Keidel: Yankees Not Doomed But Certainly Feeling The Heat After Game 3 Loss

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To quote a quarterback from Green Bay, “Relax.” 

The Yankees lost Game 3 of the ALCS to the most dialed-in pitcher the franchise has faced since Sandy Koufax. They could have played five innings, nine innings or 18 innings, and they would have been slain by Gerrit Cole. He hasn't lost since May 22 and may not lose until next May 22. He reduced the most stone-hewn lineup in Major League Baseball to butter. If you need the formality of his numbers, Cole is now 3-0 in this postseason with a 0.40 ERA. 

Houston had to win this game. If they lost Cole's start, the Yankees could have swept the rest of the series. Had the Bombers been up 2-1 while hurdling the pitching golem who has crushed the AL into dust, they would have broken the Astros' spirit beyond repair. Now we have the contours of a classic series. 

It's rare that a baseball game is over after three pitches. But when the ever-clutch Jose Altuve took Luis Severino's meatball deep into the Big Apple dusk, a 1-0 lead had the ominous aura of a rout. Meanwhile, Severino didn't seem to want any part of the first batter, first inning or the game. Perhaps part of the former Yankees ace's issues was the lack of work he'd gotten before the ALCS. But his head-down demeanor was as much emotional as physical. 

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We can pick on the particulars. The Yankees left men on base and whiffed on a few chances to move runners or even drive in a run. But that was more about Cole's pitching mastery than any swing of the bat. Aside from DJ LeMahieu, most Yanks got on base because Cole walked them. When it was time to bear down, Cole put the Bombers to sleep. We often gag on the cliché that a final score doesn't represent the game, but 4-1 was about right, with wunderkind Gleyber Torres slapping the only homer the Yankees would hit — off of someone not named Cole, of course. 

The Astros even taught the Yanks a thing or two about high-end base running, turning a play at the plate into a sloppy rundown between home and third, allowing two Houston baserunners to wind up on second and third. The Astros are a complete baseball team, so it should not shock us that they won two games so far. 

There was some chilling irony, however, to hear Alex Rodriguez school us on the hallmarks of a champion. In the postgame roundtable, A-Rod reminded us that Houston snagged Verlander and won a World Series in 2017. Then he reminded us that Boston bagged Chris Sale and won the World Series in 2018. (The Cubs also lightened their farm system to get Aroldis Chapman from the Yanks and won the 2016 World Series.) Then he sternly told us the Yankees did nothing this year to beef up their rotation and that sometimes you have to sacrifice some players to get that ring. The formerly disgraced slugger, who has somehow returned as the darling of baseball (and fiancé of Jennifer Lopez) is now the high priest of October despite his own doomed playoff moments. 

Tuesday night was a referendum on a stand-alone pitcher on the singular stage of Yankee Stadium. Playoff baseball in the Bronx has so often made mice of men, including those playing for the home club. Dave Winfield was branded Mr. May by The Boss, despite being a Hall of Famer, because he didn't post big numbers in October. Conversely, Aaron Boone, who had a marginal career, is forever a Big Apple hero for his homer in the 2003 ALCS. 

So it's fitting that the Yankees’ manager, who knows how to win a pennant in the Bronx, must lead these Bombers to the World Series. Losing Game 3 wasn't a deal killer. But if they lose Game 4, then they can start spreading the (bad) news.