15-1 loss to Astros could define New York Yankees' season

The New York Yankees are battling against the Toronto Blue Jays for the AL East division lead and entering games played on August 27, the Blue Jays are at the top of the mountain and the Yankees are trying to obtain the same level of success as Toronto.

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Toronto has won 71 of its first 126 games, whereas the Bronx Bombers sit two games behind, winners of 69.

Since winning two out of three games against their division rival at the Rogers Centre, the Yankees have been playing .500 ball, winning five of their last ten games.

However, this week the Yankees have had some issues, with a possible season-ending injury to left-handed starting pitcher CC Sabathia and a crushing 15-1 loss to the Houston Astros in embarrassing fashion at Yankee Stadium. This was a game that ownership, management, players and fans would all love to forget.

When the game progressed to the sixth inning, the Astros were already up 9-0. Carlos Gomez, acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers before the trade deadline, would have a huge part to play in the game. When the slugger’s turn at the plate in the sixth inning came up, he flied out to center field. He slammed the bat down in disgust, mouthed some words and jogged to first base.

The Yankees were clearly not going to come back in that game and they obviously didn’t appreciate Gomez yelling after his flyout. The Gomez at-bat in the sixth inning caused the benches to clear and a meeting on the field between the members of both ball clubs.

After the game Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, “I think some guys took exception to the way he flipped the bat and started yelling. We’re getting beat 9-0. And when he came back he started yelling at me. I wasn’t the guy that said anything … I just told him, ‘Play the game the right way.'”

The Yankees gave up 5 runs in the first inning, 4 runs in the fifth inning and then 6 runs in the seventh inning. The one run that the Astros gave up came in the bottom of the ninth. Yankees pitcher Chris Capuano and infielder Brendan Ryan pitched two innings each to end the disastrous game.

Alex Rodriguez’s hot bat has cooled off lately. He has only three hits over his last 22 at-bats, with one home run and 2 RBI. Outfielder Brett Gardner has also struggled. He only has three hits over his last 26 at-bats, also with one home run at 2 RBI. That’s simply not good enough.

New York heads off to face the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox on the road and then comes home to play against the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles. After these twelve games, they face an emotional September 11th four-game weekend series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

This blowout loss against the Houston Astros will be a defining game. It will bring them closer together and unite them for the stretch drive of the 2015 season, or it will be a crushing game that finally pushes the Yankees toward the aging, slower team that people have been projecting them to be for years.

Pitcher Ivan Nova had a game he’d love to forget, pitching to the home crowd in such an embarrassing loss to Dallas Keuchel and the Houston Astros.

First baseman Mark Teixeira and Sabathia are facing injury concerns, they have had Michael Pineda on the disabled list and other questions as well that deserve answers. Designated hitter Alex Rodgriguez and Teixeira had a successful first half this season but you cannot mess around with age and this is an older team. And who can forget rookie pitcher Bryan Mitchell getting drilled by Eduardo Nunez in a game against the Minnesota Twins? The Yankees have had strings of bad luck but somehow managed to maintain a level of competitiveness.

The Blue Jays have won 21 of their last 25 games and don’t appear to be slowing down. Everything is clicking on all cylinders for them.

This is not to suggest that New York cannot catch Toronto, but if they have any aspirations of playoff baseball in October things have to get cracking fast.

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