There is a man I know on Facebook, I won't mention his name, but I will say that he's older than I am, and thus should know better. The other day, while waiting for Aaron Judge to go from 60 to 61 home runs on the season, he told me that "nobody cares" about the milestone anniversaries I sometimes post, including, these last few days, the anniversaries of Yankee Pennant clinchers. His own posts show that he doesn't even care about the Yankees winning. All he cares about is the home run record -- and remembrances of high school basketball in his hometown.
I had to tell him that it was my page, and I was going to post whatever I wanted, and that I didn't go on his page and tell him that "nobody cares" about what he posts about.
Nevertheless, now that the Yankees have clinched the American League Eastern Division title, and been locked into the 2nd seed in the AL Playoffs, there's nothing left to play for, except Judge's bid to go from 61 to 62.
Judge did not get Number 62 yesterday. The Baltimore Orioles continued to pitch around him, even hitting him on the elbow at one point. He had the elbow pad, so he wasn't hurt. Otherwise, he was walked twice, and struck out twice. And, yet again, a lot of fans left after Judge's last at-bat. It was fine yesterday, because the game was in the bag. But the night before? The result was still in doubt, and thousands left anyway.
Judge was not the story yesterday. Nestor Cortés was: He pitched 7 2/3rds innings, longer than anyone expected to see him go, due to his earlier "load management." He allowed only 1 hit, a single to Jorge Mateo in the 5th, just 2 walks, and struck out 12. When he left, he got the ovation the fans had been ready to give Judge.
The Yankees gave "Nasty Nestor" the kind of run support that kind of pitching deserves. They scored 3 runs in the 1st inning, including a 447-foot home run from Giancarlo Stanton, who will need to be hitting well for the Yankees to do anything in the postseason. Kyle Higashioka made it 4-0 with a home run in the 2nd. And 4 more runs came in the 7th.
Yankees 8, Orioles 0. WP: Cortés (12-4). No save. LP: Austin Voth (5-4 -- another baseball name that sounds like the name of a law firm).
The series concludes this afternoon, weather permitting: As I type this, it is raining, and it is the last home game of the regular season. So Judge might not get this last chance to hit Number 62 at home. Alexander "Chi Chi" Gonzalez, a 30-year-old righthanded journeyman from Florida, makes his Yankee debut, starting against the Orioles' Kyle Bradish.
After this, the Yankees close the regular season with 4 games away to the Texas Rangers.