History provides both reassurance and reasons for concern for the Yankees, who are once again enduring another slow start in general and against the rival Red Sox in particular. The Yankees lost to the Red Sox 7-3 Tuesday to fall to 0-5 against Boston this season and 13-13 overall.
This marks the third straight year the Yankees have had a losing record against the Red Sox after two series. The Yankees were 2-3 against the Sox after two series last year and 1-5 in 2007. But the Yankees bounced back to finish 9-9 against the Sox last year and 10-8 against the Sox in 2007. They haven't lost the season series to the Sox since 2004, when the Yankees started 1-6 against Boston and finished 8-11. This is also the fourth time in five years the Yankees have been at .500 or below in May and staring up at least one team in the AL East. The 2005 team was 11-19 and nine games out of first on May 6 and led the AL East for just two days through Sept. 20 but still outlasted the Sox to win the division. In 2006, the Yankees were in first place for just eight days through July 31 but led for each of the season's last 59 days. In 2007, the Yankees were eight games under .500 on May 29, a season-high 14 1/2 games out on May 30 and didn't go over .500 for good until July 14, but they closed within 1 1/2 games of the Sox twice in late September and won the wild card.
The Yankees were also 13-13 after 26 games last season, but that was far from their low-water mark. They fell as far as five games under .500 on May 20 and were under .500 as late as June 6. The Yankees also didn't get closer than three games in the AL East after May 1 and missed the playoffs for the first time in a full season since 1993.
There's no time like the present for the Yankees to get nostalgic and make a 2005- or 2007-esque run, especially with the division-leading Blue Jays (19-10) off to a surprisingly hot start and the defending AL champion Rays (winners of four of their last six) looking as if they might be rounding into form.
"It's not any fun, that's for sure," manager Joe Girardi said after the loss Tuesday. "It's not the way you want to start the season. But it's where we are, and we've got to do something about it."
RED SOX 7, YANKEES 3: Joba Chamberlain settled down after a rough first inning to strike out a career-high 12 in just 5 2/3 innings, but the Yankees squandered numerous opportunities against Red Sox starter Josh Beckett as they fell to 0-5 this season against their longtime rivals.
Chamberlain allowed hits to the first five batters he faced -- including a three-run homer to Jason Bay -- as the Sox took a 4-0 lead, but he allowed just an infield hit and two walks the rest of the way and recorded his final eight outs via strikeout.
Beckett gave up 10 hits and one walk in six-plus innings, but the Yankees scored their only runs on Johnny Damon's three-run homer in the third. The Yankees stranded seven runners against Beckett, and Melky Cabrera was thrown out trying to extend a double into a triple in the fourth. Cabrera was 3-for-4 to lift his average to .344, while Damon and Derek Jeter each had two hits.
