It’s officially time to hit the panic button in the Bronx.
The Yankees have now lost five straight, and they’ve seen their division lead go from a commanding 12 games to a soft four. Each loss is becoming more embarrassing than the last. Tonight, they were blown out by the 62-72 California Angels by a score of 14-3.
“We can’t continue to try to climb Mount Everest,” Manager Joe Torre said. “Everyone’s trying too hard. I think that’s where the frustration comes in. It’s a frustrating existence.” (Via NY Times)
Wally Whitehurst made his second start of the year for the Yankees and lasted just one inning, thanks in part to the grand slam he gave up to Garrett Anderson in the first inning. Anderson went on to drive in a career-high seven runs on the night.
After Whitehurst came Brian Boehringer and Graeme Lloyd, who gave up four runs each. Dave Pavlas went the final 2.2 innings and allowed two runs to cap the scoring for the Angels. Lloyd now has a 54.00 ERA as a Yankee, and admitted that he received a cortisone shot in his elbow because of tendinitis a few days before he was traded to New York.
Although the Yankees made just one error tonight, it felt like more. Bernie Williams bobbled a ball on a single for the error, he froze on a line drive and turned an out into a double, and he allowed another ball to deflect off his glove. Mariano Duncan also turned a shallow-bloop into a triple, and Tino Martinez couldn’t come up with a groundball
On the offensive side, the Yankees weren’t much better. Pep Harris made his second career start and held New York hitless until the fifth inning. Harris was knocked out of the game after a Joe Girardi two-run home run and a Bernie Williams RBI triple. That was all the Yankees would get.
“I knew it was going to be tougher in the second half,” Torre said, “but I didn’t want it to be like this. It’s like when you drink milk. You don’t want the whole cow.” (Via NY Times)
The Yankees will try to snap their five-game skid tomorrow when Andy Pettitte goes against Dennis Springer.
Box score and current stats
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Yankees 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 6 1
Angels 4 0 0 3 0 5 0 2 X 14 15 1
Batting AB R H RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG
Boggs 3B 4 0 1 0 0 0 .316 .388 .395
Fox PR-3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 .191 .276 .253
B.Williams CF 4 0 2 1 0 0 .301 .383 .521
Strawberry LF 3 0 0 0 1 0 .267 .367 .507
R.Rivera LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 .260 .391 .400
Fielder DH 4 0 0 0 0 3 .254 .352 .480
Martinez 1B 4 0 0 0 0 2 .305 .370 .483
ONeill RF 3 0 1 0 1 0 .302 .413 .466
Duncan 2B 3 1 0 0 0 1 .322 .331 .468
Sojo 2B 1 0 0 0 0 0 .212 .244 .265
Girardi C 3 1 1 2 1 1 .295 .349 .379
Jeter SS 4 1 1 0 0 2 .306 .367 .418
3B:B.Williams (4)
HR:Girardi (2)
RBI:Girardi 2 (40);B.Williams (79)
Pitching IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Whitehurst L (1-1) 1 4 4 4 2 0 6.75
Boehringer 4.1 4 4 4 2 5 5.97
Lloyd 0 3 4 4 1 0 4.44
Pavlas 2.2 4 2 2 0 4 3.21
