Superstar pitcher Chase Whitley holds the Royals to two runs over seven innings as Derek Jeter leads the Yankees to victory from the bench.
When you face the New York Yankees, you have to do your best and not get swept up by the history and tradition of the franchise and blinded by the big names they feature on their roster. Names like Brian Roberts. Yangervis Solarte. Chase Whitley. Yes it was THAT Chase Whitley, the perennial Cy Young contender, who sliced through the Royals lineup like a hot knife through butter. The right-hander allowed just five hits and two runs over seven quick innings of work, without walking a single hitter. How can we expect to compete when we cannot afford players like that?
Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie had a rough third inning, but avoided catastrophe and the long ball, and worked seven solid innings, giving up four runs despite just two strikeouts. The back of the bullpen got some work in, and Francisley Bueno worked around trouble for a scoreless eighth, and Wilking Rodriguez recorded his first Major League strikeout - and pickoff, in a scoreless ninth.
But the offense was once again punchless. Alex Gordon - who is absolutely red-hot - had two hits and a walk, to go with a stolen base. Everyone else failed to show up. Let's look at some of these slumps now:
Salvador Perez - .220/.258/.288 over his last 15 games
Eric Hosmer - .179/.222/.238 over his last 20 games
Omar Infante - .138/.162/.200 over his last 15 games
Nori Aoki - .159/.240/.205 over his last 12 games
Mike Moustakas - .213/.268/.344 over his last 251 games
Welp. Let's hope Dale Sveum is on it.