05/17: May 17th, Yankees (1) At Chicago White Sox (4)
Posted by: James
Brutal. This team is absolutely brutal to watch right now. Remember when Yankees teams seemed to find a way to win? Remember clutch hitting and comeback wins? Well, these days, it's finding a way to lose while Boston does the exact opposite. Those among Yankees fans who still see the AL East as still being winnable...they must be counting on some major Boston injuries as that's the only foreseeable way a division title is happening. 9.5 games back (9 on the loss side) in the AL East race and 5.5 (5 on the loss side) in the AL wild card.
The game can be summed up pretty simply for those who couldn't catch it. Matt DeSalvo started out the game but didn't have the good command he showcased in previous starts. He walked four and struck out two over three and a third (76 pitches). He was taken out in the fourth after putting the first two batters of the inning to get on base. From that point on, for one night, the bullpen did it's part with Vizcaino, Bruney and Proctor combining to put up zeros for 4 and two-thirds innings.
However, the Yankees offense did absolutely nothing against Jon Garland. The only Yankees run came when Robinson Cano picked up a leadoff triple and came home on a Doug Mientkiewicz one-out double. That was it. They went quietly in the eighth and ninth and they coasted to another loss. 18-21 on May 18th (at this point in the comeback in 2005...21-19).
So far, this season, it's always been something throwing the team off. In the first month, the team couldn't get any starting pitching. This month, we're getting pretty good starting pitching (combined 3.5 ERA before today) but everyone except Jeter, Posada and Mientkiewicz seem like they're sleepwalking at the plate. Are they ever going to put both pieces of the puzzle together? I don't know the answer to that but I do know that it's getting late fast and that it doesn't get any easier and it won't for a while. If they keep playing this way, at the end of this stretch, it is pretty easy to see them being a good 12-13 games back.
The game can be summed up pretty simply for those who couldn't catch it. Matt DeSalvo started out the game but didn't have the good command he showcased in previous starts. He walked four and struck out two over three and a third (76 pitches). He was taken out in the fourth after putting the first two batters of the inning to get on base. From that point on, for one night, the bullpen did it's part with Vizcaino, Bruney and Proctor combining to put up zeros for 4 and two-thirds innings.
However, the Yankees offense did absolutely nothing against Jon Garland. The only Yankees run came when Robinson Cano picked up a leadoff triple and came home on a Doug Mientkiewicz one-out double. That was it. They went quietly in the eighth and ninth and they coasted to another loss. 18-21 on May 18th (at this point in the comeback in 2005...21-19).
So far, this season, it's always been something throwing the team off. In the first month, the team couldn't get any starting pitching. This month, we're getting pretty good starting pitching (combined 3.5 ERA before today) but everyone except Jeter, Posada and Mientkiewicz seem like they're sleepwalking at the plate. Are they ever going to put both pieces of the puzzle together? I don't know the answer to that but I do know that it's getting late fast and that it doesn't get any easier and it won't for a while. If they keep playing this way, at the end of this stretch, it is pretty easy to see them being a good 12-13 games back.
