The Full 408: The Yankees Lose Key Series To AL East Rivals

After the New York Yankees started the month of September off just right, it then followed with what would be their worst week of the season (given the timing). The Yanks were at home continuing their AL East packed final month of the season, going up against the reeling Baltimore Orioles, followed by the Toronto Blue Jays, who need no words of introduction. However, despite all the injuries surrounding the Yankees, they’ve been hot too, and are still in reach of the Jays, but losing three-of-four this weekend doesn’t help their cause very much.

Here’s all you need to see and know in this week’s edition of The Full 408.

The Good

Last weeks’ ‘ugly’ column column didn’t have much to make into structured points, and unfortunately that’s the same case with ‘The Good’ column this week. The Yankees lost two against the Orioles who have been playing abysmal baseball since the MLB Trade Deadline. This was followed by losing three slugfests in a row to the Jays, which put them 4.5 games back, and also cut into their wild card lead. In my opinion the only players that stood out were some newer faces in the bullpen. Nick Rumbelow, James Pazos, Caleb Cotham, and Nick Goody all put together great appearances for the Yankees throughout the week. Whether it be just one or two outs, the new faces managed to get it done and continue to earn trust as the team will need those guys to take stress off the top order of the pen.

The Ugly

1. After getting a solid couple of weeks from Stephen Drew, it seems he’s back to his normal self. Drew is still above .200 (.203), but that might change this week should he continue to go cold. There’s basically nothing more anyone can say on Drew, there hasn’t been for a while. I’m more dumbfounded at how Rob Refsnyder or Jose Pirela aren’t getting more playing time. Dustin Ackley played well in the last game against the Jays having his first homer as a Yankee. Yes, Drew has 17 homers, but consistency in key, and he hasn’t shown that once in his season and a half in pinstripes. As I said, there’s not much else to ask in terms of the ‘Drew situation’ but I’m surely going to keep waiting on something to change.
2. I’m not going to act like Dellin Betances had a perfect week, but it was far better than Chasen Shreve‘s. It’s September, and with the inconsistent rotation the Yankees have, an ‘ace’ start from Masahiro Tanaka can’t be wasted. Tuesday, Tanaka went eight innings with one earned and 10 strikeouts. Shreve followed that up by giving up a home run to Chris Davis, which would eventually cost the Yankees the game. Shreve’s next outing came Friday where he gave up two runs in less than an inning, moving his ERA up to 2.29. His bad string of outings continued in the first game of the doubleheader with him coming on to finish a horrific eleventh inning. He walked three, including the go-ahead run. Shreve’s ERA is now up to 2.44 which isn’t very good given how long he was under 2.00.

Weekly Performances

• Keep It Up: I’m going to give this to two players being that they are the most important to the team right now and for the rest of the season. Alex Rodriguez and Masahiro Tanaka were everything and more for the Yankees this week despite the losing. Tanaka got two starts in this week. The first was the eight inning, one earned run, 10 strikeout appearance that resulted in a no-decision against the Baltimore, and the next was a seven inning, seven strikeout, four hit shut-out performance over the Blue Jays that may have just saved the Yankees season. Though 12-6, Tanaka has resembled an ‘Ace’ in clutch games this season, and right now is the Yankees bright spot in what was a very dark week. Next is the savvy veteran Alex Rodriguez, who once again is trying to carry the Yankees past all doubt, including doubt placed on himself. Once Alex went on his August slump people started to question whether he had run out of gas and if his age finally caught up with him. Fortunately for the New York Yankees, Alex Rodriguez has answered all the critics, and his hitting is back. With Mark Teixeira out for the rest of the season, the Yankees really need A-Rod to stay hot from here on out. Tanaka’s and Arod’s success will have a huge impact on how the rest of the season goes, the gear must stay in overdrive for the both of them.
• Pick It Up: Ivan Nova got a win last week before his big loss followed this week. However, the win still looked significantly shaky, and it followed with the 1 2/3 inning of work consisting of six earned runs against Toronto. His control hasn’t been the best lately and until the last start where it all went wrong, he was just barely getting by. Nathan Eovaldi is gone and the Yankees need him to perform at the back-end of the rotation. Nova has the ‘stuff’ to be a great pitcher, he needs to start making it all work as the Yankees head into the playoffs.

The Reel

Greg Bird is getting more and more comfortable with Yankees Stadium.

The Ace at work.

Brett Gardner powers two in one game.

Alex sends his 30th bomb of the season to a young fan.

What’s Next?

The New York Yankees travel down to Tampa to face the Rays in what should be a bright light coming off a huge series loss to the Jays. After their last off-day of the season (Thursday) the Yanks’ will head across town to Citi Field to take on the surging Mets for a weekend series. Look for another key start from CC Sabathia, and a recovery start from Luis Severino after he struggled for the first time in his career against the Jays. See you next week on The Full 408!

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