Not a fluke

The Yankees have been very good this season at beating the weaker teams in the AL, but against the elite teams? Well this weekend's nightmarish series against the LAAofA was pretty indicative of their chances should they make it to October.

Fair enough. They are 51-37 and if the playoffs started tomorrow, they would be the wild card.

But the Yankees have played four teams (the Angels, Red Sox, Phillies and Tigers) who lead their respective divisions at the break and they are 5-15 against those teams. That’s why you can’t dismiss this weekend as just some bad luck.

The idea for a $210 million team in a $1.5 billion ballpark isn’t to make the playoffs, it’s to win them. For now, the Yankees have not been especially competitive against the best teams.

That has to change in the second half. The Yankees have 10 more games against Boston, three against the Angels and three against the Tigers starting on Friday. And don’t forget the nine games left against Tampa Bay.

The Yankees had the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh yesterday. Teixeira struck out and Rodriguez hit into a double play, though he did hit the ball on the screws and Figgins made an outstanding play at third. Dem's the breaks.