Schadenfreude 227 (A Continuing Series)

Ken Davidoff, Post:

Brett Gardner swung through a full-count Sergio Romo sinker — probably ball four — and the Rays' closer-third baseman slapped his glove, pumped his fist and screamed in joy Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field....

This loss, which gave the Rays a 2-1 series victory, marked a fourth straight series that the Yankees didn't win — they split four-game sets with the O's and [Cleveland] prior to the All-Star break and a two-game matchup with the Mets to launch the second half. It put them 5.5 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East ...

They own a 6-7 record over those four series, and in a normal season, it's a lull you expect and shrug off. ... [But t]his does not look or feel like a conventional campaign in any way. ...

The Yankees have gone three straight games without going deep, their longest such stretch since Sept. 22-24, 2016, fueling the contention that they're too homer-dependent. ... [The Yankees] need to step on the gas again or face consequences they never could have anticipated.

That one is too good to post only once!

George A. King, Post:

General manager Brian Cashman ... expects the Yankees to be without Gary Sanchez until late August or early September. Sanchez went on the disabled list Tuesday with the same right groin injury that shelved him earlier in the season.

Ken Davidoff, Post:

Only a select few know the exact severity of Gary Sanchez's right groin strain, so the conspiracy theories ... will have to [be?] thrust forward based on more emotions than facts.

Here's what's indisputable, however: Sanchez's return to the disabled list serves as the cleanest resolution to what could have been an existential crisis for the team, the clubhouse and the rookie manager.

They successfully kicked the can on their top headache of 2018 ...

Ethan Sears, Post:

"He probably had an injury for a while, but I'm telling you, I'm not buying last night, that that was about an injury," [Mike] Francesa said ... "Because if you watch the tape of him going down to first base, when he realized what was going on, he tried to bust it. He was not a guy who was limping down to first base. ... [A]fter the game, he never once said he was hurting. Not one time. He talked about the passed ball. He talked about the end of the game. And he — not one time did he say, 'I felt something, I hurt something.' Not one time did he say that. ... [T]hey should say he's not in the lineup 'cause he didn't hustle. Not that he's got some strain or something."

Bill Madden, Daily News:

Maybe Sanchez really is hurt. ... [B]ut the fact of the matter is, it was a whole lot easier for everyone to just maintain he's too hurt to play right now. Otherwise, Aaron Boone would have been in a very dicey position with his problem child catcher.

Millions of Yankee fans, the TV viewers back in New York and the majority of the crowd at Tropicana Field, witnessed Sanchez commit his 10th passed ball of the season in the first inning Monday night, then lollygag after it, allowing Jake Bauers to score all the way from second ... then further gasp in disgust when he loafed out of the box with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to get thrown out at first for the final out. ...

[W]e're not talking like this was an isolated incident, or just one unfortunate bad game. This was Gary Sanchez, the guy some people have said had a lot to do with Joe Girardi getting fired. Gary Sanchez, the guy who was suspended at least twice while in the Yankee minors for attitude and indifferent play issues. Gary Sanchez, to whom none of the Yankee pitchers like pitching. Gary Sanchez, who leads the league with 10 passed balls after tying for the major league lead with 16 last year. Gary Sanchez, whose work ethic has been a perpetual work in progress. ...

By now, everyone has grown weary of Sanchez's transgressions. How many times do we have to hear he's still growing as a player, or that he's working hard on his defensive deficiencies? ...

[Boone:] "It's still a learning experience for him. ... I know deep down he cares about his craft."

For nearly nine seasons now, he's had a funny way of showing that. ... And now offensively he's regressed — as in "can't get around on the good fastballs".

The Yankees are better off with him on the disabled list. A lot of people think a more fitting place to have sent him is the dog pound.