Apparently, this one doesn’t go to 11. The worst thing about winning streaks is that eventually, they come to an end. The best thing about baseball, though, is that the day after a loss, you’ve got a chance to start a new one right away. The Yankees’ ten game winning streak was stopped last night, thanks to a 4-3 loss at the hands of the Braves. Hiroki Kuroda wasn’t sharp, but he wasn’t disastrous either, as he allowed four runs in seven innings, striking out six. However, he did walk three and back-to-back run scoring innings by the Braves (top 3, top 4) were the downfall for Hirok.
With the Yankees up 2-0 (thanks to a Nick Swisher two-run double) in the top of the third, right fielder Jason Heyward smoked a ball over Curtis Granderson‘s head for a triple. On the very next pitch, shortstop Andrelton Simmons grounded out to short and Heyward scored to put the Braves on the board. Kuroda was fine the rest of the inning, but the fourth was a bit of a roller coaster. Martin Prado singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, then found himself on third thanks to a long fly ball from Brian McCann. With the powerful Dan Uggla at the plate, things looked dicey, but Kuroda was able to strike Uggla out (as he did two other times) and the inning was about to be saved. Freddie Freeman, however, had other plans; despite falling down 0-2, he was able to work a walk. Chipper Jones followed Freeman with a double that scored Prado to tie the score and moved Freeman to third. Another two out walk, this one to Heyward, followed and then another RBI single from Simmons put the Braves ahead 3-2. It would’ve been 4-2 (Jones crossed the plate on the play) if not for a heads up play by Granderson, who threw Heyward out at third before Jones scored.
Two Atlanta errors in the fourth allowed the Yankees to tie the game at three and they had a chance to take the lead. On a Swisher single in the bottom of the fifth, Mark Teixeira was thrown out at home by Heyward, and this would prove costly, thanks to a bit of bad luck in the sixth. Brian McCann doubled to lead off the inning and with one out (thanks to another Uggla strikeout), he moved to third on a grounder by Freddie Freeman. Once again, Kuroda looked poised to get out of the inning. However, he walked Chipper Jones to extend the inning. Heyward followed and hit a sharp grounder at Mark Teixeira, but the ball bounded off Tex’s foot towards the middle of the diamond and the Braves took the lead. We’ve seen Tex make that play too many times to count, so it was disappointing, despite the difficulty, to see that play result in anything but an out. Neither team would score again, though the Yankees had a shot.
Facing Johnny Venters in the seventh, the Yankees put the first two runners on (Granderson singled and Alex Rodriguez walked). With the tying and go ahead runs on, Robinson Cano pulled a grounder that moved the runners over to second and third for Tex. He hit a grounder to third and, of course, the Yankees had the contact play on. Chipper Jones easily threw out Granderson at home and Venters disposed of Raul Ibanez via strikeout and the Yankees’ threat was done. I must digress for a second: Why do teams run the contact play all the time? It’s mind boggling. Perhaps it’s confirmation bias, but it seems to work roughly 0% of the time.
Tommy Hanson and Phil Hughes get the nods this afternoon to close out the series.
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11 Responses to Yanks…lose? Streak stops at 10
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TIQ IQ
I give Kuroda credit for gutting it out on a night when he wasn’t sharp. At this point, I kinda feel he is underappreciated in the rotation, considering all the factors that could contribute to his signing having been a bad one. I think he’s been exactly what the Yankee’s wanted, if not more, and for that I say “Thanks Hiroki!”
Given the Yankees’ futility in bringing in runners in scoring position, why not try some squeeze plays instead of contact plays with a runner on third and less than two outs? Even if just a safety squeeze, it likely has a much higher probability of success than the contact play. Of course, this would require Girardi to think some “small ball,” apparently an anathema to him and much of the American League. Yet, I would bet there are more one-run games in the American League than other-run games, probably just as in the National League. The “wait for the three-run HR” philosophy of Earl Weaver is misguided in the majority of cases.
Because aside from Derek Jeter, the Yankees are generally awful at bunting.
Maybe if they practiced … But “small ball” is not a Girardi thing.
Who else do you want bunting? Granderson? No thank you. Wise and Nix? Sure, but they don’t play enough for it to matter.
Given their success rate with men on third and less than two out, I would rather see any of them bunt to get the run in. The home runs tend to come with no one on base. They aren’t even good at hitting fly balls to get the run in. Mickey Mantle used to bunt. Granderson, batting left, might even have a chance to beat one out and raise his batting average from the 0.250 range.
The Yankees are tied for 4th in the AL in SF. They’re doing just fine getting runs in from third with < 2 out. The problem is they’re not getting hits. Bunting won’t help that, especially when your team is full of bad bunters. Granderson hitting .250 w/30-40 homers is much better than Granderson hitting .280 with a bunch of bunt singles. No thanks.
Bunt with runner on third and less than two outs, not for sacrifices just to move runners into scoring position. That often wastes an out. Swing for the fences otherwise. Granderson hits 0.275 with his 30 HRs. Yanks are probably tied for 4th in SF because the get so many opportunities. Of what percentage of times do they actually cash in on those opportunities? Situational hitting, the way it used to be.
Most players on the Yankees are not good bunters. Why should they be called on to bunt? I’d say most of them, if not all of them, are more comfortable swinging away, whether to get a hit, a sac fly, or a grounder to get the runner in.
TEACH/TRAIN them to bunt. Any major league player should be able to manage such an essential baseball skill. This is a general flaw in many modern players, like their failure to “protect the plate” with two strikes, hence higher strikeout proportions than ever. Players no longer are schooled in the fundamentals, of which bunting is an important one. Even for so-called power hitters. If Tex could bunt, then he could drop a few singles down third base and maybe relieve the shift they throw at him, thereby making him more productive on grounders to the right side.
If they produced the needed slow grounders or long flies to bring runners in, then they would not need bunting. They certainly aren’t getting a high percentage of actual hits. But there’s too much whiffing going on trying for homers.
Their K% is actually lower w/RISP than it is overall.