Escape from L.A.

The 2010 Yankees don’t exactly have the come-from-behind flair of their predecessor squad, do they?

Not that coming back from a three- (or really, any) run deficit is ever easy, per se, and the 2009 team was obviously a pretty unique group, tallying 51 comeback wins — with 5 runs being the largest deficit they overcame, along with 15 walk-offs.

Of course, per B-Ref, the 2010 team actually does have 21 comeback wins (with 3 runs the largest deficit overcome), which actually is probably roughly on pace with last year’s gang, but for whatever reason it feels like you can pretty much bury the Yankees this year once they’ve fallen behind by more than two runs. B-Ref also doesn’t tell us how many of those “comeback” wins were of the one-run-deficit variety, which I suspect is what many of them are.

Regardless, the Yankees and also dropped the series. The Yanks are now 2-4 all-time against Los Angeles in Interleague Play. The 2010 Yankees ended up going 10-8 in Interleague overall, which is OK, but only 4-5 in National League ballparks. It also didn’t help that Boston once again absolutely throttled the so-called Senior Circuit, going 13-5, including sweeps of the two teams the Yankees just split six games with.

I’m actually starting to get flashbacks to 2004 given the way the Sox have been pounding the ball while the Yankees continue their offensive futility. Despite an almost comical number of injuries to key players, Boston just keeps on finding ways to win, and the race is starting to feel very much like that aforementioned awful year in which the Yanks barely held on to the two- to three-game lead they had over the Sox for what felt like the entire summer, before finally getting exposed in the ALCS. Then again, this year’s pitching (X.XX ERA) is absurdly better than the 2004 unit, who posted a 4.69(!) ERA and 4.27 FIP, so I think the Yankees not having the league’s finest offense is making me a tad bit paranoid more than anything.

As for last night’s game itself, there isn’t much to report — though was only docked for two earned runs, he gave up five and was responsible for both Yankee errors, so in a way it almost feels like he should’ve been charged for all of them. Funny how baseball works sometimes. Andy was also only able to get through five innings, and basically turned in the dud start he’d been long overdue for. If this is the worst Andy gets this year, I’ll gladly take it.

The slight positive worth mentioning is the continuing resurgence of ‘s power stroke, as he hit three home runs this week including a two-run shot last night. Alex was apparently the only Yankee who was aware that they were playing this weekend, driving in 56% of the team’s runs.