LISTEN: Joe Girardi Says Middle Of Batting Order Is Killing Yankees
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- While most of the Yankees' starters have struggled at the plate this season, manager Joe Girardi on Thursday cast much of the blame for the team's latest woes on the middle of the batting order.
"The middle of our order has struggled," Girardi told WFAN's Mike Francesa. "And any middle of the order that struggles in any lineup, you're going to have a hard time scoring runs, and that's what's happening to us."
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The Yankees have lost six of their last eight games and have scored more than two runs just once in the past seven outings.
Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira have been particularly brutal. A-Rod is batting .174 this season, while Teixeira is hitting .185.
"Those two guys are really important," Girardi said. "And to get those two guys going and Carlos (Beltran) going and Mack (Brian McCann) going, all of a sudden in your lineup you're going to score a lot of runs."
One bright spot for the Yankees, who are 24-28 entering Thursday night's game at Detroit, has been starting pitchers Nathan Eovaldi, CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka and Ivan Nova. But their performances have rarely been translating into victories recently because of the lack of run support.
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"They are giving us a chance to win every game that they go out, except Michael (Pineda)," Girardi said.
Pineda is starting Thursday's game. He is 2-6 with a 6.92 ERA.
"We need this guy to get going," Girardi said. "I just think it's consistency and location. And his cut on his fastball has been really inconsistent. So if you're aiming to the middle and expecting it to cut to the outside and it doesn't cut, all of a sudden you're throwing a ball that's very hitable."
To listen to the full interview, click on the audio player above.
