This is why the Yankees are in such monster trouble.
All the reasons why the Yankees find themselves so far behind the first-place Red Sox in mid-August were on display yesterday in one dreadful 8-4 loss to the lowly Angels at Yankee Stadium.
Phil Hughes, who wasn’t really that bad, once again gave up a critical home run to Chris Nelson, who had the game of his life. The short-timer ex-Yankee also lifted a back-breaking grand slam to left in the eighth off Boone Logan, the lefty who couldn’t retire a right-hander when Joe Girardi gave him that opportunity.
“I liked the way Boone was throwing,’’ Girardi said of his decision to stick with Logan after he walked Hank Conger.
There wasn’t much to like, really.
Even Logan knew that.
“I just had a bad day. I was getting a little slider happy today,’’ said the lefty specialist who has had his issues against lefties as well.
The red-hot Alfonso Soriano, though, is looking forward to the weekend in New England.
“It will be a fun weekend,’’ said Soriano, who was 4-for-5 yesterday and drove in an amazing 14 runs in the four-game series, hitting .588 with four home runs.
Soriano is the blazing star of the Yankees’ offense.
After four straight wins that opportunistic Yankees offense hit the skids again, mainly because C.J. Wilson pitched an intelligent game and wisely faced Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay whenever he was in serious trouble. Since Wilson surrendered 11 hits over 6 2/3 innings, the lefty was in trouble often, but The Curse of the ex-Blue Jays shut down the Yankees’ offense time and again until Wells came up with a two-run double during ninth-inning garbage time.
The lack of a right-handed hitting first baseman continues to haunt the Yankees, though the team signed Mark Reynolds last night in an effort to change that. The Yankees face another lefty tonight in Boston when Felix Doubront goes against Andy Pettitte.
And just for fun, Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees’ lost pitching soul, came on and gave up the final run in the five-run eighth on a double to right by Grant Green and a single up the middle by J.B. Shuck. Interestingly enough, Chamberlain did not back up home on the play and the Yankees also neglected to put a cutoff man in place as Shuck pranced into second base.
The eighth-inning rally began when Mike Trout turned the Yankees’ no-doubles defense into a double by lifting a fly to center that fell in front of Brett Gardner. Trout hustled out of the batter’s box and raced into second base, turning a single into a double just as Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig did against the Yankees earlier this season at Yankee Stadium.
The Angels are a dead team, but the Yankees gave them life.
These Yankees will now have to make like the 1978 Yankees, who found themselves seven games back of the Red Sox on Aug. 16, but turned it all around and made an early September trip to Boston that season to produce the Boston Massacre, outscoring the Red Sox, 42-9 in the four-game sweep, and out-hitting them 67-21, keying a comeback for the ages.
At least these Yankees can be thankful they also have two wild cards to chase.
“We’ve won two series in a row and took three out of four from these guys,’’ Logan said. “Where we’ve been most part of the year, we’ll take that any day of the week. I think the timing is right, we’re on a roll right now and going in to face those guys this is the perfect time in the season for where we’re at right now.’’
“There’s not a lot of room for error,’’ Girardi said of where the Yankees stand in the AL East and the type of baseball they must play the final 42 games of the season, 23 of those games against the Red Sox, Rays and Orioles.
Wells put it best, saying: “We’ve got some work to do.’’
Yes they do. They can’t afford any more debacles.