YANKS LEFT IN WORLD OF HURT
Bright future can’t erase missed Series trip
HOUSTON — The Yankees finally ran out of comebacks in this postseason, long after logic said they should. A team can only beat the odds for so long, no matter how much heart and grit as this one showed during a playoff run that should be remembered fondly for years to come.
And probably as the start of something big for this franchise as well.
That didn’t take any of the sting out of losing on Saturday night, however, or the last two nights, really.
As GM Brian Cashman said afterward, “It was a great, wild, fun ride, but tonight it hurts because the ride is over.”
It hurt a little more because the Yankees were sure they could find a way to break through here at Minute Maid Park after taking a 3-2 series lead in this ALCS, but they couldn’t carry over the momentum from those three wins in the Bronx, mainly because they couldn’t hit a lick in Games 6 or 7.
So they fell one win short of the World Series, losing 4-0 Saturday night as CC Sabathia had his first bad postseason start and the bullpen finally paid for being somewhat compromised by Dellin Betances’ struggles, running out of their touted depth because of it.
Above all, they lost because the Astros had one more home game than the Yankees. In the end it wasn’t really more complicated than that.
The home team won all seven games, and while the Astros were more visibly intimidated during the three games in the Bronx, all but admitting to it as well, the Yankees seemingly were affected as well.
How else do you explain scoring only three runs in four games, compared to 19 in the three games at Yankee Stadium?
Justin Verlander was great but he wasn’t unhittable, especially in Game 6. And in Game 7 the Yankees were shut down by Charlie Morton, the same pitcher they jumped early in Game 4 at home. Joe Girardi admitted the Yankees’ youth may have caught up with them in these final two games.
“This is a team that hasn’t experienced a lot of this,” he said. “It can be tough not trying too hard. You get to this point and you can’t imagine how bad guys want it.
“These guys will mature and get better, mentally as well as physically. They’ll learn to control those emotions.”
In the end, that probably defined the end for the Yankees as much as anything: the Baby Bombers weren’t quite ready to finish off a gallant October in a hostile environment.
All season, in fact, they were a much better team in their home ballpark, and it finally caught up with them.
They went 40-41 on the road during the season and 1-6 in the postseason. The only road game they won was a season-saver, Game 5 in Cleveland, and that was testament to the mental toughness they showed all year, especially in this post-season, which started with falling behind 3-0 in the first inning of the wild-card game with the Twins.
They were beasts at home, where their ballpark is built for their home run power, and they pushed that advantage to within one win of the World Series.
Maybe they’ll have to become a more complete offensive team in the years to come, but they’re bound to get better overall considering that Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, and Luis Severino have their best years ahead of them.
That’s really the takeaway from this October surprise, and the theme sounded by Girardi afterward.
He said he essentially told them to remember how much losing a game like this hurts and use it as to push them to get back here in the future.
“I told them it needs to be a motivating factor to get better,’’ Girardi said. “Because I believe this club will get better. I think there’s more.”
Girardi paused and repeated himself for emphasis: “There’s more.” He went on to say what he has maintained all season, that he saw this type of potential as far back as spring training.
But then he admitted, “It is pretty special how quickly this group came this far. And there’s more talent down below.”
Yes, the farm system has more bluechippers, yet Cashman, for his part, cautioned that nothing is guaranteed, as bright as the Yankees’ future looks.
“That’s why we went all in this year,’’ he said, referring to the trades in July that pushed the Yankees toward the post-season. “You never know what the next years bring.
“I do think we have some very exciting things ahead of us, but you have to play it out.”
True enough. Who knows about injuries or how the ball will bounce in October. Ask the Indians right now. Ask the Nationals.
The Yankees did let opportunity slip away here. I thought they had one more big-game victory in them, but maybe their youth and inexperience finally did catch up with them.
Still, they got closer than anybody expected this time around, and the long view is that they sure look like a team that should be capable of competing for championships for the next several years.
The hurt just needs to go away first.