NOT ALL ARE RISING YANKSGAMEDAY
Judge still rules at plate, but rest of Yanks falter
Coming off their miserable 1-6 road trip through Anaheim and Oakland, the Yankees at least came home knowing they had been dominant in the Bronx this season. But not even home cooking has helped the Yankees fully get back on track. The Yanks fell to Texas, 8-1, Saturday afternoon at the Stadium and are now 2-3 on this home stand, which ends with Old Timers’ Day on Sunday. If the Yankees (40-32, 24-12 at home) lose Sunday, it will mark their first losing home stand consisting of multiple series this season; they dropped a four-game home stand against Houston in May. The Yanks have lost nine of their last 11 overall.
Aaron Judge provided the Yanks’ lone run with a sixthinning homer. That brought the Yankees to within two runs, but Robinson Chirinos homered off Jonathan Holder in the seventh to put Texas back up by three. Austin Bibens-Dirkx allowed one run in seven innings for Texas.
Luis Cessa gave up three runs in five innings, allowing three hits and two walks and striking out a career-high eight.
Aaron Judge truly might never cool off at the plate. It at least does not feel that way, not at the moment, anyway. Yet suddenly, the remainder of the Yankees’ lineup has collectively gone cold surrounding their rookie MVP candidate. That certainly was bound to happen sooner or later for an offense that still began the day first in the major leagues in both runs per game and home runs per game. It just didn’t make dropping a flat 8-1 decision following their spirited late comeback victory in the series opener the previous night any easier to digest for the Yanks in a quiet post-game clubhouse on Saturday.
Most of the boos mustered at the Stadium were directed at recent punching-bag reliever Tyler Clippard while he was being rocked for four more runs in the ninth inning to blow open a 4-1 game and eliminate any potential for more late-inning fireworks.
But while Judge went deep yet again — No. 26, ho hum, right? — the rest of the Bronx bats were otherwise throttled by a Texas starter for a second straight game.
The offense, aside from Judge’s 432-foot solo blast in the sixth inning, continued its downward turn over the past week, transforming from the deep and relentless unit the lineup’s been most of the season to putting up barely any resistance against Rangers righty Austin Bibens-Dirkx, a 32-year-old journeyman making just his fourth career bigleague start.
“I just think we’re not swinging as well as we did before, but that’s the importance of pitching,” Joe Girardi said. “Hitting is going to come and go at times, and that’s where pitching allows you to win games.”
Clippard’s ongoing issues ruined any remote shot at another comeback, but stopgap starter Luis Cessa (three runs in five innings) and relievers Jonathan Holder and Tyler Webb (in his MLB debut) kept the Yanks close enough, if only the bats could have mounted something — anything — against Bibens-Dirkx.
If we’re being honest, that’s not the same as getting shut down by Yu Darvish over seven scoreless innings on Friday night. That showing was not entirely surprising — certainly not as much as Masahiro Tanaka matching his Japanese countryman zero for zero through eight until the Yanks eventually pulled out a 2-1 win on Ronald Torreyes’ walk-off single in the 10th.
The Yanks, losers now of nine of 11, played Saturday without regulars Brett Gardner, who’d belted the game-tying homer in the ninth inning on Friday, and catcher Gary Sanchez — although their replacements, Mason Williams and Austin Romine, notched two of the Yanks’ five hits against Bibens-Dirkx and two relievers.
Still, while Judge continues to mash seemingly every day — he is hitting .329 in June with nine homers, including three in the past five games — much of his protection has disappeared in the past week.
Not too long after he’d been touted as a potential All-Star candidate, the other Yank Aaron — Aaron Hicks — has hit a 2-for-23 skid to drop his batting average to .288, the lowest it’s been since May 27.
Matt Holliday (0-for-11), Starlin Castro (4-for-24) and Didi Gregorius (3-for-19) also are mired in mini personal slumps entering the Old-Timers’ Day series finale on Sunday against Rangers righty Nick Martinez.
“When we’re getting opportunities, we’re just not cashing them in…We’re just not hitting well,” said Hicks, who missed three games last week with an Achilles injury. “I gotta start making more solid contact, that’s pretty much it.”
Tyler Austin didn’t do that, either, in his 2017 debut in his first start since taking over for much-maligned and DFA’d Chris Carter, striking out twice and bouncing into a double play in three trips. At least you have your wish, Yankee fans, as Girardi declared Austin as the starting first baseman for the time being with Carter gone and Greg Bird still trying to find his way back from his lingering foot/ankle woes.
“It wasn’t ideal,” Austin said of his first game for the Yanks since breaking his left ankle in spring training. “I let the game speed up on me a bit today, but that’s part of it. Come back tomorrow and hopefully I’ll have better results.”
The Yankees are hoping for the same on a broader scale beginning on Sunday.
While Judge continues to do his part, the jury has temporarily been out for a few days on the rest of the lineup.