The title of this recap says it all, as there’s really not much more to add to the Yankees’ 7-0 loss to the Blue Jays. Wednesday was #TanakaTime, the day where the Yankees are supposed to snap their losing streaks and right the ship. Tanaka held up on his end of the deal, but everything else went awry.
The Yankees’ ace did cruise to another quality start, going six smooth innings and allowing just two runs (one earned). Unfortunately, the Yankees offense was shut out. Although they notched seven hits, the bats stranded 15 and were once again a huge letdown.
The good news is the Yankees were actually able to strand runners. Sure, leaving runners in scoring position isn’t great, but it’s better than not even having runners to leave in scoring position. There’s hope that, one day, the bats can start to drive runners in. Today is not that day, though.
Although the 7-0 score reads like a complete blowout, the Yankees were in this game for a while. There haven’t been many games where the Yankees were truly over-matched, which is a start. Sure, the Bombers lost by seven runs, but the majority of those runs came from the middle relievers. Still, this was an ugly loss. Tomorrow, there will be many wondering if this season is still salvageable. I think it is, but I’m also losing faith after each loss.
The Play: Josh Donaldson singles in Darwin Barney (.082 WPA)
In the grand scheme of this game, a single run doesn’t seem like much. But, this was the opening run of Wednesday’s game, and things only went downhill from here. Although one run isn’t insurmountable for the Yankees, it’s starting to feel like it…and that’s not good news.
Top Performers
Yankees: Masahiro Tanaka (6 IP, 2 R, ER, 7 H, BB, 2 K)
Blue Jays: Michael Saunders (2-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI)
Notes
- Rob Refsnyder is taking practice reps at first base and reportedly feels comfortable there. With Dustin Ackley out for the season and Mark Teixeira sputtering, adding another option at the position isn’t an awful idea. Still, Refsnyder isn’t very skilled with the glove, so we should be greeting this news with some skepticism.
- According to Joe Girardi, Michael Pineda isn’t at risk of losing his rotation spot just yet. Another poor start on Thursday could raise more questions, but for now Girardi seems more comfortable with Pineda in the rotation than Severino.
The Quote
I want to die.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 2, 2012
The Highlight: Alex Rodriguez tries his best
To be honest, there really wasn’t a highlight in Wednesday’s game. BUT, everybody loves A-Rod, so seeing him succeed with a double is nice. It was his lone hit of the night, raising his average on the season to .174. Now I’m sad again.
Up Next
If you weren’t already feeling pretty bad about the Yankees’ recent play, then tomorrow should be a wake-up call. The Yankees will begin a new series in Detroit, and Michael Pineda is getting the start. He has a 6.92 ERA on the season, so things could get ugly fairly quickly. To make it worse, New York is facing a southpaw in Matt Boyd, who has a 2.79 ERA in 2016.
Photo: Dan Hamilton / USATSI