Yankees Lose; Rays Win

The Yankees fell to Chicago last night with Freddy Garcia on the mound. I can't lie, Garcia has been solid for us. In fact, they showed a graphic during last night's game about how Garcia has the most wins out of any Yankees pitcher since the Pettitte injury, going 5-3. Last night was not one of those solid nights. He started off pretty well, working into and out of trouble in the first, and then cruising until the 5th. The Yankees were out to a 3-0 lead, until Garcia allowed 5 runs on three hits and two walks before exiting the game with the bases loaded. Girardi in his infinite wisdom decided to go to three different pitchers for three different batters, and all three off them picked up RBI's. The Yanks battled back and tied the game at 6, but in the bottom of the 7th Alexei Ramirez broke the tie with a 407 foot two run bomb to put the White Sox up 8-6. Adam Dunn added a homer in the 8th, and the Yankees went on to lose 9-6. 

A couple of states over in Kansas City, the Royals met up with the surging Tampa Bay Rays. Unlike the Yankees game, this matchup was really never close with the Rays winning 5-1. The Rays have now won five in a row, and are 8-2 over their last ten. This team will just not go away, as they've narrowed the gap to just 4 games in the AL East. 

One good piece of news for the Yankees is that Baltimore did lose last night, but even the Orioles are still only 6 games in back of the Yanks. These two teams have just not stop winning. If the season ended today all three of these teams would make the playoffs, under the new wild card format. Also under the new wild card format, the top division winner with the best record can play the wild card winner even if they are in the same division. Before this season, if the wild card winner and top division winner were in the same division, they weren't allowed to meet until the Championship Series. Although I think it would be cool to see all three of these teams in the playoffs, my main priority is seeing the Yankees there. The Yanks still have 7 games left with Baltimore, and 6 against the Rays. 

If I had to put a prediction down I would say that all three of these squads are going to make the playoffs, and in my mind that is good news for the Yankees. The Tigers and the Angels scare me with that pitching, especially Verlander and Weaver. I think it would benefit the Yankees to meet up against either the Rays or Orioles in the first round.Not because they aren't as good, but because they are familiar to the Yankees. They have seen these pitchers before, and our pitchers have seen these batters before. I just feel that playing against a team that you are more experienced with will be better for the Yankees. On the other hand that could also backfire for us. Because just like we know them, they will know us just as well. The Yankees also haven't seen much of Evan Longoria this season, and he has made a huge impact thus far. Since his return the Rays have gone 12-2, including a 4 game sweep of the Angels. 

For now all the Yankees can do to hold back these teams is win, and pray. However, the Yankees will be getting much stronger in the coming weeks, with the return of CC Sabathia over the next couple of days, and the hopeful return of Andy Pettitte within the next few weeks. The Yankees also hope Alex Rodriguez will return sometime in mid-September.