And no, it wasn’t the Yankees doing the beating. It was them catching a beating. Twice, though somehow it seemed like more. You can’t say the Yanks don’t have it coming to them after owning the Jays for so many years but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.

Hey, you remember the series against the Jays in ’85? I sure as hell do. This feels just as bad (although now, of course, the Yanks have  wildcard to fall back on).

I guess the only way to make sense of it is that a) The Jays are the better team and b) everything that could did go wrong for the home team.

They had a 4-1 lead in the first game. Mike Pineda gave it up. They had a 1 run lead in the 8th–Dellin Betances gave it up. A lucky play by Chad Pennington prevented the Yanks from taking the lead in the bottom of the 8th. Never mind the Twilight Zone misery of the 11th inning when the Jays scored 4 runs on 1 hit (plus 5 walks, a wild pitch and hit batter).

In the second game, Ivan Nova couldn’t make it out the second. He lost control of his curve and Jays took bp off his fastball. It was 6-0 when he left. Course, the Yanks pulled to within 6-4, wasted a second and third, 1 out chance for more. The Jays scored 4 more runs after Chris Capuano couldn’t truckulate his wide ass to first in time. Yanks scored 3 more runs (Brett Gardner’s second 3-run shot of the game, his third homer on the day) but it wasn’t enough.

The second game was delayed by rain and a lot of Yankee fans cleared out. Which left a hearty–and happy–band of Blue Jays fans, who made plenty of noise. Hell, the Jays fans have been loud since Friday night. So, in the end, The Stadium was empty and the Jays thoroughly embarrassed our boys. So much for the biggest series in 3 years.

The Yanks showed some fight–I can’t blame their effort–but they just couldn’t get anyone out.

Chad Jennings has the gruesome details. 

Final Score Game One: Jays 9, Yanks 5

Game Two: Jays 10, Yanks 7

Here’s hoping they find a way to avoid getting sweep today.

Big Mike’s on the hill for Game 1.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Alex Rodriguez DH
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B

Time for our boys to get even.

Never mind the Gashouse Gorillas:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

The Yanks got their asses kicked but good on Friday night.

The Gashouse Gorillas now have a two-and-a-half game lead.

Tex is done for the year.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
Didi Gregorius SS
Brendan Ryan 2B

Severino, Price.

Never mind the hype:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

Go away and come back tomorrow.

Severino vs. Price will have to wait for Friday night.

They’ll play a double header on Saturday.

And now, a word from our sponsors:

[Photo Via: Mangin Photography Archive]

Two errors by Stephen Drew led to 3 runs for the Orioles who beat the Yanks 5-3. Less said about this infuriating loss the better. If the Yanks had won the last two games they’d be sitting in first place today. Then again, if a frog had wings he wouldn’t bump his ass a hoppin’.

CC’s back. Gardner’s still out. Ackley gets a start.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Chase Headley 3B
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Alex Rodriguez DH
Greg Bird 1B
Dustin Ackley LF
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B

Another big game. Rooting hard for The Big Fella.

Never mind the boids:

Let’s Go Yankees

Picture by Philipp Banken.

Man, Brendan Ryan made my favorite fielding play of the year, a diving stop that started a 5-4-3 double play, but it might be harder to remember come winter cause the Yanks lost, 2-1. Masahiro Tanaka pitched a fine game with the Big Three relievers unavailable.

Solo home run in the 9th by Chris Davis sunk our boys. The Jays won in extra innings and now have a game-and-a-half lead in the East.

Nuts.

Chad Jennings has the latest on the Yankees’ injuries.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Alex Rodriguez DH
Greg Bird 1B
Chris Young LF
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B
Brendan Ryan 3B

Big start for Masahiro on a hot evening in the Bronx.

Never mind the M*A*S*H unit:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

Last year Todd Radom put together this excellent post. Go check it out.

Big Mike had a shitty 4th inning and gave up 4 runs. Otherwise, he was decent, pitching 6 innings. The Yanks were down 4-1, then 4-2. Alex Rodriguez’s 29th homer of the season pulled them to within a run and J.R. Murphy’s 2-run home run gave them the lead. The Orioles tied it on a solo homer by Manny Machado before Greg Bird–that man, again–hit a 3-run home run which proved to be the difference. Impressed? Well, the shot came against a lefty on an 0-2 pitch. Not bad, rookie.

Things got weird for Dellin Betances and the Yanks in the 8th. He got ahead of Chris Davis 0-2 and then walked him. Followed that by walking Jimmy Paredes on 4 pitches. He struck out Jonathan Schoop and Nolan Reinhold on six pitches then walked Ryan Flaherty on 4 pitches. He’d throw 27 pitches before the inning was over, only one of them was hit—foul. Caleb Joseph came up with the bases loaded and Machado on deck. The count went full and then Joseph swung at a curve ball out of the zone to end the inning.

Andrew Miller gave up a run in the 9th but whiffed Paredes to end it.

Final Score: Yanks 8, O’s 6.

Another stirring victory. This one is especially pleasant because the Red Sox beat the Jays moving the Yanks back to within a half-game of first place in the AL East.

Drawing by Gil Kane.

Big Mike and the Yanks look to play well against the reeling Baltimore Orioles.

No time for regression now, fellas.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Chase Headley 3B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Carlos Beltran RF
Chris Young LF
Greg Bird 1B
John Ryan Murphy C
Didi Gregorius SS
Jose Pirela 2B

Never mind the end of summer:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Thomas Hoepker/Magnum Photos, via vintage everyday]

Chris Archer was dominating the Yanks and a 3-0 6th inning lead looked daunting. Then Brian McCann hit a 3-run home run to tie it and the very next pitch Archer threw, a slider, was also hit over the fence–this time by Alex Rodriguez. That gave the Yanks the lead and they hung on for a 6-4 win. There were some tense moments late and much relief when Andrew Miller recorded the 27th out.

Course the Jays won. But the Yanks are sticking close to them and building their lead as the first wildcard team.

Picture by Bags

Every loss hurts now, some more than others. Yesterday’s loss was painful because the breaks didn’t go the Yankees’ way. They put men on base, they hit the ball hard, they hit into outs. 3-2 was the final.

The Jays won, their lead back to a game-and-a-half.

Nova’s gonna have to bring his A-game today cause the Rays have the formidable Chris Archer on the bump.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Alex Rodriguez DH
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B

Never mind the end of summer:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

Big Nathan Eovaldi, let’s see what you’ve got fer us todayski.

Brett Gardner CF
Chris Young LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Carlos Beltran RF
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
John Ryan Murphy C
Didi Gregorius SS
Brendan Ryan 2B

Never mind prosperity:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Via: Cats sometimes Town walk]

Well, that was an outstanding Friday night. Luis Severino pitched well, Alex Rodriguez, Brian McCann, and Greg Bird hit home runs and the Blue Jays lost.

Happy?

Final Score: Yanks 5, Rays 2. 

Picture by Bags

Good pitching match-up tonight at the Stadium as the Rays are in town for the weekend.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Alex Rodriguez DH
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B

Never mind the scoreboard:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

The Yanks get no style point credits for Wednesday afternoon’s win against the Sox. The Bombers had a big lead but the mop-up crew got shelled forcing Betances and Miller into the game. Miller got hit in the back of the leg with a line drive and we all gasped but he is okay and the  Yanks finally came away with an untidy  13-8 win.

Hey, some games are more painful than others. They ain’t all going to be efficient or smooth.

Never mind the teeth-gnashing, we’ll take it.

Picture by Bags

Odd 4:00 p.m. start today as the Yanks finish their business in Boston.

Brett Gardner CF
Chris Young LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Carlos Beltran RF
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
John Ryan Murphy C
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B

Our man Masahiro’s on the bump.

Never mind the goldbrickers:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Joan Lifton via MPD]

The Yanks got the breaks last night and survived a 13-strikeout performance from Rick Procello. Big Mike was all right, the bullpen was strong, Stephen Drew had a big hit, and Brett Gardner’s solo home run helped them to a 3-1 win over the Sox at Fenway Park.

Course the Blue Jays won again–this time in extra innings. More lousy news about Mark Teixeira, too.

Having fun?

Picture by Bags