Minor League Report. Gil Injured, and Prospect Sanford released in shame.

OF minor league prospect Jake Sanford was released by the New York Yankees yesterday. Here is the NY Post report. (edited)

Following in the footsteps of the infamous Ruben Rivera, another Yankees prospect has been released for allegedly stealing from his teammates. 

The Yankees cut 2019 third-round pick Jake Sanford last Thursday for allegedly stealing from his minor league teammates and scamming people for money online, The Post confirmed. 

According to a source, the 24-year-old outfielder was released last week after a team investigation found Sanford had stolen from teammates, including equipment that he would then try to sell online, as first reported by NJ Advance Media. 

Additionally, a source said Sanford, who played college baseball at Western Kentucky, also accepted money from prospective buyers for the equipment then failed to deliver the products. 

Sanford spent last year at A ball, both Low-A Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley. He hit .285-16-61 combined in 101 games.

Yankees’ #10 prospect, Luis Gil, injured his elbow in his start last night for AAA SWB. He called for the trainer and said “I’m done”. Gil has started 7 MLB games for the Yankees, including one this year. We’ll see how bad it is and if he needs TJ surgery.

AAA: SWB (13-24) lost 5-2.
CF Estevan Florial 2 hits, solo HR (4). ( #30 prospect .266)
3B Miguel Andujar 2 hits (.310)
DH Greg Bird 2 hits (.169)

Gil 4 2/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 3 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 7.89 #10 prospect. INJURED. SEE ABOVE.
M. Gomez (L, 1-2) 2/3 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K. 4.91
Lane 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.29
Marinaccio 2 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.70

AA: Somerset (23-11) won 7-6.
SS Anthony Volpe 2 hits (#1 prospect, but off to slow start, hitting just .183)
RF Elijah Dunham 2 hits, 2 RBI (#27 prospect, .226)
DH Josh Breaux 2-run HR (6) (#26 prospect, .195)
CF Brandon Lockridge 2 RBI (#18 prospect .236)
1B Chad Bell 2 hits
3B Max Burt 2 hits, solo HR (3)

The purpose of the batting averages above is to emphasize the point I have made that a lot of the Yankees’ top prospects, and even ex-major league players now in the minors, are not hitting so far this year. And it’s not just the ones listed here.

Spence 5 IP, 6 R, 7 H, 1 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR 5.46
Coleman 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 0.00
Ramirez (W, 2-0) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.00
Espinal (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.25

High A: Hudson Valley (15-19) lost 5-4.
1B Spencer Henson 2 hits
DH Eric Wagaman 2 hits.
LF Aaron Palensky 2-run HR (2)

Warren (L, 1-3) 3 2/3 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 W, 2 K. 3.41
Myatt 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 3 K. 1 WP 1.20
C. Gomez 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 2 K. 0.00

Low A: Tampa (14-20) lost 9-3.
SS Alexander Vargas 2 hits, 2 RBI
CF Jasson Dominguez 2 hits, RBI. (#3 prospect, .240)
DH Anthony Garcia 2 hits.

Castro (L, 0-2) 4 1/3 IP, 7 R, 7 H, 1 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 1 HBP 4.09
Anderson 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 2 W, 2 K. 2.50
Messinger 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 4.26
Watson 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 3.60

One final note. I haven’t seen any Yankees games on WPIX Channel 11, New York, this year, nor do I see any games scheduled for them. If so, it’s sad a long tradition has ended. Channel 11 and Yankees games go back to before I was even born, and that was a little over 60 years ago. I grew up on Yankees’ games on WPIX Channel 11.

Game 36. Judge (2 HR, 3 RBI) powers Yanks to 5-4 win.

Aaron Judge hit an RBI double and two solo HRs to lead the Yankees (27-9) to a 5-4 win over Baltimore Tuesday night.

In the first inning, D.J. LeMahieu led off the game by getting HBP and Judge scored him with a double. Last year, before Baltimore pushed back and raised the LF fence, it would have been a HR.

Yankees’ starter Jameson Taillon gave up a HR to Ramon Urias in the bottom of the second that tied the game up.

Judge hit his first solo HR in the top of the third to put the Yanks up 2-1.

The Orioles got two in the bottom of the fourth to go up 3-2.

Judge hit his second HR (14) in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 3.

In the top of the sixth, Gleyber Torres singled, and one out later, Isiah Kiner-Falefa was HBP and Kyle Higashioka walked. LeMahieu brought home Torres with an RBI groundout.

With two out in the top of the seventh, Josh Donaldson doubled and scored when Gleyber Torres hit a hot shot that Orioles’ SS Urias couldn’t handle for an error.

Even though the Yanks are an unreal 27-9, having won 20 of their last 23 games, I still have a few concerns. One of which is Aroldis Chapman continuing to stress my heart. He doesn’t make it easy with a nice, clean 1-2-3. Chapman got the first two outs, but then two singles and a double made it 5-4 with the tying run on third and the winning run on second. A popup ended the game.

I wish Chapman would stop doing that. Nice clean 1-2-3, Aroldis. Please?

Judge 4 hits, 3 RBI. 2 Solo HR (14)
Torres 2 hits

Taillon (W, 4-1) 5 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.28
King (H, 5) 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 6 K. 1.40 SUPERB AGAIN
Chapman (S, 9) 1 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.63

#6 Yankees’ prospect Ken Waldichuk, who I’ve been writing about a lot last year and this year, has been promoted from AA to AAA.

Game 32. 10-4, Good buddy! Yankees win 17th of last 19 games behind 4 HR.

The Yankees (24-8) won for the 17th time in their last 19 games, beating the Chicago White Sox 10-4 Friday night.

The Yankees hit 4 HR in the game, and Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton did it again, and became the third pair of Yankees teammates to each have 10 or more HR in the team’s first 32 games of a season, following Ruth and Gehrig in 1930 and Mantle and Berra in 1956.

Before the game, Luis Gil sent back down, Clarke Schmidt brought up.

Stanton got the ball rolling with a 2-run HR in the first inning (10).

Yankees’ starter Gerrit Cole got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the first. In the top of the second, the Yanks scored three runs, and with Cole on the mound, you knew that was the ballgame. With one out, Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled, and Jose Trevino then singled IKF to third. Aaron Hicks doubled in IKF and Trevino scored on a groundout by D.J. LeMahieu. After Judge walked, Josh Donaldson doubled in Hicks to make the score 5-0.

Judge hit a solo HR, his MLB leading 12th, in the top of the fourth to make the score 6-0.

Chicago got a run in the bottom of the fourth when Cole balked home a run.

Joey Gallo homered in the top of the fourth (4) to put the Yanks up 7-1.

Cole gave up a 2-run HR in the bottom of the sixth and the White Sox had cut the score to 7-3.

In the top of the ninth, with one out, Judge singled and Donaldson hit a 2-run HR (4), to make it 9-3. Stanton and Gleyber Torres followed with singles, then Joey Gallo loaded the bases with another single. IKF hit a SF to make it 10-3.

Chicago got a run off of Michael King in the bottom of the ninth. Final score, 10-4.

Judge 2 hits, solo HR (12) Leads MLB in HR
Donaldson 2 hits, 3 RBI. 2-run HR (4)
Stanton 2 hits, 2 RBI. 2-run HR (10)
Torres 2 hits
Gallo 2 hits, solo HR (4)
Kiner-Falefa (IKF) 2 hits, RBI

Cole (W, 3-0) 6 1/3 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 1 W, 9 K. 1 WP. 1 balk. Gave up 1 HR. 2.95
King 2 2/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1.59

With the win, the Yankees have a 4 1/2 game lead over Tampa Bay in the AL East, and are 7 1/2 up on third place Toronto. They have the best record in baseball.

Games 26 & 27. Yanks split a DH with Texas.

Before the Mother’s Day DH against Texas, a couple of moves. Tim Locastro goes on the IL with a back injury, and with the Yanks playing 23 games in 22 days, Ron Marinaccio was brought up. Also, for the DH only, Estevan Florial was brought up.

The Yanks (19-8) didn’t hit much Sunday, and split a DH with Texas.

Game 1: Gleyber Torres hit a walkoff HR (4) in the bottom of the ninth as the Yanks won 2-1. The Yanks didn’t get a hit until the sixth inning, when Aaron Judge singled, Anthony Rizzo singled Judge to third, and Giancarlo Stanton hit a SF.

With one out in the top of the seventh, Gerrit Cole gave up a HR to the last batter he faced (pitch #114. One batter too many? But then Cole did strike out the previous hitter on three pitches) and the score was tied. Torres led off the bottom of the ninth with his game-winning blow. The Yanks only had five hits in this game.

Torres 2 hits, RBI. Solo GW HR (4)

Cole 6 1/3 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 1 W, 10 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.67
Loaisiga 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 4.63
Holmes (W, 3-0) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 0.64

Game 2: Michael King has been great all year, but maybe he was due for a clunker. Yanks lose 4-2.

The Yanks only had three hits in this game. They took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on a 2-run HR by Giancarlo Stanton (6).

Yankees’ starter Jordan Montgomery gave up a HR in the top of the sixth and Texas had cut the Yanks’ lead to 2-1.

In the seventh, Montgomery gave up a leadoff double. King came in and gave up a walk, but then got a strikeout and a forceout. It looked like King was going to get out of it and would be the dominating King we have seen all year. But then a WP tied the game, and on the next pitch, King gave up a 2-run HR that made it 4-2 Texas, and that turned out to be the final score.

Stanton 2-run HR (6)

Montgomery 6+ IP, 2 R, 4 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR. 1 HBP 2.90
King (L, 2-1; BS, 1) 1 1/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 w, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR. 1 WP 1.42
Peralta 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.80

Spoiler Alert: I’ll post the minor league games of Sunday tomorrow, but you know how I’ve been writing about AA pitcher Ken Waldichuk. Check out what he did today. If no time, check my report tomorrow.

Game 19. Yanks win 6th straight, 10-5.

Jameson Taillon was a bit shaky, and Ron Marinaccio had trouble closing out the game, but behind 4 RBI by Aaron Judge (including a 3-run HR), the Yankees (13-6) won their sixth game in a row, 10-5 over Baltimore Thursday afternoon.

Taillon escaped a second and third, two out jam in the first inning but gave up runs in the second and third innings. He didn’t help himself in the third inning with a HBP and two wild pitches.

The Orioles helped the Yanks out by making five errors in the game. The Yanks got four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a lead they would not relinquish.

In that bottom of the fifth, Tim Locastro reached on an error, and scored when Marwin Gonzalez doubled. After an out, D.J. LeMahieu reached on an error, Gonzalez going to third. Judge’s single scored Gonzalez, tying the game, and D.J. went to second. Anthony Rizzo singled to make it 3-2, with Judge going to second. Giancarlo Stanton singled in Judge and it was 4-2.

In the sixth, Joey Gallo led off with a walk and went to second on a WP. Tim Locastro singled Gallo to third, and Gonzalez scored Gallo with a SF. 5-2.

The Yanks got another run in the seventh to make it 6-2. LeMahieu doubled and went to third on a flyout by Judge. After Rizzo lined out and Stanton walked, Josh Donaldson singled in D.J.

The Yanks iced the game in the bottom of the eighth to make it 10-2. Locastro walked, and one out later, Kyle Higashioka was HBP. An error loaded the bases, and all runners moved up, Locastro scoring, on a WP. Judge then hit a 3-run HR (5) to make it 10-2.

Marinaccio had trouble closing it out, giving up three runs, and Lucas Luetge had to come in to get the last out.

Judge 2 hits, 4 RBI. 3-run HR (5)
Rizzo 2 hits, RBI
Gonzalez 2 RBI

Taillon 4 2/3 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 1 W, 4 K. 1 HBP. 2 WP. 3.26
Castro (W, 2-0) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 2.45
Peralta (H, 2) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.45
Loaisiga (H, 3) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 6.75
Green 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 4.32
Marinaccio 2/3 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1 WP. 11.25
Luetge 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 5.68

Notes: Good to see nice outings from Loaisiga and Green after both have been getting roughed up a bit lately. As for Marinaccio, teams have to cut down from 28 to 26 in a few days and it appears he will be one of those going down. In his last two outings, Marinaccio was entrusted to close out Yankee blowout wins, and in both games he had trouble. 1 IP, 2 R in the April 24 blowout of Cleveland, 10-2, and today’s outing. Neither outing helped his cause.

UPDATE: Marinaccio was sent down after the game, as Aaron Hicks returned from paternity leave. Cuts to 26 from 28 still have to be made soon.

Game 17. Yanks (11-6) win slugfest 12-8 behind 5 HR, 3 by Rizzo.

Back after a ten-day vacation visiting my sis across the country. Some comments at end of article.

Anthony Rizzo hit three of the Yanks (11-6) five homeruns in the Yanks’ 12-8 win over Baltimore Tuesday night. Luis Severino pitched 5 1/3 hitless, shutout innings before tiring, and the Yankees’ bullpen made things nervously close.

Rizzo hit a 3-run HR in the third to start the scoring. Joey Gallo hit his first HR of the season to make it 4-0 in the fourth. Rizzo’s second HR of the game, a 2-run HR, made it 6-0 in the fifth.

After losing his no-hit bid, Severino walked the next hitter then gave up a 3-run HR and Baltimore had cut the lead to 6-3. The Orioles scored another run in the top of the seventh to close the score to 6-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, D.J. LeMahieu led off with a single and Aaron Judge singled D.J. to third. Rizzo walked to load the bases. Giancarlo Stanton singled in one run, and after Josh Donaldson struck out, Gleyber Torres tripled to clear the bases and make the score 10-4.

Baltimore made things uncomfortable again, scoring four runs in the top of the eighth, three on a HR given up by Jonathan Loaisiga (who has been struggling lately) to cut the score to 10-8.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Yanks got back-to-back homers by Judge (4) and Rizzo (8) to make it 12-8, which wound up being the final score.

LeMahieu 2 hits
Judge 2 hits, RBI, solo HR (4)
Rizzo 3 hits, all HR (8), 6 RBI Now leads majors in HR
Stanton 2 hits, RBI
Torres 3 RBI
Gallo solo HR (1)

Severino (W, 2-0) 6 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 2 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.32
Holmes (H, 5) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.04
Luetge 2/3 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. 1 HBP. 6.00
Loaisiga 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up 1 HR. 8.10
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 2 K. 0.00

A few notes on the games while I was away. A disappointing weekend in Baltimore, where the Yanks lost two of three. So far the pitching (except for last night) has carried the team. In the first 13 games of the season, the Yanks were shut out three times, and in another game, they only scored one run in an eleventh inning loss. Higashioka, Gallo, and Stanton have been struggling. Now in the last two games, they have scored ten and twelve runs, so maybe the bats are waking up. The team batting average is .242, meanwhile the team ERA of 2.85 leads the league. A good thing is Severino looking like the Severino of old. Meanwhile, Nestor Cortes, Jr. and Mike King have been great.

Tim Locastro was brought up, and J.P. Sears sent down. Miguel Andujar was brought up because Aaron Hicks is out on paternity leave. There will be some more moves coming because those extra players allowed because of the shortened spring training will have to be lopped off the roster after Sunday’s games.

One thing I didn’t know until a few days ago is that EACH MLB team is now using humidors for the baseballs. Before, because of the light air and the way balls fly out, only teams like Colorado were doing so. The humidor helps to deaden the baseballs.

Congrats in order to Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera, who became only the seventh player to have 3000 hits and 500 HR in his career. The other six are Aaron, Mays, A-Rod, Pujols, Palmeiro and Murray.

Game 162. Yanks squeak out 1-0 win, gain 2nd wild card seed. Play Boston Tuesday Night.

The Yankees squeaked out a 1-0 win over Tampa Bay in the last game of the regular season, and in so doing, became the second wild card team. They will play Boston Tuesday night in Boston in the sudden-death wild-card game.

A possible three or four-way tie for the wild card slots didn’t develop. Boston and the Yankees each won to finish with 92 wins, each tied for second in the AL East. Boston got the first wild-card spot based on beating the Yanks 10 out of 19 times this season. Toronto won its game but finished with 91 wins. Seattle lost and finished at 90.

The winner of Tuesday’s wild card game plays Tampa Bay in one ALDS. The other ALDS is the Chicago White Sox vs. the Houston Astros.

In the NL, the Dodgers have to play a one-game sudden-death wild card game despite winning 106 games. They’ll host St. Louis with the winner facing the 107-win Giants in one NLDS. The other NLDS has Atlanta vs. Milwaukee.

Going into the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees only had one hit in the game. (They sure didn’t make it easy on us or themselves). Rougned Odor led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, and Tyler Wade PR for him. Gleyber Torres flied out, Wade moving to second. Anthony Rizzo singled Wade to third and moved to second on the throw. Aaron Judge’s infield single won the game and put the Yanks in the playoffs.

It’ll be Gerrit Cole for the Yanks vs. Nathan Eovaldi (an ex-Yankee) for Boston.

Gio Urshela made a fabulous catch of a foul popup before running into Tampa Bay’s dugout on Sunday. Luckily he wasn’t seriously hurt.

Before the game, D.J. LeMahieu had to be put on the IL. If the Yanks make it to the ALCS, he’s available but it doesn’t look good. Luis Gil was brought up.

Judge GW RBI.

Taillon 3 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 2 K. 4.30
Peralta 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 1 WP. 3.35 (SF/NYY)
Holmes 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.60 (Pit/NYY)
Green 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.12
Loaisiga 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.17
Chapman (W, 6-4) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 3.36

Game 161. The “Lowe”-down. It’s a mess. Yanks 12-2 loss causes Sunday scramble.

How to be nice. I turned the game off in the middle of it, it was embarrassing. Later I read that Gleyber Torres had to have a talking-to by Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner for lack of hustle—which is unacceptable, but even more so in the last weekend of a pennant race scramble.

Jordan Montgomery had nothing, while Tampa Bay’s Brandon Lowe hit 3 home runs and drove in 7 runs. Tampa Bay got 19 hits to the Yankees’ 4, and crushed the Yankees, 12-2. The Yanks struck out 13x.

Boston’s win put Boston in the driver’s seat to host the wild card game. A 4-way tie for the two wild card spots is still possible. A 3-way tie is also possible. A Game 163, and even a Game 164 is still possible.

Wild Card Standings.

Boston 91-70 —- Top wild card seed for now.
YANKEES 91-70 2nd wild card seed for now.
Seattle and Toronto. 90-71 -1

If all teams win, or all teams lose Sunday, the Yanks head to Fenway for the wild card game.

If the Yanks win, they are in. Simple as that. If they win and Boston loses to Washington, the Yankees host whomever in the wild card game. If Boston wins, they host whomever in the wild card game.

If the Yanks lose on Sunday, then they are still in as long as Seattle (vs. Angels) and Toronto (vs. Baltimore) both lose. The Yanks must win and Boston lose for the Yanks to host the wild card game.

And not to go any further, there are still the possibilities of a three or four-way tie, as mentioned above. There will be a lot of scoreboard watching since all games start at approximately the same time.

Jameson Taillon will start for the Yanks today. With that ankle, I’m not sure that is a good idea. You don’t know how it will respond or how long he can go. I think I would rather start Luis Severino (who has been great since returning off the IL), see how long he can go (he isn’t stretched out) then go to the bullpen.

Obviously the Yanks are saving Gerrit Cole (who hasn’t been that good lately) for Game 163 or the wild card game.

The Yanks, before yesterday’s game, brought up Andrew Velazquez and sent down Albert Abreu. D.J. LeMahieu has a sports hernia which requires surgery after the season. He will try to play through it. He couldn’t go Friday or Saturday.

Montgomery gave up a 3-run HR in the first inning to Lowe. Anthony Rizzo homered (22) in the bottom of the first to cut the Rays’ lead to 3-1.

Tampa Bay got four runs in the third, knocking Montgomery out, and the game was basically over at that point. Lowe hit another 3-run HR. Mike Zunino followed with a solo shot. 7-1.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, Joey Gallo singled and Gio Urshela tripled and it was 7-2.

A single, a couple of SB (with a 7-2 lead, kind of rubbing it in) and another single made it 8-2 Rays in the sixth. Anyone notice runners are stealing more bases off the Yanks in the past week?

In the seventh, Lowe led off the inning with his third HR of the game. 9-2. Then a single, another single, and a 3-run HR by Austin Meadows. 12-2. Ugh.

As for the Yanks, forget the scoreboard watching. Just go out and win today and then see if you stay home or pack for Boston. Lose and things have to get sorted out. Just win, baby.

Depending on how things work out, this could be 38 year old Brett Gardner’s last home game. We hope not.

Yankees’ broadcaster Ken Singleton made it official. Today will be his last game. He is retiring.

Rizzo solo HR (22; Cubs/NYY)

Montgomery (L, 6-7) 2 2/3 IP, 7 R, 6 H, 3 W, 3 K. gave up 3 HR. 3.83. Bad time for a bad game.
Luetge 3 IP, 1 R, 4 , 0 W, 4 K. 2.74
King 1/3 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.55
Rodriguez 3 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.66 (Tex/NYY).

Game 159. Yanks inch closer to WC berth with 6-2 win over Toronto. Smash 5 HR.

The Yankees are thisclose to a playoff berth after beating Toronto 6-2 Thursday night. That, coupled with Boston losing to lowly Baltimore again, gave the Yanks a little cushion in the wild card standings.

WILD CARD STANDINGS

YANKEES 91-68 — Top wild card as of now, game would be at home.
Boston AND Seattle 89-70 -2 (if tied, Game 163 in Boston)
Toronto 88-71 -3; 1 game behind Boston and Seattle.

Hey, as Blondie sang, Dreaming is Free. We can dream the Yankees get the top seed, and that there is a tie for the other wild card game and that that game wears out whoever the Yanks have to play. Nothing wrong with dreaming, right?

The AL has their division winners. The wild cards are unknown. The winner of the wild card game takes on Tampa Bay in an ALDS. The other ALDS is Chicago vs. Houston. The NL has the Cardinals taking on either the Giants or the Dodgers in the wild card game, winner faces Giants or Dodgers. Atlanta faces Milwaukee in the other NLDS.

I ain’t going into wild card tie scenarios, especially if the AL comes down to three or four-way ties.

Just win, Yanks.

The Yanks hit five home runs in their 6-2 win. Aaron Judge got the Yanks on the board right away in the first inning with a 455 ft. HR, his 38th of the season. 1-0 Yanks, and Judge wasn’t finished.

Thorn-in-the-Yankees-side Bo Bichette started a Blue Jays rally and scored in the second inning to tie the game. Judge made a diving catch for the third out to save another run. Toronto went up 2-1 in the fifth, when Vlad Guerrero’s RBI double just missed being a 2-run HR.

In the top of the sixth, the Yanks dropped the hammer. With one out, Anthony Rizzo and Judge homered back-to-back to put the Yanks up 3-2. For Rizzo, HR #21 (Cubs/NYY) and #250 of his career. For Judge, #39, this one a 441 ft. HR. Giancarlo Stanton then walked, and Gleyber Torres joined the HR party with #9, a 425-ft. blast, to give the Yanks a 5-2 cushion.

Brett Gardner made it 6-2 in the top of the ninth with his 10th HR of the season.

Before the game, Luke Voit to the IL, Albert Abreu brought up. X-Rays on Joey Gallo were negative and he entered the game late as a defensive replacement.

D.J. LeMahieu had to leave the game with a hip injury.

Rizzo solo HR (21; Cubs/NYY) #250 of his career
Judge 2 solo HR; 2 RBI (39) and a fine diving catch to save a run
Torres 2-run HR (9)
Gardner solo HR (10)


Kluber 4 2/3 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 1 W, 2 K. 3.83
King (W, 2-4) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.14
Severino (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.00
Green (H, 18) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 3.16
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 3.42

King and Severino could really be weapons out of the bullpen.

Game 158. Jays edge Yanks, 6-5. 4 games left and 4 team WC scramble.

Yankees’ ace Gerrit Cole didn’t have it last night as the Yankees’ 7-game winning streak was snapped by Toronto, 6-5.

A few starts ago, Cole had to leave the game early with tightness in his hamstring. The Yanks have not said anything since, but Cole hasn’t been the same since. I wonder if there is a correlation, and if it is still bothering him. Cole could be forced to start Sunday on three days rest if the Yankees need to win Sunday to make the postseason.

It is a 4-team scramble for the two wild card spots. Oakland has been eliminated.

Wild Card Standings:

YANKEES 90-68 — top wild card for now, four games to go
Boston 89-69 -1 2nd wild card for now
Seattle 89-70 – 1 1/2 just 1/2 game behind Boston
Toronto 88-70 -2 1 game behind Boston

By the way, Houston still hasn’t clinched the AL West. Their magic # is 1 over Seattle. And how would you like to be San Francisco or the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West? 104 wins for SF, 102 for LAD so far. One will have to host a one-game, sudden-death wild card game despite winning more than 100 games!

If the Yanks do make the postseason, here is hoping no one on the Yanks does what P Devin Williams of Milwaukee did in celebrating. He punched a wall and broke his throwing hand. No postseason for him, and a big loss for the Brew Crew.

Bo Bichette has killed the Yanks this year, hitting seven HR. Last night he hit two in Toronto’s win.

Cole gave up a 2-run HR in the first inning to Marcus Semien. Semien’s 44th HR of the season set a new record for second basemen in a season.

Cole gave up a run in the second. Bichette hit his first HR of the game in the third. After three, it was 4-0, Toronto.

With two out in the top of the fifth, the Yanks got two runs when Gleyber Torres doubled, Gio Urshela singled in Torres, and Brett Gardner doubled in Urshela. Torres was the first Yankee to reach base.

Cole gave up another run in the fifth, and on one double, wasn’t helped by his defense, especially Joey Gallo. 5-2, Toronto.

The Yanks got a run in the top of the sixth to cut it to 5-3. D.J. LeMahieu led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a SF by Aaron Judge.

The Yankees tied it at five in the top of the seventh, but not without injury cost. Gallo led off the inning by getting HBP and had to leave the game later. Torres singled. After an out, Luke Voit PH and struck out but on a WP, both runners advanced, and Voit got injured. Kyle Higashioka singled to tie the game.

Gallo had to go for x-rays, and had to be PH for in the ninth inning. No word yet. Voit may be day-to-day.

In the bottom of the eighth, Bichette hit his second HR of the game, this one off reliever and losing pitcher Clay Holmes, and it was the game-winning blow. 6-5 Toronto.

Before the game, Jonathan Loaisiga activated of the IL, and Andrew Heaney optioned down.

Torres 3 hits
Higashioka 2 RBI


Cole 6 IP, 5 R, 9 H, 0 W, 6 K. Gave up 2 HR. 3.23
Loaisiga 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.22
Holmes (L, 8-4) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.71 (Pit/NYY stats).