THE ‘E’ IN YANKEES: With injured shortstop Derek Jeter looking on (inset), Ichiro Suzuki and the Yankees made a series of mistakes in the field in yesterday’s loss to the Twins. (
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There were moments yesterday — far too many — when the Yankees looked as if they began their All-Star break a day ahead of schedule.
Their spotty performance in a 10-4 loss to the Twins at the Stadium featured two costly errors, a few misplayed balls and a shoddy start from CC Sabathia, who lasted just four innings.
“I have to do a better job of helping this team out,” said Sabathia, who allowed eight runs, though only three were earned, in dropping to 9-8 on the season and watching his ERA climb to 4.07.
The tone for the dismal afternoon was set in the third inning when shortstop Eduardo Nunez fielded a ground ball, but his throw to first flew wide of the bag for an error. One pitch later, Aaron Hicks belted a three-run homer for a 5-0 Twins lead.
“I just rushed it,” Nunez said of his errant throw.
There were other head-scratching plays that won’t make the All-Star break as pleasant as it might have been: a fly ball that fell between second baseman Robinson Cano and right fielder Vernon Wells and an infield blooper that just cleared Sabathia’s glove. There was also a passed ball that allowed another run and other crazy hops that went against the Yankees.
“You’re going to have those games,” manager Joe Girardi said. “You just have to move on.”
Instead of dwelling on their second straight loss to the Twins, the Yankees preferred to focus on their standing at the break, happy to still be in contention for a playoff berth despite their well-chronicled list of injuries to key players such as Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez.
“I’m proud of this team,” Sabathia insisted, though technically the Yankees are as close to last place in the AL East as they are to first.
As the Yankees packed their bags, they remained optimistic about catching the Red Sox and winning the division or at least making up three games to get into wild-card contention. Girardi talked about needing more consistency and staying out of scoring droughts, while continuing to get good pitching and play better defense than they did yesterday.
“If we do that, then we’ll have a shot,” he said.
Yet, that figures to become more difficult as the regular season heads to its finish. The Yankees’ back-to-back losses to the struggling Twins can be shrugged off, or it could be evidence of what happens when a team’s margin for error is too small.
The Yankees couldn’t overcome their mistakes yesterday, which is why only three of the eight runs allowed by Sabathia were earned. The Yankees aren’t a bad defensive team. But their blunders yesterday proved critical.
In past seasons, the Yankees would hit their way out of mistakes or come up with a big pitching performance. But neither was the case yesterday and probably won’t happen often enough over the rest of the summer for the Yankees to make the playoffs.
They leave for the break hoping to get Jeter and Granderson back and maybe A-Rod, too. But that’s wishful thinking. There’s been nothing in this season to suggest their fortune will be that good over the next 2 1/2 months. Chances are they’ll have to continue with the patchwork lineup they’ve had since the season began.
That means the Yankees will have to play nearly perfect baseball to have a chance. They’ll need better pitching, especially from Sabathia, more consistency on offense and air-tight defense. That’s asking a lot during a time of the season when every game and every play grows in importance.
The Yankees couldn’t overcome their mistakes yesterday. It’s something that could happen more often in the days and games ahead.