New York Yankees

Most would point to Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton or Gerrit Cole as some of the biggest reasons for the New York Yankees' recent hot play. 

Nope. Wrong. 

It has all been thanks to a turtle.

Sam Borden of ESPN reported the Yankees recently became pet owners of a turtle named Bronxie, which they credit for helping turn around their playoff push.

"Lucky charm, whatever you want to call it; I know a lot of guys believe there's a connection here," Brett Gardner said. "At the end of it, it would be great if we could go out and get him a little World Series ring."

The Yankees have reeled off six straight wins, including a weekend sweep of the Boston Red Sox, to take the lead in the AL Wild Card race. They now have a two-game lead over the Toronto Blue Jays as they look to wrap up a spot in the one-game playoff, which may see them battle against the rival Red Sox.

The next time the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees meet will either be in 2022, or next Tuesday for their 20th tilt of the season and their first winner-take-all contest since 2004.

Though Major League Baseball's most storied rivals aren't yet locked into a one-game playoff in the American League Wild Card Game, that would be the matchup at Yankee Stadium if the game was today. The Yankees and Red Sox hold the league's two wild cards, with the latter having gained the top spot with a dramatic sweep at Fenway Park over the weekend.

It was real gut punch for the Red Sox. Or, more accurately, a series of gut punches mostly delivered by Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton. He hit a three-run home run on Friday, a grand slam on Saturday and then a two-run homer on Sunday that effectively iced the series:

Ladies and gentlemen, Big G has left the building. pic.twitter.com/leXl5sI4YV

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 27, 2021

Perhaps more so than in what order they'll finish, the big question now is if the Yankees and Red Sox will even keep the two wild-card spots. The Toronto Blue Jays are only one game back, after all, and the Seattle Mariners (1.5 GB) and Oakland Athletics (3.5 GB) are also in the race.

Still, you can rest assured that folks in Boston and the Bronx are pulling for the Red Sox and Yankees to throw down next Tuesday. Because big games between these two teams are also big business there are also presumably many fingers crossed within MLB's offices.

Besides, one more game between Boston and New York would be far from a frivolity. Beyond simply being the latest chapter in a rich history, it would finish business between the two clubs that's very much unfinished.

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A Tale of Two Season Series

To be sure, you'd be hard-pressed to make an argument that 2021 has brought the best iteration of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.

This rivalry has had some high stakes over the years, including when it revolved around Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio in the 1940s and Carlton Fisk and Thurman Munson in the 1970s. There was drama aplenty between the two sides in 2003 and 2004, and it was only three years ago that both clubs won 100 games in the regular season before meeting in October.

Yet this might be the most evenly matched the Red Sox and Yankees have ever been. Though Boston claimed the 19-game season series, it was only by the narrowest possible margins for wins (10-9) and run differential (75-74).

The Red Sox were in control early on, winning each the first seven games between the two and 10 of the first 13 overall. But then the Yankees staged the best version of "The Empire Strikes Back" since the OG debuted in 1980, winning each of the next six contests.

Though there is no singular explanation for the Yankees' comeback, the shift in how the two clubs have hit with the bases empty, runners on and runners in scoring position is striking:

With nobody on, the Red Sox have actually done even better in the last six games than they did in the first 13 games. But they've otherwise fallen well short at tacking on the hits they've needed to get runners home, whereas the Yankees have improved across the board.

More broadly, the sudden momentum swing in this year's Red Sox-Yankees rivalry mirrors how the two teams have fared since they went in different directions at the July 30 trade deadline. The Yankees are 35-19 since then, while the Red Sox are only 25-26.

A frustratingly persistent outbreak of COVID-19 obviously didn't help the Red Sox, yet their deficiencies on the field have been painfully obvious. For instance, their relievers are second-to-last in the AL with a 4.69 ERA since the deadline. Then there's their defense, which has gone from an inconvenient weakness to more like an inescapable curse of late.

Both issues have loomed large amid Boston's six-game losing streak to the Yankees. Red Sox relievers have taken the L in half of the six losses, most notably in a walk-fueled meltdown Saturday. Catching the ball has been less of a factor, though Boston might have avoided Sunday's meltdown if Bobby Dalbec's and Christian Vazquez's poor glovework hadn't granted Aaron Judge two extra lives before his clutch two-run double.

For their part, the Yankees have certainly pitched well, holding the Red Sox to 14 total runs in the clubs' last six meetings. So it goes for them in general, as their 3.60 ERA since the deadline ranks second in the AL.

The Yankees offense, meanwhile, has more closely resembled a typical Bronx Bombers offense even outside of its clutch hitting against Boston. Since Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo came aboard ahead of the deadline, Toronto is the only AL club with more home runs.

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The Road Ahead Favors Boston

As if being generally hot and utterly dominant against their longtime rivals didn't already bode well enough for the Yankees, they're also set up well for an automatic advantage should they and the Red Sox meet again next week.

With ace right-hander Gerrit Cole set to start Wednesday in Toronto, the Yankees can plan on pitching him next Tuesday after five days of rest. That's when he's most dangerous, as his 15 starts on five days' rest have yielded a 2.70 ERA.

As much as the Red Sox would probably love to counter with ace left-hander Chris Sale, his Tuesday assignment against the Baltimore Orioles means he could go again on regular rest for Boston's season finale against the Washington Nationals on Sunday. That would leave Nathan Eovaldi, who was last seen getting lit up for seven runs in just 2.2 innings by the Yankees on Friday, to start the Wild Card Game.

Before the Yankees start printing tickets, however, they must first tackle a remaining schedule that's much harder than Boston's.

Sure, the Red Sox play each of their six remaining games on the road. But it'll be a shock if they get much push-back from either the Orioles or the Nationals. With 106 losses and counting, the former is the worst team in MLB. The latter has dropped "only" 96 games, but only Baltimore has lost more often since the trade deadline.

The Yankees, on the other hand, have to go through the Blue Jays on their turf and then the Tampa Bay Rays back at home to finish the season. The Jays are 21-9 at home since returning to the Rogers Centre on July 31. At 97-59, the Rays are the best team in the AL and have handled the Yankees to the tune of a 9-7 record.

There's also the matter of Judge's left pinky finger, which he dislocated sliding into second base on Sunday night. If he's at all limited by that, the Yankees' best hitter (i.e., a .903 OPS and 36 HR) will be less of a factor in what games they have left.  

Apropos of all this, FanGraphs still gives the Red Sox better chances than the Yankees of nabbing a wild-card spot of any kind. That obviously runs counter to the momentum that the Yankees have built up, but that's the problem with momentum: it's there until it's not.

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There's Rich History at Play Here

To hold us all over until the Red Sox and Yankees possibly meet again next week, how about a history lesson on the other do-or-die games that the two teams have ever played?

It wasn't until 1949, about a half-century into each team's existence, that the first such game occurred. The Red Sox went into a season-ending two-game series at New York needing just one win to secure the American League pennant, but got none as the Yankees won both games to leapfrog them in the standings and take the pennant for themselves.

Fast-forward about 30 years to 1978. The Red Sox led the Yankees in the American League East by as many as 14 games as late as July 19. But both clubs ended the regular season proper with 99 wins to set up a one-game playoff at Fenway Park.

Cue Bucky "Bleeping" Dent, and a 5-4 victory for the Yankees:

Now skip ahead 25 years to 2003, wherein Boston and New York met in the American League Championship Series and played to a decisive Game 7. The Red Sox had a 5-2 lead behind Pedro Martinez in that one, but Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada set 'em up and future Yankees manager Aaron Boone knocked 'em down for a 6-5 win in extras: 

It wasn't until 2004 that the Red Sox finally broke the mold. What was originally a seemingly insurmountable 0-3 deficit to the Yankees in the ALCS became a 3-3 tie, and then Boston went to town in a 10-3 win in Game 7:

Weirdly, it's because of that game that the Red Sox have actually outscored the Yankees by three runs in the four winner-take-all games that they've ever played. The only scoreboard that matters, though, ultimately reads 3-1 in favor of New York.

Should the Red Sox and Yankees meet again in the AL Wild Card game and the Yankees win, it'll be deja vu. But should a grudge match go to the Red Sox, it obviously wouldn't be the first time that they proved history is a record of what was and not what must be.

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Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge isn't overly worried after suffering a dislocated pinky finger while sliding into second base during Sunday's 6-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

"Not too concerned with it," Judge—who remained in the game after popping the finger back into place—said after the game. "I really don't know what's going on with it, but I don't really need it to hit, so I think we're going to be in good shape."

Manager Aaron Boone was also optimistic about his star's status. 

"We'll see," Boone told reporters of the injury. "He was able to pop it back. Hopefully, we're all right moving forward."

Judge played a key role in the win, as he hit a go-ahead two-run double in the top of the eighth inning. 

He later scored on a two-run homer by Giancarlo Stanton.

Durability has been a concern at times for the 29-year-old throughout his career. He appeared in just 28 games during the shortened 2020 campaign after playing 102 in 2019 and 112 in 2018.

When healthy, he is one of the anchors of the New York lineup and among the league's best power hitters. He launched 52 home runs as the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year and hit 27 long balls in back-to-back years despite the amount of games he missed in 2018 and 2019.

Judge is hitting .284 with a .903 OPS, piling up 36 home runs and 92 RBI this year for the Bronx Bombers.

With Judge being able to remain in the game, it's not clear if he will have to miss any time. The Yankees could turn to Joey Gallo, Brett Gardner and Tyler Wade in the outfield with Stanton at designated hitter if Judge is sidelined at all.

Losing Judge for any period of time would be a tough blow as New York looks to secure a playoff spot. The Yankees (89-67) currently hold a one-game lead over the Red Sox (88-68) for the top American League Wild Card Spot and sit two games clear of the Toronto Blue Jays (87-69), who are on the outside looking in, as well.

New York Yankees left fielder Joey Gallo exited Saturday's game against Cleveland with tightness in his neck.

Tyler Wade replaced the two-time All-Star in the top of the fourth. Gallo was 0-for-1 in his only plate appearance.

The 27-year-old has fallen short of expectations with the Bronx Bombers since he arrived from the Texas Rangers ahead of the MLB trade deadline.

In his first 95 games this season, Gallo had a .379 on-base percentage and a .490 slugging percentage. Following the trade, those figures were .311 and .447 entering Saturday. His OPS has fallen over 100 points to .758. The short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium hasn't boosted his power numbers.

Some of his Yankees production comes down to bad luck. According to FanGraphs, Gallo has a .191 batting average on balls in play, well below his career rate (.265). However, he's also struck out in 38.8 percent of his plate appearances, which is by far the highest mark among Yankees regulars.

Even if it isn't serious, Gallo's neck injury couldn't have come at a worse time. Over his last 10 games, he owned a .333/.406/1.000 slash line with six home runs. He credited the team's hitting coaches with helping him tweak his swing to spur the turnaround.

That progress, however, might grind to a halt if he has to remain out of the lineup for multiple games.

Is it possible that Gleyber Torres isn't long for the New York Yankees?

That this is even a question amid Torres' fourth year in the big leagues is remarkable in and of itself. This is, after all, the same guy who was an All-Star both as a 21-year-old rookie in 2018 and as a 22-year-old sophomore in 2019.

Yet the last two seasons have been a mighty struggle for him offensively, as he's hit just .250 with 10 home runs over 154 games. He's also been a near-constant source of frustration for the Yankees in the field, specifically in the 144 contests in which he's started at shortstop. 

In all, the Venezuela native has been worth 0.4 wins above replacement since the start of the shortened 2020 season. That's 6.2 less than he was worth in 2018 and 2019 and among the dregs of players who've gotten in at least 150 games over the last two years.

Mercifully, the Yankees pulled the plug on Torres as a shortstop when they moved him back to second base Monday. The next day, manager Aaron Boone didn't like how Torres neglected to run out a ground ball and banished him to the bench.

The obvious bright side is that Torres will only turn 25 years old on Dec. 13. Another lesser yet significant bright side is that his rights are under the Yankees' control through 2024. Put together, these two things amount to an excuse for patience.

The big question, then, is how much of a project Torres has become. Is he just a few tweaks away from reclaiming his stardom? Or does he need a full-on reboot, preferably in a city other than New York?

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What the Heck Happened to His Bat?

It ought to be difficult to explain how Torres has gone from an .849 OPS in his first two seasons to a .687 OPS in his most recent two, but the overarching cause is straightforward.

He used to hit for power. Now he doesn't.

The 62 home runs that he hit across 2018 and 2019 weren't just impressive. They were historic, in that they were the most all-time by a middle infielder in his first two seasons. To go from that to 10 homers in nearly a full season's worth of games is a drastic fall.

Torres' Statcast metrics tell an easy-to-understand story of how his power has dried up. His average launch angle is on a steady downward trajectory, going from 19 degrees in 2018 to 14 degrees in 2021. His average exit velocity peaked at 89.1 mph in 2019 and is at 86.9 mph this year. In short, he's neither getting under the ball nor hitting it hard like he used to.

Dig a little deeper, and an even more ominous culprit for Torres' power outage emerges. Whereas his performance against breaking and off-speed stuff could be worse, his capacity for slugging fastballs has all but disappeared:

You might think this is a swing-and-miss problem, yet Torres' whiff rate against fastballs is actually down from his first two seasons. For that matter, his average exit velocity against fastballs is only 0.2 mph lower than it was in 2019.

Rather, Torres' malfunction relates to how he is (or, more accurately, isn't) turning on fastballs.

A career-low 28.7 percent of the right-handed swinger's batted balls off heaters are going to his pull side. And even when he does pull a fastball to left field, it's generally not with the same exit velocity that he was previously capable of.

Weirdly, this trend also applies to off-speed and breaking pitches:

The general picture here is that of a hitter who's getting jammed when he tries to turn on heat and yet also gets jammed when he tries to turn on something slower. Either way, he's being cut off from his best field for slugging.

Weirdness like this might be ascribed to an injury, but Torres has been largely the same on either side of last year's hamstring strain and this year's thumb sprain. So unless he has some nagging injury that he and the Yankees are keeping quiet, his real problem is mechanical, mental or some combination of the two.

Observationally speaking, Torres has come to look like a guy who doesn't know what kind of hitter he wants to be. It's hard to tell whether he's seeking something to drive or if he's merely trying to get on base. As a result, he's not doing much of either.

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What the Heck Happened to His Glove?

As Torres was coming up through the minor leagues in the mid-2010s, the scouting reports on him were generally positive regarding his defense. For instance, take the book on him from Baseball America at the outset of 2018: 

Defensively, there's no reason Torres can't stick at shortstop, but the emergence of Didi Gregorius in New York necessitated that Torres learn other positions quickly. He shuffled around during his brief season, playing 15 games at third base and 10 more at second base before the injury. He has the above-average range and arm to play those positions or shortstop. If he were to land at third base, he would hit for enough power to profile there.

At no point, however, has Torres lived up to this billing. Apart from the five defensive runs saved that he posted at second base in '18, his defensive metrics have been universally below average. Outs above average (minus-28) is especially harsh on him, rating him as one of the worst everyday fielders of the last four years.

Though OAA dings Torres for being bad at making plays to his right, it's the errors that stand out the most. He made nine of them in only 40 games at shortstop in 2020 and 18 in 108 games at short this year.

While it's sometimes unfair to judge a guy by his errors, what makes Torres' boots so infuriating is how avoidable they should have been. As seen here, here and here, he's bobbled too many balls hit right at him. There have also been times when he's botched eminently makeable plays (see here and here) with unnecessarily fancy execution. 

In fairness, Torres probably doesn't deserve to have 10 throwing errors this year. Some of those (like this one and this one) were more so his first baseman's fault. But said first basemen could just as easily argue that Torres didn't make accurate throws from shortstop as often as he should have. Which, well, fair enough.

If nothing else, all this suggests Torres simply has a hard time focusing when he's in the field. Yet the way in which he's tended to turn relatively easy plays into mishaps also makes it fair to question whether he has the hands or the instincts to play anywhere on the infield, much less shortstop.

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Where Do the Yankees Go from Here?

At least for now, it doesn't sound like the Yankees are ready to give up on him.

“We forget he is still a young player,” Boone said, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. “He’s had massive success at the big league level. I still think there is a chance for him to be an impact player in this league for a long time.”

After his back-to-back lost seasons, however, the Yankees have every reason to wonder if Torres can get back to what he was in 2018 and 2019 without dramatic change.

Whether it's an overhaul of his batting mechanics or some such project, said change could specifically concern him. Or, if what he really needs is someone other than Boone managing him, said change could be one that impacts every other player on the Yankees.

If the Yankees are going to move on from Torres, it almost certainly won't be by way of a non-tender. It's obviously suboptimal that he's already a replacement-level player making $4 million with three more trips through arbitration to go. But at least until his salary starts climbing into the eight-figure range, he's more likely to leave town via a trade.

Should the Yankees pursue that route this winter, they'll surely be selling low on Torres. But that's not to say that they would stand to gain nothing from trading him.

They could find a team willing to do a one-for-one reclamation-project swap. If such a deal were to save the Yankees some money, they would have that much more capital to put toward one of the market's top free-agent shortstops. Think Corey Seager. Or Trevor Story. Or best of all, Carlos Correa.

The only bad decision the Yankees can make is sticking with the status quo. That would mean simply waiting on Torres to go from "broken" to "fixed," which is basically waiting on a miracle.

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Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge exited Sunday's game against the New York Mets in the third inning because of dizziness, which he experienced during his first at-bat of the game.

"Hopefully, it's something that subsides here over the next little bit, and get him back in there tomorrow," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, per ESPN's Buster Olney

Judge—who was 0-for-2 before exiting the game—was replaced by veteran Brett Gardner.

Prior to this season, Judge had issues staying on the field consistently. The three-time All-Star missed a total of 142 games from 2018 to 2020. His performance did remain strong with a .274/.381/.536 slash line and 63 homers during that span. 

Judge didn't have any serious injury woes in the first half of this season. He appeared in 84 of 89 games by the All-Star break. However, the 29-year-old was among six Yankees players who began the second half on the COVID-19 injured list. 

Up until a recent slump, New York had fared much better after adding Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo added to its lineup at the trade deadline. Now, the Yankees (79-63) sit a half-game back of the Toronto Blue Jays (80-63) and the Red Sox (81-64) in the American League wild card race.

Judge has been the Yankees best offensive player so far in 2021. He entered Sunday hitting .294/.378/.538 with 32 homers and 79 RBI in 128 games.

Count second baseman DJ LeMahieu among those who are discouraged by the New York Yankees' recent struggles.

After the Bronx Bombers fell 10-3 to the New York Mets on Friday night to extend their losing streak to seven games, LeMahieu said the recent lack of success hasn't sat well with the team, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today: "I think we're beyond frustrated. But now is not the time to point fingers at anybody. It's not too late to raise our game and collectively get out of it together."

Shortly before the seven-game losing streak, the Yanks enjoyed a 13-game winning streak that took them from out of the playoff picture to the No. 1 wild-card spot in the American League.

Now, entering play Saturday, the Yankees are hanging by a thread to the No. 2 wild-card position, leading the Toronto Blue Jays by only a half-game.

Toronto had been on the fringes of the wild-card race, but after earning a four-game sweep over the Yanks at Yankee Stadium, the Blue Jays closed the gap significantly. Those four losses for New York came on the heels of two straight losses to the 46-94 Baltimore Orioles.

The Yankees were able to keep the No. 2 wild-card spot Friday despite the loss to the Mets since Toronto lost as well.

LeMahieu, for his part, has struggled through a down year compared to his first two seasons in New York.

In 2019, he hit .327 with 26 home runs and 102 RBI, resulting in an All-Star nod, a Silver Slugger Award and a fourth-place finish in the AL MVP voting. Last season, LeMahieu won the batting title by hitting .364 and finished third in the AL MVP voting.

So far this season, his average is down to .268, and he has clubbed just nine homers and 54 RBI as New York's primary leadoff man.

Inconsistency has plagued LeMahieu and the team as a whole this season, and the three-time All-Star acknowledged that fact, saying: "We've been the streakiest team in the league. Either we've been playing really bad or unbelievable. Not a whole lot in between. One good game and the tides can turn in a hurry."

One positive for the 78-63 Yankees is that their upcoming schedule looks fairly easy on paper.

Their next 12 games will come against non-playoff teams in the Mets, Minnesota Twins, Orioles, Cleveland and Texas Rangers. That run will be followed by tough three-game sets against the Boston Red Sox, Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays to close the season.

The lone member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America who didn't vote Derek Jeter into the Hall of Fame shouldn't expect a gift basket from the legendary New York Yankees shortstop.

During his induction speech Wednesday, Jeter thanked the baseball writers and added "all but one of you."

In total, 397 ballots were cast for the 2020 Hall of Fame class, and 396 of them included Jeter. His 99.7 percent vote share was the second-highest behind former teammate Mariano Rivera, the only unanimous HOF selection to date.

Whether you're named on 75 percent or 100 percent of the ballots, there isn't much distinction to be had as long as you meet the threshold for induction. And going in on the first ballot—as Jeter did—is on its own a signal of a player's status within the game.

But the Miami Marlins CEO still hasn't forgotten the one holdout who prevented him from earning special distinction among baseball immortals.

New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole left his start Tuesday versus the Toronto Blue Jays with left hamstring tightness.

Gerrit Cole left the game in the 4th inning after this discussion on the mound with the trainer

(Via @TalkinYanks)pic.twitter.com/xZSjpOn5iJ

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) September 8, 2021

The right-hander has been durable for much of his career and made 32 or more starts four times in a five-year span from 2015 through 2019 while pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros.

Cole started 12 games during the shortened 2020 campaign for the Yankees and finished with a 2.84 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 94 strikeouts in 73 innings.

The dominant performance underscored the 30-year-old's place as one of the best pitchers in the league. He is a four-time All-Star who led the league with a 2.50 ERA in 2019 for an Astros squad that reached the World Series.

Cole has followed with another strong season (14-6, 2.73 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 215 strikeouts) in 2021.

Any sort of extended absence would hinder the Yankees' push to lock up a spot in the postseason. 

New York Yankees Spanish radio announcer Rickie Ricardo was called upon for the save Wednesday night. In this case, to help out legendary play-by-play announcer John Sterling. 

Ricardo appeared on WFAN's Moose and Maggie show Thursday and recounted (h/t Peter Botte of the New York Post) how he was called to pick up Sterling in Edgewater, New Jersey, after the 83-year-old's car flooded and left him stranded as he was attempting to go home from the Bronx amid Hurricane Ida after the Yankees' 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

The game was in Los Angeles, though Yankees broadcasters have been working from Yankee Stadium during road games throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Ricardo said Sterling's broadcast partner, Suzyn Waldman, called him to let him know Sterling was in trouble:

Suzyn asked me, 'Where are you?' I said, 'I'm working my way across upper Manhattan to get to the [George Washington] Bridge to get to New Jersey.' She says, 'John is stuck on River Road in Edgewater.' Now, I know for years, I've seen how bad it gets flooded on River Road in Edgewater, and with the kind of rain we had, I can only imagine. So I said, 'Suzyn, I'm on my way. I more or less know where he lives. I'll figure out where he's at and see what I can do.'

Our own @RR_RicardoFAN is a hero? Indeed, he told @MandMWFAN on today's #OutToLunch how he rescued a stranded John Sterling after last night's Yankees game. pic.twitter.com/KRkCKWUa3N

— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) September 2, 2021

Ricardo managed to get ahold of Sterling on his cell phone and locate him, despite a power outage in the area that caused the lights to go out. He said he saw about 25 other vehicles stranded near Sterling's car.

"I pull up and John says, 'Is that you?' I said, 'Yeah it's me. I'm flashing my lights, I'm now behind you, I'm as close as I could get,'" Ricardo said. "Because his car, his wheels, now are completely covered by water. [There's] water in the cabin. I get as close as I can and said, 'Let me help you out.'"

Ricardo helped Sterling out of his car and into his SUV. He said it took about an hour to get Sterling back to his residence, which was about half a mile from where his car was abandoned, and another hour for Ricardo to go the one mile between his home and Sterling's, with a number of roads shut down because of the flooding. 

Per Reuters, at least 12 New York City residents were killed in the flash flooding that hit the metropolis, leaving streets and the subway system overflowing with water.