The Yankee bats have been historically feeble through the first half of this massively important four-game series with the Rays, to the point of setting a franchise record in the most undesirable category.
New York struck out 17 times in Tuesday's loss to Tampa, matching the amount of punchouts suffered in Monday's series opener. The 34 strikeouts over two games set a new team record, one that was surpassed by the time they reached 31 strikeouts in the past two contests.
Once again, home runs masked the team's woeful swing-and-miss struggles of late. The Bombers launched three home runs in Monday's win, while a three-run blast from Ben Rice on Tuesday provided the bulk of the offense in a 6-4 loss. Tampa lefty Ian Seymour set a career high in strikeouts as New York went down on strikes nine times through the first four innings.
Jose Caballero, fresh off of his two-homer game the night before, struck out four times after earning another start at shortstop. Paul Goldschmidt, sinking deeper into his horrid slump, wore the platinum sombrero as well, with all of his strikeouts coming against lefties, who Goldschmidt has typically mashed across his career and much of this season.
Six Yankee starters struck out multiple times in Tuesday's loss, helping them set this lowly franchise record. The 17 strikeouts in one game is a mark the team has reached three times this season, something they have never done before. The came just one strikeout short of matching the record for most strikeouts by a Yankee team in a single game, all while failing to record a single walk on the night.
The task doesn't get any easier moving forward, as Shane McClanahan and Drew Rasmussen await in the final two games of this series, two games the Bombers desperately need to keep close in the AL East race.
The Bomber bats are whiffing in historic fashion over the past two games.
The Bomber bats are whiffing in historic fashion over the past two games.
