Some good news: The New York Yankees have now been shut out for three games in a row. This is in spite of mitigating factors such as facing the "Los Angeles" Angels of Anaheim and being newly Giancarlo Stanton'd up. Take a 2–0 loss to the Boston Red Sox, a 1–0 loss in 11 innings in the ghost runner era, and a 4–0 loss to Kyle Hendricks's 86-mph fastball, et voilà: The Yankees are now the third team this year to achieve this storied feat, joining the Cincinnati Reds and the Colorado Rockies. That's company you want to be keeping.
Unlike the Reds and Rockies, who accomplished the feat through the tried and true strategy of not getting on base, the Yankees have gone the much more convoluted route of getting runners on base and stranding them there. They have left as many runners on base as the Reds and Rockies had combined during their respective streaks. In their 11-inning shutout loss, the Yankees had the bases loaded and Hunter Strickland on the mound. Anthony Volpe grounded out to end the game. A classic mishap of putting in more effort to get the exact same results: zero runs, zero wins. In some ways, you have to respect it.
Who can be blamed for this performance? Karmic justice balancing an otherwise impressive season with a delightful streak of underperformance? Giancarlo Stanton's elbows, or lack thereof? A lack of clutch factor with runners in scoring position? The Yankees' torpedo bats? Variance-centered excuses around the fact that it is very hard to hit a baseball? The nebulous concept of playing down to your opponent's level rather than being consistent?
How about "AL MVP leader" "Aaron" "Judge," who went 1-for-11 with six (six!) strikeouts in those three games. He walked twice, sure, but perhaps that was his first mistake: One should never try to walk in Los Angeles, or anywhere affiliated with Los Angeles. Judge is no longer the MLB home run leader, because while he was striking out last night, the people's AL MVP leader Cal Raleigh was doing this:
Rockies hitters have scored 26 runs over their past three games. Perhaps the Yankees should take some notes.
