Last night’s loss to the Boston Red Sox has to leave a bad taste in the Yankees mouths. With a 5-0 lead after seven innings and Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera lurking in the bullpen, the Yankees likely thought this game was over and they would sweep the short two game series.
Think again. For the second straight night, the Yankees bullpen blew a fairly comfortable lead against the Red Sox. It was not just on the pitchers however. There is plenty of blame that can be tossed around after this game.
Joba Chamberlain
Joba entered the game to start the eighth inning after starter CC Sabathia battled through seven scoreless innings of work. With a 5-0 lead, Chamberlain promptly gave up four runs on four hits to allow the Red Sox to get back in the game. Three of the four runs were earned. He did not strike out a single batter in his inning of work. Five run lead or not, Joba needs to pitch better than this. He needs to learn to treat each game like its a one run game.
Marcus Thames
Yes he had the game winning hit the night before, but last night Thames was one of the big reasons the Yankees lost. Playing right field because the team is short on outfielders right now and Nick Swisher remains day-to-day with an injury. With Mariano Rivera on the mound in the ninth inning, Thames and second baseman Robinson Cano converged on a short fly ball. Thames called off Cano, but while doing so he took his eye off the ball. When he looked back up, the ball was in his lap. The error cost the Yankees and allowed the inning to continue.
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