You are not hallucinating. (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)
What do you get when you mix several players simultaneously slumping, with injuries to what feels like half the lineup, combined with facing two of the top four pitchers in the American League at the outset of a week that featured a game that ended at 2am along with a flight to the west coast and having to play three games in three cities within a three-day span? Apparently something that looks like the current iteration of the rather bruised, exhausted and pretty-hard-to-watch-right-now Yankees, who lost to the Angels 6-0, dropping their fourth game in a row.
Not to take anything away from either Jered Weaver or Dan Haren, who have both had exemplary seasons, but they really got the Yankees at basically the best possible time. That’s not to say they wouldn’t still have been able to contain them, but I’m pretty sure a fully healthy and rested Yankee offense manages more than one run and seven hits over 17 combined innings.
Regardless, Haren was in total control, hurling the first complete-game shutout against the Yankees this season — including retiring 18(!) batters in a row at one point between the second and 8th innings — holding the Yankees to no runs on four hits. This was the 7th time this season the Yankees were shutout, To his credit, CC Sabathia really battled in this one despite having nowhere close to his best stuff, laboring through six innings but only yielding one run.
The game was still well within reach until Hector Noesi came on in the 7th and gave up four runs, capped off by a booming two-run home run to Jeff Mathis — yes, JEFF “TWENTY-FOUR WRC+” MATHIS, who maddeningly went 2-2 with a walk. When you’re not able to retire Jeff Mathis, you know you’re in a bad way.
Oh yeah, and Russell Martin had to leave the game with a bruised hand, and with Francisco Cervelli out due to concussion-like symptoms, the Yankees were forced to allow Jorge Posada catch for the first time all season — including spring training — lest they lose the designated hitter by shifting Jesus Montero to catcher.
There isn’t much left to say at the moment. The Yankee offense is in a brutal slump — and unfortunately the next two pitchers they face are Ervin Santana and Felix Hernandez — and the injuries just keep piling up. If you’re looking for silver linings, I hear Boston’s also lost four in a row.
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3 Responses to Slumbering bats no match for brilliant Haren in first complete-game shutout against Yankees this season
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TIQ IQ
This team cannot smash #3 or better starters.
Check their games since August 1 and you will find they smashed only one true #3 or better starter: Gavin Floyd. They got lucky last month because they missed Weaver, Santana, and Shields.
Basically all this team does is beat up on 4s and 5s as they should, but how ’bout they do the same to a #3 or better for once? Boston destroyed “King Felix” once this year – why can’t the Yanks?
The remaining schedule could see them drawing Romero, Morrow, Price twice, Shields twice, Hellickson, Beckett, and Lester along with Santana and Hernandez for eleven #3 or better starters in the final 18 games, twelve if they draw Baker, Duensing, or Liriano for Minnesota in the makeup game against them 9/19. They could even draw Pineda of Seattle for another #3 or better. If the Yanks don’t smash one of those starters, honestly, I would be surprised if they made it out of the first round especially against Detroit whose entire postseason rotation is #3 or better starters.
You have to knock out a good starter at some point if you want to go far in the postseason because you’re most likely not getting a quality start every start.
Posada did very well. He should get the start today.
[...] of course pitched the first complete-game shutout of the season against the Yankees, racking up a Game Score of 86, second among all starters that faced the Yankees this season to [...]