<
        >

          New York Yankees

          Yankees make the playoffs, forget to show up in loss to Astros

          • Andrew Marchand, ESPN Senior WriterOct 7, 2015, 03:30 AM
            Close
              Andrew Marchand is a senior writer for ESPNNewYork. He also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, ESPNews, ESPN New York 98.7 FM and ESPN Radio. He joined ESPN in 2007 after nine years at the New York Post. Follow Andrew on Twitter »
            Follow on X

          NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees exited 2015 meekly. Their offense, which has been a no-show for a while now, could muster nothing against Houston Astros starter Dallas Keuchel and the maligned Houston bullpen as the Yankees lost the American League wild-card game 3-0 on Tuesday. They had only three hits on the night.

          Ace Masahiro Tanaka didn't have his top stuff but pitched well enough to keep the Yankees in the game. The problem was the offense couldn't provide anything.

          While much of the postgame will likely be spent discussing the strike zone of home plate-ump Eric Cooper, the truth is the Yankees have played mediocre baseball for a long time and probably deserve this fate. They finished 30-34 in their final 64 games.

          All in all, the Yankees exceeded most expectations by making it to the wild card, but with an eight-game advantage over the Blue Jays in late July, they'll leave this season with a bitter feeling.

          Thumbs-up: Justin Wilson entered after Tanaka and pitched a strong 1 1/3 scoreless innings. OK, that takes care of the positive.

          Thumbs-down: The entire Yankees lineup receives the biggest thumbs-down, as it barely threatened all night. In the sixth, Alex Rodriguez had a chance to really add to his season. With two on and two out down by two, he weakly flew out to center to end the inning.

          Tanaka really deserves somewhere between a thumbs-up and a thumbs-down. Five innings of two-run ball is not bad, but it is not good enough. The Yankees spent a total of $175 million to bring him to the Bronx from Japan specifically for games like this one. He is supposed to be the shutdown guy. He struggled with his command but escaped by leaving the bases loaded in the second and a man on second in the third.

          Joe Girardi earned himself a thumbs-down in the seventh when he took out a cruising Wilson with one out in the seventh and no one on. The No. 8 hitter, Chris Carter, was up and Girardi turned to his security blanket, Dellin Betances. Betances, who has labored at the end of the season, came in and promptly gave up a run.

          What's next: While the Astros will start the ALDS in Kansas City on Thursday, the Yankees will begin golfing, hunting and whatever else millionaire athletes do in the offseason.