SLOPPY BASEBALL FORCES A YANKEE LOSS TO JAYS

The Yankees are playing crappy baseball right now, folks. They have been, really, since the Oakland series. Following an 8-5 loss, the Yanks are now 18-21 in their last 39 games dating back to that Oakland series on July 19. Let’s try to recap without being too negative…

CC Sabathia started, but he was not his vintage self. He went 7 innings and allowed five runs (two earned) while letting up nine hits and striking out eight. He also allowed a mammoth two-run home run to Yunel Escobar, who had four hits on the afternoon, in the sixth. With the injured offense under performing, we need CC to consistently give us good starts. This, unfortunately, was not one of them.

The bullpen that followed Sabathia wasn’t that great either, for the most part. Derek Lowe came in in the eighth and immediately allowed a double to Escobar before Kelly Johnson reached on a bunt single, thus knocking Lowe out of the game. Boone Logan followed and retired the only man he faced. Cody Eppley allowed two runs (one earned) in his inning of work, while Clay Rapada allowed a walk to the only man he faced.

Finally, in the ninth, Joba Chamberlain came on and allowed a bloop double to, you guessed it, Yunel Escobar (which should have been caught after Andruw Jones could not read the ball correctly off the bat).

The offense was also shaky in this one. Yes, they scored five runs, and that should be enough to win when you have a guy like CC on the mound, but they were worse than the total suggests. For starters, two of the runs scored on a Curtis Granderson sun-aided double in the third that should have been caught by Rajai Davis. The Yanks, as a team, put up a 3-for-17 (.176 BA) showing with RISP on the afternoon. Believe it or not, the Yankees have been doing better with RISP since the All Star Break, so maybe this is a blip and not a sign of things to come.

Finally, the defense was also less than ideal. They committed three errors which equated to four unearned runs. The first error came in the very first inning on a Derek Jeter throwing error. Thankfully, no runs came to score. The second error came in the third on a Jayson Nix throwing error as he was trying to throw out Jeff Mathis at second. This error resulted in three unearned runs. The final error came in the ninth on an Eric Chavez miscue at third. He was trying to field a grounder, but the ball ate him up, thus resulting in an additional unearned run for the Jays.

This one really seemed like more than a three run game. It’s pretty inexplicable to lose a three game series to the Blue Jays, especially at home, but what can you do?

Final Score: Blue Jays 8 - Yankees 5.

The Yanks have an off day on Thursday before they kick off a crucial three game series against the Baltimore Orioles. Hiroki Kuroda ( 12-9, 2.98 ERA) is scheduled to face Miguel Gonzalez (5-3, 3.66 ERA) Friday night in the Bronx.



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


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