Maybe he’s allergic to pinstripes. Maybe it’s that simple.
What else would explain a solid, consistent veteran workhorse simply not being able to beat one specific team, whether it’s 2003, 2009 or 2014?
Mark Buehrle couldn’t beat the Yankees when they had Bernie Williams and Nick (The Stick) Johnson. He couldn’t beat them when they had Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon, and he can’t beat the present-day Yankees of Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury. It really is an amazing thing.
Buehrle had his worst start of the season in Friday night’s series opener in the Bronx. Staked to a three-run lead before he even threw a pitch, the lefty gave a couple of runs back in the bottom of the second – and would have allowed at least a couple more if not for a tremendous running catch by Anthony Gose on a Gardner line drive headed for the right-centrefield gap.
In the third, after Jose Bautista’s second home run of the night (and his third in six at-bats) got the Blue Jays’ lead up to two, Buehrle gave up a long home run to Carlos Beltran and then, after a couple of soft singles, Ichiro Suzuki lit him up with a Yankee Stadium special to the short porch in right field.
Buehrle didn’t answer the bell for the fourth inning, making it not only his shortest outing as a Blue Jay, but his shortest since he also managed to throw just three innings on June 6, 2010 with the White Sox – over four years ago. His ugly line read six runs allowed on nine hits with a walk and two strikeouts over the three frames.
As a result, Buehrle is now 1-12 lifetime against the Yankees in 19 career starts. He’s pitched to a 6.15 ERA and a WHIP of 1.578, in stark contrast to his overall career numbers of 3.81 and 1.281.
So what’s the issue? So many different players have come through the Bronx since Buehrle first faced the Yankees in 2001, pitching 6.2 innings in an 11-3 White Sox loss. Derek Jeter is the only constant in the Yankees lineup from then to now though, granted, Jeter’s career OPS against Buehrle is just over .900.
The Yankees are a consistently strong team, to be sure. They’ve made the playoffs every year of Buehrle’s career but two. But Buehrle has been on only four teams that finished with losing records in his career (not counting the 2012 Marlins, who didn’t play the Yankees), and he’s pitched for a couple of playoff teams, including a World Series champion. Of course in that 2005 season, Buehrle didn’t get a start against New York. Just his luck.
Speaking of luck, just as with the Blue Jays’ current 17-game losing streak at Yankee Stadium, you would think that Buehrle would have gotten a win over the Yankees in the last decade (his one win came April 10, 2004) just simply for no other reason than dumb luck. The Jays did actually win Buehrle’s previous start against the Yanks, back on June 24, but a two-out throwing error by Jose Reyes in the seventh resulted in a blown save for Dustin McGowan and a no-decision for the embattled lefty.
So what is it about the New York Yankees that allow them to steal Buehrle’s lunch money with such impunity time after time?
Laundry.
It’s got to be the pinstripes.
Buehrle will more than likely get at least a couple more shots at the Yanks before the season is over, so here’s hoping he can find some sort of antihistamine by then.