(Courtesy of the AP)
The Yankees had appeared to regain it almost as quickly as they lost it in the Subway Series coming into last night's game. They had won 4 straight games, all on the road, and had clearly been the better team on the field in each game. They were perfectly set up to keep the winning streak going last night against
Jeremy Bonderman, former Detroit Tiger who hadn't pitched in the Majors since 2010 and was making only his second start back after getting dominated in his first last weekend.
Hiroki Kuroda was on the mound for the Yankees, looking to get back on track himself after a substandard outing against Boston last Sunday. Somehow all of that added up to another ugly loss.
Game Notes:
- Yanks got on the board early thanks to a
Brett Gardner leadoff double and an RBI groundout by
Travis Hafner in the 1st. Bonderman didn't look sharp from the jump and it looked like just a matter of time.
- They put 2 on in the 2nd and looked primed for a big inning, then
Reid Brignac decided to bunt, missed, and got
Vernon Wells thrown out in the process. That play right there was basically the end of the Yankee offense for the night.
- Hirok wasn't at his best, but he was good enough through 3. In the 4th things started to fall apart for him and frustratingly enough it happened against the bottom of the order with 2 outs. Double by
Michael Morse, back-to-back walks to Franklin and Shoppach, and a 2-run single by the immortal
Brendan Ryan gave Seattle the lead. By the time the dust settled it was 4-1.
- I said the offense ended after the 2nd and I meant it. The Yanks mustered just 2 hits and 1 more walk in the final 7 innings, very reminiscent of what they did on Thursday night. To have that kind of no-show against a pitcher like Bonderman is almost unfathomable.
- Good work by the Seattle 'pen behind Bonderman. They tossed 3 shutout innings.
Preston Claiborne threw 1.2 of his own after Kuroda to keep his BB-less streak going.