Yankees’ sputtering offense/Cano gets CT scan/Yost accuses Burnett
Posted by: Brian Heyman - Posted in Misc on May 12, 2011 
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The Yankees went 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position and stranded 15 overall. So it was little wonder they fell 4-3 in 11 to the Royals.
They wasted A.J. Burnett’s one-run, one-hit work over seven, although he did walk five and hit one.
The bats continue to be a problem.
“The bottom line is we’re better than this, and right now we’re struggling offensively,” Joe Girardi said. “You’ve just got to keep going at it. You’ve got to keep putting guys on and eventually you know it’s going to turn.”
Robinson Cano went for a CT scan after Nathan Adcock drilled him in the helmet in the fifth inning. It came back negative, and Cano is day to day.
Burnett came back the next inning and drilled Jeff Francoeur in the back, but he pleaded innocent to any charges of retaliation. It did put the potential tying run in scoring position.
“The thing of it is I know Jeff, too, so that’s even worse,” Burnett said. “You know somebody and end up hitting them. But balls get away. I had five, six walks tonight, so I wasn’t exactly pinpoint.”
Royals manager Ned Yost wasn’t buying it. Asked if he thought Burnett threw at Francoeur on purpose, Yost said, “Of course. We didn’t hit their guy on purpose. Ours was an accident. That’s just the way the game goes.”
Burnett lowered his ERA to 3.38 after holding a team to three earned runs or less for the sixth time in eight starts in what could be a bounce-back year, although he got off to a decent beginning last season as well.
Eric Hosmer, who was named the top Royals prospect and the fifth-best in baseball coming into the season, hit his first big-league homer off him in the fourth.
“He’s going to hit a lot of them,” Yost said. “The first one had to be somewhere. I guess it’s good that it was here.”
David Robertson was frustrated with himself after walking two and letting the tying run score on an RBI single by Wilson Betemit in the eighth.
“The last thing I want to do is blow the game for A.J.,” Robertson said. “He dealt tonight, kept us right there in the ballgame, gave us the ball in the eighth with a one-run lead. I’ve got to be better than that. I’ve got to be able to get those three outs.”
This was the Yankees’ first extra-inning loss to the Royals since 1999.
The Yankees starters have a 2.88 ERA to show for their last 22 games.
Jorge Posada broke a season-high seven game streak of no RBI.
In the series finale Thursday night, Ivan Nova and Sean O’Sullivan will be the starters.
again a picasso to watch. the yanks do all the little things right game in and game out. they move the runners over, limit hitting into double plays, do not give a lot of free passes and play great defense. hopefully we can see many more games played like tonights masterpiece…..
jeter and swisher fighting it out for lowest slugging % on team. hopefully they will have a higher % then omar vizquel………..
They can live with Jeter’s SLG because he’s a SS. Swisher, not so much. They need a better reserve OF than Jones.
What a game to sit through. Lots of hard hit outs helped the yankees really squander their opportunities, and my favorite bunts! And Jeter had a representative day at the plate.
Expectations for this season were: dodgy pitching and an offense to bail it out. Life plays funny tricks.
Was Joba unavailable last night? There was an off day Monday and he threw like 10 pitches on Tuesday.
getting beat by that team…lot of players not hitting with RISP, can’t rely on the HR all the time
I guess Joba pitched in 3 games in the last 4 days before last night. Didn’t know that.
Anybody like me and a little sick and tired of other manager’s complaining when we hit one of their players, and then saying ” oh when we did it it was an accident, but you hit my player on purpose”, yea ok I call b.s.
Last night was probably the UGLIEST game of the year !.. …. I won’t say we deserved to lose because thats not fair to AJ Burnett.. … But my god how does a team like this go into a collective hitting slump is beyond me ! .
I swear it just wasn’t fated for the Yanks to win that game last night……you can only throw Buddy Carlyle out there so many times before it costs you and the Yanks just couldn’t buy a hit to save their lives with RISP.
Gardner’s AB with 1st and 2nd and no outs summed up the game…..Girardi finally decides to not bunt, he works a 2-0 count and hits a laser right at the CF that would have opened up the game…….then of course later in the game they have him bunt when Soria has thrown 6 straight balls and in a 3-1 count. They scored the run but played for the tie at home with nobody left in the bullpen…..and wound up losing.
2 of 3 is acceptable in any series and tonight is just one you have to get heading into the Boston series.
Was Girardi asked post game why he played for the tie in a home game when the bullpen is empty? I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when I saw Gardner stab at a 2-0 pitch and nearly popping it up. Soria has thrown 6 straight balls to open the inning and they are bunting 2-0? Then again 3-1? Its frustrating to watch at some point….
This game was so ugly they should’ve shaved its ass and taught it to walk backwards.
But there were positives.
AJ for one who walked a tight rope that he never could have done last year….he just seems so much more equipped to turn the page on a walk or a hit and think about the next hitter this year.
Granderson may be the AL MVP right now.
Gardner continues to look much better at the plate….he’s really coming around nicely.
Alex hit a ball hard to RF in his last AB…..that’s usually a good sign for him. They need him to get going.
Cano is ok…..this is the most important one.
Oh….and Yost is insane if he thinks AJ or any pitcher for that matter is going to hit a guy late in the ballgame (one in which they have worked very hard to preserve a 1 run lead) to put the tie run in scoring position. That’s just ridiculous.
I see that Im ranting to.myself so Im going to stop now.
Very hard game to watch….they need to make the Gitmo detainees sit through a few replays of this fiasco….
Joe and the Yanks need to somehow swich up the Swisher Posada combo.
I hate games that make me angry to watch. this was one of them. Everyone is at fault except AJ. From the manager on down. Why does it always seem this team cant make a productive out when it has to. How many time with 2 on and no out they cant even make a productive out.
blake – You’re right on with Girardi playing for the tie. When I was watching last night and saw how he was bunting to move runners (or trying to anyway) I vaguely wondered what type of mayhem was going on here at LoHud lol. Maybe its worth a peek at the game thread…
I’m praying we face a lefty soon so we can swap out Andrew Jones for Jorge…I know Jones hasn’t exactly been Babe Ruth, but we need to try something…I know they won’t bring up Montero…
Oh and it seems like every start AJ has had this season has been pretty much flushed. I just hope everyone keeps these awesome starts in mind if he finds himself struggling at some point. He’s been an incredible starter for us so far this year, and its a shame he hasn’t been able to get some more Ws. I’m not saying people should now blindly trust the guy, but I hope no one forgets how consistent he’s been thus far if he does end up struggling a bit down the road. Imagine if he can keep this up though… our team looks so much more dangerous.
Jorge’s drop-off is a head-scratcher to me. I really thought he was going to help the team. Maybe he needs to go squat somewhere when the Yanks aren’t at the plate.
I’m blaming this near team-wide slump on K-Long’s hitting book.
“Expectations for this season were: dodgy pitching and an offense to bail it out. Life plays funny tricks.”
Those were certainly my expectations.
Couldn’t have been more wrong so far.
I will say this. When the Volcano finally blows it’s gonna be a sight to see.
VERY glad Cano’s CT scan came back negative. Needless to say, I did not have the best reaction when he got hit last night.
AJ was awesome once again-too bad he once again has nothing to show for it.
Had to laugh at this: YankeesInk I have a frustration/annoyance-got-to-sleep-late-after-a-crappy-Yank-game-to-say-the-least-Buddy Carlye-wish-I-never-heard-of-you hangover.
Yanks need a live bat to fit in behind Cano.
I believe in Jesus.
cgrand14 happy 86th birthday Yogi Berra! What an honor that I get to be around him so much throughout the season. An iconic Yankee for sure!
Happy Birthday Yogi!!
I am paraphrasing but I believe it was CB who first mentioned a while ago that if the Yankees BP doesn’t function according to plan that we’ve got a serious problem.
That was supposed to be our not so secret weapon.
Our special advantage. Our fulcrum in deciding games. Absolute lockdown.
So far it has worked in reverse. Too many blown games out of the pen.
Let’s hope it turns into the positive it needs to be.
Oh and it seems like every start AJ has had this season has been pretty much flushed
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4-4 in his starts so far, but this is strange:
Burnett’s ERA in his 4 wins = 5.02
Burnett’s ERA in his 2 losses = 1.80
Burnett’s ERA in his 2 ND’s = 2.19
So far it has worked in reverse. Too many blown games out of the pen.
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I know what you’re saying, but last night’s loss was on the offense IMO
Not that the Yankees don’t have enough of their own issues but……..a pitcher imploding, showing up a teammate and then telling the media “Everything in my life [expletive] right now, to be honest with you.’’ would be worth a weeks worth of columns and talk radio.
Lackey sucking was more fun before I knew he had personal issues.
Erin-
Without a doubt.
Can’t leave that many guys in scoring position.
KC tried their very best to hand us that game on a silver platter.
The offense will come around though, and when it does it will be up to that BP to lock ‘em down.
Soriano has to step up, and IMO Girardi needs to fill that pen with the best guys possible.
We have loads of good arms in the Minors. Let’s make use of them.
Just in time for the BoSox series, allegations of Bartolo Colon using HGH in a stem cell therapy for his shoulder:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05......html?_r=1
Pat
what are Lackey’s issues?
I hope the Yankees break out the big bats when they come to Tampa on Monday or its going to be a depressing birthday.
I know what you’re saying, but last night’s loss was on the offense IMO
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Offense was part of it. When you put 20 men on base, you’d like to think you’ll cash in on more than 3. On the other hand, you can’t give the opposition 11 free passes. Walks can kill. Royals scored single runs in the 8th, 10th and 11th. The common theme? They led off each inning with a walk.
A tough loss last nite against a virtual nobody SP. Leaving 14 – 15 RISP is just mind numbing with the day to day lineup we have. It would have been an added bonus to take advantage of another John Lackey implosion to put another game between us and the Sux before they come to town this weekend.
Let me get this straight: they hit Cano IN THE HEAD, and Ned Yost is b-tching about Francouer getting hit in the back?
Hey Ned, how about you go have nice hot cup of shut the f up.
I just hope that losing these games early, when our schedule is favorable, doesn’t come back to bite us later.
Robbie must be feeling OK-he’s tweeting. LOL
matt1766 May 12th, 2011 at 8:52 am
Watching the game last night he had no command of his pitches, at least in last nights game the balls were laying out over the plate and the Blue Jays didn’t miss many of them.
i said last night that i thought baseball should outlaw collisions at home plate by passing a rule that the catcher cant block the plate when not in possession of the ball
well what do you know, that IS the rule;
Rule 7.06 of the MLB Rulebook it states:
” The catcher, without the ball in his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score. The base line belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball or when he already has the ball in his hand. ”
i think they still should remove the last sentence for more clarity and instruct the umpires to enforce this rule.
‘Erin’s Tweet Central’………………….so early today.
‘virtual nobody sp’s’ are pretty much the bane or our exsistence
Vineyard Yankee May 12th, 2011 at 8:59 am
?Erin?s Tweet Central????????.so early today.
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i think they still should remove the last sentence for more clarity and instruct the umpires to enforce this rule
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Last sentence is pretty clear to me, but I agree this is rarely, if ever, enforced. Kinda like the strike zone in that regard.
New Post: Jeter goes cold again
well, the last sentence kinda says the catcher can be there to field the ball, which goes against the idea that he cant be there without the ball.
HW-
That was a near perfect response by AJ IMO.
If your guys can control where the ball is going you are gonna pay the price.
Guthrie used to get a way with a lot.
Matt
Lackey said “Everything in my life [expletive] right now, to be honest with you.’’ and when asked about it by a reporter privately said he was dealing with some personal issues without going into details of what they were.
edit:
Can’t. sorry.
Lackey:
He didn’t elaborate further, saying it was a personal matter. And the media didn’t press the issue, knowing that Lackey’s wife is battling breast cancer a little more than a year after the couple suffered a miscarriage.
Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/ml.....z1M8wViRVq
I have to admit up fron that I am not posting here to encourage a healthy debate. I am posting this just to vent so I dont; cave in my TV with my blackjack. Frankly, after watching the Yanks for 40 years, I know I am right about this and anyone who doesn’t agree with me is either 13 years old or doesn’t know what they are watching. THIS IS A 90-72 TEAM. That is, with this specific group of guys. By 7/31, things may be slightly different. The culture of the current lineup is exactly the same as last year, except older. There are no signs of improvement from anyone with RISP. Swish and Tex are KILLING us again (let’s not bother talking about Jeter yet again) – they may have their moments this year, they may even get hot for 4-8 games at a time, but in the long run, our offense really is what it looked like in Sept. last year and in the ALCS.
is Gardner really the answer in left? What an awful basestealer-his speed is too often useless.
Swisher is back to being a LEGITIMATE .225 hitter for the past 100 games
Posada = done
Texeira is not the hitter he used to be AND NOT WHAT WE PAID FOR. He’s been completely unreliable since August ’09 and shows no signs of ever getting back to that.
A-Rod still a little productive but aging vets let their slumps last a little longer each time…his hto and cold streaks have killed us lately
Martin – nice surprise but we need Montero to get up here already
If Larry Rothschild is getting credit this year, then obviously Eiland was nto a good pitchign coach last year. So coaches do mean at least something even at the MLB level. If that’s all true, then WHY DOES KEVIN LONG NEVER TAKE ANTY HEAT? Long may very well know more about the physics of hitting than anyoen that has ever lived. Great. Let him go teach a course at Fordham. The fact is that stats don’t lie and since Kevin Long came aboard, our situational and RISP hitting is INEXCUSABLE. Long needs to go and needs to be replaced with a Frank Howard type who calls these guys out, throws them a bat and says “see the ball, hit the ball”. These guys are all thinking way too much and being too technical about how they go about each swing. AND WHEN DID WE BECOME A LINEUP FULL OF HACKERS? We take no pitches, especially from no names. Our pitchers walk 8 people a game and we take 2 for ourselves. HACKERS! SEND LONG TO FORDHAM. OUR LINEUP SUCKS – STATS DON;T LIE AT THIS POINT INT HE SEASON AND WE REALLY ARE A .250 TEAM. RISP NIGHTMARE IS INEXCUSABLE AND WE’RE HAMSTRUNG TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT UNTIL SPOTS FREE UP TO INFUSE SOME YOUNG BLOOD. IT’S MAY, SO WAKE UP & START HITTING THE BALL ALREADY JERKOFFS!
thats why you should never post your ‘year in review’ after a bad loss….
i’m feeling you hassey, i totally disagree, but i’m feeling you!
YsGUy – You’re probably the nicest guy in the world, and I’d love to have you over for Thanksgiving, but like I said, if you disagree, you are either only 13 or don’t know what you are seeing so far. I don’t blame you for not recognizing it, because you haven’t seen anything like this since 1982.
idk, i thought 67 was pretty bad, too!
LOL – that’s great! But that team had no legit expectations. That’s what makes this different.
catcher routinely plant thier foot blocking the plate and then catch the ball, then bring down the tag, according to that rule, it is illegal.
# YsGuy May 12th, 2011 at 9:34 am
catcher routinely plant thier foot blocking the plate and then catch the ball, then bring down the tag, according to that rule, it is illegal.
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True, but hasn’t been enforced in many, many, years.
I always thought 1966 was worse, LAST place.
Hassey has some good points and I think is sincere in his thoughts. ( and mostly right on, IMO )
A J, until last night, had not walked too many in a game this year. He will have to keep walks low in order to be successful. Only gave up 1 hit, so that helped.
Hassey, I agree with most of your thoughts. Main point is about hitting. Remember a published conversation between Yogi as a rookie and Ole Case. Casey jumped him in the dugout after Yogi struck out. Casey is reported to have said “Yogi, you have to THINK when you’re at the plate.” Yogi responded. Casey You Know DAM* well I can’t Think and Hit at the same time.” Point I’m making is hitting is REACTION. See the ball and Hit the ball. I too, think Long’s theory is a little deep. No Question, the man knows his stuff and can teach. I just think this team is overthinking almost every at bat.
On this “Catching Theory” I see being discussed on here. I was a minor league catcher (until an injury ended my dream, early) and catchers are taught to plant that foot with toe pointed toward third base to protect the knee. As long as contact is made After he catches or at the same time the ball is caught, that’s perfectly LEGAL.