No Offense = Getting Swept

The story stays the same tonight for the New York Yankees, who now fall to just three games over .500 and are in danger of getting too far out of the race on only June 30th. The offense tonight against Chris Tillman, who did not pitch well resulted in a bases loaded walk by Gardner in the second inning followed by a solo home run by Robinson Cano in the sixth. The Yankees had only six hits as they went quietly into the night, getting swept in three games by the Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yards. With the sweep, the Yankees also lose their fifth straight game, extending back to the second game of the series against the Texas Rangers. With tonight's loss the Yankees fall back to fourth place in the American League East behind the Red Sox, Orioles and Rays. The Yankees need to act and they need swiftly to acquire a bat. They are not in good position heading into the All Star break and could very well finish the first half of the season as a below .500 team. The offense is clearly not effective for the Yankees aside from Gardner and Cano who are the only guys that would be in the regular lineup anyway. Zoilo Almonte is hitting fifth in the lineup for the Yankees, a spot that used to be filled by Robinson Cano when Jeter, A-Rod and Teixeira were playing and healthy. After Travis Hafner the Yankee lineup is a joke of an offensive group that should all be in AAA or out of baseball all together.

Hiroki Kuroda pitched well again but fails to win, again. The right hander went 6+ innings and allowed four runs but by the time those four runs were allowed the game was all but over. When people say that you need to have faith, I tell them that I am thinking in realistic terms. I know that this group of Yankees as is will not get the job done to come from behind and score three runs. The days of blasting three-run home runs are behind as the Yankees need to figure out a way to score runs in order to prevent them from becoming sellers by the trade deadline. The downward trend that the Yankees are on is not promising in any way. After the hot start, the Yankees are losing almost nightly, all because they cannot score runs in big spots. The Yankees a boatload of runners in scoring position tonight but they fail time and time again at getting the runners home.

Hopefully things will change for the Yankees as they head into the Twin Cities to face their friends, the Twins. The Yankees have had the Twins number for almost a decade now, and a visit to Target Field may be just what the doctor ordered for the Yankees to get going offensively again. Andy Pettitte will try to level his record at 6-6 tomorrow against Scott Diamond, who is 5-7 with a 5.40 ERA on the season.