Full disclosure: there was no way I was staying up to see the end of last night’s game at Wrigley. I hate ESPN games, as I’m sure the players do, and I went to bed before Chapman blew the save. I thought the Yankees had things under control. I thought we were bound for the broom.
And then – surprise! – we did need the broom for the sweep but it took 18 innings to get there. Wow. I mean wow. Six hours. A record number of strikeouts. More than 500 pitches from 15 pitchers. What didn’t surprise me when I woke up was that Aaron Hicks was in the thick of things. A-Rod compared him to Bernie on Fox on Saturday, and I agree. He’s got the speed and the bat, and he can field his position too.
What shouldn’t get lost is that Severino went toe to toe with Lester, no easy feat, rebounding from a poor pitching performance last time out. And almost all the relievers (they really should DFA Tommy Layne) have been great. Also of note, every game, with a few exceptions, is exciting, has a spark, makes me want to keep watching. This team is flat-out entertaining the way they keep coming back.
I can’t imagine they’ll be feeling perky against the Reds tonight, so if they lose I’ll let them off the hook. But they could surprise me again and play out of their minds. What fun!
I went to bed after Chapman hit that guy with the bases loaded to tie it up. I figured nothing good was going to happen after that. What a lovely surprise to wake up and see we won! I’m glad I didn’t stay up though. What could those commentators talked about for another 9 innings!
I agree with you, if they lose tonight it will be understandable. But Tanaka is on the mound, so who knows? This team is awesome!
Random thought, the Reds pitcher is named Rookie Davis (one of the guys the Yankees traded for Chapman). I can’t tell if “Rookie” is a great baseball name, or a terrible one. If he finds success and has a long career I can imagine the announcements. “Veteran, Rookie Davis, is on the mound tonight…”
Lol about Rookie Davis, Darren. Maybe if he has a long career, he can go with Mookie Davis. Always a lovely surprise to wake up and find out the Yanks won, but when I read the wrap-up about last night/this morning’s game, I couldn’t believe it. That was a looooong one.
Like you, Jane, I went to bed. It was the bottom of the eighth and with Betances and Chapman coming in to pitch I was hoping things were in hand and slept contentedly. Little did I know what drama was unfolding as I dreamed! I’m just glad I missed that nightmare. Chapman continues to scare me – he is either brilliant or awful and I don’t like awful! I still wish we had gotten Miller back instead of him but, as they say, it is what it is.
This team is the most entertaining and exciting the Yankees have fielded for quite a while. Severino could be on his way to being a major force on the mound and Jordan Montgomery looks good, too. They just need a bit more experience and maturity. Penada has been the pitcher we expect, Tanaka is every bit the ace and CC, well, let’s hope he gets back to where he was at the beginning of the season. No complaints about the hitting, every Yankee who comes to the plate can make offense happen. I’m loving this season so far!!
All closers (except Mo) give me heart attacks, Audrey. Chapman has been good this season, so I’ll allow him last night’s blown save. I, too, would have preferred Miller, but I’m more than satisfied. I forgot to write about Montgomery. Who knew? He’s been terrific. Great, great start to the season. Stay healthy, Yankees!
I wasn’t expecting a sweep honestly since the Cubs are a great team but that just goes to show I’m still somewhat underestimating our team due to perceived expectations coming in to the season. I’m a firm believer of this team now. We are playoff bound as long as we can keep up at least a .500 pace from here on out which shouldn’t be difficult for us with our talent as long as we’re healthy.
Switching gears a bit, I’ve discussed this on other Yankee forums with other fans but is anyone here open to possibly trading Gardner down the road if it makes sense? Making sense meaning that Hicks continues to show he’s the real deal and Frazier continuing to improve in AAA and being on the cusp of a callup along with Fowler. If a team needed an outfielder like Garder and were willing to give us a good starting pitcher which we really need especially considering next year’s questionable rotation, would you be up for it? I personally would but only if all of the above happened.
I, for one, would trade Gardner for a front-of-the-rotation starting pitcher, Leo, but Cashman tried that during the off season and there were no takers.