WHY THE YANKEES LOST A HEARTBREAKER IN ANAHEIM

No one likes these late night West Coast games. Everyone has to stay up late to see if the Yankees can win these games, and if they do, it makes the next day feel better. But, if they don’t, it gives everyone, like me, a bad taste going into tomorrow. The latter scenario, unfortunately, happened as the Yanks lost on a Mark Trumbo walk off homer, 9-8.

 

This game in Anaheim was a roller coaster of a game, to say the least. Jered Weaver had to leave the game after 12 pitches due to a bad back, and the Yankees were able to jump out to a 3-0 lead before Phil Hughes took the mound. Hughes then allowed four runs in the first, and proceeded to struggle the rest of the way through his 5.1 innings of work. It was tied in the ninth when Cory Wade came on and he promptly allowed a walk-off, solo homer to Mark Trumbo. What a crummy game.

Eight runs should be enough to win on a normal night, but the Yankees let some golden opportunities go by the wayside. The Yanks went 3-for-11 with RISP, but they left 11 men on base, and three of the eight runs they scored were un-earned. The glaring opportunity that they let get away was in the ninth inning when Derek Jeter came up with the bases loaded against Jordan Walden. Walden was laboring, but Jeet had to swing at the first pitch which resulted in a weak ground ball to second to end the threat. I love you Jeet, but can you sit back and wait for a better pitch to hit, considering you guys had Walden on the ropes?

We can blame the offense for not coming up in key spots with runs to close out the game, but at the same time, shouldn’t eight runs be enough to win the game? The answer, without hesitation, should be yes. Phil Hughes, as noted, started this game and stunk. He allowed a career high 11 hits in this game on seven runs when it could have been much, much more. Just as I started to believe in Hughes again he had to fail. Hopefully he can turn it around next time out in Detroit.

Final Score: Angels 9 - Yankees 8.

The loss snaps the Yankees’ five game win streak, sadly. Andy Pettitte (2-1, 2.53 ERA) will oppose Dan Haren (2-5, 3.76 ERA), so that should be fun. Hopefully the Yankees can split this series at a game apiece, thus starting a new streak.

 

--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse


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