It’s a good thing we’re not in a pennant race or this game would have killed me.

Yankee Announcing

Although I live here in the NYC area, I rarely watch Yankee games, partly because my TV provider, YouTubeTV, refuses to pat the extortionate rates requested by the Yankee’s TV network, YES. I did pay for a month of Yankee coverage tonight, though, zo that I could watch tonight’s game and tomorrow night’s. The Yankee’s long-time TV announcer, Michael Kay, is a guy I’m used to. But his sidekick turned out to be Joe Girardi. If I were Aaron Boone, that would make me very nervous. Whatever hot seat Snit is in now (and I really doubt SNit will be asked to leave on anything other than his own terms, though the Braves might grease the wheels a bit) no one think he will be replaced by CJ Nitkowski, Tom Glavine or, God Help Us, Jeff Francoeur. But a team that is underperforming (as the Yankees currently are) in a media capital surely is making some sort of statement by having obvious candidate Joe Girardi as their color guy. I believe that Shakespeare said it bes, as he so often did (when Casey Stengel didn;t say it better): Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.. If I were Aaron Boone, I’d beware the Ides of October.

The YES Network does something fairly extraordinary in this regard. Whenever Girardi says something about how one manages during a game, the camera shows Boone in the dugout, looking like an idea had never crossed is mind: brutal.

Annals of bad announcing timing: Literally while the pitch that Ozzie Albies hit out for his second three-run homer in two days, Michael Kay was speculating that the Braves might not pick up Albies’ $7 million option for next year. After the homer, Girardi correctly notes that there is literally no way that that option won’t be picked up by whomever is employing Ozzie Albies next year… but it was the timing of the discussion that was outstandingly ill-timed.

In the fourth inning, Will Warren didn’t cover first and Drake Baldwin, who was running on a 3-2 two-out count, scored from second when Paul Goldschmidt decided to throw to Warren belatedly covering first rather than holding the ball to load the bases. Kay asked Girardi if Goldschmidt made a mental error. (In fact, Goldschmidt made two: he should have let Jazz Chisholm field the ball and he shouldn’t have thrown to first.) Girardi misinterpreted the question as a question about Warren, Goldy is apparently above reproach.

Good Joe Wentz (At Last)

Joey Wentz got his first start for the Braves after a great opening foray. Nobody pays me to Pollyanna this team, and I’m a guy who is ready to turn the page on a guy when the Braves do. But what a great story the first two Wentz outings have been.. I confess to having thought about Pete Wentz more than Joey Wentz in the six years that have passed since he (Joey) was traded to get Shane Greene. This is true even though I know nothing about Fall Out Boy or Ashlee Simpson.

But Joey has wormed his way back into Braves consciousness in the best way possible: showing up for free and pitching better than we thought he would we we drafted him out of Shawnee Mission High School in Kansas. (Wentz is technically accurately called a first round pick, but when you’re the 40th draft pick in a league with 30 teams, I foresee a day when the entire draft will consist of a first round with multiple supplementary sections.)

Joey pitched 4 scoreless innings. May he be remembered for Centuries.

Michael Harris II

Hit a home run in his first at bat. Even a solid single would have deserved its own section. A homer really should mandate its own post if I weren’t so lazy.

Walked in his second at bat. As you all know, since I currently run Braves Journal, I am media. I have been alerted.

Third at-bat: groundout

Fourth at-bat: bases loaded one out strikeout. Hmmmm….

Ozzie Albies

See above: his three run homer made it 4-0. That’s two in two days. The record for consecutive games with three run homers is 3. He can tie this record tomorrow.

He also had a two-out two-run single. I’m starting to like this second half. (Foreshadowing: But not for long!)

Wander Suero

Wentz was replaced by the Dominican player named Wander who hasn’t been convicted of sexual abuse of a minor. He pitched two perfect innings in the loss in St. Louis that was overshadowed by the farewell performance of Jesse Chavez. His stay is no longer perfect: he gave up a two run homer to Anthony Volpe that at least briefly put the Yankees back in the game.

Enyel De Los Santos/Rafael Montero

Now it was The Saints’ job to make it interesting. He loaded the bases with no outs holding a 7-2 lead in the 6th. After ceding a run on the only hard hit ball against him, he came out for Rafael Montero, who proceeded to Grybo the other three guys on base, but he stuck the landing to keep the lead at 7-6.

Jonathan Loáisiga

Gave up a run to make it 8-6. Besides sharing my given name, he always reminds me of the the Spanglish word for the Lower East Side of Manhattan: Loisaida. I wouldn’t have brought that up but I had to explain how the score came to be 8-6.

Pierce Johnson

A Chop House delivery to Bellinger made it 8-7.

Jonathan Loáisiga Redux

Having used a lot of their bullpen yesterday, they tried to get a second inning out of Jonathan. We Jonathans are not built for stamina. He loaded the bases with one out before being replaced by Luke Weaver. Weaver struck out Harris and got Allen to pop out. The bottom of the order is still not quite what we’d like.

Dylan Lee

Second homer of the day for Volpe made it 8-8, and we’re back in late inning bullpen mode. Welcome to 2025.

Raisel Iglesias

Has looked much better lately. But a grand slam to Trent Grisham is probably not what he had in mind. A run in the bottom of the 9th falls 3 short.

If there’s a lesson of the last two days, it’s that neither the Braves nor the Yankees can survive a bullpen game, even when (as tonight) the first pitcher was excellent.