Source: FanGraphs
For the second time this calendar month, the Yankees have lost three straight series. They dropped two of three to the Twins, Athletics, and Royals a few weeks ago, and now they’ve done the same against the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Red Sox. Believe it or not, they never once lost three consecutive series last season. Somehow the Yankees have only lost one game in the standings during this recent three-series-loss stretch. Thank goodness the rest of the AL East is garbage too. Let’s recap Sunday’s 8-5 series finale loss to Boston:
- Party’s Over: It appears the clock has struck midnight on Chase Whitley. He allowed ten of the 18 Red Sox batters he faced to reach base after getting destroyed by the Blue Jays last time out, though Sunday’s damage was limited to only five runs because two runners were erased on double plays, one was thrown out stealing second, and one was picked off first. Whitley has now allowed 13 runs and 24 base-runners in his last 7.2 innings. The Yankees need another starter and fast.
- Almost Comeback: The Bombers made it a game in the middle innings, at least for a little while. Derek Jeter capped off an eleven-pitch at-bat with an RBI single to plate the team’s first run in the third inning, and in the fourth Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran swatted solo homers to make it 4-3. Suddenly we had a ballgame. Then four walks, one single, and one botched pickoff led to three more runs for Boston in the next half-inning and that was that. It was fun pretending the Yankees were back in this game for a few minutes.
- Bullpen Weirdness: Joe Girardi is usually very, very good with his bullpen, but there were some really funny moves in this game. Whitley was getting smacked around all night, but Girardi sent him back out to start the fifth only to yank him following a leadoff walk. If the leash is one base-runner, why not just let the reliever start the inning clean? In the sixth, Dellin Betances was brought into the game after David Huff loaded the bases with no outs. If this game is important enough to use Betances in that spot, whey even bother sending Huff out? Shawn Kelley and Huff were charged with three runs in one total inning of work. Betances threw two scoreless but did allow an inherited runner to score.
- Leftovers: Beltran was thrown out trying to score from second on Kelly Johnson’s single in the sixth inning because apparently no one has a scouting report on Jackie Bradley Jr. He might have the strongest center field arm in baseball … Ichiro Suzuki tripled (with an assist to a diving and missing Mookie Betts) four days shy of the two-month anniversary of his last extra-base hit … Beltran had three hits and Jeter had two. Brian Roberts was the only starter who failed to reach base … the Red Sox drew three straight walks to leadoff the fifth inning, which is more walks than the Yankees have had in five of their last six games … the Yankees are now 18-20 at home and have been outscored 180-140.
For the box score and video highlights, go to MLB.com. FanGraphs has some additional stats and the updated standings are at ESPN. Both the Blue Jays and Orioles lost, so the Yankees remain two back of Toronto and a half-game back of Baltimore. The Rays are coming to the Bronx next and Chris Archer and David Phelps open the three-game series on Monday night. These are the final three home games before the All-Star break, so head over to RAB Tickets if you want to catch any of them live.
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