to protect a 7-3 lead in the bottom of the 7th. He was awful: Single, wild pitch, strikeout, wild pitch, walk, home run. Boone brought Michael King on, and he got the last 2 outs of the inning. But after getting the 1st out in the bottom of the 8th, King left the game in obvious pain. The initial diagnosis is a fractured elbow, and he's probably out for the season. That's a big loss.
Clay Holmes came on and kept the O's off the board for the last 5 outs. Yankees 7, Orioles 6. WP: Luetge (3-3). SV: Holmes (17). LP: Tyler Wells (7-6).
The series continues tonight. Gerrit Cole is set to start against Jordan Lyles.