April 15, 2019

Schadenfreude 252 (A Continuing Series)


Kevin Kernan, Post:
This is how the Yankees will go into the first meeting of the year against the Red Sox Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

In a downward spiral.

They are losers of two of three to the dreadful White Sox ... [nearly] being swept at home by one of the worst teams in baseball.

Their starting pitcher Tuesday night will be James Paxton, who admitted Sunday that he is trying to find his way mentally and physically after being traded from laid-back Seattle to the pressure cooker that is New York and also has to overcome tipping his pitches.

The other Yankees starter for that series, J.A. Happ, has lost command and velocity, and is carrying an 8.76 ERA. ...

Sunday was another example of Yankees' ineptitude.

Masahiro Tanaka [was] the third Yankees starter over the past four games not to make it past four innings ...

Tanaka was abysmal, and it would have been worse if the White Sox had done some simple maneuvers like sliding into second base on a steal attempt, and not stopping, or running hard out of the box ...

This performance typified how misguided Aaron Boone was with his comments in Houston on back-to-back nights that his Yankees "are really close to turning the corner." ...

If the 6-9 Yankees don't take care of business against the 6-10 Red Sox, forget about turning the corner, they will be going off the cliff. ...

The last time the Red Sox were here, they crushed the Yankees 16-1 in Game 3 and won Game 4, 4-3, the first step of their world championship run.
Dan Martin, Post:
So much for the Yankees easy early schedule.

These days, there are no soft opponents in The Bronx.

With Sunday's 5-2 loss to the White Sox on Sunday, the Yankees have already dropped home series to Chicago, Baltimore and Detroit and will head into Tuesday's game against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium losers of five of their past six games. ...

[Masahiro] Tanaka cruised through the first three innings, but a splitter that wasn't at its best eventually caught up with the right-hander in the fourth.

Jose Abreu doubled with one out and Tanaka walked Yonder Alonso and Eloy Jimenez to load the bases. After a visit from catcher Kyle Higashioka, Tanaka gave up a grand slam to right-center to Tim Anderson, stunning the crowd and giving Chicago a 4-2 lead.

Tanaka returned for the fifth inning, but didn't record an out before leaving with the bases loaded again. ...

And the White Sox shaky bullpen held the Yankees down for the last three innings. ...

The Yankees ... hardly threatened after the third. ...

The loss also left the Yankees 3-6 at home.
Kristie Ackert, Daily News:
The last time the Yankees started a season so poorly at home ... was in 1982 and that season ended with them missing out on the playoffs. ...

Tanaka breezed through the first three innings, retiring eight of the first 10 batters he faced. The second time through the lineup, Tanaka struggled. He retired just two of the next 10 he faced.
Zach Braziller, Post:
As much as any pitch, the split-finger fastball has keyed Masahiro Tanaka's success as a Yankee. ... But it wasn't there for him on Sunday.

"It wasn't coming out of my hand right," Tanaka said after he was tagged for five runs on seven hits in four-plus innings ... "It's not just today, it's been like that for a little bit." ..."

It was the splitter that led to the game-turning swing, Tim Anderson's opposite-field grand slam in the fourth inning. ...

Yoan Mancada led off the fourth with a rocket single to right field. Aaron Judge threw him out trying to stretch the hit into a double. But the next four White Sox reached based, on a double, two walks and Anderson's home run. ...

The fifth inning didn't go any better. The first three White Sock hitters reached — on a double, single and walk — and Tanaka's afternoon was over.
Dan Martin, Post:
Gary Sanchez is on the injured list ... and Austin Romine sat for a second straight day Sunday. ...

Kyle Higashioka started in Romine's place again for the 5-2 loss to the White Sox. ... Higashioka went 0-for-3 with a key double play and saw Chicago steal five bases. It was the most against the Yankees in a game since 2012.
Dan Martin, Post:
Giancarlo Stanton said his rehab from the left biceps strain that has sidelined him since April 1 is "on track," but he doesn't know when he'll be able to return. ...

Stanton ... has already missed nearly two weeks after suffering the injury in just his third game of the season.
Kristie Ackert, Daily News:
James Paxton was tipping his pitches Wednesday. The Yankees lefty said that [special adviser] Carlos Beltran came up to him Saturday and told him that he was showing what was coming.

Paxton struggled to put hitters away. The Astros fouled off 26 balls, 14 when he had two strikes against them. ... He wasn't fooling anyone, he got just 13 called strikes and eight swings and misses.
Zach Braziller, Post:
The 30-year-old Paxton has not gotten off to a good start since being traded to the Yankees in the offseason, pitching to a 6.00 ERA in three starts ... He has admittedly been pressing, trying to prove his worth as a big-ticket acquisition. ...

"I just need to realize that I'm good enough how I am ... Talking to a sports psychologist ... I think will help me a lot."

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