Yankees break out for three runs, lose 6-3 to Rays anyway

Source: FanGraphsYou know, the Rays were supposed to be the easy part of the schedule. Do you think other teams see the Yankees as the soft part of their schedule? They have to, right? The Yankees scored a big win for #TeamSell with a 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday night. New York has lost three straight to fall to five games back of the second wildcard spot. It’ll be 5.5 games back if the BoSox beat the lowly Angels tonight.

I, thankfully, did not see much of tonight’s game. A couple at-bats here and there. That’s about it. Sure doesn’t look like I missed much. There are better ways to spend a Saturday night than watching these Yankees, that’s for sure. I have some quick thoughts on the game.

1. Eovaldi’s Dingers. Two more homers allowed for Nathan Eovaldi, who has now allowed 21 dingers in 116.2 innings this year after allowing ten dingers in 154.1 innings last year. He allowed two homers Saturday night — a first inning solo shot (Brad Miller) and a third inning two-run shot (Curt Casali) — and finished with three runs allowed in six innings. Not a disaster start, but anything less than excellence usually means a loss for a Yankees starter. Eovaldi’s homer issue is really troubling. He was never this homer prone before. Not even close.

2. Behind Early, Again. Miller’s homer was the fourth first inning homer the Yankees have allowed in the last six games. It’s incredible. They’re behind early every game, it seems. Also, the Yankees have not scored first since last Sunday, the final game of the Giants series. This team isn’t good enough to play from behind all the time. They got away with two in Houston earlier this week, but not these last three games.

3. The A-Rod Absurdity. This Alex Rodriguez stuff is beyond ridiculous. Alex hasn’t hit at all this year so he’s been benched, and that’s smart. Bad players shouldn’t play. And yet, when Joe Girardi deems A-Rod worthy of a start, he bats him cleanup. Not good enough to play regularly but good enough to hit fourth when he does play. How silly. Alex went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts Saturday night and I’m guessing he looked awful in all four at-bats. The Yankees should release A-Rod because he’s a sunk cost and doesn’t deserve a roster spot, and yet I weirdly find myself hoping they keep him because this is truly hilarious. The Yankees are so dysfunctional right now.

4. Bullpen Mismanagement. Down one in the seventh? Bring in Anthony Swarzak! Down three in the eighth? Bring in Adam Warren! Also, in the Astros series Swarzak pitched with the Yankees up four and Warren pitched with the Yankees down three. That is completely and totally backwards. I figured Swarzak would find himself in the Circle of Trust™ with that escape job against the Orioles a week ago, but it’s wholly undeserved. Yes, Warren stunk with the Cubs this year. But it’s literally Anthony Swarzak. When it comes to on-field stuff, the manager’s job is putting his players and his team in the best possible position to succeed. The A-Rod situation and Swarzak/Warren stuff is the opposite of that. They were set up for failure.

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Here are the box score, video highlights, and updated standings. Check out our Bullpen Workload and Announcer Standings pages as well. The Yankees will try to avoid getting swept by the last place Rays on Sunday afternoon. Michael Pineda and rookie lefty Blake Snell are the scheduled starters. It will be nothing short of negligence if the Yankees don’t continue selling before the deadline. We have 103 games worth of evidence telling us they just aren’t very good.

Minor League Update: Sorry folks, I don’t have time for a full DotF tonight. Might not tomorrow either. Here are the box scores and here’s the short version: Ben Gamel had three hits, Tyler Austin homered, Blake Rutherford had two hits, Dermis Garcia hit a ball off the light tower, and Jorge Mateo had a single. Three of the eight affiliates were rained out.