Thurs AM BRB (5-13-21)
This Day in Music (5-13-1950)
Stevie Wonder, one of America’s most prominent and successful songwriters, is born in Saginaw, Michigan.
In what has already looked like the year of the pitcher across Major League Baseball, the Yankees received perhaps their finest effort to date from staff ace Gerrit Cole. On a night where the Yankees could scrape together just one run via an Aaron Hicks sacrifice fly, this was as clutch a pitching performance as it gets. On a night where the Yankees had an opportunity to secure their first series victory against the Tampa Bay Rays in the dungeon of doom since May of 2019, you should find yourself looking no further for the finest pitcher in the American League. In eight innings of shutout baseball, Gerrit Cole wrapped a pesky, but struggling Tampa lineup around his finger, spinning 12 Ks and once again leaving the walk column spotless. You now have to track back a month to find a game where Cole issued a base on balls, a run that has already pushed him past the greatest hurlers to ever wear pinstripes. If making Yankees history wasn’t enough for you, Cole added a notch to his Hall of Fame resume last night becoming the second-fastest pitcher to 1,500 Ks in MLB history. It’s truly tantalizing to imagine what the remainder of this season could look like for Cole, so long as the Yankees manage to score runs for him on a consistent basis. It’s hard to lose when your starter pitches as well as Cole did last night, but to be frank, the Yankees almost found a way last night. In baseball, even in the year 2021, you won’t win very many games 1-0, just ask the Dodgers about the merits of this strategy. The Yankees devastating duo of Cole and Aroldis Chapman was enough to see the team through last night, but the offense must find a way to do more consistently. Credit to Aaron Judge, who despite recent struggles found a way to deliver three more hits last night and continue his good run of play this series. Being one of the only active Bombers on the base paths, it’s no surprise that the Yankees slugger managed to score the team’s only run of the game. Win by any means necessary, right??
One team that had no issues scoring runs Wednesday was the New York Mets, who feasted on one-time franchise hero Matt Harvey early and often en route to a 7-1 victory over the Orioles. Yesterday afternoon’s game showed what this Mets lineup could truly be if they attain even the slightest measure of consistency. The top six men in the Mets order all scored at least one run yesterday, and the team received six total RBI from the 5-6-7 hitters Dominic Smith, Kevin Pillar and Jose Peraza. Many fans have been skeptical of manager Luis Rojas’ lineup choices to start the year, but whether you credit the construction or the opponent, on this day it certainly worked perfectly. With Francisco Lindor still looking to truly break out of his early season slump, the Mets search for a bat to carry the team. Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith, the team’s breakout stars of 2019 and 2020, respectively, are prime candidates to pick up the slack, driving the Mets offensive outburst yesterday. Not to be overshadowed by the team’s offensive success, Mets starter Taijuan Walker continues to perform like one of the best acquisitions of the 2021 offseason. Though his addition didn’t come with the fanfare of Lindor and Carlos Carrasco, Walker has been mostly stellar for the Mets this season, and things didn’t change on Wednesday. Walker was masterful over seven innings for the Mets, allowing four hits and just one run bringing his ERA down to a very impressive 2.20. Performances like those the Mets have received from Walker and Marcus Stroman over the past two days are utterly huge with Jacob deGrom sidelined. If the Mets can continue to receive ace-like production out of their secondary and tertiary pitchers, this allows the club to provide their ace with all the time he needs to get himself right.