Recap: Yankees Riding Four-Game Losing Streak through “Soft” Part of Schedule

The Yankees finished on the short end of Tuesday’s 13-10 offensive festival — a game in which the team showed heart, but not competency, with a seven-run 8th inning to make the affair watchable again.

Entering Wednesday with 31 wins and 33 losses, the Yankees obviously needed to play better baseball if they wanted to improve their 13-19 away record and odds of postseason contention.

Sinker-curve specialist Ivan Nova (5-3, 4.39) was on the mound opposed to Rockies’ right-hander Chad Bettis (4-5, 5.85).

The Yankees were challenging Bettis — in the midst of a stretch in which he had not completed more than five innings since his May 17th outing — without Carlos Beltran (knee) and Alex Rodriguez in their interleague lineup.

Nova wiggled his way out of a runners-on-first-and-third jam in his first frame. Outfielders Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez (who had celebrated a 4-for-5 night on Tuesday) combined for a pair of singles, but shortstop Trevor Story lined out to end the threat.

The Rockies’ fifth hit scored their first run in the 3rd inning; a Nolan Arenado single capitalized on DJ LeMahieu‘s double just one batter prior.

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The Yankees went hitless into the 4th, but Jacoby Ellsbury woke the bats up with a grounded single. Starlin Castro chimed in with a one-out one-bagger that advanced Ellsbury into scoring position for Chase Headley. The third baseman struck out on a foul tip, but on a 3-1 count Didi Gregorius punched an opposite-field single to tie the game, 1-1.

An errant throw from Rockies’ catcher Tony Wolters handed the Yanks their second run. Aaron Hicks was credited with a base hit on the play, while the error allowed Castro to score from second base.

Colorado retaliated with a four-run 5th. An RBI single by LeMahieu, two-run shot blasted by Arenado (20), and RBI single from Mark Reynolds turned the tables on Nova’s afternoon. He was finished after his unsatisfactory 5th inning and replaced by Anthony Swarzak.

Nova’s final line: 5 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR surrendered

Hicks dumped his second hit of the game, a blooper into no man’s land that was the Yankees’ third-straight two-out single in the 6th, to score Headley and close the gap to 5-3.

A breath-holding occurence happened in the bottom of the 6th, when reliever Swarzak turned loose a stray fastball that sailed into LeMahieu’s helmet. Both LeMahieu and Swarzak were shaken up in the moment, but the Rockies’ second baseman stayed in the game after being evaluated by the team’s medical staff.

Hard-throwing right-hander Miguel Castro brought some 7th-inning controversy out of the bullpen when two high-and-inside fastballs buzzed near Austin Romine‘s head. The home plate umpire issued warnings to both teams, regardless of the undefined intention behind Miguel Castro’s pitches.

The next bit of action came in the bottom of the 8th, when LeMahieu drove in his second run of the evening off Aroldis Chapman. Consider the Rockies’ sixth run as either insurance or overkill to the foundering Yankees, who lost their fourth in a row to close out their mini-series in Colorado.

The Yankees hope to change their fortunes as they travel to Minnesota to start a two-game set against the Twins.

The rejuvenated CC Sabathia (4-4, 2.28) and winless Kyle Gibson (0-4, 6.49) will be on the bump. Tune into YES Network at 8:10 PM Eastern Time as the Yankees make a bid for their elusive 32nd victory.