Nova Struggles as Yankees get Swept

I said in the beginning of the series that in order for the Yankees to stay relevant they would have to win at least one game in this crucial series. They were swept rather easily by the Red Sox which shows just how flawed the Yankees are. The Boston offense destroyed Yankee pitching night after night as all three of the starters failed to perform to their capabilities. I thought that Ivan Nova would be able to be the one bright spot in the rotation but he proved that he is back to his inconsistent ways. He failed to record an out in the fifth inning, going four plus innings. He allowed four earned runs in his start and struck out only two batters. Nova also gave up a home run to Mike Napoli in the first inning. Napoli continues to be a thorn in the Yankees side. Lucking for the Yankees this was the last time in the regular season that they will play the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox won the season series 13-6 and the Yankees looked weak all season long as they were toyed around with by Boston pitching and their offense outscoring the Yankees by a wide margin. The Yankees had leads at some points in their thirteen losses to the Red Sox but the starters and bullpen pitchers were unable to hold on to leads. If the Yankees won at least half of their games against the Red Sox they would hold the keys to the second wildcard spot. Instead, they are on the outside looking in and are beginning to wonder if they have what it takes to come all the way back to beat Tampa and Cleveland for the postseason spot. Their chances are dwindling each day that they record a loss. With only twelve games remaining for the Yankees they have to win ten of those games to realistically win the wildcard position. I don't see that happening for the Yankees as they have let everyone down when things got critical.

The offense couldn't catch up tonight. After Granderson scored after walking and advanced to third on a pick-off attempt, that is the only run the Yankees would score until the ninth inning when Ichiro had an RBI single while trailing 9-1. The game was over at that point and the Yankee offense looked pathetic. After Napoli's first inning homer you could tell the life was sucked out of the Yankees. Buccholz walked four batters and hit one in six innings. He allowed seven baserunners in six innings and only one scored. That number shows just how incapable the Yankees were in producing runs against Buchholz and the bullpen. The starter was weak and the Yankees did not take advantage as they have in the past.

After a much needed day off tomorrow to rest some of their key injured players like Soriano and A-Rod, the Yankees will head to Toronto for one final series against the depleted Jays. Andy Pettitte will make the start, who has been the Yankees most reliable pitcher of late. RA Dickey will make the start for the Blue Jays as the Yankees look to beat up on the Jays before entering a crucial series against the Rays as that will be
 the final key series of the year.