Source: FanGraphs

The Yankees just plain old suck right now. There’s really no other way to put it and there’s no sense in sugar-coating it. They suck and it’s rather annoying to walk. I suppose it’s a good thing they’re headed to the West Coast in a few days so most of the fanbase will be asleep while they’re busy sucking on Pacific Standard Time. Let’s recap…

• Better Than Johnny: The Yankees are struggling so much offensively that their only hope for scoring multiple runs is getting guys on base in front of Raul Ibanez and hoping he runs into one. Kinda like the 2008 Mariners. Ibanez hit a mammoth two-run homer in the sixth to give his team a two-run lead on Sunday afternoon, his latest timely hit in a season full of them.
• Better Than This: After six really strong innings to open the game, CC Sabathia let things get away in the seventh. Ryan “65 OPS+” Ludwick homered on the first pitch of the inning, then Ryan Hanigan homered in an 0-2 count a few batters later to tie the game. Things really fell apart after that, and CC eventually walked Brandon Phillips with the bases loaded to give the Reds the lead. It was his third consecutive walk and frankly he should have been out of the game after walking Joey Votto one batter earlier. Sabathia had walked two straight to load the bases and was over 100 pitches on the afternoon and over 30 in the inning. Still, a two-run lead with your ace on the mound in the seventh? The lead should last more than two outs.
• Insurance Runs: A one-run deficit isn’t the end of the world, but it became a three-run deficit when Rafael Soriano allowed a bullet into the corner by that Ludwick guy with two men on in the ninth. Dewayne Wise made a valiant diving attempt but came up empty. Boone Logan allowed the two baserunners on a legit single and an infield single that probably should have been an error — it was hard-hit but a big league shortstop should make that play. Wise’s diving attempt will have people pining for Brett Gardner, but how about not letting Ryan freakin’ Ludwick hit two balls hard in the span of two at-bats? He’s terrible.
• Leftovers: The homer to Hanigan was the first 0-2 homer Sabathia has allowed since 2007 and the bases loaded walk was his first since 2010 … it looked like Alex Rodriguez hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth, but the wind knocked the ball down* and it was caught at the track … A-Rod went 0-for-4 and saw a total of six pitches … Robinson Cano, Ibanez, and Chris Stewart each had two hits while Curtis Granderson and Eric Chavez had one … Grandy and Cano had the two walks.

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs the nerd score, and ESPN the updated the standing. The Royals are coming to town for a three-game series, and I look forward to watching the Yankees make Felipe Paulino look like a Cy Young contender on Monday night. Hiroki Kuroda gets the ball for the good guys.

* A-Rod’s not hitting for power these days anyway, but it was windy as hell at the park and that sucker looked long gone off bat.

Source: FanGraphs

The Yankees continue to be plagued by the same ol’ problems — underwhelming starting pitching and a lack of hitting with men on base — but they had the tying run on third and the winning run on second in the bottom of the ninth against the Reds on Saturday. They were thisclose. Let’s recap…

• Nova’s Dozen: The good news is that Ivan Nova struck out a career-high 12. The bad news is that he allowed five runs in six innings, including a three-run bomb by Joey Votto that essentially put the game away. Nova’s right ankle/foot seemed to be fine but he’s still not right. He again made several mistakes up in the zone but did a good job burying his breaking balls for swinging strikes — he had 23 swings and misses on the afternoon. Ivan still needs to find a balance between all these strikeouts (good!) and extra-base hits allowed (bad!).
• Chip Away: The Yankees were playing from behind all afternoon, but they slowly chipped away at Cincinnati’s lead with a solo homer from Russell Martin, a run-scoring double from Raul Ibanez, and a solo homer from Jayson Nix before putting together an almost game-tying rally in the ninth. They went hitless with runners in scoring position until that ninth inning.
• Almost: After getting blown away by Aroldis Chapman in the eighth — he went to a 3-1 count on all three batters, but they all made outs — the Yankees put something together against Sean Marshall. Ibanez (double off a lefty!) and Swisher started the inning with hits then Andruw Jones and Nix did the same after Martin’s strikeout. Derek Jeter came to the plate with the Yankees down a run and he tried his hardest to ground into a double play on the first pitch, but he beat the relay at first. Curtis Granderson managed to turn a 3-0 count into a 3-2 count before grounding out to end the game. I’ll never understand why they turned him loose on 3-0, but whatever. Take the walk and let Robbie Cano bat with the bases juiced. They had a chance to tie but couldn’t get that last run in.
• Leftovers: David Phelps allowed what ultimately proved to be the winning run when he made a great diving catch and immediately threw the ball away trying to double the runner off first … Ibanez (two), Swisher (two), and Nix (three!) had multiple hits while the 2-3-4 hitters went 0-for-12 with a walk.

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs the nerd score, and ESPN the updated standings. Call me crazy, but I feel like the Yankees are on the verge of something big. I feel an offensive explosion coming on, and I hope it happens when I’m in attendance tomorrow. Aces CC Sabathia and Johnny Cueto square off in Sunday’s rubber game.