The Yankees could have used those guys on Monday and Tuesday night. They needed help of any kind. On Monday the story was hitting; nobody could manage it. Tanaka was his high-achieving self, giving them more than enough room to score and win the game, but they couldn’t provide any run support, DH or no DH. And last night the pitching and defense were atrocious along with the silent bats, which is another way of saying it was a bad, bad showing.

Girardi said after the game about Evo (I can never remember how to spell his name so this abbreviation works for me), “He’s still young and growing,” or something like that. “Still young and growing” is fine as long as you’re not clobbered by your former team during a major league baseball game. “He’s still young and growing” is also what Joe has said about Didi. At what point do you keep making errors and still get a pass? If the Yankees were in a rebuilding phase with young and growing players, that would be one thing. But they’re trying to win a championship and fill seats, and you need to win games for that.

Maybe they’ll pull it together and go on another winning streak. Who knows. But someone commented here the other day that Ellsbury is a key missing factor and I agree. Without his bat and his glove and his speed, the Yanks have lost their catalyst. He’s reportedly not making good progress on healing, so I don’t know when he’ll be back but it isn’t soon. Cashman needs reinforcements. I hope he doesn’t wait until July.