A limp Yankees offense? Check.
Late tack-on runs by the opposition? Check.
A manager and players channeling Kevin Bacon’s “Remain calm! All is well!” performance during the riotous parade in “Animal House”? Check.
Time to panic? Let’s scan that checklist one more time…sure, what the heck. Go ahead and panic.
Good Lord, what a strange turn this Yankees season has taken. They looked thoroughly overwhelmed last night at their own ballpark, dropping a 6-1 decision to the magical Orioles, and their American League East lead has shrunk to two games over Baltimore, down from a high-water mark of 10 games on July 18.
“It’s just one bad game,” Nick Swisher said. “If this was going on for a couple of weeks, then it would be a different thought process.”
That would be a wise comment — if this hadn’t been going on for almost couple of weeks. The Yankees are now 3-7 in their last 10 games, and the talented but young duo of David Phelps (starting today) and Phil Hughes (tomorrow) now stands between the Yankees and a first-place tie — while the surging Orioles will be pitching two of their best, Wei-Yen Chen and Chris Tillman. This after the Yankees’ best starting pitcher of 2012, Hiroki Kuroda, took the loss last night by allowing four runs in 8 1/3 innings.
Baltimore’s other best starter, 28-year-old Miguel Gonzalez, started last night and made the Yankees appear old and tired, limiting them to four hits and a walk in seven innings while striking out nine. He pumped 66 of 97 pitches for strikes and went hitless in four at-bats with runners in scoring position.
“The guy was just good,” Eric Chavez said, and Gonzalez has been one of several very pleasant surprises for Buck Showalter’s team. Nevertheless, too many nights in this stretch, the Yankees’ many older players — Chavez, Raul Ibanez and Ichiro Suzuki, for instance — have emitted an “expiration date” vibe. They’re yearning for the return of relative youngster Alex Rodriguez (left hand), who played a rehabilitation game last night for Class-A Tampa.
Logic says the Yankees, still replete with talent, will right themselves and regain control of baseball’s toughest division. What good is logic at this time of year, though? Logic says these Orioles should have a very bad record, yet here they are, making the Yankees’ Labor Day weekend feel very laborious.
“There are going to be their low points, and there are going to be their high points during the season,” manager Joe Girardi said. “You’ve got to find a way to get out of the low points.
Girardi tends to either look stressed, sound awkward or both when his team arrives at its low point. He dismissed a postgame question last night about the quality of the team’s at-bats, saying: “It’s really hard to judge if you’re going to be satisfied with people’s at-bats, because then you’re asking me to get into people’s minds. But I didn’t see people trying to do too much.”
Of course, a veteran baseball man like himself knows darn well how to spot bad at-bats, with no ESP required.
Swisher, of all people, offered the wisest postgame comment, right after the “going on for a couple of weeks” line: “If you would’ve told me at the end of spring training, getting ready to start the season, if we would’ve been two games up to start September, I would’ve signed up for that.”
That’s fair; no one expected the division to be a cakewalk, a0nd it’s also smart. There’s nothing to be gained for harping on what was. The Yankees must focus on what is. They still control their own destiny. They still have the most talented roster in the division, even given their injuries.
Things just don’t feel right at the moment, though. A good week would eradicate that sensation. Until then, though, you can stress all you want about the Yankees and not feel guilty. They have earned your mistrust.