Yankees: Looking for the Future

Yankees Rebound from Road Trip, Win 2 of 3 from Royals August 19, 2008

The Yankees had a terrible road trip, going 3-7 and losing 16 of their last 19 games overall at that point. They blew a few games they should have won, the games with the walk-off grand slam from Marlon Byrd, the legendary bullpen meltdown in Anaheim (8 runs allowed in 2 innings), the walk-off 10-hopper from Chone Figgins, and the last of Delmon Young’s 3-run homers. Except for the first two games in Texas, none of the games had been high-scoring, and the team struggled with RISP.

The same was to be true in the first game of the series against KC. The Yankees were 3/13 w/RISP, and were dumbfounded by Gil Meche in the first inning. More than that, Mo Rivera continued his struggles in tied games, and uncorked his first wild pitch in the top of the 9th to lose the game.

But in the next game, despite the struggles w/RISP, the Yankees had enough grittiness and relief pitching to win. The Yankees won 3-2 with a dramatic single through the left-side hole by Brett Gardner, who also got a walk-off hit of Jonathan Papelbon (both hits drove in Robinson Cano). That swayed the momentum to Sunday’s game, where the Yankees touched Brian Bannister for ten runs over 1+ IP. RISP didn’t matter with 15 runs and 5 RBI from A-Rod and a grand slam from Jason Giambi (not to count Cody Ransom’s 1st MLB HR).

The Yankees have crushed a bad team, which is what they’re supposed to do. Now they have to carry that momentum over to Toronto, and win at least 2 of 3 (most likely the Rasner v. Burnett and Ponson v. Purcey starts) against the Blue Jays.