GROUNDHOG DAY: YANKEES WASTE DECENT PITCHING & LOSE GAME 3

Surprise, surprise, the Yankees get good pitching in a playoff game but fail to capitalize on offense. To be fair, they were facing Justin Verlander, arguably the best pitcher on the planet, so it shouldn’t be too terribly surprising they only scored one run, offensive struggles notwithstanding. Still, after scoring just four runs in the first two games, it would have been great to generate some offense, especially down 2-0 in the series, but they didn’t as they lost 2-1, and their season is now on the line.

Phil Hughes started for the Yankees, and he was only able to go 3+ innings before leaving in the middle of the fourth with a stiff back. That’s worrisome because he has had a history, albeit brief, of back troubles. Before the injury, Phil allowed a solo home run to Delmon Young. Girardi mixed and matched following Hughes’ injury with David Phelps (1 inning, one un-earned run), Clay Rapada (0.2 IP), Cody Eppley (0.2 IP), and Boone Logan (2.1 IP), before finishing the game off with Joba (0.1 IP). The second run, which Phelps allowed, came on a Miguel Cabrera RBI double in the fifth.

Through the first eight innings, the Yankees, outside of two Ichiro singles, did absolutely nothing. Justin Verlander only struck out three batters, and the Yankees missed numerous pitches near the middle of the plate that they could have crushed. Instead, they either fouled them off, popped them up, or grounded out. The strike zone was an absolute disaster as well, which is something the Yankees don’t need to deal with since they have trouble scoring to begin with.

The run Verlander did allow, however, came in the ninth on a lead off shot by Eduardo Nunez.The run broke a 20-inning scoreless streak by the Yankee offense. He followed by retiring Brett Gardner on a slow come backer to the mound and was pulled in favor of Phil Coke. Coke retired Ichiro to record the second out of the ninth, but then allowed a two out single to Mark Teixiera. Robinson Cano, 0-for-the-ALCS, and 0-for-his-last-29, chipped a single to left to keep the rally alive.

It was up to Raul Ibanez, once again, to save the day. He was facing the lefty Coke, and you may have wondered why Girardi didn’t pinch-hit Alex Rodriguez or Nick Swisher for him. If Girardi did pinch-hit, Jim Leyland could have gone to Joaquin Benoit to counter the move. ARod has struggled mightily against right handed pitching in the postseason to the point where he’s practically reached “auto-out” status against them. Yes, he could have gone to Swisher, but I don’t think a cold Swisher would have come through. We’ll never know. Ibanez ended up striking out on a 3-2 off-speed pitch to end the threat and the game.

You can’t blame Joe Girardi for not trying in this game. He tried to shake the lineup as much as he possibly could, by having ARod and Swisher on the bench, as well as Brett Gardner in left field and Eduardo Nunez at short. Nunez, miraculously, did not make an error. In fact, he made a really nice diving catch to save a run in fifth inning to rob Andy Dirks of a hit. Other than possibly having Chris Stewart behind the plate (Russell Martin appeared to have trouble with his left thumb), there really aren’t any changes with the offense to be made.

Tigers defeat the Yankees, 2-1.

Well, it comes down to Game 4. The Yankees must win four straight if they want to advance to the World Series. But, they have to win Game 4 first. It’ll be CC Sabathia against Max Scherzer. The way the offense has been going this postseason, it’s either pitching a shutout or losing. It’s a damn shame.




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



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