New York Yankees' Elephant in the Room Can No Longer Be Ignored

The New York Yankees have certainly been playing fine baseball over the last several weeks, but now, they have their first losing streak in quite some time as they have dropped the first two games in a three-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers. Saturday night's loss was particularly difficult, as the Yankees blew a 2-0 lead they held heading into the seventh inning, with both Brent Headrick and Camilo Doval surrendering a run apiece. New York regained the lead in the 10th, but Fernando Cruz walked a batter and then allowed a game-tying infield single in the bottom half of the frame, and then Tim Hill entered the contest and made a wild decision to try and get the lead runner at third base on a rather routine ground ball.

A sac fly then won the Brewers the game. Yes, things got a little weird, and for the most part, Headrick and Hill have been terrific all year. But Doval has not been, and Cruz's command is sometimes a prominent issue.

When he isn't locating that splitter, problems tend to arise. The Yankees' bullpen had been performing well recently, but it's easy to see that there are problems here, starting with Doval's 6. 14 ERA.

David Bednar (who pitched well in an inning of work on Saturday) has walked a tightrope, too, and New York doesn't really have a single shutdown arm in its pen. New York Yankees pitcher Camilo Doval. Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images.