That's right. It's me. At first, I thought it was a fluke. I show up at the ballpark for a night game on the heels of having dropped eight of the last 12 games. They explode for 5 runs and a dramatic win against the L.A. Angels. The next time it would be a walk-off win against the A.L. West-leading Texas Rangers on a passed ball. Now this. The only common denominator is that I was in the ballpark. If there is an evil spell over the Yankees this season, then I am the Spell Breaker!
Okay, we've all had that moment when we like to think we have the magic superstitious ceremony that brings our team a win. I'm right there with ya. But how else do you explain it? The Yankees score 8 times to beat the division-leading Baltimore Orioles for the second straight night after dropping two of three to the Red Sox. Notably, Nathan Eovaldi returned to being Nasty Nate for the first time in what feels like a decade and held Baltimore silent and scoreless through five, allowing only one run in the sixth.
It was strange. Instead of the usual litany of mishaps that have plagued the Yankees for two years now, everything seemed to go right. It's been a while since I've seen that. The Yankees had a base runner in every inning. They had a pair of 2-run home runs, with Starlin Castro's starting us off in the second. Amazingly, Chase Headley had the other! Who knew he could still hit? They didn't have any big innings. They didn't need them. They just kept getting on base and kept scoring throughout the game. Rob Refsnyder walls, steals second, Jacoby Ellsbury singles him in. Brian McCann walks, Didi Gregorius singles, Starlin Castro doubles them both in. Get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in, as the saying goes. It made me a little homesick for the 1990's.
I believe I have cemented my place in Yankees Universe. This was my third visit to the Stadium this year - a big thank you to my friend Joanie who was kind enough to invite me and for being great company at a ballgame. Two out of three times I've been on the diamond vision screen. More importantly, each time the Yankees scored a huge win in dramatic fashion, at an important time, against a key opponent. The first time the Yankees were 4 games below .500 and the win kicked off a 5-game winning streak. Tonight, the Yankee bats went into overdrive in the middle of a Boston/Baltimore/Houston/San Francisco series that will likely determine whether the Yankees will be sellers or contenders.
Will they maintain this? Man, I hope so! They'll have to if they want to make this season respectable. One thing is for sure. If you have an extra ticket you need to pawn off, or someone backs out at the last second, who you gonna call? Ghostbusters??? No, you call the Spell Breaker.
Final: Yankees 7 - Orioles 1
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting on Bleeding Yankee Blue.