In Less Dramatic Fashion

             A disaster of a West Coast trip unleashed a pack of gremlins all over the Yankees organization; causing offensive ineptitude of epic proportions and an irresponsible Tweet from Alex Rodriguez. With a possible 50-game suspension hanging over his head, A-Rod saw it fit to start a Twitter account and then immediately announce he's ready to take the field. Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman took the news in good stride; quoting that A-Rod, "Should shut the f*$k up!"



             The only snafu is that a ready and willing Alex Rodriguez is the Yankees best hope for making something out of this season which is rapidly headed for a public restroom. Season-ending surgery on Mark Teixeira's fragile wrist that never healed and a three month time frame of getting Kevin "Still Playing for the Boston" Youkilis back from his back operation makes A-Rod's power potential even more crucial. After taking a few swings in Anaheim, Teixeira took himself out of the game with complaints of his wrist being sore, the same wrist which kept him out at the beginning of the year. When pain-killers didn't do the trick, the inevitable occurred and Teixeira had his trip to the surgeon scheduled. Just about the same time, when Youkilis returned from his DL stint, the bulging disc in his back never got better and he too had to go under the knife. Although there is a window for Youkilis to return in 2013, he's basically finished this year and for the $12 million the Yankees paid him - he contributed with two entire homeruns.



             Although Rodriguez usually does the wrong thing 99.9% of the time, Cashman's reaction to the Tweet was irresponsible for a GM and a clear indication the organization is fed up with all these injuries, the poor offense, and especially the $114 million they still owe to Rodriguez. If somehow A-Rod couldn't ever play baseball again, the Yanks would be able to collect upon the insurance of most of that $114 million as well as be rid of the media circus A-Rod always brings about. Certainly, A-Rod declaring himself ready to play and going over the Yankees' medical team staff in doing it pressed upon many a nerve which prompted the Cashman cursing. Despite that, desperate times cause people to look the other way and with the Yankees' offense as exciting as watching pain dry, a few days after the Twitter situation settled down the front office said Alex Rodriguez is ready to begin his rehab assignment. So A-Rod was right!!



             In less dramatic fashion, Derek Jeter and Eduardo Nunez took the field too on their mission to get back to the club with enough time to make an impact in 2013. Both are about a month away from returning to the majors. Francisco Cervelli is also at the Yankees complex in Tampa working on his swing, but his the broken bone in his hand isn't healed to the point where he can perform his catching duties. Granderson's timetable still isn't drawn, but his return shouldn't take as long as Jeter or A-Rod. These key pieces are needed badly because the feel-good stories of Vernon Wells, Travis Hafner, Austin Romine, and David Adams are really wearing thin on the team in the standings. Couple that in with poor hitting from Ichrio and Lyle Overbay and the burdens weighing on Cano and Gardner, and the once powerful and mighty Yankee lineup is worst than what most National League clubs are throwing out there. The only bright spot has been the play of minor league call-up outfielder Zoilo Almonte who has knocked out his first homerun and has been clutch in a several key situations with men on base. This team which was once thirteen games over .500 is barely keeping its head over .500.



              The strength of the Yankees this season has been the starting staff and the bullpen, but now the starters are beginning to show some rips at the seams. Kuroda still continues to be brilliant, but David Phelps has struggled lately, along with Sabathia and Pettitte, who look nothing like their usual self, and when Phil Hughes does throw a good game, its a game where the Yankee offense totally takes the night off. If Ivan Nova throws enough quality innings out of the bullpen, he can find himself taking Phelps' or Hughes' spot in the rotation. Michael Pineda (the guy they traded Jesus Montero for last season) has been throwing games in the minor leagues as he rehabs from last year's Tommy John procedure and might be a possible arm for the Yanks in August or September, or hopefully they're in it in October, but there's no official word there. Boston has been staying on top, Toronto has completely turned their season around for the better, and Baltimore and Tampa get better each passing day. The Yankees need the big names to stay in the mix.

Position:
43-39 (4th Place AL East - 6 games behind 1st Place Boston Red Sox)

Homeruns:
- There are finally clear timetables for the returns of Jeter, A-Rod, and Nunez, with Granderson sprinkled in the middle.
- Zoilo Almonte reminds Yankee fans of Melky Cabrera, before he became an HGH-head.
- Mariano Rivera continues to shine in this last go-around with tremendous numbers and a sure trip to the All-Star game.

Foul Tips:
- Just when CC Sabathia looks like he's about to put a good string of starts together, he's been coming up with more clunkers than Yankee fans have been used to seeing. Clearly, his adjustment to being a 91mph pitcher is going to have more bumps.
- Nagging injuries and poor performances lately should be telling Pettitte that this might be the last season.
- Ivan Nova is healthy, but fails to dominate and show everyone the Nova from 2011 and most of 2012.
- Statistically Ichiro is hitting a little better, but has yet to show a hot-streak.
- Cano's batting average was down in the .270's and only now is starting to snap out of his funk.
- Jayson Nix is a good role player at shortstop, but his limited skills at the plate doesn't do much for the offense.

Strikeouts: 
- Vernon Wells looks totally clueless at the plate and is nothing more than an automatic out at this point.
- David Adams' two weeks of bliss is a long forgotten memory and is also an automatic out with absolutely no danger to pitchers to hit one out.
- Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain in 2007 were two of the most prized blue chips in the Yankee system, in 2013 they are doughy, inconsistent, and likely gone after this season.
- The Yankee bench is as thin as fly paper and there is nobody Girardi can call upon for a pinch-hitting situation.



             With empty seats at Yankee Stadium and lower ratings for YES Network, even when the team was doing well, it shows the fans want their stars!! So love him or hate him, the fans want to see A-Rod at the plate again because he always brings that excitement that he might hit one out. Whether he has anything left in the tank remains to be seen. This is the one-time the Yankees have nothing to lose with going all-in with A-Rod.

              It can't be any worse than seeing David Adams everyday....

Getting their Nova back

             Ivan Nova had been struggling for a long time since a very good first-half of the season, and the Yankees were hoping a stint of the DL to rest his achy shoulder would get the young starter back into form. The Yanks were able to improve their rotation in one swoop by penciling Nova back in and sending "Five-Inning" Freddy Garcia back to the bullpen. Another piece of the Yankee rotation in question has been CC Sabathia and his less-than-a-ace performances in recent weeks, and he would surely be tested against the Rays and their lethal lefty David Price.



             With cries of small ball from the New York media and Yankee fans as a solution for the team's recent offensive woes, the Yanks pushed across the first run of the series an old fashioned way in the 2nd inning. Russell Martin lead off with a single and was moved to second on a slow ground out by Andruw Jones. Then with two outs and Martin on second base, Steve Pearce blooped a single to center to bring the Yankee catcher home. It looked like perhaps Sabathia had turned the corner when he kept the Rays off the board through the first four innings, but then reality sunk in by the top of the 5th. A lead off double to Chris Gimenez, then a walk to Carlos Pena, a wild pitch, a single, and even an RBI ground out double-play from Evan Longoria, ended up bringing three runs across and the Rays had the 3-1 lead. Curtis Granderson committed lefty on lefty violence with a solo homer off of Price to cut the score to 3-2, but the Yanks couldn't get anymore off of the Rays' starter. Sabathia was sloppy again in the 7th and needed to be removed after allowing a RBI single to Ben Zobrist that made it 4-2 Rays. Cody Eppley got out of the 7th for the Yankees, but in the 8th, served up a solo homerun to BJ Upton on  a 0-2 pitch that gave the Rays a 5-2 lead. Johnny Peralta came in to start the 8th for the Rays and the Yanks had a window to crawl back. Derek Jeter, still as a DH with the bone bruise, started it off with a single, and after Nick Swisher popped up, Alex Rodriguez crushed a pitch to the second deck in right to inch the Yanks closer at 5-4. Rays manager Joe Maddon brought his closer Fernando Rodney in with only one out in the 8th to finally get out of the inning. Joba Chamberlain was called on in the 9th to keep the score at 5-4, but with a runner on third, a ground ball was hit to Eduardo Nunez, filling in at short for Jeter, that would've ended the inning without harm, but the ball went under Nunez's glove and the Rays increased their lead at 6-4. With the energy zapped out of the Yankees and the crowd from the costly error, Rodney breezed through the 9th to close out the 6-4 Rays victory.



             With the Yankees looking more and more pitiful each day and hopes of a long playoff run fading away, it was Ivan Nova's time to give the team a shot in the arm, by using his arm. It was a different Nova on the mound than what he's shown these past few months; accurate with his fastball, getting strikeouts, mixing in his slider and curveball, the DL stint really paid off. The offense gave him some runs to work with against Rays starter James Shields, starting off with a 2-run homer from Curtis Granderson in the 2nd, and then the very next hitter, Eduardo Nunez, back at short after the big error the night before, hit a solo blast off his own to give Nova a 3-0 lead. It wasn't until the 6th that the Rays got on the board when Evan Longoria crushed a solo jack to the Yankee bullpen for a 4-1 Yankee lead. Nova collected himself and finished off the inning. He would start the 7th as well, put was removed after giving up a hit to the lead off batter. Nova gave 6 innings and struck out eight Rays for his 12th win. The Rays drew closer in the 7th when Luke Scott, pinch-hitting, singled in two runs off of Joba Chamberlain. With the score 4-3 Yankees in the 8th, Alex Rodriguez gave Rafael Soriano an insurance run with a RBI single up the middle that pushed the score to 5-3. The former Rays stopper, and now Yankee Soriano, tip-toed his way through a hit and a walk in the 9th to get the save and allow the Yanks to take sole possession of 1st place in the AL East with the Orioles losing later on in the night.



             It had been a very long time since the Yankees had won a series a quality team, and a win to prove it to themselves and to the rest of baseball that they were still the Yankees was desperately needed with the season almost done. Hiroki Kuroda was on the mound for the Yankees and hard-throwing (but slumping) lefty Matt Moore started for the Rays. The Yankees were able to smack around Moore the last time they visited Tampa, and they got too him again for five runs in the bottom of the 3rd. RBI singles from Jeter (DHing) and A-Rod accounted for two runs, and Russell Martin went opposite field for a 3-run homer. Moore threw behind the next hitter, Curtis Granderson, and the home plate umpire felt it was on purpose and warned both benches. Joe Maddon thought the umpire overreacted, and for his opinions Maddon was tossed from the game. Kuroda had to grind his way through the game, giving up a solo homer to Ben Zobrist in the 4th and allowing three more runs in the 6th from a 2-RBI hit and RBI double-play. Kuroda was able to finish the inning and ended up going 6 with a whopping 10 strikeouts. The Yankee bullpen nursed the 6-4 lead the rest of the way and Rafael Soriano polished it off by getting his 40th save of the season. In a rare occurance, the Yanks had beaten out the Rays in a series and out-pitched them in the final two games.



         Back at the twenty games over .500 mark with a 83-63 record, the AL East-leading Yankees get more good starting-rotation news with Andy Pettitte's return scheduled for Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays, a team they really should take advantage of as they have the benefit of the easiest schedule left of teams in the AL playoff hunt....

And now its gone

             With an uninspired home stand behind them, the slumping Yankees hit the road on a quest to snap out of their funk against their AL East foes, and the first stop was down in sunny Tampa to get fried by the hot Rays.



             The Yanks caught a break with the fact David Price wasn't scheduled to pitch in the series, but the opening game wouldn't be a cake walk with the Rays sending James Shields to the mound. Also a plus for the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez was back in the lineup as a DH since suffering a broken bone in his left hand thanks to King Felix. In previous outing this season, the Yankees have been able to get to "Big Game", but it wouldn't happen on this Labor Day. Opposing Shields was CC Sabathia, who has looked very beatable in his past few starts with lost velocity on his fastball and control issues since coming back from the DL. A few well placed singles by the Rays in the 2nd inning, and a solo homerun by BJ Upton in the 3rd put Sabathia in a 2-0 hole. In the 4th, the Yanks would make a game out of it; Cano doubled, A-Rod hit a bloop single that sent Cano to third, and Chavez sacrificed Cano in on a line drive out to left field. Rodriguez would score on a Raul Ibanez triple and Russell Martin would leg out an infield single to bring home Ibanez and make it a 3-2 Yankees lead.



            Shields collected himself and struck out Ichiro and Chris Dickerson to prevent any further damage. The Rays got one back in the 5th to tie it at 5 when BJ Upton walked and eventually scored on a ground out by Evan Longoria. Sabathia grinded through 7 innings and the Yankees hit into double-plays in both the top of the 7th and 8th. In the bottom of the 8th with David Robertson on the mound and two outs, the Rays' Ryan Roberts got a hit to be on base. After a steal in Rays small-ball style to get onto second, Ryan scored on a Chris Gimenez grounder to second Cano couldn't field (nor dove for) and the Rays had the 4-3 lead. With Shields strong through eight innings, Fernando Rodney came out of the Rays bullpen, and perhaps the best closer this season in the AL, put the Yanks to bed for the 41st save of his season. Once again the Rays small-ball beat out the Yanks uncanny ability to hit into double-plays and strikeout with runners on.



            Facing heat from the media by not giving for the game-winning single the game before, Cano, starting as a DH with a hip injury from the very same play, smashed a 2-run homer in the 1st inning to the opposite field that gave Freddy Garcia two runs to start out with. With Garcia being another Yankee starter who can't be relied upon lately, the two runs definitely wouldn't be enough. Garcia gave one back in the bottom of the inning, and then served up a manufacturing line of homeruns; a 2-run shot by Evan Longoria in the 3rd, then solo shots by Desmond Jennings and BJ Upton in the 5th to increase the Rays lead to 5-2. As for the Yankees, they were shutdown after the 1st by the middle-of-the-road Alex Cobb and looked absolutely pathetic trying to put any type of rally together. The only good news for the Yankees was that after Garcia was lifted after one out in the 6th inning, the bullpen was able to go the rest of the way without giving up anymore runs. The loss would go to Freddy Garcia, his 6th, and Fernando Rodney made quick work of the Yankees in the top of the 9th for his 42nd save of 2012. The loss gave the series to the Rays, and officially erased the Yankees lead in the AL East and put them in a tie with the Baltimore Orioles, who seem to never lose a game anymore these days.



              Joe Girardi and his Yankees club held a closed-door meeting after losing their hold on the AL East, which was up to ten games at one point this season, and tried their best to salvage the final game and level with some level of respectability. Hiroki Kuroda has lost some of his luster after a solid June and July, and was called upon against the Rays' hard-throwing lefty Matt Moore. Kuroda would give up a run in the bottom of the 1st on a RBI single from Evan Longoria and the Yanks had to be thinking they were going to get swept with their inability to score anymore.



             In the top of the 3rd, the Yanks would get into the swing of it finally and a big double from the returning Rodriguez would bring Jeter home for a 1-1 game. Then Russell Martin, who Girardi moved up the batting order against the lefty, and in desperation since nobody else on the team is hitting, repaid Girardi with a 2-run double that gave the Yankees a nice 3-1 lead. Kuroda held that until the 5th when the Rays tied it on a 2-run triple from Ben Zobrist. Unlike the previous two games, the Yankees wouldn't fold after their lead was taken away. That man again, Russell Martin, crushed a hanging pitch from Moore in the 6th that gave the Yankees back a lead at 4-3. Instead of stopping the Rays at 5 runs, Kuroda gave the lead up again in the bottom of the frame with a solo homerun given up to Luke Scott. With a tied game in Tropicana Field in the late innings usually a recipe for disaster for the Yankees, they needed a big break to get a few more runs in, and they got one!! With two runners on and Derek Jeter at the plate in the 7th, a routine grounder to Elliot Johnson, playing in to make a play at home, misfired the throw to the catcher and both Yankee runners came home to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead. A healthy mix of Boone Logan, David Robertson, and finally Rafael Soriano was able to get the win(13th) for Hiroki Kuroda, and the save, Soriano's 36th. With the Orioles blowing a lead up in Toronto, the scoreboard portion of the season had begun and the Yankees reclaimed their lead on the AL East, a whole whopping one game up.



             Even after getting their lead in the AL East back, its clear the Yankees are in deep trouble with none of their starters looking sharp, Pettitte and Nova having no specific return dates scheduled, too many hitters not hitting with very low battering averages, and there seems nothing that can stop the surging Orioles and Rays - not to mention the A's, Angels, Chicago White Sox, and Detroit Tigers all lurking around the AL. The 77-59 Yanks can maintain, make, or break, their season with a visit to Camden Yards against those very same dangerous O's.

The perfect Independence Day gift

             Tampa Bay has been a destination where Yankees go to die lately, losing seven straight there including getting swept in three games to begin the 2012 season. The dimmed lighting, the fast surface, the bandbox dimensions, the funky catwalk obstructions, and the half-empty stands usually spells doom-n-gloom for the Bombers.



              With CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte still on the absentee list, the spot start of the first game was awarded to Freddy Garcia who has been solid out of the bullpen lately and has worked his way out detention.



             Opposing Freddy and his 84 mph fastball was the hard-throwing Matt Moore and his 98 mph stuff, but in a contrast of pitching styles Freddy was able to bravely keep the game at 2-2 all the way into the 6th inning. Garcia's runs resulted from surrendering two solo homers to Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton. Thanks to some ABC baseball in the top of the 7th, the Yanks were able to plate Chris Stewart for the 3-2 after Jeter moved the runner to third and then Granderson got him in on a sacrifice fly. Then in the bottom of the 7th, more Tropicana Field misfortune fell upon the Yanks. Boone Logan walked Sean Rodriguez with one out in the inning, and then let him get to second base on a wild through. Although Logan was able to retire the next batter, a runner was still in scoring position and Girardi elected to bring out his trusty David Robertson to get the last out. In the usual manner of Joe Maddon getting one up on Joe Girardi, Maddon went to pinch-hitter Brooks Conrad (who?) and he delivered an RBI double off the wall in right to tie the game 3-3. Then the next hitter, the 9th place hitter, Elliot Johnson, cued a groundball to first which Gold Glove caliber first baseman Mark Teixeira misjudged the hop and let the ball go by him. Conrad scored to give the Rays the 4-3 lead and that was it for the Yankees. Fernando Rodney, who the Yanks can never touch, came on to close out the Tampa victory.



             The Yankees were able to toss one of their "realer" starters for the next game in Ivan Nova with his 9 wins on the season. He looked like he was on his way to his 10th win when by the 3rd inning the Yanks had a three-run lead against Tampa's James Shields, capped off by a 3rd inning solo homer from the increasingly impressive Dewayne Wise.  Then Tropicana Field struck again against Nova in the form of a barrage of singles, a stolen base, with a walk mixed in and Tampa had tied the game at 3 in the bottom of the 3rd. Although an inning later the Yanks briefly recaptured the lead at 4-3 thanks to an RBI hit from Eric Chavez, Tampa answered right back in the form of a 2-run homer from Sean Rodriguez. Nova went 6 innings and gave up 5 earned runs. Tampa Bay added 2 more runs in the 7th to make it 7-4, which ruined the Yankee debut of Chad Qualls who was charged with one of them. Once again Fernando Rodney was called in the top of the 9th to put the Yankees away and he did for his 24th save of the season and increased the Yankee losing streak at Tropicana Field to a painful nine games!!



                Another loss against the Rays and getting swept again in 2012 in Tampa seemed to be how the Yankees were going to spend their 4th of July holiday with the featured starting match-up of the tough lefty David Price against rookie David Phelps, making the spot start for the Yankees. Surprisingly, Phelps was able to go toe-to-toe with the annual Cy Young candidate Price and only gave up one run in his 4.1 innings of work. Joe Girardi pieced together the bullpen from there and the game was tied in the bottom of the 7th due to a solo homerun off of Price by Mark Teixeira. Anytime the Yanks scored in this series, Tampa was always able to return the favor, and they did it again. Lefty reliever Boone Logan misfired again and served up a 2-run homer to Carlos Pena which gave the Rays a 3-1 lead and it looked like the Yanks were done. Then something strange happened, two moves made by Joe Maddon turned out to not work (odd isn't?). He had old friend Kyle Farnsworth start the 8th inning and he ended up walking four batters, including A-Rod with the bases loaded on a close 3-2 pitch which made the score 3-2 as well. With lefty hitter Robinson Cano due up next, Maddon called on lefty reliever Jake McGee to get out of the jam, but he instead served up a 2 RBI single to the hot-hitting Cano which gave the Yanks the 4-3 lead and provided the Rays with a taste of their own Tropicana medicine. Although he didn't do his job, with the lead Logan was in line for the win. David Robertson redeemed himself from the poor outing two nights before with a scoreless 8th that included two strikeouts, looking very Robertsonish as he regains his armstrength after being on the DL. Former Rays closer and now $14 million dollar Yankee, Rafael Soriano, worked the 9th to seal the stolen 4-3 victory for the Yanks.



              With the next day off, the 49-32 Yankees head up to Fenway Park to try and beat down the sluggish Red Sox who will likely be without Dustin Pedrioa who will likely be on the DL with a thumb issue.....

Climbing up the ladder

             After being in the dumps about two weeks ago, the Yanks returned back to the Bronx after a much needed 6-3 road trip and were looking to leap over the Rays in the AL East standings. Two teams ahead of the Yankees, the Orioles and the Rays, had been struggling in recent games and it gave the surging Yanks a great opportunity to make up some ground.



              Trying to put his subpar start in Anaheim in his rear view mirror, Andy Pettitte took the ball in the first game against the Rays' "Big Game" James Shields, who has been nothing but in his last few starts against the Yankees. Pettitte made it look too easy as he put the Rays to sleep with no runs and two hits over 7.1 innings. Even returning Yankee fan favorite, Hideki Matsui, recently picked up by Tampa to help their offensive woes, wasn't able to make a dent and became one of Pettitte's 10 strikeout victims. The offense kept Shields in the palm of their hands as usual and blasted him for 7 runs in his 5 innings of torture, highlighted by a 4th inning grand slam by Russell Martin of all hitters. The defense didn't help Shields either as a pair of early errors led to two of the Yankees first runs. The seldom used Freddy Garcia made a rare appearance in a winning cause in the 8th inning to finish the Rays off for the 7-0 win.



             In keeping with the theme of strong starting pitching by the Yankees recently, and also trying to repent after an evil performance in Anaheim, Ivan Nova took over where Pettitte left off. Going up against Alex Cobb (I know...who?...) Nova came within inches of throwing a complete game shutout. Up 2-0 thanks to solo homers from Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano off of Cobb earlier in the game, the offense tacked on 2 more insurance in the bottom of the 8th, which proved to be mighty later on.



             Girardi allowed Nova to come out in the top of the 9th, as he was cruising along all game, to finish it off. But then a lead off triple, followed by another triple made the score 4-1 Yanks with a potential run standing at third. Rafael Soriano entered the game to clean up Nova's mess.



             Like a machine, Soriano refused B.J. Upton, standing on 3rd, to score. First victim Matt Joyce popped up to the catcher. Next, Ben Zobrist struckout, and that set the stage with a familiar face in Hideki Matsui who could make it 4-3 with a swing of the bat, with the dangerous Carlos Pena batting behind him who could make it 4-4 with another swing. Instead, Soriano challenged Matsui with a fastball and Godzilla took it to the very end of the warning track as Yankee fans held their breath, but luckily it safely landed in the glove of Nick Swisher to end the game at 4-1. With Soriano's 8th save of the season, he secured Nova's 7th win and help the Yanks pass the Rays in the standing by a half-game.



             Looking for the sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees had to like their chances with sending their 7-2 ace CC Sabathia to the hill. Opposing him was the equally difficult David Price at 7-3, but the Yanks had been able to rough up Price in his last few visits to the Bronx. This time Rays manager Joe Maddon didn't put Matsui in the lineup and it seemed to have a reversal of fortunes for the Yankees. Tampa had a 5-1 lead by the 4th inning with Sabathia not being sharp at all, plus Jayson Nix having a difficult time playing in left, as Brett Gardner's eminent return can't come soon enough. An inning later, the Yankees had a sign of life to possibly tie the game with one swing, or at least cut into the deficit. With bases loaded and only one out, Alex Rodriguez battled David Price to work the count to 3-2 and fouled off pitch after pitch, until Price finally got A-Rod to strikeout. Rodriguez returned to the bench to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Cano after that grounded out and that was the Yanks last big chance of the night. Although they added another run in the 8th to make it 5-2, the Rays answered back with 2 more runs in the 9th and the game ended with a 7-3 final. With the win, the Yankees got the series, but the Rays took back their half-game lead in the standings.



                 With a third of the season already gone, A-Rod stands at a whopping 9 homers and only 22 RBIs, and for thirty-million a year in salary is on course for 27 homers and 66 RBIs. He'll get his chance to erase the bases loaded strikeout from fans' memory as the 31-25 club enters Round 1 of the Subway Series against the surprising Mets...