State of the New York Yankees: August 4, 2010
August 4, 2010 · Steve Henn · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Even after an early Mark Teixeira home run (23), Ricky Romero and the Toronto Blue Jays were too much for the New York Yankees.
As of today, the Yankees have lost three consecutive games, four of their last five. But yesterday, they lost something more.
The division lead.
With an 8-2 Yankee loss to the Blue Jays, and a Tampa bay 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins, the Rays have taken the division lead from the Yankees, a spot the Yankees have held since June 12.
And, seeing this team lose three games in a row has been a rarity this season with the level of consistency this team has played with all year long.
The Yankees still hold a 5.5 game lead over the third place Boston Red Sox, so if the season were to end today, the Yankees would be in the playoffs.
But, there is still a lot of season left. That is why teams have to play all 162 games.
“No one ever said this was going to be easy—we’re in a tough division,” manager Joe Girardi said. “There are going to be bumps in the road for every team in the division. You try to keep it as short as possible.” (Tim Britton MLB.com seen on Yankees.com).
Our trusted manager could not have put it any better. This little cold stretch the Yankees have entered happens throughout the course of the long season. Let’s hope that the Yankees can stop the bleeding from this small cut before the cut turns into a gash.
It’s Phil Hughes (12-4, 4.07 ERA) vs Shaun Marcum (10-4, 3.24) this afternoon at 1:05pm in Yankee Stadium.
Players To Watch
Jorge Posada is batting .476 with four home runs and seven RBI in 17 plate appearances in his career against Shaun Marcum. Hopefully today Jorge can continue his success against the Blue Jays right hander.
Derek Jeter, in his career against Marcum, is batting .353 with zero home runs and one RBI. He does have three walks and an OBP of .476, so hopefully Jeter can continue to get on base against Marcum.
In only four plate appearances against Marcum, Curtis Granderson is batting .400 with one home run and four RBI. A small sample, but who isn’t rooting for Granderson? Let’s see if Curtis can continue to have some success against Marcum.
A-Rod Watch
Alex Rodriguez is continuing his struggles at the plate, continuing his hit less streak to 17 at bats. Since hitting No. 599, it has been 12 games and 51 plate appearances.
From what we see and observe as fans, the pressures of 600 may be getting to him. It’s easy for us to say. With the eyes of the nation watching his every at bat, it is only human for him to feel a tremendous amount of pressure. Who wouldn’t?
Alex is a great hitter, one of the best ever. He will snap out of his funk, and he will get 600. Many cannot wait until he does. The monkey of 600 will be off of his back. One may predict a “laser show” after he does it, to steal a term from rival second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
In the meantime, let’s enjoy another game of Yankees baseball.
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