Yankees lose again in Seattle

I kind of thought the Yankees would lose the first two games of this road trip but not in the way that they have.  They were facing a young phenom in Michael Pineda and then the reigning Cy Young Award Winner Felix Hernandez.  They did lose both games but they didn't do so bad against those pitchers.  They had the lead in both games but weren't able to hold it and also they couldn't do anything at all against the Seattle bullpen.  The guys in that bullpen are doing a good job but they aren't exactly household names.  The Yankees problem all year long has been their inability to hit with runners in scoring position and that has continued in this series.  The Yankees will try to salvage the final game of the series this afternoon at 4PM.  C.C. Sabathia will be on the mound against Jason Vargas. 

Ivan Nova had his worst start since April.  He didn't have command and got taken out in the fourth inning.  It wasn't a good start for him but he is still young and learning.  He will have his ups and downs and that is what happens when you have a young starter in your rotation, it is just in New York it is magnified and there isn't as much patience when the mission statement is win the World Series or it is a failure. 

The Yankees bullpen was outstanding last night but a couple of bloops off of Mariano Rivera lost them the game.  Luis Ayala, Hector Noesi, Dave Robertson and Joba Chamberlain all held the Mariners scoreless.  Rivera was really the only choice for Girardi, he could of went to Pendleton but if he did that Rivera would of been the only man left in the bullpen and you can't have a single inning pitcher as the only one left.  He could of went to Ayala for another inning but then he would start getting to the point where he was burning him out.  Rivera took the loss but he didn't pitch that bad, they just hit a couple in the right spots, one of them Gardner just missed catching. 

Derek Jeter is now the all-time Yankees leader in stolen bases with 327, he passed Rickey Henderson who accomplished the feat in five years.  Jeter now can set his sights on 3000 although I don't really think he is thinking about it.  I think he may start thinking about it when the Yankees return home, especially if he is within 10 or 15 hits.  I think Jeter will hit 3000 at home in the next homestand. 

Robinson Cano has been in a really bad slump but he had a good night, three hits and really good at bats.  The homerun that Cano hit was his first since May 12th and only the second homerun of the month for him.  I would expect him to get hot and hit a bunch quickly but to me the more cocerning thing is that his average was in the 270s.  He isn't a power hitter even though he hits homeruns, he is a high average guy though and that hasn't been there. 

Mark Teixeira went deep again and now has eight homeruns in his last 17 games at Safeco Field.  He has 14 career homers at Safeco.  Only Eric Chavez has more with 15 career.  Teixeira has homered in three straight games.  The Yankees are 3-4 in extra inning games this season.  The Yankees were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and once again that is what killed them, they need to start getting hits with runners in scoring position to win games.