Yankees Win! ... April Fools

With two men on in bottom of the ninth, one out, and a chance to walk-off for the win, the Yankees blew the ball game. Who would've thought that murder's row of a lineup could fall so short in such a clutch moment? But then again, this looks like the same old Yankees from the past three years in succession: having a decent starting pitcher outing, not doing enough behind the plate, watching too many balls go by, and not producing late game. With my own two eyes, the Yankees blew this game, and the new rule to add an alternate base-runner in extra innings is not to blame for the 3-2 Toronto final.

What started out as a 1,2,3 first inning from Gerrit Cole quickly led to a crippling second inning where multiple hits brought around one run for Toronto. While one run is nothing in a nine inning game, it was enough to keep Cole's pitch count honest. If the second inning was anything to the Yankees, it was long, and lengthy innings wind up taking a toll on pitchers in late-game scenarios. Even for Opening Day, Cole's five and a third inning stretch was not nearly what Yankee fans had hoped for from a typical seven inning stud. Although he boasted eight strikeouts and only two walks, that second inning was the primary token of strife, with the majority of hits surfacing early on with no outs; they add up. Just like every viewer out there, I was perplexed as to how this was occurring when Cole was sailing 97, 98, 99 mph fastballs down the tips of the plate. Needless to say, Cole was pissed when Boone took the walk out and gave the signal to replace him early on in the fifth, knowing he didn't get the job done. Let's not be fooled here however, Cole was not to blame for this one.

Where were our bats? I certainly saw a lot of behind the plate discipline— a little too much if you ask me— even. It felt like I saw someone go down looking every inning out there today... and that's because I did. Time and time again, the Yankees fall prone to this poor behavior behind the plate of watching pitch after pitch after pitch, completely to their own nauseam. I'm sorry, but on 0-2 or 1-2, you can't afford to watch a fastball down the pipe without even trying to make contact— that's just lazy and simply unacceptable. As a Yankees fan, I'm not disappointed from today's performance. After all, it is Opening Day, we're all in high spirits as baseball fans, but let's remind ourselves of one thing. The Toronto Blue Jays came into our house today and beat us on Opening Day in front of the first crowd we've had in over a year now with COVID. A loss today, was unacceptable. It's okay in that we can all put this behind us and move forward, but this is the team to beat if you ask me. The Rays lost Morton and Snell, two aces, and I couldn't even throw a dart anywhere close to a board of people to name from their team— that's because I've barely heard of any of them; not to undercut the Rays, I believe in their operation, but the Blue Jays are looking more prominent right now. My point is, let's start winning again boys. This isn't us— even though it is typical Yankee behavior— but it shouldn't be happening anymore.

Going forward, I expect us to start winning these types of games. Losing 3-2 is a fine loss, but let's not forget who we are and get too comfortable with this kind of performance. People have us at the top of the American League for all things that are good! Let's get motivated and start winning some ball-games.