HOUSTON — As the Yankees prepared for Thursday’s series finale against the Astros, Aaron Boone was asked about another important series against the Blue Jays, which begins Friday in the Bronx.
“We’ll get there tomorrow,” Boone initially said, trying not to look ahead. But then he sarcastically added, “Hopefully. If we make it on time.”
The Yankees weren’t exactly thrilled to be playing a night game in Houston on Thursday, as an overnight flight across time zones won’t leave them much time to sleep before a 7:05 p.m. ET divisional showdown with the first-place Jays. Boone used words like “insane” and “absurd” to describe the scheduling, though he acknowledged on Wednesday that no one is going to feel sorry for the Bombers.
“It’s the grind of the season, baby. We’ll make the best of it,” he said. “I have some conversations sometimes [with MLB], but you also understand it’s the nature of the beast and 162 games in 180 days, you’re going to have some tough schedules. But it doesn’t really matter, nobody cares. We’re at that point in the season, we’re in the stretch drive, we need to keep winning games.”
The Astros made the decision for a 6:40 p.m. local time start on Thursday, as an in-state road trip to Arlington for a series with the Rangers is next on their docket.
It wasn’t the first time a scheduling quirk annoyed the Yankees this season, as they arrived in Boston early on a Friday morning back in June after playing a night game in Kansas City the previous day.
Later this month, the Yankees have a 10-day, three-city road trip to Boston, Minnesota and Baltimore. There are no off days within that trip, and a night game is scheduled for each getaway day.
PLANS FOR STANTON
With Giancarlo Stanton playing left field for the third straight game in Houston on Thursday, Boone didn’t rule out the slugger playing again on Friday, even with the late flight.
“Not necessarily,” the skipper said when asked if Stanton will be off. “We’ll see.”
Stanton previously started three straight games in the outfield from Aug. 11-13. The veteran, plagued by lower-body injuries throughout his career, had some trouble recovering from that stretch and didn’t play for a few days after that, though the Yankees were visiting the Cardinals’ spacious Busch Stadium.
ANOTHER THROW DAY FOR JUDGE
Stanton has been playing the outfield because Aaron Judge is restricted to DH duties as he works through a throwing program following a right flexor strain.
The Yankees have yet to announce a target date for Judge’s in-game return to the outfield — it’s possible they don’t in advance — but the MVP candidate did throw from the outfield in Houston before Thursday’s game.
Judge made a handful of throws to home plate, mostly hitting a cutoff man.
https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/09/04/yankees-unhappy-with-absurd-getaway-day-scheduling/
