Ken Davidoff
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Blog: Baseball Insider
I’d steal from Dennis Green and say that, in last night’s second Subway Series opener, the Yankees and Mets were who we thought they were. But there’s no need, thanks to Joe Girardi.
“We are who we are,” the Yankees manager said after his team dropped a 6-4 decision to the Mets at Citi Field. “There are basketball clubs that are built around 3-point shooting, and when they don’t make their 3s, they don’t win. We’re a home run-hitting club. If we hit two- and three-run homers, we usually win games.”
Hmm. That’s not the most encouraging logic, looking forward in this so far successful Yankees’ season.
N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg; Anthony J. Causi
UNLUCKY STRIKES: Curtis Granderson is in a rainy-day mood after striking out with runners on in the ninth inning of the Yankees’ 6-4 loss to the Mets last night at Citi Field, just as Robinson Cano had in the first inning.
The Yankees hit three more homers last night, extending their major-league-leading total to 108. And they went hitless in four at-bats with runners in scoring position, including two failures in the ninth inning against Mets closer Frank “Chicken” Francisco, giving them 125 hits in 577 at-bats for the season in those situations, a woeful .217 batting average.
The Mets, meanwhile, created a five-run first inning against Andy Pettitte because they came through with two huge hits with two outs and runners in scoring position.
You wonder whether the Yankees can ride such terrible situational hitting all the way to the division title, or whether that skill must improve to prop up other areas that have compensated for the clutch deficiency so far.
“It’s going to change one day,” said Robinson Cano, one of the team’s worst offenders with a .145 batting average (9-for-62) with runners in scoring position.
“It’s kind of an individual thing,” Mark Teixeira said. “If you swing at bad pitches, probably be a little less aggressive. If you’re taking a lot of strikes and getting down in the count, you probably want to be more aggressive.”
It was Teixeira who stepped up to the plate with two outs in the ninth and teammates Derek Jeter and Raul Ibanez on first and second. Curtis Granderson had struck out looking to pass the baton to Teixeira, who swung at a 1-and-1 Francisco fastball and skied it to short left field, where Mets shortstop Omar Quintanilla settled under it and made the game-ending catch.
“I had my chance,” Teixeira said. “I got the pitch I wanted, took a good swing on it and just missed it. Just popped it up. It happens. ... [Francisco] throws me a lot of sinkers. If that ball sunk a little bit, I might be walking around the bases with a game-winning home run.”
Earlier in the game, Cano stranded teammates at first and second with a first-inning strikeout, and the Yankees put runners on second and third with two outs in the second only to see Jeter ground out to shortstop.
The Yankees’ home-run prowess, starting pitching and bullpen all deserve credit for making the hitting with runners in scoring position problem more of a curiosity than a crisis. But every component hits a speed bump at some juncture. And on a good team, every component should eventually shine.
When will the Yankees’ clutch hitting shine? It didn’t during their 10-game winning streak. It hasn’t in the subsequent three-game losing streak. These hitters are so talented, and there’s little reason to press, given their standing. There is, in short, no common-sense explanation for the Yankees’ continued struggles here.
Girardi’s basketball analogy is flawed. A basketball team that relies on 3-point shooting probably lacks the big guys capable of scoring in the paint. A baseball team that relies on home runs doesn’t necessarily lack the ability to come through in clutch moments. Shoot, there’s nothing better than a crucial home run, of which the Yankees have a few.
Maybe the other strengths can carry the Yankees all the way through this liability. Perhaps the law of averages will finally work to the Yankees’ favor.
For now, though, it ranks as a major annoyance in a generally pleasurable Yankees’ season.
“We ask this question every day,” said Girardi, expressing his fatigue. “You keep putting them on, it’s eventually going to change.”
Unless, of course, this is just who the Yankees are.
kdavidoff@nypost.com
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the Yankees, the Yankees, Mets, the Mets, Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, ninth inning
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