PUBLISHED: MAY 24, 2010
Regardless of the final score, CC Sabathia’s mistake pitch to Jason Bay was regrettable. When the Yankees nearly pulled off a ninth-inning comeback, the pitch became even more lamentable.
The pitch in question was a 2-1 changeup that Bay sent over the left field wall during a four-run second inning. It was among the more frustrating contributors to a 6-4 loss to the Mets, especially when the Yankees nearly had a chance to steal a victory.
Bay homered twice off Sabathia, who has allowed at least one home run in seven straight starts. The initial blast eventually came back to burn the Yankees when a late rally fell just short and sent them to Minnesota with 10 losses in their last 15 games.
The attempted rally turned a 6-1 game into a manageable deficit but a nine-pitch confrontation between Alex Rodriguez and Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez ended with a strikeout and the Yankees were left pondering their mistakes.
“I just made some wrong decisions in some tough spots,” Sabathia said. “I probably wouldn’t have thrown a changeup 2-1 to Bay right there. I probably would have thrown him something hard.”
“He just didn’t make the pitches that he wanted to,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “He struggled a little bit tonight. It all comes down to location. When you don’t locate and you make mistakes, you’re going to get beat. That’s what happened tonight.”
Bay’s previous history with the lefty was not pleasant. He was 1-for-9 lifetime off Sabathia before the game. Bay last faced Sabathia August 23 in Fenway Park and twice struck out on fastballs while getting a single off the curveball.
Sabathia had that knowledge on the scouting report but in the opening inning did not successfully use his fastball against Bay, who walked. After starting him with two fastballs, Sabathia threw two straight changeups and the last one hung right over the plate and sailed over the wall putting the Mets up 4-0.
“I didn’t follow the game plan,” Sabathia said. “I’m staying out there (over the plate) too much. I went soft. They put some good swings on pitches out over the plate.”
In five innings, Sabathia allowed six runs (five earned) and 10 hits – his most as a Yankee. Sabathia allowed 10 hits August 2 in Chicago but then the Yankees had enough offense to overcome it.
Now the Yankees are slumping to the point where these little mistakes become major ones and ultimately regrettable, especially when they could barely touch Johan Santana.
Santana last faced the Yankees June 14 and was torched for nine runs and nine hits in three innings but this time around the lefty was virtually flawless, holding the Yankees to a Francisco Cervelli single among six hits in 7 2/3 innings.
Cervelli’s hit could have been a home run if it climbed a few inches higher and visibly gone over the orange stripe in left field but it did not and the Yankees had to live with it just like they had to live with Bay’s home runs.
Bay’s first blast meant two runs that the Yankees would have liked back. At the worst, their comeback would have required another inning when A-Rod struck out on K-Rod’s changeup but instead it dropped the Bombers another game in the standings.
Many times over the last year, Yankee opponents are left expressing regrets but the combination of injuries and inconsistent play have those sounds coming from the defending champions, who scored just nine times this weekend.
“There is a lot of frustration because we know we’re capable of doing a lot more,” Rodriguez said. “Collectively, we’re just not getting it done.”
Rodriguez was hitless in four at-bats and he was among the better Yankee hitters this weekend. His eighth-inning walk knocked out Santana and loaded the bases but that only turned into another opportunity that left the visiting clubhouse lamenting.
That was because Robinson Cano saw three straight Pedro Feliciano sliders and meekly popped out to first base. Had Cano been able to prolong the inning, the Yankees might have been with two and scoring three in the ninth would have meant a tie ballgame as opposed to a close one.
“I’d like to have those back,” Rodriguez said. “That was a good sign, those last two innings. We put some pressure on them and had some opportunities. For a game that was 6-0 to come down to the last at-bat with two men on base, I’ll take my chances.”
Good signs are nice for teams struggling to find their way. But these are the Yankees and they do not count unless the result is a victory.
NOTES:
Cervelli was another Yankees, who expressed regret about last night’s events. He admitted to making a mistake in not running hard, especially when his potential home run to left field was a ruled a single by umpires.
“I made a mistake running the bases,” Cervelli said. “Running hard all the time, that’s what I do all the time. I don’t know what happened. I made a mistake.”
The umpires reviewed it after third base coach Rob Thomson told Girardi he thought hit the base of the foul pole.
“The ball hit the line and stayed in the ballpark,” crew chief Derryl Cousins said. “That’s why we were out there so quick — it wasn’t worth looking at a second time.”
Javier Vazquez will likely make his next scheduled start Thursday in Minnesota. The Yankees will definitely give him the start once they see him successfully get through Tuesday’s bullpen session. Vazquez injured his right index finger trying to lay down a bunt Friday and was still taped up.
“I expect to make it, unless it really feels bad,” Vazquez said. “Right now, I don’t think it will, because I don’t feel that bad. I think there’s a good chance I’m going to make it.”
Curtis Granderson played two rehab games over the weekend for Scranton-Wilkes Barre. He was the DH Saturday and went 0-for-4 but played the field for the first time yesterday and was 1-for-2 with a walk.
