It was, in Yankee manager Joe Girardi’s estimation, an “ugly” game. And he was being kind. Five errors sort of transcends “ugly.”
But wait, there’s more…
“We didn’t swing the bats particularly well,” Girardi said.
And the only dissent possible for those points was that Sunday’s hero, Jacoby Ellsbury, proved to be the lone name in the order with a crooked number in the hit column. Ellsbury delivered two hits, including his eighth homer of the season. The Yankees managed five hits on the night. Do the math for everybody else.
And so the 4-2 messy defeat to the Rangers snuffed some of the feel-good atmosphere the three-game sweep of Cincinnati had provided. And it was just another Bronx blot on the Yankees’ season.
The Yankees home horrors have been well-documented. After Monday’s loss to the Rangers at the Stadium, the Yankees’ home record stood at 21-24, compared to 29-24 on the road.
Don’t think the original formula for success was “Play .547 on the road and lose at home.”
Ellsbury, among others, had stressed the importance of improving the home record for the remainder of the season after the sweep of the Reds coming out of the All-Star break.
“The second half, we play so many games at home we’re going to have to play well at home,” Ellsbury said.
“Hopefully, we can continue with that momentum.”
Well, Ellsbury did. Too bad the rest of the Yankees didn’t follow his lead.
Rangers’ rookie Miles Mikolas, who entered with an 0-2 record and an ERA upwards of 10 — suffocated the Yankees on four hits through 7 ¹/₃ innings. Ellsbury, of course, had two, using his legs to beat out a grounder to second, forcing an off-balance throw in the process. Later, he used his power, smacking a leadoff homer in the fourth that had staked the Yankees to a temporary 2-1 lead that held up through most of the monstrosity defense.
The Yankees did not dent the scoring column again.
Ellsbury, who had a season high tying four hits on Sunday, finished the night 2-for-4, making him 8-of-16 (.500) in the four home games since the break. That stretch includes two homers, two doubles, four RBIs and three runs. The Yankees’ biggest offseason offensive acquisition (7 years, $153 million) has six hits in his last eight at-bats. Not too shabby.
Too bad that couldn’t be said for the rest of the Yankees Monday.