ROUGH ROAD FOR YANKEES
Another loss makes it likely playoffs won’t run through Bronx
BUFFALO — The road through the 2020 playoffs was never going to be easy. After Thursday, it’s looking a lot harder for the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers are proving to be just that, crushing the ball in Yankee Stadium and struggling away from the friendly short porch and right-center field fences in the Bronx.
The Yankees went without a home run again Thursday night, falling without much of an offensive fight to the Blue Jays 4-1 at Sahlen Field.
The Yankees (32-25) have lost two straight and three out of the four here in this series. They went 5-5 against the Blue Jays (30-27), who clinched their playoff berth with the win. The Yankees swept the Blue Jays last week in the Bronx, hitting a record 19 homers in a three-game series. It was a stark difference here, where they dropped three of four this time and two out of three in their first visit to the Blue Jays’ 2020 home.
The Bronx Bombers are living up to their name, going 21-7 at home so far and 11-18 as the road team for the 2020 season. They have three against the Marlins at Yankee Stadium to try and get right before the playoffs, which will likely have them on the road for a month.
“We’re going to have to do better than that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I do know that if we’re playing at our best, I don’t give a crap where it is.
“We’ll get it rolling, but we’ve got to get ourselves in order and start playing really good baseball if we’re gonna give ourselves a chance, and it doesn’t matter where it is.”
It was the fourth straight game the Yankees went without a home run, their longest drought since June 2016. It was the first time they have gone a full four-game series without a single homer since July 2013.
The closest the Yankees came Thursday was with newly demoted Gary Sanchez pinch-hitting with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the eighth. Sanchez launched a fly ball to the wall in center field and Randal Grichuk made a terrific grab to steal an extra-base hit and a run.
That contributed to the Yankees’ dismal production with runners in scoring position Thursday night, going 1for-7. Only the red-hot bat of Gio Urshela came through. He singled to score a run in the eighth and went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.
While Urshela’s been hot no matter where the Yankees are playing, their bats definitely cool off outside of the Bronx
In part that was Hyun-Jin Ryu, who was tremendous. Ryu held the Yankees scoreless for seven innings, scattering five hits and struck out four. But also, it’s been a developing pattern.
It was the Yankees’ 18th road loss this season and the splits between home and away are pretty stark.
A team built on power hitters, the Yankees were tied for the lead in the American League with 91. Just 27 of those came on the road; they have just two home games without a homer. They hit .269 at Yankee Stadium and .231 away from the Bronx. They’ve scored 177 runs in Yankee Stadium and just 122 on the road.
Their ups and downs this season have largely followed their schedule. The 10-game winning streak that righted their season earlier this month included eight wins at home. It was snapped in Boston and has followed them to Buffalo.
“I’m not happy about the way that we’ve played recently, we went on a tear and played some really good baseball for a week and a half or so and we haven’t played well up here in Buffalo,” vet
eran outfielder Brett Gardner said. “So, it’ll be good to get back home and get out of Buffalo.”
It’s not just the offense. Yankees pitchers have a 3.53 ERA in the Stadium and a 5.30 on the road.
Jordan Montgomery helped lower that road ERA with a solid bounce-back start. He allowed three earned runs on five hits over 5.1 innings, He did not walk a batter and struck out eight.
When asked about the Yankees’ road troubles, Montgomery shrugged.
“Baseball,” the lefty said, “Some days, it’s easy. Some days, it’s hard.”
Unless they turn it around, it’s going to be a hard road through the playoffs.