BLUE JAYS 5 - YANKEES 4
Another series in the division, another loss. Yeah, it's only 12 games into the season, and you don't want to hit the panic button when there are 150 games to go, but at 5-7 there are too many red flags now not to be concerned.
The Yankees lost to the Blue Jays 5-4 in Dunedin, Wednesday after Bo Bichette connected on a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to send the Jays to their second straight victory against the Bombers, and their second consecutive series win against the Bombers this season.
After 12 games the Yankees have lost three series combined, with two of those coming against the Jays, and the other against Tampa Bay. The Yankees squeaked by Baltimore in between this for their lone series victory. The Jays and Rays were expected to be really good this year, both were expected to challenge the Yankees all year.
However out of the blue have come the Boston Red Sox, who have stunned everyone in baseball rallying off nine straight victories to start off 9-3 on the year. Right now the Yanks find themselves in last place at 5-7.
Again the big problem for the Yankees Wednesday afternoon, the same problem they have had so far this year, is they couldn't get enough out of their starting pitcher. Corey Kluber was again average, touched up for three runs on six hits, including home runs by Bichette and Alejandro Kirk.
Through three starts, Kluber is 0-1 with a 6.10 ERA. He is one of four others who have struggled in this rotation. The only guy who has held up his end of the bargain, of course, is Gerrit Cole. But he can't pitch every night; and when he does the Yankees have to find ways to score runs for him. They can't afford to lose games Cole pitches.
And that leads to the next big problem for New York in this early season, they aren't hitting, and certainly have struggled with runners in scoring position.
Yes, Aaron Judge homered twice on Wednesday, and Gio Urshela drove in a pair in the fourth that gave the Yanks a 4-3 lead, but it's not enough. Not when the Yankees as a group are hitting .231, ranked 16th in Major League Baseball, and a paltry .229 with RISP.
On Wednesday the Yankees were 1-for-3 with RISP, and outside of Judge's 3-hit day, the Yankees managed only one extra base hit all afternoon by Gleyber Torres -- who has struggled himself both at the plate (.220) and defensively.
What makes this even more troubling, is the fact the Yankees lost 4 out of 6 to a Blue Jays team that still doesn't have George Springer back in the lineup yet. Imagine how tougher the Jays will be when he comes off the injury list.
With the Rays coming to the Bronx on Friday, the Yankees need to get things going. This is a team that is talented enough, but the lingering questions will remain. Certainly the concerns about pitching are the most glaring issue for this team moving forward.
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