Opening day is supposed to be a time of hope and renewal for a promising new season but the Yankees carried the heavy burden of low expectations north from spring training and nothing that happened Monday contradicted those projections.
For one day at least all the early predictions of doom came true for the Yankees who were soundly beaten 8 2 by their old rivals the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in their 111th opening day.
As early as the seventh inning with the Yankees being thrashed and a cold wind spitting rain in the faces of shivering fans there was no hesitation to bolt for the exits.
The fans had seen enough and by the thousands they streamed out convinced that their team could not weather this particular storm well. Yankees Manager Joe Girardi cited the raw conditions and the prospect of school the next morning but a new Yankee Vernon Wells cited a more apt reason for the mass evacuation.
At the end it was ugly out on the field and off he said. I don t blame them for heading home a little early.
The day actually began in brilliant sunshine and 62 degrees in front of a capacity crowd announced at 49 514 the largest attendance at a home opener in the five years of the new Yankee Stadium.
But in the later innings when it became clear that the Yankees patchwork offense would not make much of a dent against Red Sox pitching and the storm front hovered overhead the stands emptied leaving behind a swirl of trash on the field.
If I m a fan and it starts to rain I go away too said Francisco Cervelli who knocked in the Yankees only two runs with a single in the fourth.
The exodus had as much to do with the score as the cold rain.
The Red Sox pounced on Yankees starter C. C. Sabathia for four runs in the second inning and never trailed. To see Sabathia get knocked about in that one inning was sobering as even he could not save the day. His fastball velocity was only about 91 miles per hour but he said that his surgically repaired elbow felt fine and that he expected to build arm strength and raise the speed of his pitches over the next few starts.
A year ago Sabathia might have won anyway in front of the Yankees potent offense. Instead they lost an opening day home game for the first time since 1982 a span of 11 games. Not surprisingly given the lineup they failed to hit a home run on opening day for the first time in 14 years ending a major league record streak.
With only two players from last year s opening day lineup and six players making their Yankees debuts the Yankees managed six hits five of them singles.
It was a disappointing outcome for a day that began with a mixture of dread resulting from all the Yankees injuries and the hope that a solid pitching staff could see the Yankees through the lean times.
Derek Jeter Mark Teixeira Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez four of the team s biggest stars are all out with injuries.
Anytime you re missing those guys you re talking about some of the best players in the game it s going to be a little bit different Sabathia said. But we know what we have to do and who s not here. That s not an excuse. We ve had injuries last year and the year before.
At the theater when a star actor is absent from a day s performance an insert announcing the changes to the cast is included in Playbill magazine. Baseball does not do that but playing the role of Jeter on Monday was the backup shortstop Eduardo Nunez and the understudy for Granderson was Wells.
Jayson Nix started at third base in place of Kevin Youkilis who began the day at first base because the lefty Lyle Overbay signed only last week was not going to be in the starting lineup against Jon Lester. Youkilis who had the Yankees only extra base hit a fourth inning double was signed to a one year $12 million contract in the off season to replace Rodriguez.
A hip injury has Rodriguez on the disabled list. He did not spend one day at spring training but he showed up Monday and watched parts of the game from the bench though he chose not to be introduced before the game.
The game itself was rather unremarkable except for a smattering of fans rooting for the Red Sox. Sabathia fell into trouble early and the Yankees had very few opportunities to tie it.
Trailing 5 2 in the bottom of the seventh the Yankees had their best chance with runners at first and second and no one out. But Nunez Robinson Cano and Youkilis all struck out against Boston s bullpen. The stadium immediately fell into an eerie silence reminiscent of the one in the next to last game at the Stadium last October when Jeter broke his ankle.
That was in the 12th inning of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series more than five months ago. The Yankees have yet to win a true game since.
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