Yankees Slipping Away

It started innocently enough with a solo home run by Alex Rodriguez in the first inning off Orioles starter Chris Tillman and the Yankees offense was looking like it would be off and running like it did against the Red Sox this weekend. The Alex Rodriguez solo home run would be the only run they would score until the eighth inning when Lyle Overbay led off the inning against Tillman with a solo shot of his own. By the time he scored the Yankees second run, New York was already down by two runs. There would be a glimmer of hope in the ninth when Granderson lifted a fly ball to the warning track with two outs representing the tying run. It wasn't meant to be for the Yankees tonight who were able to scratch out five hits against Tillman and Co. In the middle of the game there were no signs of life in the Yankees offense as Tillman went 7+ innings, striking out nine Yankee batters and walking none.

Sabathia coughed up an early 1-0 lead and would give up four runs in 7.1 innings again for the second time in his last two starts. Sabathia has yet to figure things out with his decreased fastball velocity however he sat consistently at 92-93 MPH tonight. It was not enough as he allowed a couple of leadoff doubles and a couple of crushing runs with two outs in the latter part of the game. With a depleted bullpen Sabathia needed to provide length. He did that but it wasn't quality length. The Yankee offense wouldn't have backed him up either way by scoring two runs in the game. Yesterday's win against the Red Sox is huge as the Yankees drop a game behind the Orioles tonight. They are now three games behind the Tampa Bay Rays who are idle tonight. The Orioles and Indians have gained a game on the Yankees with victories. However, there are three games left in the series and the Yankees have a chance to overtake the Orioles. Tonight's game will mean nothing if the Yankees can win tomorrow night with Ivan Nova on the mound against Miguel Gonzalez.