Yankee Bats In Uphill Race Vs. Rotation

What a great Monument Park ceremony that was yesterday. See the highlights in THANK YOU, DEREK! on BYB.

It’s always nice to pause and reflect awhile on great players and better days, although I wish they’d keep interviewees out of the broadcast booth during games — I don’t care who they are –and especially for multiple innings and really especially when they don’t even attempt to follow the action on the field.

Only when Tanaka gave up his fourth dinger in seemingly about four minutes and triggered a crescendo of booing rivaling passengers on an overbooked United Airlines flight were Jeter and his ESPN hosts finally forced to shut the heck up and pay attention to the historic disaster unfolding on the field right under their noses.

“Our starting pitchers had a tough time in this series,” Joe Girardi was quoted saying by Ken Davidoff in the Post late Sunday, after the Yankees followed an 11-6 victory in Game 1 with a 10-7 loss in the nightcap. “It wasn’t how we wanted this series to go. But to me, we had chances in three of the four games. We’ve had some shots. We keep getting those shots, and we’re going to be all right.”

“Game 1 starter Luis Severino, unhappy with home-plate umpire Gabe Morales’ strike zone, lasted just 2 ¹/₃ innings, allowing three runs as he threw 77 pitches, before Girardi gave him the hook.”

Next up in the rotation on Tuesday, Davidoff notes, will be  “the slumping CC Sabathia to stop the bleeding against the Royals, the majors’ worst offense with 119 runs scored, in Kansas City. Sabathia and Tanaka were supposed to serve as the reliable veterans; instead, at 5.77 and 5.80, respectively, they own the two highest ERAs in the rotation.”