Happy What’s Wrong With The Yankees Week!

In the past, Yankee fans have experienced “What’s Wrong With Mo Week.” This is a phenomenon that occurs when Mariano Rivera doesn’t seem like himself and has some bad outings. They usually happen in a cluster. It also usually seems to happen some time in either July or in August. You guys know those weeks when everyone in the media declares Mo done and then he comes back better than ever.

Well, now it seems like we are right smack in the middle of “What’s Wrong With The Yankees Week.” This year, the entire team is in a bit of a funk at the same time.

Some recent facts about the Yankees that you need to know:

1) They are 3-8 over their last 11 games.
2) All eight of those losses have been by two runs or less and six of them have been by one run.
3) Their last nine losses have been by a combined 12 runs.

Tonight’s game was another one of those one-run losses, this time to the Baltimore Orioles.

The Yanks scored first on an RBI single by Eric Chavez in the second inning.

Baltimore came back in the next inning with a run of their own off the bat of Wilson Betemit who hit a Freddy Garcia offering into right field – it was Betemit’s 12th home run of the year.

The Orioles scored again on back to back sacrifice flies by Omar Quintanilla and Nick Markakis in the fifth inning to pull ahead 3-1. Wow, what a novel concept. Sacrifice flies? Hmm.

They scored yet again in the seventh on an RBI double by Markakis and a J.J. Hardy single to right.

So with the score 5-2, the Yankees had to try and mount a comeback. Again. This movie is beginning to look awfully familiar.

In the bottom of the seventh, it looked like the Yankees would have a chance to do just that. After two quick outs by Nick Swisher and Raul Ibanez to start the inning, Chavez and Ichiro Suzuki hit back to back home runs.

Do not adjust your monitors, you are reading that correctly. Ichiro hit a home run – the 100th of his career – to pull the Yankees to within one run.

After a quiet bottom of the eighth, Nick Swisher got the bottom of the ninth started with a ground rule double to right center off Orioles reliever Jim Johnson.

What’s that? A blip on the heart monitor? The Yankees still had life. Or so everyone thought.

Joe Girardi replaced Swisher with pinch runner Ramiro Pena. Ibanez came up with a chance to tie the game and struck out swinging. Chavez followed that up with a walk and Ichiro came up to bat.

Would he be the hero? Nope. He grounded into a force play i.e. it would have been a double play if someone else were running. So Pena advanced to third and there were two outs.

It was up to Russell Martin to try and tie the game. Last night’s would be hero, if the Yankees hadn’t coughed up another late lead to the Red Sox struck out to end the game.

Ballgame over, Yankees lose.

Poor Freddy Garcia. He wasn’t that bad tonight. He pitched six full innings and gave up three runs on nine hits. He also walked three and struck out two. On the flip side, Orioles starter Mike Gonzalez won his third game of the season. He gave up all four runs to the Yankees on six hits, struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter.

Anyway, I’m really not enjoying WWTYW and I hope they snap out of it soon.