Despite a magical night from Andy Pettitte, a stark reality is hitting the Yankees that they might be no better than a mediocre team this season. After throwing their three best starters at the Cincinnati Reds; Andy Pettitte, Ivan Nova, and CC Sabathia, the Yanks had a whimpering weekend of one win next to two losses against the visiting club. Before a pitch was even thrown, Mark Teixeira was assigned to sit on the bench all weekend as the team is bewildered by his mysterious respiratory illness which hasn't left him all season.
Teixeira, who has been struggling at the plate this season, joins Brett Gardner as yet another key figure out of the lineup. Superstar Dewayne Wise saw more playing time as he was slotted into left field, Ibanez to right, and Swisher played first in the opening game. Andy Pettitte made his second start of his third Yankee comeback trail and the 39 year-old looked better than he has in any point in his career. An early error by catcher Chris Stewart helped put Reds shortstop Zack Cozart on third base with only one out. Pettitte dung his heels in to strikeout former NL MVL Joey Votto, followed by Brandon Phillips to escape the jam.
From that point on, not another Reds hitter even reached second base throughout Pettitte's 8-innings of work. In fact, Stewart made up for his gaffe later on by throwing out Drew Stubbs trying to steal second. Facing the Yankees was former Red Sox foe Bronson Arroyo and his high leg-kick.
The Yankees offense went ahead 1-0 in the 4th on an RBI groundout by A-Rod, but ruined a huge opportunity to blow the game wide open in the 6th with a bases loaded situation and no out. In true Yankees fashion, they managed to do absolutely nothing with it and continue to be rancid hitters with runners in scoring position. This is how they flushed it down the toilet: A-Rod hit a hard grounder to third (which is a surprise he actually hit the ball hard) and Jeter came home to score, but the throw to home beat Jeter for an out, although replay showed the catcher's foot off home plate. The next hitter, Raul Ibanez, grounded to first baseman Joey Votto, who threw home as well for the second out. Then the last out was achieved by Nick Swisher popping out to the shortstop. Luckily, Andy Pettitte didn't buckle and continued to sit down Reds hitters one after another in a cap-tipping performance. Pettitte finished with 9 strikeouts and only surrenders 4 hits and 1 walk in this 8 innings. Finally, the Yanks bats showed some thumb in the bottom of the 8th as Robinson Cano unleashed a solo bomb deep into the bleachers and Raul Ibanez chipped a 2-run shot over the right field wall. Boone Logan came on in the 9th to close out the 4-0 opening set victory.
After getting nicked up in his last start in Baltimore, there was question whether Ivan Nova would be able to make his next scheduled start. Nova wanted to pitch, but maybe he shouldn't have because he was slapped around for 5 runs in 6-innings, including a homerun given up to Joey Votto. The Yankees, with Teixeira still on the bench, weren't able to get much going against Reds starters Homer Bailey, and things didn't get interesting until the bottom of the 9th when the Yanks started to stage a comeback. A few doubles and singles from Raul Ibanez, Nick Swisher, and Jayson Nix cut the Cincinnati lead to 6-5, but with the tying and winning runs on base, the usually reliable Curtis Granderson grounded out to first to end the game.
Both teams sent their aces to the hill in the final game of the set as CC Sabathia toed the rubber with Johnny Cueto and his dreadlocks.
It was pitching all the way in this one and the Yankees had an early opportunity to put some runs on the board in the bottom of the 3rd with Granderson and Cano reaching on consecutive two-out walks, but then Alex Rodriguez hit a weak fly ball on the first pitch he saw. A-Rod and his miserable statistics this season have him at only 5 homers and 15 RBIs for a player who once used to be one of the most feared hitters in the game. A Yankee player who is actually hitting homers, Raul Ibanez, got a two-run shot in the 6th for his 9th of the season to break the tie at 2-0. With the lead, the reliable Sabathia let it wither away as he served up two solo homers, and even walked in a runner with a bases loaded situation. The Yankees bullpen allowed two more Reds to score in the 9th and the Yanks lost the rubber game 5-2. The offense continues to lag behind the pitching and Alex Rodriguez looks like he lost whatever pop he had left in his bat (with 500 years left on that contract). Now with Tex down with this never-ending bronchial infection, Gardner still out with his continuous hand injury, Robertson on the DL, Rivera out for the season, and the aged offense, the Yanks might be looking at a tough 2012 in the dumps.
At a mediocre 21-20, the Yankees will welcome in the Kansas City Royals for three games, which used to mean three easy wins, but with the way this team is playing who knows.....
Teixeira, who has been struggling at the plate this season, joins Brett Gardner as yet another key figure out of the lineup. Superstar Dewayne Wise saw more playing time as he was slotted into left field, Ibanez to right, and Swisher played first in the opening game. Andy Pettitte made his second start of his third Yankee comeback trail and the 39 year-old looked better than he has in any point in his career. An early error by catcher Chris Stewart helped put Reds shortstop Zack Cozart on third base with only one out. Pettitte dung his heels in to strikeout former NL MVL Joey Votto, followed by Brandon Phillips to escape the jam.
From that point on, not another Reds hitter even reached second base throughout Pettitte's 8-innings of work. In fact, Stewart made up for his gaffe later on by throwing out Drew Stubbs trying to steal second. Facing the Yankees was former Red Sox foe Bronson Arroyo and his high leg-kick.
The Yankees offense went ahead 1-0 in the 4th on an RBI groundout by A-Rod, but ruined a huge opportunity to blow the game wide open in the 6th with a bases loaded situation and no out. In true Yankees fashion, they managed to do absolutely nothing with it and continue to be rancid hitters with runners in scoring position. This is how they flushed it down the toilet: A-Rod hit a hard grounder to third (which is a surprise he actually hit the ball hard) and Jeter came home to score, but the throw to home beat Jeter for an out, although replay showed the catcher's foot off home plate. The next hitter, Raul Ibanez, grounded to first baseman Joey Votto, who threw home as well for the second out. Then the last out was achieved by Nick Swisher popping out to the shortstop. Luckily, Andy Pettitte didn't buckle and continued to sit down Reds hitters one after another in a cap-tipping performance. Pettitte finished with 9 strikeouts and only surrenders 4 hits and 1 walk in this 8 innings. Finally, the Yanks bats showed some thumb in the bottom of the 8th as Robinson Cano unleashed a solo bomb deep into the bleachers and Raul Ibanez chipped a 2-run shot over the right field wall. Boone Logan came on in the 9th to close out the 4-0 opening set victory.
After getting nicked up in his last start in Baltimore, there was question whether Ivan Nova would be able to make his next scheduled start. Nova wanted to pitch, but maybe he shouldn't have because he was slapped around for 5 runs in 6-innings, including a homerun given up to Joey Votto. The Yankees, with Teixeira still on the bench, weren't able to get much going against Reds starters Homer Bailey, and things didn't get interesting until the bottom of the 9th when the Yanks started to stage a comeback. A few doubles and singles from Raul Ibanez, Nick Swisher, and Jayson Nix cut the Cincinnati lead to 6-5, but with the tying and winning runs on base, the usually reliable Curtis Granderson grounded out to first to end the game.
Both teams sent their aces to the hill in the final game of the set as CC Sabathia toed the rubber with Johnny Cueto and his dreadlocks.
It was pitching all the way in this one and the Yankees had an early opportunity to put some runs on the board in the bottom of the 3rd with Granderson and Cano reaching on consecutive two-out walks, but then Alex Rodriguez hit a weak fly ball on the first pitch he saw. A-Rod and his miserable statistics this season have him at only 5 homers and 15 RBIs for a player who once used to be one of the most feared hitters in the game. A Yankee player who is actually hitting homers, Raul Ibanez, got a two-run shot in the 6th for his 9th of the season to break the tie at 2-0. With the lead, the reliable Sabathia let it wither away as he served up two solo homers, and even walked in a runner with a bases loaded situation. The Yankees bullpen allowed two more Reds to score in the 9th and the Yanks lost the rubber game 5-2. The offense continues to lag behind the pitching and Alex Rodriguez looks like he lost whatever pop he had left in his bat (with 500 years left on that contract). Now with Tex down with this never-ending bronchial infection, Gardner still out with his continuous hand injury, Robertson on the DL, Rivera out for the season, and the aged offense, the Yanks might be looking at a tough 2012 in the dumps.
At a mediocre 21-20, the Yankees will welcome in the Kansas City Royals for three games, which used to mean three easy wins, but with the way this team is playing who knows.....
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