John Sterling passed away Monday morning at 87. He'd been the Voice of the New York Yankees for 36 years -- 5,651 games, five World Series championships, and more walk-off calls than any broadcaster should get to make in a single lifetime.
The Yankees held a moment of silence before first pitch, then went out and beat the Orioles 12-1. Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the first inning and the Stadium scoreboard lit up with Sterling's own words.
It is high, it is far, it is gone.
There wasn't a dry seat in the house.
The First Inning
Trent Grisham led off the bottom half with a double to center. (Grisham just doesn't make outs. It's almost annoying how reliable he's been.) Judge was the very next batter and turned on a full-count pitch to right-center. His 14th homer of the year. Two runs. The Orioles hadn't gotten comfortable in the field yet and already they were down.
Baz never found his footing. Five walks in 5.2 innings, six runs allowed (five earned), and a look on his face by the fifth that said he knew exactly how this evening was going to go. He left with a 1-3 record on the season and the Yankees pouring through the door behind him.
Judge
Judge went 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored, and four RBI. The homer was the story -- the timing of it, the Sterling connection, the fact that it came on the very first real threat of the night -- but he came back in the eighth and singled to left off Lou Trivino with the bases loaded, plating two more. That's just Judge being Judge. He finds moments.
He also drew an intentional walk from Baz at some point. Baz still gave up 12 runs. (The calculus there is not working in his favor.)
The Yankees are 24-11. They've won four straight, outscoring Baltimore 39-10 in this home series. Whatever this team is right now, it's clicking.
Schlittler and Bird
Cam Schlittler went 5.2 innings -- 7 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts -- and made it look harder than it needed to be. He loaded up traffic twice: Rutschman grounded into a double play in the third with runners on, and Blaze Alexander did the same in the fifth. Both times he got help. Both times the Orioles stranded runners and walked back to the dugout.
He's 5-1 now. This rotation trusts him in games that matter.
When the sixth inning threatened to get ugly -- Baltimore actually scored to make it 3-1, Cowser walking in Beavers -- Jake Bird came in and struck out Jeremiah Jackson swinging to end it. (That's Bird's fourth hold of the year. He doesn't get enough credit for cleaning up messes that weren't his.) The Yankees answered with three in the bottom half and never looked back.
The Eighth
Lou Trivino pitched 0.2 innings. He allowed 4 hits, 3 walks, and 6 earned runs. He did not escape the inning.
Grisham walked to score Jazz Chisholm Jr. Judge singled to left, two more in. Then Cody Bellinger hit a line drive that Dylan Beavers in right never had a chance at -- a triple to the gap that scored Grisham and Judge and made it 11-1 in the blink of an eye. Jasson Dominguez singled home Bellinger. Six runs. An avalanche. A mercy that the inning ended before it reached truly embarrassing territory for Baltimore.
Bellinger: 4 AB, 1 hit, 1 run, 3 RBI. He's been quietly excellent this week.
For John
The final @Yankees tweet of the night read: "Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeee Yankees win!"
His words. They used his words.
Texas comes to the Bronx tomorrow. The Yankees are playing the best baseball in the American League East right now, and there's a full lineup and a fresh bullpen and a 1.5-game lead on the Rays. But tonight belonged to one person, and that person didn't get to watch from the booth.
He heard it anyway.
Jimmy writes the Bronx Pinstripes game recap after every Yankees game. Beat-reporter pacing, fan's heartbeat. He calls opposing players by last name and has no patience for dead-air innings.
