A Loss Again, Naturally

With apologies to Gilbert O'Sullivan:

To think that only yesterday
we were cheerful, bright and gay
looking forward to
Well, who wouldn't, you?
the game we were about to play.
But as if to knock us down
reality came around
and without so much
as a mere touch
broke our hopes all into pieces
leaving me to doubt
talk about that Brian Cashman.
In spite of all his "brilliant" moves
he really is such trash, man.
And in our hour of need
it truly was indeed
a loss again
naturally.

*

Okay, I don't think anyone expected the Yankees to go 162-0. I don't think anyone expects them to go 161-1.

But a lot of people either ignore the Yankees' pitching issues, left to continue to fester by Cashman's insufficient action, or presume that said issues can be overcome by simply hitting the snot out of the ball so that we outscore our opponents, no matter how bad the pitching is.

But since the 2009 World Championship, after which Cashman allowed both Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon to leave through expired contracts, the Yankees have not scored when it counted, leading to 3 losses in the American League Championship Series, 2 in the AL Division Series, 1 loss in the AL Wild Card Game, and 3 seasons of missing the Playoffs completely.

In the meantime, the San Francisco Giants have won 3 World Series, the Boston Red Sox 2, and the St. Louis Cardinals, the Kansas City Royals, the Chicago Cubs and the Houston Astros 1 each; the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers have not won a World Series but have each won 2 Pennants, and the Detroit Tigers, the Cleveland Indians, and, yes, the Mets 1 each.

Since the Yankees' last AL Eastern Division title in 2012, MLB Division Championships have been won as follows: The L.A. Dodgers 6, Boston 4; 3 each by Cleveland, St. Louis and Washington; 2 each by Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs, Detroit, Houston and Texas; and 1 each by Baltimore, Kansas City, the L.A. Angels, Milwaukee, Oakland, Toronto, and, yes, the Mets.

In other words, 17 out of 29 other teams in MLB have won a Division title since the Yankees last did, including the Mets once and the Red Sox 4 times; 11 teams have won a Pennant since the Yankees last did, including the Mets; and 6 teams have won a World Series since the Yankees last did, including the Red Sox twice.

In the immortal words of Congressman Adam Schiff, You might think that's okay, but I don't think that's okay.

*

After beating the Baltimore Orioles 7-2 at the new Yankee Stadium in the season opener on Thursday, the Yankees played the O's again this afternoon. The Yankees got on the board in the 4th inning, with a 2-out rally. Gleyber Torres reached on an infield single. New Yankee Troy Tulowitzki drew a walk. DJ LeMahieu singled Torres home, to make it one-nil to the Pinstripe Boys.

But that was it until the 8th inning. The Yankees loaded the bases with 1 out in the 1st, but Miguel Andujar grounded into a double play. Torres singled with 1 out in the 2nd, but was stranded. Giancarlo Stanton singled with 2 out in the 3rd, but was stranded. The Yankees stranded Tulo and LeMahieu in the 4th.

Stanton walked with 1 out in the 5th -- yes, Giancarlo "Swing at Anything" Stantion drew 2 walks in the same game -- but was eliminated when Luke Voit grounded into a double play. The Yankees got 2 men on in the 6th, but stranded them. They went down 1-2-3 in the 7th, Gary Sanchez singled with 2 outs in the 8th, but was stranded.

James Paxton made his regular-season Yankee debut today. For the 1st 5 innings, he pitched brilliantly: No runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, including striking out the side in the 5th. But he fell apart in the 6th, allowing back-to-back singles, a lineout that got a runner over to 3rd, an RBI single, and a grounder that turned into 2 errors on one play (but only 1 run). Aaron Boone relieved him with Adam Ottavino, who got out of the inning.

So Boone left Ottavino in, right? Wrong: He put Chad Green in to pitch the 6th, and he allowed another run. Boone brought Jonathan Holder in to pitch the 7th and the 8th, and he allowed 2 more runs, which was something the Yankees really didn't need.

The Yankees finally woke up in the 9th, and refused to go down quietly. Tulo led off the bottom of the 9th with his 1st Yankee home run, making it 5-2.  LeMahieu doubled. But Brett Gardner lined out. Aaron Judge singled LeMahieu over to 3rd. But Stanton, as he so often does in key situations, struck out. Voit singled home LeMahieu to make it 5-3. The tying runs were on base. The winning run was at the late.

Andujar struck out swinging. Ballgame over.

Orioles 5, Yankees 3. WP: Jimmy Yacabonis (1-0). SV: Mike Wright (1). LP: Paxton (0-1).

I can't fault Paxton for pitching 5 strong innings and then falling apart in the 6th -- although, if he continues to fall apart sooner than he should, we should be concerned. And this supposed "best bullpen in baseball" did not get the job done. Nor did the vaunted Yankee bats.

The fault for this one, as with so many others, falls to Brian Cashman.

Leaving me to doubt
talk about God and His mercy
but Cashman's a demon in The Bronx
and I suffer here in Jersey.
The Yanks gave the game away.
I grumbled all the day.
A loss again
naturally.

Tweet

Subscribe to receive free email updates: