When lefty Gabe Speier took off for Castillo to start the seventh, manager Aaron Boone went to his bench and sent up the righty-swinging Goldschmidt for rookie catcher J.C. Escarra, a left-handed hitter.

The St. Louis Cardinals have a budding superstar on their hands in catcher Iván Herrera. Herrera has gotten his first, real taste of a consistent opportunity this season and he has made the most of it to this point.

It speaks to Juan Soto’s brilliance that no one or even two players were going to be able to do enough in his wake to make the Yankees offense as good, much less better, than last season.