Yankees At Rays: Yankees Finally Snap Losing Streak

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Jorge Posada Returns To Yankees Lineup, Batting Seventh

Jorge Posada is back in the New York Yankees lineup Tuesday night against Tampa Bay Rays right-hander James Shields. And Posada is not batting ninth. He is seventh in Manager Joe Girardi's lineup tonight, with left fielder Brett Gardner eighth and newly-recalled right fielder Chris Dickerson ninth.

Posada has not been in the lineup since refusing to play Saturday against Boston when Girardi penciled him into the ninth spot in the batting order. Posada, the team's designated hitter, is hitting just .165.

Dickerson, an outfielder, was recalled when setup man Rafael Soriano was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Soriano has been dealing with inflammation in his pitching elbow, and the Yankees hope a couple of weeks of rest will cure it.

Also, the Yankees announced the signing of veteran left-handed reliever Randy Flores to a minor-league contract. The Yankees have left-handers Damaso Marte and Pedro Feliciano on the disabled list -- Marte out for the year and Feliciano indefinitely. Boone Logan, the only remaining lefty reliever, has been ineffective.

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Yankees At Rays: Has Anybody Seen The Real Yankees?

What the heck has happened to the New York Yankees? A couple of weeks ago the Yankees were riding high, breezing along atop the American League East while Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays slogged along trying to overcome awful first weeks of the 2011 MLB season.

Now, the shoe is on the other foot. The Yankees have lost six straight, including three to Boston and one to Tampa Bay, and 10 of their last 13. They are now 20-19, three games behind the Rays in the division and tied with Boston.

Where did it all go wrong? The answer is, honestly, pretty much everywhere. Forget the squabbles with Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter recently, for the past two weeks the Yankees have not done much of anything well. They have not hit when they have needed to, the defense has been shoddy, the base-running at times questionable and the pitching erratic.

The Yankees are hitting .227 during their recent losing streak and the rotation has a 6.15 ERA.

Forget Posada and his anemic .165 batting average. The Yankees' offensive issues run much deeper than that. Derek Jeter is back down to .255. Russell Martin is hitting .252 after a hot start. Mark Teixeira is at .252 and has tailed off recently. Alex Rodriguez is at .242 and has been a non-factor in recent weeks. Brett Gardner is at .248. Nick Swisher is at an awful 218. Even Robinson Cano (.286) has not been great lately, and now is hobbling around on a bruised knee.

"This is going to turn around," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We're going through a really tough stretch. This is where you're tested as a team, and you've got to fight through it."

If the Yankees are going to get started in the right direction Tuesday night, they will have to do it against a tough right-hander, James Shields. Shields is 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA this season. The Yankees will start Ivan Nova, who is 3-3 with a 4.70 ERA.

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The Yankees Stink? Are We Sure About That?

The Yankees stink? Really? ESPN New York’s Ian O’Connor thinks so:

The Yankees stink.

They don’t catch the ball, they don’t hit it and they don’t pitch it out of the bullpen, either. Rivera is still Rivera, but “Enter Sandman” didn’t sound so ominous Sunday night when Rivera entered the arena with the Red Sox holding a 7-5 lead.

This morning, the Yankees own one more victory than the New York Mets. That’s right, one more victory than the Mets.

The Yanks are getting no pop from the corner outfield spots. They come across as slow, old and athletically challenged at too many positions in the field.

Their eighth-inning guy, Rafael Soriano, is making a genius of Cashman, the executive who didn’t want him, and appears to be auditioning for Carl Pavano’s role in “American Idle.” The overstuffed Joba Chamberlain, a phenom in a different life, still has that remarkable talent for throwing the wrong pitch at the wrong time.

For his fifth consecutive loss, Girardi posted a lineup that didn’t include a single batter hitting at least .300.

This is what happens when an aging team loses nine of 12, including three straight to Boston, and endures some unfortunate controversy.

Do the Yankees really stink? Time will tell, but I am not prepared to admit that just yet.

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Yankees At Rays: Yankees Reeling, Rays Rising

As we reach the baseball season, it was supposed to be the Tampa Bay Rays who were a mess in the American League East. Instead, the Rays are in first place. and it is the New York Yankees who appear broken, having lost five straight games and nine of their last 12.

Well, the aging Yankees shuffle into Tropicana Field with their walking sticks, wheelchairs, sore elbows, wounded shoulders, miniscule batting averages and punctured pride to begin a brief two-game series with the Rays Monday night. A.J. Burnett pitches for New York and David Price for Tampa Bay.

Over the past couple of weeks the Yankees have not hit well, their defense has been shoddy, their pitching -- especially their bullpen -- has been spotty, and their baserunning has been questionable at times. All signs of a struggling team.

Which, really, is what most experts thought the 23-17 Rays would be this season. After losing outfielder Carl Crawford to Boston and closer Rafael Soriano to the Yankees, as well as first baseman Carlos Pena, pitcher Matt Garza and shortstop Jason Bartlett, and suffering through the Manny Ramirez retirement the Rays are still finding a way to win. They are two games in front of the Yankees in the division standings.

Speaking of Soriano, the Yankees don't know when their $35-million set-up man is going to pitch again. Soriano took some time off last week and had an MRI on his elbow. He pitched Friday against Boston, but has been shut down since with a recurrence of the elbow stiffness that had been bothering him. He is not expected to pitch against Tampa Bay and could be headed to the disabled list.