YANKEES LOSE AND IT'S DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

(Nova delivers vs Reds today)

It was a warm and sunny day this afternoon in the Bronx where the Yankees took on the Reds in the second game of their three game series.  About the only things that were cold were the beers and the Yankee bats.  The Yankees continued to struggle at the plate and Ivan Nova, despite a career high 12 strikeouts, let the game get away in the 5th on one swing, as the Reds beat the Yankees 6-5.  The Yankees have now lost 4 out of their last 5.

(Votto's 3-run-blast in the 5th)

This was the first start for Nova since mildly spraining his ankle last week against the Mariners.  Nova, at times, was downright nasty.  His leg clearly was not an issue today but on occassion his location was and the Reds made him pay. In the 5th inning, Joey Votto broke a 2-2 tie with a 3-run-HR blast to give Cincinatti a 5-2 lead and they never looked back.  Nova's final line today:
6 IP - 7 Hits - 5 runs - 2 BB's and 12 K's.

(Raul Ibanez homers vs. Mariners last week)

The Yankees did make an attempt at a late comeback in the 9th, scoring twice to make it 6-5, but it was too little too late.  Once again, its the inability of our offense to get those big hits with runners in scoring position.  The Yanks were 2-7 today with RISP.  Yes, Russell Martin and Jayson Nix each had solo shots today but in the end this team will not consistenly win until they start getting those big hits with RISP.  Its pretty remarkable to sit back and think where this team would be without Raul Ibanez. Think about it...we have Arod, Mark Teixeira, and Robinson Cano yet its Ibanez who has become the guy you want up with RISP.  He has 25 RBI, second on the team to Nick Swisher's 27, and has gotten them on just 28 hits  Something is wrong with that picture..no offense Raul.

The Yanks send out CC monster tomorrow to try and win this series vs. the Reds before the Royals roll into town on Monday.  Once again, the final score today:  Reds 6 -- Yankees 5.

--Mikey Blue, BYB Senior Writer
Email: DonnieBaseball2323@gmail.com
Twitter: @MikeyBlu23


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