The Yankees can no longer be called Bronx Bombers.
They have reached a new low. They generate little offense and no buzz.
How bad is it? Considering the payroll, they may be more helpless than the Mets.
Bronx Bombers, forget it. They are the Bronx Bummers, 18-22 at home. They are tough to watch in person and on TV.
The 41-41 Yankees spent nearly half a billion dollars this offseason and most of that went to the offense and they are somehow the worse for it.
David Price is one of the best pitchers in baseball and he toyed with the Yankees Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium as the light-hitting Rays came away with a 2-1 victory. Price went seven innings and then turned it over to his bullpen.
Good night, Yankees.
The Yankees’ only offense was provided by 40-year-old Derek Jeter, who outsmarted the Tampa Bay shift in the fourth with a double to straight-away center when Desmond Jennings was playing Jeter in right-center. That double tied Lou Gehrig for the Yankees’ all-time mark at 534 and was the Yankees’ first hit of the night.
They finished with four.
Jeter later scored when the Rays botched a rundown play, so the Yankees did not even have an RBI on this long night as they went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
James Loney put the Rays ahead with a solo home run in the sixth on the first pitch of the inning by Hiroki Kuroda.
Even though the two teams live in much different financial neighborhoods, the Rays (70) have one more home run than the Yankees (69), who are 22nd in the majors in home runs.
The Yankees’ offense is letting everyone down and three of the biggest culprits are Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Alfonso Soriano. Soriano is completely lost at the plate, swinging wildly. He gave the Yankees a huge lift last season when he came aboard, but Soriano (.225) can’t muster any offense this year.
The Yankees came into the night featuring a lineup with not one .300 hitter.
Beltran is batting .155 with RISP. McCann struck out looking as a pinch hitter in the ninth to drop to .220.
Manager Joe Girardi said his hitters have track records.
Perhaps time has caught up to some.
“I don’t think you forget how to hit in a year,’’ Girardi said.
This offense is not as bad as the Padres’, but it is one of the worst in the majors. The Yankees came into the night with 326 runs scored, 20th in the majors.
The nickname Bronx Bombers was earned a long time ago with the likes of Murderers’ Row. This is Popup Row. The Yankees’ offense makes soccer look like a high-scoring sport.
In fact, a former and future third baseman named Alex Rodriguez tweeted: “Good run USA soccer. #USMNT’’ just about the time of the last out.
Brian Cashman thought he was adding offense with the big-ticket signings of Ellsbury, McCann and Beltran. McCann and Beltran have been epic busts so far. McCann described his first half as “horrible.’’
The Yankees have lost four straight and have scored 10 runs over that span.
They gave new life to the Red Sox and now have brought the Rays to life. Rays manager Joe Maddon said this of his 37-49 team: “We’re not going away. I’ll tell you right now, we’re one of the best teams in the American League.’’
A scout at the game said of the Yankees’ winter: “They thought they were getting home-run hitters in Beltran and McCann. Their philosophy is based on sitting back and waiting for the three-run home run. The game has changed. Those days are gone. You have to have more athletic players and create offense.’’
In the quiet, long after the game ended and as the clock approached 11 p.m., there was a sound coming from beyond the Yankees clubhouse. A lonely sound.
There was McCann working in the batting cage with hitting coach Kevin Long.
Another long night for the Yankees would not end.