Nick Jonas

Yankees

As the first pitch of the game leaves James Paxton's hand, the buzz in the stadium seems to get louder, and continues to increase in volume as the first Mariner sends a ground ball towards third. It's an easy play, however, and it takes the Yankees only nine pitches to retire the side.

"Excellent," I say, because you really couldn't have hoped for anything better for the first inning.

"So, how long do the starters normally pitch for?" Laine asks me as Sheffield of the Mariners throws a few warmup pitches.

"Around four or five innings, six if the manager can get it out of them," I explain, and Nick nods, listening to the conversation.

"The longer they can pitch, the better, but you can't overdo it otherwise their pitches get sloppy," he says.

"Oh. So once this Paxton guy is done, then who comes in?" Laine says.

"Depends on how long he goes for. If it's only four or five innings, then the relief pitcher, but if it's seven or eight, then the closer would come in straight away," I tell him, and he seems to understand.

"Good, here comes LeMahieu," Nick says, and Laine seems to notice how attentive we are, because he follows suit and watches carefully.

He grounds out to third, not so eventful, and then Judge comes up next. He strikes out looking four pitches later, something that makes me shake my head but say nothing as his eyes meet mine on his descent into the dugout.

"Well, that was pitiful," Nick whispers when he's out of sight.

"He'll get it later," I respond, focusing now on Gleyber Torres, who has reached on an infield single.

Gary Sanchez walks to the plate, having a terrific at bat before hitting a ball so squarely it makes a crack that resonates through the stadium. Nick, Joe, Kevin and I immediately get to our feet, Laine following suit as thousands of Yankee fans rise around us.

"That one's gone!" Nick says, electrified, as the whole stadium watches the ball fly over the left field fence. The classic home run siren blares as we all high five each other and those sitting around us; Torres scores just in front of Sanchez and like that the Yankees are up 2-0.

"This is awesome!" Laine says, and Nick and I grin at each other; he likes our favorite sport already.

"You know it! Best sport in the world!" Nick yells back, and I agree as the crowd finally settles down to watch Brett Gardner line out to center for the last out of the inning.

The score stays 2-0 until the top of the fifth, when the Mariners get two men on base and then retaliate with a home run of their own. This quiets the crowd down a lot, including my family and Laine.

"That's not what you want," Joe says, leaning over, and I shake my head.

"Definitely not what you want."

The Yankees finish the inning without further damage being done, but we're losing now. However, the meat of our lineup is coming up now, a fact that Laine has picked up on though neither Nick and I have said anything.

"Well, here comes Ford, Maybin, and a pinch hitter to replace Paxton next inning, correct? So that's good, right?" he says, and Nick looks impressed as I nod.

"Exactly. It's very ideal. If we're lucky, we'll even see LeMahieu and Judge this inning," I tell him, and he refocuses on the game, studying it.

Ford sends the first pitch of his at bat over the right field fence, sending the stadium into a frenzy as the Yankees take back the lead. Maybin grounds out, but Tyler Wade, the pinch hitter, doubles to left and then steals third on the next pitch. LeMahieu is up, singles to left field, and Wade scores easily. And then Aaron Judge's walkup music begins to play, making Nick and I look at each other immediately.