That is the season in a nutshell right there. A routine infield pop-up falling between Reid Brignac and David Adams on June 14th. That play led to a run (of course) in the eventual 5-2 loss to the Angels. The free-falling New York Generic White Guys have now dropped four straight and 12 of their last 19 games. Let’s recap Friday’s loss:
- Two Strikes, Two Outs: Andy Pettitte made some really bad two-strike pitches in this game. He hung some breaking balls and caught too much of the plate with some fastballs, leading to three two-strike hits that led directly to runs for the Halos. All five runs scored with two outs as well. Andy allowed eleven hits in his seven innings of four-run ball, striking out four and walking one. Sixty-eight of his 101 pitches were strikes (67%). As has been the case all season, the Yankees don’t win if they get something less than a very good pitching performance.
- A Flag Day Miracle: I think we were all wondering how the Bombers were going to blow their bases loaded situation in the fourth, but instead Adams put together a very nice at-bat that culminated with a two-strike, two-run, ten-hop ground ball single back up the middle. It was their first run(s) in 20 innings (!) and the only two runs they scored in the game. For the fourth time in the last five games, the Yankees scored no more than two runs.
- Is Anyone Paying Attention?: The Bombers allowed Chris Iannetta to steal second base uncontested in the eighth inning — he ran, a pitch was fouled off, then he ran again, so it was no surprise — and the run eventually came around to score. It’s the fourth time (five total steals) in the last three days they allowed a runner to steal a base without even attempting to hold him on. New York can’t score runs to save their lives, so you’d think they’d make a point of preventing opposing runners from taking the extra base. This needs to be cleaned up immediately.
- Leftovers: Robinson Cano had a chance to get the club back in the game when he batted with two on and no outs in the eighth, but he instead flew out to right … the Yankees had six hits (all singles, of course) and four walks as a team, that’s all … Chris Bootcheck made his Yankees debut and allowed a run in the eighth. He’ll be the guy you forget in the end-of-year “Name the 2013 Yankees” Sporcle quiz … for the second day in a row, Vernon Wells threw a runner out at the plate in a tie game. It helped that the corpse of Albert Pujols was running, but it was still a strong and accurate throw. Bravo.
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs the WPA Graph, and ESPN the updated standings. The Rays lost and the Orioles beat the Red Sox, so the Yankees are two back of Boston, one back of Baltimore, and two up on Tampa in the loss column. David Phelps and Tommy Hanson is your pitching matchup for game two of this series, which will be one of those always enjoyable FOX Saturday night broadcasts.
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