Carlos Beltran’s walkoff home run against the Orioles last week was supposed to get him and the Yankees going.
It hasn’t happened, and it didn’t magically fix his ailing right elbow.
Instead, after Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the Red Sox in The Bronx, the Yankees have lost five of seven and Beltran has just two hits in 25 at-bats.
“That’s not something where you say, ‘I got it,’ ” Beltran said of the dramatic blast that didn’t actually turn the season around.
“The elbow issue is there,” Beltran said. “We cannot erase that. But I still have to find a way to go out and do my job even with the situation that I have.”
He wasn’t able to do that against Jon Lester or Koji Uehara on Saturday and neither were most of his teammates, including Brian McCann.
Both sluggers continued their rough starts to their Yankee careers with hitless nights — and both of them struck out against Uehara in the bottom of the ninth, with the Yankees needing a run to tie the game.
McCann said he thought the Yankees had a decent shot of knotting the game with one swing in the final inning.
“Absolutely,” McCann said. “But he’s a really good closer. The ball, you see it and at the last minute, it’s not there.”
Though no one is denying the effectiveness of Lester and Uehara, it hasn’t taken All-Star performances to keep McCann and Beltran down this year.
McCann has hit nine homers, but has not done much else offensively, while Beltran has battled the bone spur near his right elbow that has so far allowed him to at least postpone surgery.
Despite his ugly numbers, Beltran said he thinks he can be effective with the injury.
“I do believe,” Beltran said. “I’ve got my days where it’s good and I’ve got other days it’s tight or sore. It’s nothing I cannot tolerate.”
It has occasionally impacted his preparation for games, but Beltran said he’s not limited when he’s at the plate.
“Right now, it’s not [a problem],” Beltran said. “Some days it slows me down at the cage. For the most part, I do everything I need to do.” … Right now, things are not going well.”
That goes for Beltran and the Yankees.
“It seems like nothing is working,” Beltran said. “At some point, something’s going to need to happen. I’m just hoping for that time to come soon.”