Ah, a plump 7-0 lead, cool. Sure, some of those runs came because fortune was on the Yankees’ side—ground balls scooting by the infielders, blooper falling in front of outfielders—but I wasn’t complaining.

Then, Nova stalled and the O’s came charging back and cut the lead to 7-6 over the course of a half-inning.

Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman then made like the studs they are, shutting the O’s down in the 8th and 9th, Alex Rodriguez added an RBI single and the Yanks escaped with an 8-6 win.

Ol’ C.C. is on the hill this afternoon.

Never mind those storm clouds:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Except of course the Yanks aren’t in Detroit this weekend but Baltimore. Right. No, seriously, I’m on top of it.

Lordy. Never mind the tardiness around here:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

So, yeah, that didn’t go too well, did it? The Yanks got trounced in Canada and now they’re in Detroit for the weekend. Elmore Country! (What was the Elmore novel where the bad guy came from Canada to Detroit? Killshot, that’s it.)

Let’s hope for better results.

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

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags. 

*Sigh*, let’s see what the Bumm- uh, Bombers did last night…

Hmm, lots of goose eggs in the box score, oh look they managed to push across a run in the second, and dayum, Austin Romine nearly had an extra base hit that could have possibly sparked a much needed and welcomed rally, but some guy on the Blue Jays named Kevin Pillar, whose name sounds too coincidentally like another former Yankee Killer, secured a spot on the Summer Olympics swim team by completing what amounts to be a horizontal swan dive to catch Romine’s sure-shot double, wowing fans and broadcasters alike, while at the same time diminishing any hope that the Yanks would have at least a break in the monotony of loser baseball.  Not just losing, mind you; everybody loses, but when you’re third to last in OPS throughout the season, can’t quite catch up to .500, have essentially five DHs in the lineup who hit for horseshit (our favorite type of fertilizer in these parts, though nothing seems to be growing from it) and a notebook full of whimsy and mystical wonders, you my friend are looking at loser baseball.  Of course, the advantages are clearly potential; higher position in the draft (and thank the stars James Dolan doesn’t run the this team or we’d be out of the draft for the next ten years), time for your prospects to prepare themselves for the leap by adjusting to (or as the case may be, healing from ) AAA play, and in effect driving advertising and broadcast package rates down a notch in the long run because no one in their right minds would pay high rates to watch this over and over again (at least I would hope not for their sake).

This team has me writing in sarcasm-laden parentheticals these days. Bummer.

So, in short, J.A. wins again because he somehow owns the Yanks, CC loses again mainly due to the lack of offense and a neurotic need to use the bullpen to stave off BB (Bulllpen Boredom), and Yank fans are likely contemplating a membership to AA (no need to explain).  Yanks lose 4-1. *sigh*

Man, yesterday’s game was a beaut. The Yanks got one-hit but still managed to win because that one hit was a two-run home run by Starlin Castro. Nathan Eovaldi was stingy, allowing a run over six innings and the Yanks Big Three did the voodoo that they do so well to end it.

Final Score: Yanks 2, Rays 1.

Tonight, the boys start a three-game series vs those nasty Jays.

Never mind the posturing:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Big Mike got bombed today and though the Yankee offense growled they couldn’t score enough to comeback.

Next.

It’s funny—Masahiro Tanaka hasn’t needed that TJ surgery after all. He’s been really solid, huh?

Nice win the Yanks last night and perhaps there’s more where that came from this afternoon.

Never mind the humidity:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Yanks are down in Tampa—at their very own house of horrors—for the weekend. Hey, at least it’s got air-conditioning.

Never mind the bloomin’ onions:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

What is there to say? CC, showing obvious signs of being a real pitcher, was let down once again by the lineup (and some would say The Binder, which is steadily taking on more significant (if not welcome or tactful) connotation. Let’s not waste too much time on this: despite feasting on weak teams like any Yankee team should, they have a hard time (as usual of recent seasons) dealing with competitive teams.  Toronto may not necessarily be as competitive as they were last year, but they have more operative pieces than the Yanks do this season, and those came to use for the Jays today, enough for a 3-1 victory.  Meh.  This is what mediocre looks like. If the plan goes the way most hope, we won’t have to look at this for too long (as long as a a couple years is not too long for you).

Some news of note, Chad Jennings also reports that Slade Heathcott has again been released by the team. The popular, but oft-injured outfielder was removed from the 40-man so A-Rod could return from the 15-day DL, also noting that while the team had other options, they chose to release Heathcott.  Being that he’s currently on the DL, is this merely a procedural move in order to sign him to another deal as before, or has he basically run out of time? With Ben Gamel coming off the bench for the big team and a plethora of OF options, it’s hard to tell, but it’s not a good look.  (Update: looks like a big fat Nope) Also, catching über-prospect Gary Sanchez has a displaced thumb fracture on his throwing arm.  While this is a blow to SWB as he was very productive to this point, there is actual (if not exciting) organizational depth to cover his absence for the time being.  All this, plus Greg Bird gone for the season and now Sanchez in limbo, it’s been a very forgettable 2016 overall.  Yet .500 is within reach and at least… well, at least… I dunno, it’s not that cold anymore?

The Go-Figure Yanks continued their winning ways last night blanking the Jays.

Do we dare ask for more? (Dare, Dare)

Never mind the warmth:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Dag, what do you know? The Yanks are out there on the west coast winning ballgames, y’all. I have to say I’m thrilled that C.C. pitched so well on Friday night. Sober, pitching well at home, man, it must have been a special moment for him.

In the meantime, the Yanks won again yesterday and have a shot at a sweep this afternoon.

Never mind the afternoon shadows:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

I’m happy when Nathan Eovaldi does well. Happy for him, beyond the usual reasons I mean. The guy just seems to ride that fine line between clever and stupid and I always feel like he’s just going to implode, like Big Mike Pineda seems to be doing these days. And yet Eovaldi hangs in there, he tries. He’s got a big cumbersome body and he is soft-spoken—seemingly withdrawn—with the press. He’s like Bernie Williams as a big galoot pitcher from Texas. His stuff is amazing but he is not an amazing pitcher. It’s hard for him and he lacks that certain something that comes to other great pitchers so readily. He doesn’t trust himself. He’s not a killer. Yet.

But hope is the thing with a 99 mph heater and behind another solid outing from Eovaldi, with the usual showing from Three Times Dope (even though Miller gave up a dinger), the Yanks manage to get out of Arizona with a 4-2 win.

Carlos Beltran hit his 400th career home run and Dellin Betances worked out of a jam. Brian McCann went deep as well and Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman were tough as the Yanks won another game and another series—7-5 was the final. A 7-3 homestand against the Red Sox, Royals and White Sox ain’t nothing to sniff at.

Of course, the moment of the day came in Texas when a little guy slugged Jose Bautista right in the face. I caught some of the talking heads on ESPN and the MLB Network. They were all fired up, talking big and loud. Amazing what violence does to excite us, even when we say it’s uncivilized and not good for the game and all that reasonable stuff.

Kinda sorta overcast. And cooler today. Ah, spring.

More baseball as the Yanks look to win their third straight series (and against good teams too, no foolin’). Yesterday, their dynamic bullpen trio of Betances, Miller and Chapman (already dubbed, “No Run-DMC”), worked for the first time together and they were as good as advertised as the Yanks won, 2-1.

Never mind the showers:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Yanks go out and take 3 of 4 against the World Champs. Not bad.

It’s rainy and supposed to stay that way all weekend. A winning White Sox team is in town. Let’s see how many they get in.

Never mind the puddles:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Michael Pineda gets hit hard early then settles down. He takes his time between pitches, talking to himself, brushing things away with his hands. He looks like he’s dragging ass, like he’s lallygagging. I’m not sure it’s fair to say he’s actually lallygagging but something sure seems to get in his way. He couldn’t recover from an early pounding and the Yanks took it on the chin, 7-3.

They still have a shot to win the series. Let’s see what they’ve got for us tonightski.

Never mind the pollen:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

I was on the subway today and I started to laugh when I thought about the Banter. I didn’t have time to post a recap of last night’s entertaining game and instead of being pissed or upset I just laughed about it. We’re worse than the old New York Times when you wouldn’t get the west coast box scores until three days later. Ha.

The Banter is like having a country house that you don’t go to so much anymore but you can’t get rid of it, it means too much. I’m just so busy elsewhere these days I don’t have the availability to maintain a steady posting schedule here. Don’t take it personally. It’s not you, it’s me.

That said, the reasons I’m not posting as much here are great—I’m busy and enjoying the hell out of my work. That doesn’t happen often so I’m appreciating that as much as I can.

Yanks back at it tonight, going for a third straight. Is that too much to ask?

Never mind the gorgeous weather!

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Five solo home runs (McCann, Gardner, Hicks and Beltran, twice) were enough behind a strong, albeit brief, outing by Ivan Nova, to give the Yanks a 6-3 win. Aroldis Chapman made his season debut with “oohs” and “ahhs” coming from the crowd after seeing each pitch hit 99, 100, 101 mph. He gave up a run, struck some guys out, and his season is underway.

See now, and here I thought Ortiz was going to hit two homers on Saturday. He was saving it for Mother’s Day instead. Fair enough. I just expect him to hit a home run every game he’s got left against the Yanks and when he’s 58 years old he’ll come out of retirement to hit a pinch-hit homer against them, too.

Yanks couldn’t do much against a dancing knuckler and lost, 5-1.

Chapman returns just in time for the World Champs. It’s ridiculously lovely here in New York today.

Happy Monday.

So go figure, Eovaldi was great, David Price wasn’t and the Yanks cruised to an 8-2 win. How nice. Not as nice as Bartolo Colon hitting a home run, maybe, but we’ll take it.

They’ll play against tonight.

In the meantime, Happy Mother’s Day everyone.