Yankees not so dandy as Murphy's Law rules If it can go wrong, it will

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Kathy Willens / the associated press New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter sums up in one expression how the season is going so far. (CP)

NEW YORK -- Joe Girardi was frustrated. Six losses in seven games left the New York Yankees last in the AL East.

"I'm hoping this is rock-bottom," the manager said.

No, that's not this week. That was on May 20, 2008, 45 games into Girardi's first season as the Yankees manager -- and the only season since 1994 that New York failed to make the playoffs.

As Yogi Berra says, it gets late early -- especially in the Bronx. For a team that likes to constantly refer to its history, 2012 is starting to resemble 2008, when the Yankees started 20-25 and never really contended. Now they're 22-21, tied for last in the AL East with the Boston Red Sox.

"I think we're a much better team than what we've played, but it's no fun being down there," Girardi said Tuesday.

New York's offensive struggles with men on base reached new lows during Monday night's 6-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals. They rebounded Tuesday with a 3-2 win over the Royals. Before Tuesday night, the Yankees had gone 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position, their most hitless at-bats with RISP since July 1990.

Bases loaded, no outs and they still couldn't score. Robinson Cano looked at strike three, Alex Rodriguez swung at strike three and Raul Ibanez flied out deep.

Even when they hit the ball hard, it's right at someone, prompting captain Derek Jeter to say: "At times, it looks like there's 20 people out there playing defence."

"Everything bad that could be happening right now is happening," Nick Swisher said. "We've just got to start winning."

Several teams are doing that lately at the Yankees' expense. In the last seven days, four different clubs have beaten them, with Kansas City joining Cincinnati, Toronto and Baltimore. It's the second time this year that four teams have defeated the Yankees in a single week.

A 5 1/2-game deficit in the AL East could be wiped out rather quickly, but the Yankees seem to be adrift.

"I haven't sensed a panic from our players. I think our players have remained positive," Girardi said. "Panic's not going to help anyone. It's just going to tighten players up and it's not really going to help. The concern that you could get sometimes is players trying to do too much, and I think that's what you really have to guard against with this group."

A handful of key pieces are missing. Left-fielder Brett Gardner has been sidelined by an elbow injury since April 17, sapping the batting order of spark and speed. Star closer Mariano Rivera is likely out for the season after tearing a ligament in his right knee on May 3. His replacement, David Robertson, is on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his left ribcage.

Before Rivera got hurt, the Yankees were batting .270 with runners in scoring position. Since then, they're hitting .159, including 6 for 72 (.083) in their last nine games. New York is 0-10 when failing to hit a home run.

"It's very frustrating," Rodriguez said. "We've talked about it over and over again. You can't really describe it. It's not a lot of fun obviously going out and not getting the job done. But at this point, nobody's going to feel sorry for us."

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 23, 2012 C4