Yankees Cruise to Sweep of Cardinals

The Yankees swept the Cardinals, and while it wasn’t always easy on the eyes, a sweep is a sweep so it was a damn good weekend. Also, thanks to the Braves sweeping the Guardians, the Yankees now own a 3.5-game lead in the race for the third and final wildcard spot, and they are within a half-game of both the Mariners and Red Sox for the top spot. Lets get to it. 

Brian Cashman went on the road to St. Louis, something he doesn’t often do in the regular season, and while I doubt his presence had anything to do with it, the Yankees took advantage of a poor Cardinals team that has already mailed it in and swept them right out of Busch Stadium.

Before everything got started, Cashman granted reporters a few minutes of his time Friday, though rather than offering some answers for why the team had been underperforming for more than two months, he spent most of it going to the wall to defend his manager, Aaron Boone.

If you are still someone barking at the moon for Boone to be fired at the end of the year, especially if the Yankees don’t make the playoffs, it’s as clear as a plate glass window that Boone isn’t going anywhere.

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Cashman praised Boone for the way he handles the media and his resilience in the face of all the screaming from the masses including most of us here, but he conveniently skipped over all of the idiotic decisions Boone makes during games, and the lack of feel he has for situations. In short, as far as Cashman is concerned, Boone is the perfect representative for Hal Steinbrenner and his storied franchise, in large part because he toes the company line and does what he’s told.

Most of the following quotes were taken from a story in The Athletic, so I don’t know if writer Chris Kirschner had an exclusive or Cashman said all of this in a scrum, but I didn’t see much of it anywhere else, so I’ll give Kirschner credit here.

“One thing that people maybe really forget is that we play in a market that holds you - maybe Boston and Philly, too - that holds you more accountable automatically,” Cashman said. “The market already provides instant accountability. In many cases, today’s world is so much different than maybe generations before. I think leaders, managers, coaches are more inclined to try to support and help players that are going through a lot as they try to navigate their struggles. Struggles are part of the game. It’s just louder in a bigger market.”

Look, I agree with Cashman that Boone is the ultimate team mom when it comes to supporting the players. We live in a society where everyone gets a participation trophy, and that’s certainly the case in the Yankee clubhouse. I don’t have a problem with him being a players’ manager because that’s commonplace today in baseball. What I can’t stand is the absolute lack of accountability that Boone fails to demand from his coddled players.

Cashman wouldn’t touch that issue. Instead, he lauded him for his patience in dealing with the media twice a day.

“I don’t know how any manager, let alone a manager in a big market like New York … how he does the pre- and postgame and navigates that on a daily basis, that’s not easy,” Cashman said. “It takes a talent in its own right to try to walk through that without losing your cool or getting emotional. He has stayed level-headed and even-keeled. He knows how tough this sport is. He’s invested in these guys heavily, as we all are. Trying to explain away a difficult play or a bad performance for some time while the storm is upon us is not an easy task to navigate or deal with and remain cool, calm and collected. He’s obviously done an amazing job of working through that.

“I know I couldn’t do that. I probably would be creating more regretful comments along the way because from lack of sleep or getting provoked, it wouldn’t take much. I think it takes a certain character and abilities to try to manage a group of 26 guys, especially in a big market, through difficult times.”

To me, all of this came off as Cashman being tone deaf. I understand that Boone isn’t out there blowing saves, or failing to hit with runners in scoring position, or turning routine plays into killer errors, or making dumb outs on the bases. But doesn’t at least some of that stem from the laid back culture he instills on this team where no one feels threatened regarding losing playing time? The Yankees have generally been a fundamentally-challenged team since the very beginning of the Boone Era in 2018.

With all the money this team spends, all the big-name talent it collects, it’s unacceptable that it could turn a seven-game lead in the AL East into a 5.5-game deficit. And since their highwater mark of 17 games over .500 on June 12, they have gone 25-32 since and are relegated to the wildcard chase.

The players are a huge reason why this has happened, but Boone is also part of the problem. And as I said, reading these comments from Cashman, you might as well resign yourself to the fact that we’re stuck with this guy now, and probably several more years.

Aug. 15: Yankees 4, Cardinals 3

➤ The Yankees certainly made this one interesting because after grabbing a quick 4-0 lead through three innings, they did nothing else on offense, and the bullpen nearly blew another game before David Bednar calmed the waters in the ninth.

➤ Luis Gil got through 5.1 innings and that was partially because he was fortunate to induce inning-ending double plays in each of the first three innings. After a dominant fourth, he did great work in the fifth when he faced a second-and-third, no-out situation and wiggled free without allowing a run thanks to a popout, a big strikeout, and a ground out.

➤ The Cardinals finally got him in the sixth when back-to-back doubles by Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn made it 4-1 and ended his night. Mark Leiter entered and walked his first man, but Ivan Herrera grounded into the Cardinals fourth double play to kill that rally.

➤ Camilo Doval began the seventh and he issued a walk, allowed a stolen base, hit a batter, then served up an RBI double. Not good. Luke Weaver came in and immediately threw a wild pitch that made it 4-3 before he struck out Nootbaar to end it. Then in the eighth, Weaver gave up a two-out single, then was charged with a tough error on a pickoff because Paul Goldschmidt wasn’t ready for the throw, but he struck out Nolan Gorman to preserve the lead. Finally in the ninth, Bednar went 1-2-3 on 15 pitches, doing what a closer is supposed to do.

➤ The Yankees offense started well as Grisham opened the game with a walk, Ben Rice doubled, Aaron Judge’s groundout scored one, and Jazz Chisholm’s homer made it 3-0. In the third, Jasson Dominguez, back in the lineup after sitting while Giancarlo Stanton played the field, delivered an RBI single on a 3-0 pitch to make it 4-0. And then, nothing, thanks in large part to a brutal 3-for-17 night with runners in scoring position.

➤ Judge, who has not been very good for a while now, left the bases loaded in the second; Ryan McMahon led off the fourth with a double and three straight strikeouts followed; Judge and Cody Bellinger left men on second and third in the sixth; and Bellinger left the bases loaded in the ninth.

➤ Bellinger had a rough 0-for-5, but his defense made up for a lot of that. He started at first base with Goldschmidt hobbling and he started two double plays there, then moved to left field in the ninth and ended the game with a shoestring catch. Interestingly, Goldschmidt entered the game in the eighth to play defense, so he did not go on the IL as expected.

What they said in Friday’s clubhouse

• Chisholm: “We’re going to keep on going. We got to keep the tempo up. We got to keep on stepping on them. We can’t let up. We can’t play down to nobody. We got to keep going because we got to make the playoffs and win the World Series.”

• Gil: “No. 1 tonight was our defense. That’s what really helped me out tonight and allowed me to get to the sixth inning.”

• Boone: “I feel like (Gil) was still kind of finding his way a little bit, kind of a testament to what a good pitcher he is and how difficult he is still to navigate. He made some big pitches in some three-ball counts.”

Aug. 16: Yankees 12, Cardinals 8

➤ The Yankees clinched a second straight series victory for the first time since late May. In their last 20 series before this weekend, they had won only seven, and none in succession, hence the prolonged nosedive they’ve been in.

➤ They won this game in spite of another shitty outing from Max Fried, the alleged new ace of the staff while Gerrit Cole is recuperating. Fried pitched seven one-run innings on June 25 against the Reds, dropping his ERA to 1.92 through 17 starts, of which the Yankees won 13 of the games. Since then, he’s gone from Cy Young to Sayonara as Graig Nettles once said about Sparky Lyle. In his last eight starts his ERA is 6.80 and the Yankees have lost five of those games.

➤ Fried was handed a quick 2-0 lead and promptly gave up a run in the first when Dominguez turned a routine single into a triple by Burleson, another awful play in the field for him. A single drove in Burleson and then Fried got tagged for four more in the second as Winn hit a three-run homer to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. He regrouped with three strong innings, but then in the sixth, right after the Yankees extended their lead to 9-5, he gave up a double and a two-run homer to Gorman, ending his night at seven runs allowed on eight hits and a walk.

➤ Fortunately, the offense beat the living hell out of ex-Yankee Sonny Gray and a band of no-name relievers as they pounded out 15 hits and drew six walks. And they did it without Bellinger who was sick and sat out, and Stanton who was rested for a second night in a row because playing a few games in the outfield earlier in the week physically wore him out. Not kidding, that’s the reason Boone gave. I want to like Stanton because when he’s hitting, he’s a monster, but his fragility for a guy who has a chiseled body like he does, makes no sense to me. The constant unavailability is ridiculous. He’s played 43 games this season, only five in the field. How the hell is he worn out?

➤ The big gun was Rice who tied his career high with seven RBI. And I remember his first seven-RBI game. It was July 6, 2024, the day my daughter Caroline got married, when he hit three homers against Boston. Rice hit a three-run homer in the fourth to put the Yankees up 6-5, he had a three-run double in the sixth that made it 9-5, and he added an RBI single in the seventh that bumped the count to 11-7.

➤ Trent Grisham had four singles, drew a walk and scored four times in the leadoff spot; Judge had an RBI double and solo homer; and Jose Caballaro had two singles, a walk, two stolen bases and scored three runs as he got the start in right field in place of Stanton.

➤ As for the bullpen, which had to cover 12 outs thanks to Fried, Devin Williams struck out all three guys he faced in the zero-pressure sixth, and Yerry De los Santos pitched two excellent, scoreless innings. In the ninth, Leiter stunk so when the Cardinals scored a run and had two men on base, Boone had to call on Bednar to get the last out which took him just three pitches.

What they said in Saturday’s clubhouse

• Fried: “I definitely have to change something and change it up quick. Just haven’t been sharp. Haven’t had the good results. When you got to go out there and have good outings, I haven’t been able to do that. I’m working hard in between to try to make the best adjustments I can. They haven’t really been showing, but we’re here to win games. Really fortunate today that they put up 12 runs to be able to cover me. But I know going forward, I got to be way better.”

• Boone on Rice: “He’s taken (the opportunities) and turned himself into a really prominent player. We talk about unlucky and all that, he is the poster child. He’s hit so many balls on the screws for outs this year. Right now, he’s getting rewarded a little bit for it.”

• Rice: “On a night like tonight, and any night when we’ve got guys who are down that we normally have in a lineup, it just speaks to how deep we are. We’ve got so many guys up and down the lineup who are everyday guys or not that can contribute in different ways. We’ve got a really good lineup.”

Aug. 17: Yankees 8, Cardinals 4

➤ Sweep complete as they blew an early 3-0 lead and fell behind 4-3, but then tied it in the seventh and won it with a four-run eruption in the ninth.

➤ Not a great start for Will Warren, but the Yankees defense did him no favors with two bad errors that helped turn that 3-0 lead into a 3-3 tie. Still, Warren was not sharp because while only one run was earned, he allowed six hits and a walk and failed to finish five innings.

➤ The Yankees did not have a hit through three innings against Miles Mikolas, but they strung together four straight in the fourth to score three times. Chisholm drew a one-out walk, Goldschmidt doubled, and then there were three straight RBI singles by Dominguez, McMahon and Caballaro who started at short in place of Volpe. With a chance for further damage, though, Grisham and Rice could not do it.

➤ In the bottom half, trouble started when McMahon booted a routine grounder for an error and after a walk, Warren was close to escaping. Instead, Thomas Saggese ripped one over the head of Bellinger who was playing very shallow in right and two runs scored. In the fifth, Chisholm made a diving stop but then threw the ball away for an error which sent Nootbaar to second from where he scored moments later on a Burleson single.

➤ Williams finished the fifth, and after the Yankees wasted a chance to score in the sixth when McMahon grounded into a double play, Doval came in and gave up a solo homer to Yohel Pozo. Doval has not been impressive since he came over from the Giants.

➤ Grisham walked in the seventh, Judge singled him to third and he scored on a sac fly by Bellinger to tie it and then the Yankees attacked Cardinals closer JoJo Romero in the ninth. Caballero reached second on an error and went to third on passed ball, and after an out, Stanton drew a pinch-hit walk and Judge was intentionally walked to load the bases. Bellinger followed with a grounder that Saggese couldn’t up with at second and two runs scored, and the final two runs scored on a Chisholm grounder and a Goldschmidt double, his third hit of the day.

➤ Weaver, who got two outs in the eighth, then closed it out with an easy ninth.

What they said in Sunday’s clubhouse

• Boone: “I thought the at-bats were, again, really good today. Just the value of putting the ball in play there at the end, taking advantage of the mistake. Good way to finish up into an off-day. I think we know we’re a good team. We believe that, even through some of the down times and some dark moments of the season. I don’t think we’ve ever lost that confidence. Look, we’re capable of this. We’ve got to go prove it, though.”

• Goldschmidt: “This is a good week for us to win five out of six games, but there’s a lot of tough, tough opponents coming up. We try to play well and keep going, and we definitely have a chance.”

After taking Monday off, the Yankees host the Rays for a quick two-game series. Tampa Bay had its three-game winning streak snapped by the Giants Sunday so they sit 6.5 games behind the Yankees for the final wildcard spot. At 61-64 they have really hit the skids after they were just a half-game out of first place in the division on July 2. Six weeks later, they trail the Blue Jays by 12.

Here are some of the top Rays to watch:

➤ 2B Brandon Lowe: He has an .810 OPS with 24 homers and 61 RBI.

➤ 3B Junior Caminero: He’s going to be a problem for a long time and this year he has 35 homers, 85 RBI and an .826 OPS.

➤ CF Chandler Simpson: One of the fastest players in MLB has 34 stolen bases and a .336 on-base.

➤ DH Yandy Diaz: He revels in killing the Yankees and he leads the Rays with 133 hits with 20 homers and 71 RBI.

➤ RP Pete Fairbanks: He has 21 saves, a 2.53 ERA and 1.058 WHIP.

The pitching matchups are scheduled to be:

• Tuesday, 7:35, YES: Carlos Rodon (3.25) vs. Shane Baz (4.93) who has yielded an AL-high 74 earned runs.

• Wednesday, 7:35, Amazon Prime: Cam Schlittler (3.94) vs. Drew Rasmussen (2.60) who is having a great season with a 0.977 WHIP because he allows just 6.9 hits per nine innings