by Paul Semendinger
September 1, 2022
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About Last Night: There is this belief among some that the Yankees, magically, are going to flip a switch and start winning baseball games. I hope the people that believe that are correct because I don't see it. That line of thinking would have one believe that the Yankees just haven't been trying. I also don't believe that. I think they are trying to win. They just aren't winning.
They just are not winning.
Last night the Angels won 3-2. With the win, the Angels took the series.
There was this belief that the Yankees would head to California and start winning. That belief made some sense, the Yankees had just won two games against the Mets. And, the teams they'd be playing, the A's and the Angels are not good. They are two of the worst teams in the league.
The Yankees went 3-4 on their California excursion. This isn't California dreaming. It's a California nightmare.
Quick Stats:
The heralded Yankees offense ("They lead the league in home runs!") managed a grand total of three hits last night.
The Yankees only scored in one inning last night. (This is also becoming a trend, if they score they manage to figure it out once a game.)
Katie Sharp on Twitter has a few stats that should end any narrative about the Yankees resting and not trying and this belief that they can just turn it on and start winning. These from Katie:
The Yankees now have 12 games with 3 hits or fewer this season. The only team with more is the Tigers (15).
Yankees have 17 1-run losses since June 19. That's the most in MLB over than span.
Yankees finish August 10-18 (.357). That's their worst record and most losses in any calendar month since September 1991 (9-19, .321).
The Big Story:
The big story is that the Yankees look bad. They are bad. There is no sugar coating it.
That huge Yankees division lead is down to six games over the Tampa Bay Rays. Six games. Six. The Yankees open a three game series against the Rays beginning tomorrow.
If there ever was a time for the Yankees to start staking games seriously, it's now. The huge lead is gone. The cushion is flat. The bubble has burst. If the Rays sweep the series this coming weekend, the Yankees lead will be all of three games.
Player of the Game:
Patrick Sandoval (Angels) - 7 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 7 strikeouts
Shohei Ohtani (Angels) - Huge three-run homer following two Yankees errors Better to Forget:
In the inning that the Angels scored, the Yankees made two errors (Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa). Shohei Ohtani then hit a three- run homer.
The Yankees Should Remember:
In the inning that the Angels scored, the Yankees made two errors (Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa). Shohei Ohtani then hit a three- run homer. One thing the Yankees have struggled to do, for years, is capitalize on opportunities. Hopefully they can take a lesson from Ohtani.
My Take:
As play began on September 1, 1978, the Boston Red Sox enjoyed a 7 game lead over the Yankees. They had just finished an August where they went 19-10. Wait? WHAT? The story of 1978 is how the Red Sox collapsed...
The 1978 Red Sox didn't really collapse. The Yankees were just better - and the Yankees won the big head-to-head match-ups in September.
The 2022 Yankees are collapsing. They are 15-24 since the All-Star break.
Next Up:
The Yankees get today off. The BIG series with the Rays begins tomorrow in Tampa. The time to step-up is now. This is it.
