None of the Yankees could really explain why the pinstripes just hit different Monday than the previous five weeks. The enigmatic Carlos Rodon with a season-high 10 strikeouts? Back-to-back homers from Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe, the unlikely core du jour of the Yankees’ lineup? DJ LeMahieu going deep for the first time since last September? Stunning. Truly.
The fact that we’ve made it this far down in the column before even mentioning Juan Soto, who smacked a pair of home runs in the Yankees’ 9-1 victory, a rare chance to exhale for this scrambling team, should tell you something about what kind of day it was in the Bronx. But let’s not get too hung up on kicking around the .500 Rays for a few hours, as much as the matinee crowd of 40,824 fans enjoyed it.
The real show takes place Tuesday night at the Stadium, when the Mets roll in for the Subway Series rematch, and the Yankees need to prove the June thumping they took in Flushing was a fluke. If Aaron Boone & Co. can’t conjure up some legit anger over that embarrassing sweep at Citi Field, there’s something missing with these Yankees.
It got so bad over in Queens that Boone had to bench Gleyber Torres for the Subway finale due to his apathetic performance -- on New York’s biggest stage -- and Aaron Judge looked miffed at his manager for getting pulled for a pinch-hitter late in a 12-2 blowout. If those humiliating memories weren’t enough, there was Luis Severino from the top rope, mocking his former team.
