New Yankees Jake Bird and David Bednar have nightmarish debuts
NY Post
MIAMI — Jake Bird and David Bednar ran into each other in the Denver airport around midnight Thursday and boarded a plane bound for Miami to join the Yankees, who had acquired them a few hours earlier at the trade deadline.
At the time, those may have felt like two tickets to paradise. Their trip covered about 1,700 air miles, but more than that, it delivered them from last place to the world’s most famous baseball team, a pennant race and a chance to win a championship in a few months.
It didn’t take long, however, for their joint journey to take a hellish turn. In their Yankees debuts, the relievers were among the many culprits in a mind-numbing 13-12 loss to the Marlins at loanDepot park.
Bird was the first of the bullpen arrivals to make it to the mound.
He entered to begin the bottom of the seventh with the Yankees holding a seemingly comfortable 9-4 lead and gave up a single off the right field wall to Agustín Ramírez.
After Bird struck out Heriberto Hernandez, Otto Lopez lined a single to left and took second as the throw went in toward third.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Toumani Camara had career highs of nine 3-pointers and 35 points to help Portland beat the Brooklyn Nets 134-99 on Monday night, the Trail Blazers’ largest margin of victory this season.
The Rangers hit the mark with their on-ice ceremony honoring Mika Zibanejad ahead of his 1,000th NHL game Monday night.
PORT ST. LUCIE — For now, Craig Kimbrel is choosing Mets purgatory.
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Zion Williamson is slimmer and healthier for his trip to MSG.
Don’t blame Mikal Bridges for his paltry stats. Blame the role.
Almost a year to the day after a goaltender interference call against Kyle Palmieri lost the Islanders a game against the Blue Jackets that started their season’s death spiral, they were on the wrong end of another controversial call against those same Blue Jackets that might have had the same effect.
On the Queens side of town, the reno began in earnest almost as soon as Francisco Lindor grounded into the 4-6-3 double play. That ended a 4-0 loss before a rare sizable crowd at Miami’s loanDepot Park last Sept. 27, all of them there to witness the final death rattles of an epic baseball calamity.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba is being paid handsomely for his breakout season.
Next comes the harder part. Mostly because it can’t get any easier.
It was Kids Day at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, but for the Rangers, it’s been All About The Kids for months.
PORT ST. LUCIE — From the moment he was told he needed surgery on his left hamate bone, Francisco Lindor fixated on the recovery time. Trainers provided the Mets shortstop a six-week pathway to return to play, and Lindor was determined to hit every marker.
Dylan Garand knew the number off the top of his head. He knew that, between the regular season and playoffs, he’d logged over 160 games with AHL Hartford, and he was right. Before the Rangers recalled him Friday, Garand had served as the Wolf Pack’s goaltender 165 times.
SAN DIEGO — As you may have seen elsewhere in this newspaper (and also if you haven’t deleted me yet from your social media), I have a book coming out Tuesday called “The Bosses of The Bronx.” Much of it details the 37 years’ worth of antics, winning, losing, winning again and overall mania of George Steinbrenner’s time with the Yankees.