The Yankees were supposed to start the numerical 2nd half of the season last night with the opener of a 3-game series away to the St. Louis Cardinals, at Busch Stadium, the 3rd ballpark to have the Busch name, in "the best baseball city in the world," as if "Cardinal Nation" doesn't want to accept that New York City exists. (And, as if, they're actually a nation, and even if they were, they ripped the concept off from the Boston Red Sox, and, besides, there's Yankees Universe.)
Luis Severino started for the Yankees, and got through the 1st 2 innings without allowing any runs, but gave up a 3-run home run to Paul Goldschmidt in the bottom of the 3rd. He ended up giving up 5 runs in that inning. Nolan Gorman hit a 2-run homer off him in the 4th.
He didn't get out of the 5th. It now seems clear that, along with Jhony Brito, Severino will be the odd man out, not Domingo Germán, when Nestor Cortés and then Carlos Rodón return from injury and join the rotation.
The Cards scored 5 in the 3rd, 2 in the 4th, and 4 in the 5th. Counting the lack of runs in the 2nd and the 6th, that's 05240. If that were a ZIP Code in use (it isn't), it would be in Bennington, Vermont. It was 11-0 St. Louis after just 5 innings.
Oswaldo Cabrera singled home a run in the top of the 7th, to get the Yankees on the board. A rain delay hit at the 7th inning stretch. They got the bottom of the 7th and the top of the 8th in, and then came another rain delay. By this point, the 2nd game should have started. They should have just called it right there.
They didn't. The Yankees sent Josh Donaldson out to pitch the bottom of the 8th, and he pitched a 1-2-3 inning. He's actually doing some good the last few days, after not having done much all season until then. The Yankees got 3 runs in the 9th, including from a home run by Harrison Bader, and threatened for more, and the very funny thought arrived that, if the Yankees could actually complete the shocking comeback, Donaldson would be the winning pitcher. But said comeback fell well short.
Cardinals 11, Yankees 4. WP: Jack Flaherty (5-5). No save. LP: Severino (1-3).
The nightcap begins at 8:30 PM Eastern Time (7:30 Central and local). It will only be broadcast on Amazon Prime. Matthew Liberatore will start for the Cardinals, and, with less than an hour to go, the Yankees' starting pitcher is listed as "Undecided."