What a difference a day makes, twenty-four little hours. Maybe Brett Gardner should use that song as his walk-up music tonight vs. Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox.
On Friday night the Yankees had an electrifying comeback win that felt like it would have a carryover effect. Especially with the knowledge that Yankee ace Luis Severino would be on the mound Saturday. Well, the day could not have gone worse. It started with the news that the Yankees placed Masahiro Tanaka on the 10 day DL -retro to 8/10- with right shoulder inflammation. ( I’m not surprised by this. Anyone who follows me on twitter knows how I have felt since 2014 about the decision not to have TJ surgery. I believe Tanaka has been compensating for the torn UCL in his pitching elbow by tinkering with his mechanics, causing him to land on the DL multiple times with forearm pain, wrist discomfort, and now with shoulder inflammation. ) Then the news got worse (and weirder) when Jordan Montgomery got hit on the right side of his head (while signing autographs) by a foul ball down the right field line during Red Sox BP , despite the fact that there was a protective screen in front of him. He had to be helped off the field. Then, to add insult to .. injury, Yankee ace Luis Severino went out and had a nightmarish start. How nightmarish you ask? Andrew Benintendi hit his SECOND 3 Run Homer off Sevy OVER the Judge’s Chambers (some symbolism there as Benintendi hopes to gain ground for R.O.Y. honors). When you consider that Severino started the game retiring the first 7 batters on only 19 pitches, and then ended up with a line that read : 4.1 inn, 8H, 10R, 8ER, 2BB/4K, 2HR you realize just how quickly fortunes can change.
Well with that in mind, Jordan Montgomery has been cleared to pitch tonight by Yankee medical staff, and wouldn’t it be fitting if Jordan (with a bump on his head) out-pitched Cy Young shoo-in Chris Sale ? The Yanks can ill-afford another injury, or to fall 5 1/2 games out of 1st place. Let’s hope, compared to yesterday, the results are .. day & night.
As always,
GO NYY !!
