Before I start the actual recap of this craptacular* game, here are a few of stats you can chew on for a while:
- The Yankees are 3-8 over their last 11 games.
- All eight losses have been by two runs or less and six have been by one run.
- The Yankees’ last nine losses have been by a combined 12 runs.
Fun, right? So, let’s get on with the post mortem, shall we?
To be honest, I don’t even know how to start this. Tonight was the third night in a row the Yankees have come up short in an attempt to comeback and win a game. And sometimes I think losses like this are much more frustrating than blow outs because at least your team is out of it and doesn’t tease you with a lead off double in the ninth inning which could be the potential tying run but that doesn’t score.
I’m sorry, where was I?
The Yankees scored first in the second inning on an RBI single by Eric Chavez. Baltimore came back in the next inning with a run of their own off the bat of Wilson Betemit who hit a Freddy Garcia offering into right field – it was Betemit’s 12th home run of the year.
The O’s struck again in the fifth inning on back to back sacrifice flies by Omar Quintanilla and Nick Markakis to pull ahead 3-1. And yet again in the seventh on an RBI double by Markakis and a J.J. Hardy single to right.
With the score 5-2, the Yankees had to try and mount a comeback.
In the bottom of the seventh, it looked like they’d have a chance. After two quick outs by Nick Swisher and Raul Ibanez to start the inning, Chavez and Ichirso Suzuki hit back to back home runs. You are reading that correctly, Ichiro hit a home run, the 100th of his career to pull the Yankees to within one run.
After a quiet bottom of the eighth, Nick Swisher got the bottom of the ninth started with a ground rule double to right center off Orioles reliever Jim Johnson. The Yankees still had life. Or so everyone thought.
Joe Girardi replaced Swisher with pinch runner Ramiro Pena. Ibanez struck out swinging, Chavez followed that up with a walk and Ichiro grounded into a force play i.e. it would have been a double play if someone else was running. Pena advanced to third and there were two outs.
It was up to Russell Martin to try and tie the game and he struck out. Ballgame over, Yankees lose.
Freddy Garcia was not that bad tonight, he pitched six innings and gave up three runs on nine hits. He also walked three and struck out two. For the Orioles, Mike Gonzalez won his third game of the season. He gave up all four runs to the Yankees on six hits, struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter.
In the past, we’ve had “What’s Wrong With Mo Week” when Mariano Rivera doesn’t seem like himself and has some bad outings in a cluster but now it seems like we are right in the middle of “What’s Wrong With The Yankees Week.” Hopefully, they can snap out it like Mo always seemed to do.
*I know craptacular isn’t a word but it should be one.
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7 Responses to The Yankees Lose Another One-Run Game, 5-4 To The Orioles
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TIQ IQ
With my beloved Yankees alternating between mediocre, incredible, and not-so-much…….my question would be, Will the real New York Yankees please stand up?
THE PROBLEM IS THE TOP FIVE HITTERS. Since coming home from Seattle the first 5 batters have a combined batting average of .170. if you take out the first game back which we won 10 to 3, their combined average is .130. If the top half of the order doesn’t start hitting, we are in for a lot more losses.
you forgot to mention the beautiful loogy work by logan and rapada:
4 bf, 0 retired, 1 2b, 2 1b, 1 bb, 2 er
rapada was bailed out by qualls logan cost us the gm(not sure why phelps didn’t start the 7th)
Get down, oogy oogy oogy.
I keep hearing about the Yankees being in a temporary funk and nothing to worry about. After all, after their first funk of the year (a 1-6 run that dropped them to 21-21), they responded by winning 20 of their next 24. So, here’s a similar funk (3-8), although now it is occurring with better pitching (at least by the starters, not the relievers) but no clutch hitting (not that there has been much of this at all this year). I hope this team does not go down as the first Yankee team to blow a lead of more than 6.5 games to lose a division (this one would match last year’s Braves and Dead Sox as chokers, since it was up to 10 games at the peak). One 2004 is enough for any lifetime. Good teams win the close ones. This is NOT a good team right now. Maybe injuries are somewhat to blame, but choking with men on base and Girardi refusing to play any semblance of “small ball” that might win a few of these close ones does not bode well for the future. Whiffing with a man on third and less than two outs is not productive. Teach them to bunt and try a squeeze once in a while — at least get a productive out since they can’t get a hit.
Oh no, craptacular is very much a word. I’ve been using it for years in relation to the Jets as a fan…
Haha.