David Lennon: With Dodgers series behind them, Yankees now face tough three-week stretch
Yankees shortstop José Caballero singles against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the eighth inning in the second game of a split doubleheader at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Dodgers’ visit to the Bronx delivered a weekend’s worth of World Series preview story lines, if not the most compelling baseball, from the Yankees’ perspective. In reality, however, Aaron Boone & Co. have never seemed further away from a ’24 rematch with the defending back-to-back champs, and the path to get there is looking more precarious by the day.
Back in mid-June, when the Yankees were 18 games over .500 and atop the AL East, fast-forwarding to a late October showdown vs L.A. felt inevitable — even in the early stages of Aaron Judge’s recovery from a fractured rib. But the past few weeks have revealed that to be a mirage, and the Dodgers helped puncture that illusion by taking two of three at Yankee Stadium to open the second half.
Bottom line? The Yankees failed the L.A. litmus test, but that’s not something worth worrying about at the moment. They’ve got bigger issues than going mano a mano with the Dodgers for the Commissioner’s Trophy. Chief among them? Surviving this next three-week gantlet though seven contending teams, which began with the upstart Pirates on Monday night in the Bronx.
It was a bumpy ride, thanks to 4 2/3 turbulent innings from Ryan Weathers, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. again came to the rescue, this time going deep twice to power the Yankees’ 8-5 victory. Chisholm homered in three consecutive at-bats, first with Sunday’s tie-breaking in the eighth that beat the Dodgers, then in the first and third innings Monday to give him five RBIs.
Afterward, Chisholm said teammates try to pump him up by saying he’s “the best in the world.” Like who, for instance?
“Basically everybody,” Chisholm said. “I’m not gonna lie. Everybody always tells me that because they know I’m firm on confidence. That’s the biggest tool I got. Sometimes they see me dragging a little hit lately, they’re just like, ‘Bro, let’s not forget who you are. You’re the greatest in the world. You are Jazz Chisholm.’”
One undeniable fact: when Jazz goes deep, the Yankees win. They improved to 14-1 this season when he hits a home run, second only to Atlanta’s 15-1 record when Michael Harris II clears the fences.
“When he’s going good, he’s a game-changer,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He can beat you in a lot of different ways, so we need him. We need him to go on one of those runs.”
While Chisholm made some noise with his bat, Jose Caballero caused a ruckus in the eighth inning when he riled up Pirates reliever Dennis Santana with his signature pitch-clock antics. Caballero habitually lets the clock run down to the final eight seconds before engaging with the mound --- a legal practice, but one that frequently upsets the pitcher -- and Santana shouted at Caballero after he bounced into an inning-ending double play. The dugouts and bullpens emptied, and both players had to be restrained, but the field was eventually cleared without any punches thrown.
“It’s just part of my routine,” said Caballero, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. “If you get frustrated, I’m winning. For me, it’s a battle in the box, and I’m trying to win the battle. If you are not concentrating 100 percent, I think I’m winning. But at the end of the day, it’s a rule that’s been out there for four years now. And if you’re not used to it, you should practice.”
During this nearly month-long stretch, the Yankees don’t get a breather until Aug. 14, when they travel to Rogers Centre to play the Blue Jays, the next club they’ll face with a losing record (46-53) and long-shot odds of qualifying for the playoffs. Hard to believe the defending AL champs represent the only soft spot during a stretch where the first six teams all are well above .500 and the seventh, the Mariners, were 50-50 yet sat only one game out of the third wild-card berth.
There are no layups on the horizon, either. After the Pirates, it’s the Phillies, who feature a stellar rotation, followed by the White Sox — another former pushover turned contender. The parade continues with the Cubs, Cardinals, Atlanta and Mariners — all formidable teams with something at stake, and likely will be strengthened by trade-deadline upgrades along the way.
The Yankees surely have come to the realization that this roster isn’t good enough as it stands right now. Even with Max Fried’s return around the end of this month, the Yankees can’t just lean on the rotation and an airtight bullpen to bail them out on a regular basis, not when they opened the Pirates series averaging the fewest runs in the majors (3.24) with the second-worst OPS (.623) since June 20. That’s not going to get the Yankees where they need to go this season.
Somebody else has to step up other than Ben Rice, who extended his career-high hitting streak to 12 games Monday and is batting .378 (17-for-45) with five homers, 12 RBIs and a 1.240 OPS during that stretch. Now that somebody appears to be Chisholm, who recorded his 10th multi-homer game Monday and seventh as a Yankee. Of his 16 home runs, 10 have either tied the game (two) or put the Yankees ahead (eight). He’s still hitting just .228 with a .726 OPS -- light numbers for a pending free agent -- but Chisholm says he’s not sweating anything but the Ws right now.
“I haven’t thought about free agency in a minute,” Chisholm said. “All I’m thinking about is winning games. I really want to win a World Series. I want the city to flip upside down again.”
Chisholm was referring to the Knicks title run, of course. But the Yankees have more pressing business to take care of before October.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
