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.
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