Source: FanGraphs
We’ve reached the point where the Yankees look so washed up and non-competitive that all you can do is laugh. The losing streak reached five games on Saturday — they’ve also lost 13 of their last 20 games and are ensured of a losing road trip, not that it really matters — and as an added bonus, Mark Teixeira suffered an “aggravated right wrist” and will return to New York to get checked out by the team doctor on Sunday. Sure, why not? Let’s recap the 6-2 loss:
- Cy Hanson: Is anyone really surprised the Yankees made Tommy Hanson, he of the 4.12 ERA (5.68 FIP), look like a frontline starter on Saturday? Of course not. He struck out a season-high eight and faced the minimum three batters in four of his six full innings. The Yankees scored their only two runs in the third, when Jayson Nix followed Brett Gardner’s run-scoring triple with a run-scoring single. That’s all. They only had three other runners in scoring position in the entire game, and one got thrown out trying to steal third. For the fourth straight game and fifth time in the last six games, the Bombers scored no more than two runs.
- Plops: The pitching staff has carried the Yankees for the first two months of the season, but David Phelps became the third starter to allow at least four runs during the five-game losing streak on Saturday. Those four runs came on nine hits and two walks in six innings, making this one of his worst starts of the year. That’s a testament to how good he’s been, really. Phelps wasn’t bad but he wasn’t particularly sharp either, just one of those imperfect days. It happens. Unfortunately, that means a loss these days. Don’t count on the offense bailing anyone out.
- Leftovers: Shockingly, the murder’s row of Thomas Neal, Reid Brignac, and Chris Stewart couldn’t get Ichiro Suzuki home from third with no outs in the seventh … in other surprising news, intentionally walking the bases loaded with no outs (!) in the seventh backfired when Shawn Kelley walked in a run … Ichiro went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and was the only real bright spot for New York. He also made two stellar sliding catches in right. It was vintage Ichiro! for a night … Gardner, Nix, and Stewart all had one hit apeice and that was it. No other Yankees had hits.
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs some other stats, and ESPN the updated standings. The Red Sox beat the Orioles and the Rays won, so the Yankees are three back of Boston, one back of Baltimore, and one up on Tampa. They’re five up on the Blue Jays. This nightmare ten-game West Coast swing ends on Sunday, when CC Sabathia gets the ball against Jered Weaver.
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