expect some life out of the Yanks tonight...
June 2, 2005 -- KANSAS CITY - Chances are you were as sick of looking at the lifeless Yankees as Joe Torre was last night. However, unlike you, Torre had a chance to say something about it to his lifeless team.
So, minutes after the putrid Royals hung a 3-1 defeat on Randy Johnson and the underachieving Yankees in front of 28,033 at Kauffman Stadium and extended the Yankees' losing streak to four games, Torre closed the clubhouse.
"It wasn't a pat on the [butt]," Alex Rodriguez said of Torre's mood.
Atop Torre's list of gripes was the lack of intensity the Yankees displayed in losing back-to-back games to the worst team in baseball.
He didn't like the first-pitch swinging by his hitters against D.J. Carrasco, a right-hander making his sixth major league start. And the second baserunning mistake in two games - this one by Jason Giambi on second base in the fourth inning that cost the Yankees a run - got Torre's attention.
"I didn't like what I saw," said Torre, two games into a 12-tilt, four-city road trip. "I am unhappy, but I won't go as far as saying I am discouraged because we are on the heels of feeling pretty damn good about ourselves and winning some very impressive ballgames. We are flat and we need to do something about it."
The last time the Yankees looked this dead they made a major shakeup on May 3. Robinson Cano was elevated from Columbus (Triple-A), Tony Womack went from second base to left field, Hideki Matsui shifted from left to center and Bernie Williams went to the bench.
This time a turnaround has to come from within the team George Steinbrenner has invested $200 million in.
Can it? With a third of the season gone, the Yankees are 27-25, five games behind the AL East-leading Orioles and fourth in the five-team division.
Remember that 10-game win streak that saved their season in May? History. How about that stretch where they won 16 of 18 going into Saturday's tilt against the Red Sox? Seems like a decade ago.
Three games against the worst team in baseball was supposed to get the Yankees healthy. Instead, they send Carl Pavano, rocked by the Red Sox in his last outing, to the mound tonight to avoid getting swept by the Royals, who are 2-0 since Buddy Bell took over Tuesday.
Johnson, who gave up three runs and nine hits - the big blow was a two-run homer by Emil Brown in the first inning - pitched well enough to win if the Yankees provided any support. Instead, he lost for the second time in three starts and is 5-4.
But Carrasco blanked them for six innings, allowing four hits. If that wasn't bad enough, Steve Stemle contributed two scoreless innings of relief in his third big league game. Not until Williams homered with two outs in the ninth off Mike MacDougal did the Yankees score.
Robinson Cano followed with a double to center, but MacDougal fanned Derek Jeter on a 3-2 pitch to end it.
The Yankees went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and have four hits in the last 44 (.091) at-bats in the clutch. During the four-game slide they have scored six runs and are hitting a pathetic .197 (26-for-132).
"We have to get rolling here," said Jeter, who is hitless in his last 14 at-bats with a runner in scoring position and batting .200 (9-for-45) in the clutch for the season. "We haven't played well."
The captain is wrong. The Yankees have played like horse manure.
June 2, 2005 -- KANSAS CITY - Chances are you were as sick of looking at the lifeless Yankees as Joe Torre was last night. However, unlike you, Torre had a chance to say something about it to his lifeless team.
So, minutes after the putrid Royals hung a 3-1 defeat on Randy Johnson and the underachieving Yankees in front of 28,033 at Kauffman Stadium and extended the Yankees' losing streak to four games, Torre closed the clubhouse.
"It wasn't a pat on the [butt]," Alex Rodriguez said of Torre's mood.
Atop Torre's list of gripes was the lack of intensity the Yankees displayed in losing back-to-back games to the worst team in baseball.
He didn't like the first-pitch swinging by his hitters against D.J. Carrasco, a right-hander making his sixth major league start. And the second baserunning mistake in two games - this one by Jason Giambi on second base in the fourth inning that cost the Yankees a run - got Torre's attention.
"I didn't like what I saw," said Torre, two games into a 12-tilt, four-city road trip. "I am unhappy, but I won't go as far as saying I am discouraged because we are on the heels of feeling pretty damn good about ourselves and winning some very impressive ballgames. We are flat and we need to do something about it."
The last time the Yankees looked this dead they made a major shakeup on May 3. Robinson Cano was elevated from Columbus (Triple-A), Tony Womack went from second base to left field, Hideki Matsui shifted from left to center and Bernie Williams went to the bench.
This time a turnaround has to come from within the team George Steinbrenner has invested $200 million in.
Can it? With a third of the season gone, the Yankees are 27-25, five games behind the AL East-leading Orioles and fourth in the five-team division.
Remember that 10-game win streak that saved their season in May? History. How about that stretch where they won 16 of 18 going into Saturday's tilt against the Red Sox? Seems like a decade ago.
Three games against the worst team in baseball was supposed to get the Yankees healthy. Instead, they send Carl Pavano, rocked by the Red Sox in his last outing, to the mound tonight to avoid getting swept by the Royals, who are 2-0 since Buddy Bell took over Tuesday.
Johnson, who gave up three runs and nine hits - the big blow was a two-run homer by Emil Brown in the first inning - pitched well enough to win if the Yankees provided any support. Instead, he lost for the second time in three starts and is 5-4.
But Carrasco blanked them for six innings, allowing four hits. If that wasn't bad enough, Steve Stemle contributed two scoreless innings of relief in his third big league game. Not until Williams homered with two outs in the ninth off Mike MacDougal did the Yankees score.
Robinson Cano followed with a double to center, but MacDougal fanned Derek Jeter on a 3-2 pitch to end it.
The Yankees went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and have four hits in the last 44 (.091) at-bats in the clutch. During the four-game slide they have scored six runs and are hitting a pathetic .197 (26-for-132).
"We have to get rolling here," said Jeter, who is hitless in his last 14 at-bats with a runner in scoring position and batting .200 (9-for-45) in the clutch for the season. "We haven't played well."
The captain is wrong. The Yankees have played like horse manure.
