Yankees Drop Third Straight

After winning six in a row against Minnesota and Baltimore, the Yankees have lost their last three games. Beginning with Sunday's game when they lost the lead in the ninth inning, the Yankees have lost both games to the mediocre Royals who came into Yankee Stadium with a 41-44 record. They are now within one game of reaching the .500 mark after beating the Yankees two straight times in New York. The Yankees again find themselves reeling just as the All-Star break is approaching. They probably can't wait for the Twins to come into Yankee Stadium for three games just before the break so they can put a beating on their old punching bags. As an added bonus, it is likely that if all goes well for Derek Jeter this week in Scranton that he will return to the lineup this weekend before the days off during the break. It would make sense for Jeter to return assuming he does not suffer any setbacks with the ankle just to see how he reacts to a game or two with a long layoff right afterwards.

The Yankee offense had a golden opportunity to jump on Shields in the first inning when Big Game James loaded the bases with one out. The next two batters, Lyle Overbay and Eduardo Nunez, struck out and flied out. After the first inning threat in which they scored one run on four hits the Yankees didn't pose as a threat for the remainder of the game. The offense looked like the same weak offense the Yankees were sporting in June when Hafner and others stopped hitting. The Yankees are missing Jeter dearly and can't wait for his presence in the lineup. If all goes well that presence will arrive in the Bronx sooner rather than later. The one positive that you can take from this game is Brett Gardner looking more comfortable at the plate. The leadoff hitter went 2-4 with a run scored, the only Yankee run of the evening.

CC Sabathia went the distance in this one, tossing nine solid innings of three run baseball. Three runs allowed was too much for the Yankee offense to overcome as CC loses his seventh game of the year. Sabathia looked sharp aside from the two solo home runs by Lowe and Butler. Any time that your starting pitcher pitches nine innings is a great day for the bullpen. It gives Girardi the flexibility to unload all of his weapons in tomorrow's game. With Ivan Nova starting tomorrow's game the bullpen may need to be unloaded. He pitched a complete game on Friday but given his recent statistics, Nova does not go deep into games. If his sinker is working tomorrow night he has another opportunity to earn a victory for the Yankees who suddenly find themselves in desperate need of a win.