Yanks have no answer for Lester in loss to Sox

Source: FanGraphs

Losing a game is one thing, but losing a game because of Pedro Ciriaco and Nick Punto is another matter entirely. It doesn’t help that the Yankees put the leadoff man on-base in four of nine innings and failed to bring him in all four times. So it goes. Let’s recap…

• 5-3: Jon Lester pitched very well for the Red Sox after skirting around some jams early, getting 14 outs on the ground compared to three in the air. Eight of those 14 were ground balls to Punto at third base, who made every play — routine, spectacular, or other. That got annoying in a hurry.
• Phelpsie: David Phelps pitched well enough but not as well as his pitching line — 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K — would lead you to believe. There were a number of hard-hit balls right at people, and frankly giving up extra-base hits to Punto is about as inexcusable as it gets. Don’t get me wrong, Phelps certainly did the job. Giving up a homer to Adrian Gonzalez is nothing to be ashamed of, but I thought he was more impressive in his start against the Rangers for sure.
• NOffense: The Yankees went a cool 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, the kind of RISPFAIL we haven’t experienced in a few weeks now. Nick Swisher (three singles) was a one-man army, but the 3-4-5 hitters went a combined 0-for-10 with three strikeouts. Robinson Cano is in a serious funk, a 1-for-23 kind of funk. At least Curtis Granderson — who doubled and accounted for the team’s only run with a solo jack — is showing some signs of life.
• Leftovers: It seemed very odd that Joe Girardi went to great lengths to matchup in the eighth inning but left Cody Eppley in to face two lefties in the ninth. That led to an insurance run … Eric Chavez pinch-hit late and doubled, so at least these two days on the bench haven’t cooled him off … seriously, figure out how to get Ciriaco out. Dude has a .299 OBP in over 3,500 minor league plate appearances. Just for the sake of pride at the point, figure it out … the Yankees drew only two walks, the fifth time in their last seven games they drew two or fewer. That’s not Yankees baseball, get back to working those counts, fellas.

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs some additional stats, and ESPN the updated standings. The Orioles won and the Rays are getting pounded by the Angels, so it’s safe to assume both will be six back in the loss column when you wake up. and the lolworthy Angels blew an eight-run lead to the Rays, so they are now six and five games back, respectively. I hope they kept the receipt for Zack Greinke. Anyway, Hiroki Kuroda gets the ball against Josh Beckett in the rubber game on Sunday night, so make sure you check out RAB Tickets if you’d rather watch the game in person than listen to ESPN act like the Red Sox are still in contention.