In the immortal words of Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon on NCIS), I don't believe in coincidences.
Here's the damage from yesterday's game:
Alex Rodriguez: 0-for-5 with 3 strikeouts, and 4 men left on base. As the player released early in the film Bull Durham might say, A-Rod is 0-for-his-last-19, a big-fucking-donut-hole-for-19. Is it being 40 years old (41 in late July)? Is it the cool weather? Or is it no more steroids?
Didi Gregorius: 0-for-4, and 4 men left on base.
Chase Headley: 2 walks, but 0-for-3, with 4 men left on base, including the tying and winning runs as he made the last out of the game.
Starlin Castro: 3-for-5, but 2 men left on.
Mark Teixeira: No men left on base, and 2 walks, but 0-for-3.
Austin Romine, 1-for-3, 2 men left on base. Brian McCann, still nursing that bruised toe, pinch-hit for him late, but didn't get on.
The only Yankee who did much of anything yesterday was Carlos Beltran: 4-for-5, with 2 doubles, 1 for an RBI in the 3rd inning, and his 3rd home run of the season (the 395th of his career) in the 7th for the Yankees' other run.
Throw in the usual "Onebadinningitis" for CC Sabathia, the 5th inning, including a Leonys Martin home run, ruining an otherwise decent start, opposite Seattle ace Felix Hernandez, and it ended Mariners 3, Yankees 2.
WP: Hernandez (1-1). SV: Steve Cishek (1). LP: Sabathia (1-1).
Why can't CC's inevitable one bad inning be the 8th inning? Joe Girardi never lets a starting pitcher pitch that long anyway.
The Yankees were 4-2, and looking strong. They are now 4-6, and looking as bad as the Mets did before this streak began.
The series concludes this afternoon. Both starting pitchers are Japanese: Masahiro Tanaka for the Yankees, and Hisashi Iwakuma for the Mariners.
Come on, Yankees, convert your opportunities and get some runs!