My first time at Yankee Stadium

 I've been on vacation in New York for the last couple weeks, and yesterday I got to see the Yankees at Yankee Stadium for the first time! I saw them playing the Rangers in Texas back in 2019, but seeing them at home was incredible.  Me and my sister were both really, really excited. When we walked into Yankee Stadium, my sister had such a huge grin on her face. I was a little more subdued, but it was really cool. 

It turned out to be the perfect game to go to. But it didn't seem like it at first. I was really excited because Gerrit Cole was scheduled to pitch, but then he tested positive for COVID and was scratched, which was a real bummer.

But the actual game turned out to be awesome. The starter, Luis Gil, was making his big league debut. He is the Yankees' 6th-ranked prospect, and he pitched great, throwing 6 shutout innings. And Yankee runs and hits fell in torrents.

In the 1st the Yanks were pretty quiet, but then they scored 1 in the 2nd, and scored 5 in the 3rd! It was kind of magical, with hit after hit falling in the outfield. And in the 4th Giancarlo Stanton broke his slump with a 3-run homer. They quieted down for a bit after that. 

Giancarlo at the plate, with Rizzo on 3rd

It was cool to see the new additions, Rizzo and Gallo. Rizzo is now my 2nd-favorite player in the game, at least for now. I've heard nothing but good things about him from mournful Cubs fans, plus he's just been crushing the ball so far. (While I've been writing this post, first he had a 13-pitch walk, and then he hit a solo homer.) And I like how he has a chance at the career hit by pitch record. The record, held by Hughie Jennings from the 19th century, is 287, and right now Rizzo has 171.

After Gil was taken out, another pitcher, Stephen Ridings, made his debut in the 7th. He had been dominant in AA and AAA, with a 1.24 ERA, 42 strikeouts, and 4 walks in 29 innings. He was very impressive. After striking out the first two batters, he got to an 0-2 count on Maikel Franco before Maikel hit a double down the left field line. And then he struck out the next batter. He looked very good, consistently throwing at 98, 99 and hitting 101. And his breaking stuff was also very effective, getting the Orioles to swing at pitches in the dirt consistently.

The Orioles had some embarrassing and hilarious moments. Once, on a easy fly ball, two Orioles stood 5 feet apart and watched it drop right between them for a double. It was a double because you can't give an error to two different people for one mistake, and how are you going to say one was responsible and the other innocent? And in the 5-run 3rd, the centerfielder was throwing home on a single when the ball hit second base and rolled to first as a second runner easily scored. 

We had to leave after the 7th, which I was very disappointed at. In the 8th a third Yankee pitcher debuted, Brady Koerner. He didn't do as well, though, allowing one run over two innings. He's 27, and unlike the other two, I don't think he has much a chance of sticking with the big club. I think it's pretty crazy that the whole game was pitched by pitchers who had never pitched before in the majors. I seem to have a small streak of Yankee pitchers debuting when I see them, as Michael King debuted the time I saw them in 2019.

Aaron Judge, my favorite current player, was sitting out the day I saw the Yanks in Texas, but he was playing yesterday. He hit a home run in the 9th, after I left. 🤷

Reverse negative! Oh well. Mom's hair was kind of in my face, but that's the best picture we took that included me. As you can tell, my dad does not like smiling for the camera

The Yankees ended up winning 13-1, and we all had a great time. Thanks mom and dad for taking me!