So, game 162.

And this would prove to be my last game of the season. The news agency had offered me a contract for the post-season, but the need to move house and start a new position in England, was going to mean that there was no way of taking that up.

As in 2023, the last days of the season were visited by blanket rain, which meant delays and just getting generally soaked to the skin. First pitch didn’t come around until 4:36 by my watch.

On the mound? Clarke Schmidt for the New York Yankees who entered the game with a 2.55 ERA and a 5-5 win – loss record which partially concealed that he hadn’t achieved a win since May 16 and had missed a considerable portion of the season through injury. For the Pittsburgh Pirates, it was Bailey Falter who had an 8-9 record. This was his rookie season and other than not playing in the majors for most of July, he had produced a reasonable season pitching to a 4.17 ERA.

So, nothing much on the pitching front to indicate that one team had the edge over the other. The Yankees had gone with a few changes which indicated showed only that the playoffs were more important than today, as you might expect. Aaron Judge would once more be on the bench and Trent Grisham would roam centerfield. Jasson Dominguez was chosen over Alex Verdugo in left, but Verdugo would switch to right. With Anthony Rizzo done for the season, Ben Rice was given an outing at first base. The struggling Austin Wells was benched, and so Jose Trevino would be behind the plate. Jazz Chisholm Jr was given a rest and Jon Berti played in third.

The game started promisingly for the Yankees with Schmidt getting Nick Gonzales to flyout to centrefield, but then the pitcher let one get away from him as he hit Bryan Reynolds by pitch. The mistake didn’t affect the man on the mound much, as he got Oneil Cruz to strike out swinging, on 4 pitches and then Joey Bart out in the same way on the 7th pitch.

Gleyber Torres opened the bottom half of the inning with a double to centre. and then Trent Grisham, who had shown little in batting form all year, lofted the first pitch over the left centerfield wall to make it 2-0. DH Giancarlo Stanton was walked, Perhaps Pittsburgh wanted to clog up the basepaths after the Yankees’ fast start. Anyway, nothing much was going to happen. Jasson Dominguez hit a flyout to rightfield and then Berti hit into a 5-4-3 doubleplay which had the hapless Stanton out trying to make second.

In the second, Schmidt lost the measure of the strike zone a little – walking Joshua Palacios and after getting Jared Triolo to swing at one out of the strike zone, also walked Nick Yorke. However, with two runners on, Schmidt got first Billy Cook and then Liover Peguero to pop up.

The bottom of the second was a little strange. Verdugo grounded out having hit towards third. But then when Anthony Volpe was walked by Falter, he surprisingly took off for second, giving catcher Bart a clear opportunity to throw to Peguero who was filling the shortstop booth, to get Volpe out. Third out was Rice who hit straight to the first base corner.

As Pittsburgh returned to the top of their batting line-up, it was Gonzales turn to be hit by a stray pitch. Reynolds then struck out swinging, but the Pirates were determined to press home this advantage. Cruz patiently worked a walk, thus giving Joey Bart opportunity to load the bases when Rice deflected his infield hit. A Palacios double to rightfield tied the score with Gonzales and Cruz both scoring on the RBI. This meant Bart was at 3rd. 2-2.

And the Pirates weren’t finished yet. A sacrifice fly from Triolo scored Bart and moved Palacios to third, 3-2. However, Yorke struck out on three pitches to mean there were to be no further runs in this inning.

The Yankees weren’t prepared to stay behind for very long. First, there was a walk for Trevino and then Torres’ second double of the day. This meant thought that the pressure was on Grisham who had already produced one unlikely hit, and I was somewhat surprised to see him repeat the feat although this time he wasn’t swinging for the fences. He hit a sneaky grounder through to rightfield and Trevino scored. 3-3.

Opportunities were suffering a setback when Stanton added to his so far struggling outing by adding a doubleplay to his scorecard, but in the malaise of the fielding play, Torres scored to give the Yankees an unlikely comeback lead 4-3.

With the bases now empty, the Pittsburgh team couldn’t avoid giving the Yankees half-chances. This time, it was a throwing error by Peguero which put Dominguez on first. Things still came quickly to end with Berti hitting into a forceout.

In the 4th, the Pirates achieved a little but not nearly enough. Billy Cook popped out to the first baseman Ben Rice to make the first out, but there was more promise when Peguero came to the plate and on the fourth pitch whilst on two strikes, hit a grounder towards Berti and made it safely to first base. However, Gonzales hit into a 5-4-3 doubleplay to end the inning.

When the Yankees came to bat, there was little difference in their prospects. The Pirates gave themselves a fresh arm, with Isaac Mattson replacing Falter on the mound. He made a substantial difference taking the Yankees’ batters down in 1-2-3 order. First, Verdugo went to six pitches before striking out swinging. Then it was a nothing pop out to Cook from Volpe and then Rice also struck out swinging on the 8th pitch he faced.

The top of the 5th was difficult for the Yankees. Schmidt walked Reynolds and then was lifted for Mark Leiter Jr. Regrettably, Leiter continued the trend walking Cruz on six pitches, which left Pittsburgh wide open to develop promising prospects which bore fruit when Joey Bart hit a double to tie the game up. 4-4. Both starters were gone, and the game was on a knife edge,

However, the Yankees were able to right the ship despite having to keep a watchful eye on Bart on second and there being nobody out. Both Triolo and Palacios struck out swinging before another walk was given up – this time to Yorke. Leiter though recovered to achieve his third strikeout. This time, Cook swung wildly on the fourth pitch he faced.

In the bottom of the fifth, there weren’t many glimpses of optimism for the Yankees as they looked to regain their lead, Batting ninth, Trevino lined out to rightfield. However, the solid Torres drew a walk, but nothing came of it as Grisham struck out swinging and then pinch-hitter, Austin Wells hit a sharp flyball to Cruz. Wells and the player he replaced (Stanton) must be wishing the season were over even more quickly than the regular season was going to be.

And so, the fifth turned into the sixth. Wells remained in the game at DH and Ian Hamilton subbed for Leiter. Peguero struck out swinging. A fielding error by the naive and inexperienced Rice gave the Pirates a chance. Nothing came of that either though, as Reynolds hit into a 3-6-1 doubleplay to allow the Yankees to come to bat.

Joey Wentz replaced Mattson on the hill and dominated the Yankees as we drew near the final third of the game. Dominguez hit softly into foul territory and Bart was able to take it cleanly and easily. Then it was Berti with a fly to rightfield and Verdugo third out on a limp grounder.

And so, to the 7th, Tim Mayza replaced Hamilton and continued to dominate the batters. Cruz on a 6-3 grounder, Bart striking out swinging, and finally Palacios a come backer to Mayza. And the Yankees were now trying just a little too hard. After a walk was issued to Volpe, the shortstop took off for second and when Rice struck out swinging, Volpe took off for third but never looked like he was in any remote danger of making it. By then, Colin Holderman had taken over on the mound. Two out. And then Trevino striking out swinging and we were heading into the 8th.

Luke Weaver has been one of the Yankees finds this season. Somehow, he has gone from someone who looked like his career might be coming to an end to being the guy who stepped in when the crestfallen Clay Holmes could no longer carry the closer’s role and made a huge success of being in that role. He came on for Mayza in the top of the 8th. Once more he was impressive tonight. He got Triolo to strikeout on a foul tip snd then led Yorke to issue a weak grounder for two outs. There was a moment when it just looked like things were turning in the Pirates’ favour when Cook hit a ground rule double which hopped over the wall in centerfield, but it was a short-lived hope as it was followed by Peguero striking out swinging.

And then the Pirates hit meltdown. Having got both Torres and Grisham to strike out swinging, it should have been straightforward when they saw the laboured figure of Wells coming to the plate. After all, his batting average had sunk from .259 to .229 in September. They had him in their pockets and they knew it. And all they had to do was to maintain that situation. His confidence must have been so low. Then on the 6th pitch, Holderman let one get away and hit Wells with a pitched ball. And then everything was different somehow.

Pittsburgh brought on Carmen Mlodzinski to face down Dominguez, but there was never a suggestion of this working out. Mlodzinski walked Dominguez and then Berti to load the bases. A Verdugo single scored two of the batters and moved Berti up to 3rd. 6-4 Yankees. Verdugo stole second, but Volpe was called out on strikes, but it seemed like it was too little, too late for Pittsburgh to get back from their losses.

Having said that Holmes was no longer the closer, it was indeed a surprise to see him trotting in for the 9th with a 2-run lead to preserve. As it worked out, it was indeed a good call by Aaron Boone as it all came together rather nicely,

Gonzales and Reynolds grounded out, and then it just took a foul tip from Oneil Cruz to end the regular season.

Game 162 was over. The Yankees had won, and the playoffs were next.

For me, it was going to be Birdland and Ron Carter and then back to England, as I wished the New Yorkers all the best for the World series.