Schadenfreude 286: (A Continuing Series)

Wondering if the title of these posts should be changed to "(A Daily Series)" . . .

Worst Record In MLB (Under .400)

              W   L   PCT      STANDINGS        L10  RS  RA  DIFF
Rockies       4  12  .250  9.0 GB in NL West    2-8  66  76   -10
Yankees       5  10  .333  4.5 GB in AL East    2-8  55  64   - 9
Diamondbacks  6  10  .375  7.0 GB in NL West    4-6  73  83   -10
Tigers        6  10  .375  4.0 GB in AL Central 3-7  55  83   -28
Nationals     5   8  .385  3.0 GB in NL East    4-6  46  61   -15

Kristie Ackert, Daily News:

No matter how much he may want to, Gerrit Cole cannot do it all.

The Yankees right-hander cannot spark the offense or steady the defense behind him. With an impotent offense and more defensive lapses, the Yankees wasted another of his starts Sunday. . . . The Yankees . . . dropped their fifth straight game, losing 4-2 to the Rays at the Stadium.

The Rays swept the three-games to take their second series of the season from the Yankees. . . .The Rays have won the last six regular season series against the Yankees and beat them in the best-of-five American League Division Series last season.

The Yankees managed just three hits off the Rays, who started Andrew Kittredge for 1.2 innings and then went to their bulk guy in Ryan Yarbrough. In the three-game series, the Yankees managed 11 hits, (hitting .120 as a team), including three homers. They struck out 37 times.

The Rays led off the third with three straight singles against Cole, including Kevin Keirmaier's bobbled fly ball to center and an RBI, line drive single by Yandy Diaz which Aaron Hicks missed and let get by him. The error allowed Mike Zunino, who led off with a single, to score. Manuel Margot gave the Rays the lead with a sacrifice fly to left, which Clint Frazier then sent sailing past second allowing Diaz to advance to third. . . .

Cole retired 13 straight until Joey Wendle hit a one-out single in the seventh. It was a hard-hit liner, but even though Chad Green was close to being ready, Aaron Boone kept him in to face Yoshi Tsutsugo. The Rays' designated hitter doubled on Cole's 109th pitch of the game to drive in the Rays' third run.

Joey Wendle homered off Darren O'Day in the top of the ninth. It was the first run O'Day allowed as a Yankee.

Greg Joyce, Post:

Not even Gerrit Cole could save the Yankees from sinking further into the depths of despair.

The $324 million ace tried to play the role of the stopper Sunday . . . but the scuffling offense still came up empty as the Yankees dropped a fifth straight game and were swept by the Rays with a 4-2 loss at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees mustered just three hits as they fell to 5-10, their worst record to begin a season since 1997 . . .

[Cole] was burned by some poor defense in a two-run third inning before giving up the go-ahead run in the seventh. . . . 

[T]he Yankees . . . [had] their first lead of the series in the second inning . . . It was the first time the Yankees had led in 22 innings, dating to the sixth inning of Wednesday's loss to the Blue Jays.

It didn't last long, though, as the Yankees gave it right back in the top of the third, courtesy of a few costly defensive gaffes from their outfield.

Ian O'Connor, Post:

A baseball manager is not a head football coach. He cannot treat an MLB Sunday loss in April like an NFL Sunday loss in September, not when he has to lead his team on a grueling, 162-game journey that isn't best served by the dramatic mood swings that define pro football.

The adjustments are not as extreme, and the reprimands are not as explosive. But right now, with Tampa Bay's series sweep leaving his Yankees at 5-10, Aaron Boone is starting to look like one of those nice-guy NFL coaches whose teams rarely look ready to play. . . .

We quickly transition to the necessary disclaimers in your prototypical negative early-season baseball column . . .

But all that matters today is that there are 29 other teams in major league baseball, and the Yankees have a worse record than 28 of them. Despite a payroll about $134 million fatter than Tampa Bay's, the Yankees have allowed the Rays to take up permanent residence in their big-market heads. The Rays have taken six straight series from the Yanks, and have won 15 of their last 18 regular-season meetings, and eight of their last nine in The Bronx. If they see each other again in the postseason, a year after the Yanks were bounced from the ALDS, the Rays will feel all but invincible walking into that series. . . .

Boone could not even be rescued by his $324 million ace in the hole, Gerrit Cole . . . that wasn't good enough to prevent his team from losing its fifth in a row.

Boone even got a pregame assist from Jay Bruce, who suddenly announced his retirement and got everyone in the building . . . talking about something other than just the godforsaken state of Bruce's last team.

That didn't help, either. The Yankees entered this game 23rd in the majors in on-base percentage, 24th in runs, 25th in total bases and 28th in OPS, and they responded with a grand total of two runs on three hits in the 4-2 defeat. . . .

Worse yet, the Yankees’ amateur-hour play in the outfield did nothing to support the idea that Boone's team was mentally prepared to compete at the highest level. Hicks, the expert golfer, committed a double bogey on one play and a bogey on another . . . while Clint Frazier once inexplicably threw the ball to Cole instead of to second base. That's why most of the 10,606 fans in the stands booed loudly after the final out was made. . . .

Boone said he will consider "shaking some things up." The most obvious move is getting Hicks out of the three-hole . . . His 0-for-4 dropped his batting average to .160 and his OBP to .236, and the numbers — coupled with his defensive breakdowns — have earned the demotion. . . .

Boone has to understand that this horror film of a start is not only on Yanks' stumbling, bumbling stars.

This is very much on the man paid to make sure those stars play up to their billing.

Greg Joyce, Post:

Sunday was Jay Bruce's last game as a Yankee — and major leaguer.

The 34-year-old outfielder/first baseman is retiring after the Yankees' 4-2 loss to the Rays on Sunday . . . marking the end of a 14-year career in the big leagues. . . .

Bruce said his decision came into focus about a week ago . . . [He] was batting 4-for-34 [.118] . . . in 10 games. He started first eight games of the season at first base, but had recently been phased out of the lineup.

Wow.

Bruce would rather retire than spend even one more day on the sinking ship known as the SS MFY.

(Please note: I wrote the prior sentence well before I saw the Daily News back page.)