JOE Girardi can scream behind a closed clubhouse door. Hank Steinbrenner can deliver pseudo threats/pep talks from his Tampa enclave. It is all merely background noise, the soundtrack of frustration for a Yankees season slip, slip, slipping away.
Words are not going to save the 2008 Yankees. Not angry ones. Not inspiring ones. This is about deeds, specifically for an offense assembled to top 900 runs and provide cover for young starting pitchers and indefinite bullpen roles.
PHOTO GALLERY: Red Sox Top Yankees
MORE: Complete Yankees Coverage
MORE: Joel Sherman’s Hardball Blog
Except reality has invaded. The famous names are not producing, especially with runners on base, and the Yankee offense is on pace for 763 runs. And there is no way to survive Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson in the rotation, Chien-Ming Wang on the disabled list and the disappointments that were Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy with 763 runs.
“Our biggest strength has become our biggest weakness,” GM Brian Cashman said. “Our DNA for years has been that we knew how to score, and right now we can’t.”
The Yanks lost 6-4 to Boston yesterday despite receiving an extra out and a gift run via a blown call by third-base ump Wally Bell in the ninth inning. Without that generosity, the Yanks would have failed to exceed three runs for the 38th time this season (after doing it 42 times all of last year). Even with the largesse, the Yanks’ biggest ailment remained constant: They were 2-for-15 with men on base, including 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position – and that second hit came via the gift call.
The Yanks have lost five of six, and in the five losses they are 4-for-36 with runners in scoring position. Yes, there is an element of happenstance in these scenarios. But having so many supposed high-end hitters was expected to make the Yanks more bulletproof from severe dips. Certainly, it was supposed to keep them from hitting .256 with runners in scoring position, the third worst mark in the AL.
“It’s not a stat you can pinpoint why it is happening,” hitting coach Kevin Long said. “We obviously know it is there. It will change. Our hitters are too good for it not to change.”
But when? The Yanks are 10 games behind Tampa in the loss column, five behind Boston. And Johnny Damon has now joined Hideki Matsui in the injury ward, and those two had been the Yanks’ best clutch performers. Matsui is out indefinitely with knee problems and Damon injured his left shoulder trying to make a leaping catch at the wall yesterday. He sounded gloomy about playing any time soon, and gloomier on what that might mean.
“This could be a big trouble spot for us,” Damon said.
Especially because the players who have gotten the Yankees into this offensive funk are going to have to save them now. Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi have strong overall numbers, except in clutch situations. Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada are producing at a lower level than anticipated. Melky Cabrera has regressed.
And there are no outside remedies. Shelley Duncan failed in the majors and separated his shoulder in the minors. Brett Gardner was summoned to bring energy. So far, he has managed just one hit in 13 at-bats, and it is hard to energize when you are not on base.
“Certainly we did not want to put ourselves in this predicament,” Long said.
The Yanks were a little better yesterday than on Thursday night, when their hitters were so aimless that Girardi closed the clubhouse and chewed them out.
The Yanks scored three times off Boston ace Josh Beckett in the first, grinded him out by the sixth and saw 172 pitches in all (after Jon Lester’s 105-pitch complete game Thursday). But they could not find the meaningful blow to bring victory. Their fourth run did not come until the ninth, until a bad umpire call permitted it.
So there was another loss, but not another meeting by Girardi. What could he say now anyway? Hit better, Derek Jeter; deliver a knockout blow, Alex Rodriguez? The offense that was supposed to buoy Girardi and the whole team is a disappointment. And there is no surviving that in 2008.