The above just about sums up the situation, folks. Once again the starting pitching was spectacular, but the bats were dead. Huge applause for Kuroda, especially since everybody was worried about him going on three days rest. He came through in a big, big way.
Yes, he ran into trouble in the 8th and what trouble it turned out to be.
As we all saw from replays, Swisher’s throw was a good one and so was Cano’s tag, but the ump blew it. I would have gone crazy if I were Girardi and, though he got tossed (on his birthday, no less – what a tough week for him), there really wasn’t much point. As he said in his post-game remarks, the call was awful and could have been rectified with instant replay, but he also agreed that it was the offense, not the umpiring, that cost the Yankees the game.
I was interested in his perspective on the fact that all the hitters – we’re talking about a collective swoon with an exception here and there – have looked baffled by the Tigers’ pitching and the Orioles’ pitching. He mentioned that they had to “make adjustments.” What could those adjustments be at this point? Will they suddenly learn how to hit off-speed stuff? Stop taking big swings when a poke through the infield would do? Change their batting stances? I wouldn’t want to be Kevin Long right now.
I was hoping that they’d all rise to the occasion and win one for the Captain, but they just seem impossibly out of sync. Very disheartening as well as puzzling.
But we’ve seen this before, this “going cold.” It’s like one of those flu bugs that sweeps through the clubhouse and infects everybody. Maybe they should take antibiotics.
All that said, it pains me to hear the fans booing, as justified as they may be. Bald Vinny, who leads the Bleacher Creatures in the roll call, was tweeting about how Swisher wouldn’t face the stands and joke around with them as he usually does but rather warmed up behind home plate before the game and never acknowledged them during the game. (Nice touch, by the way, when the Creatures included Jeter in the roll call.) Clearly, there’s a lot of fan rage out there. It pains me, as I said. They’re still our Yankees, for better or worse.
