WHY CAN'T THE YANKEES BEAT UP AMERICAN LEAGUE RIVALS?

It's Mother's Day. Unfortunately, the Yankees are not home, they are in Tampa, which means that the game is at Tropicana Field which also means that my blood pressure is higher than normal. The Yankees play well against tough teams, but when they play AL East teams, they seem to cave. Why can't the Yankees beat up American League rivals? Your guess is as good as mine.

"On Saturday, the top two hitters in the Rays lineup combined to go 5-for-7 with three doubles, two home runs, five runs and six RBIs to even the series ahead of Sunday’s rubber game," reported the New York Post. This after the Yankees played a nail biter against their nemesis on Friday night that led to a 2-0-win Yankees win. 

Their bats went quiet, and the bull pen got lit up by the Rays hitters on Saturday. "The Yankees (26-15) got a three-hit day from Anthony Volpe, but only two other hits from the rest of the lineup," reported the Post. And who came to life? Yandy Diaz and Randy Arozarena. As the Post says, "ganging up on the Yankees." 

Their offense goes off against the Astros, but it is silenced against the Baltimore Orioles. They somehow have the magic touch when the Yankees play against them. According to ESPN, "The Yankees, featuring two of the sport's biggest stars in Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, are expected to contend again. The Orioles might have their best team since the 1990s with an exciting young core and new ownership group invigorating the fanbase." And it was the Orioles that took the early season series against the Yankees (3 out of the 4 games).  They will face the Orioles again at Yankee Stadium in June. But my fear is that they have the same kind of outcome. 

According to ESPN, "The New York offense, a bit feast-or-famine thus far, has already been shut out four times in 27 games. It has scored fewer than five runs in 12 games and is in middle of the pick in runs per game. Judge finally got his season batting average above .200 on Sunday. The pitching staff, meanwhile, is tied for the second-best ERA in the majors despite not having Gerrit Cole and losing Jonathan Loáisiga for the season."

The Yankees need to figure out how to pull it all together. With Cole likely back in June, and the bull pen hopefully getting some arms back as well, the Yankees need to right the ship with American League East teams this June when they play Boston, Baltimore and Toronto. 

As my son says to me all of the time, the Yankees need to "pummel teams." Like they did with Houston. And this means taking down AL East teams and reminding them who is boss. We can start with a series win today, Mother's Day, against the Rays. Then, we go out to red hot Minnesota and do the same. It is about winning series, convincingly, repeatedly, overtime.  

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof