Yankees must clean up this issue to be a serious contender

Coming off yet another extra-inning loss in away territory, the Yankees find themselves in a familiar position. The Yankees lost on Tuesday to the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4, in 11 innings. 

Tuesday was the Yankees' seventh extra-inning game of the year and fifth such game on the road. Those seven games have not gone to plan for the Bronx Bombers. 

In the past five and a half seasons, the Yankees have played in 81 extra-inning games. In those 81 games, the Yankees have only won 40 for a below .500 split. 

Where a majority of those losses come is on the road. In extra-inning games on the road, the Yankees have played in 42 total games with a record of 14-28. 

At first glance, you'd think the Yankees weren't a great team once they passed nine innings, but in reality, they are great in overtime at home with a record of 26-13. It's on the road where they struggle. 

In these extra-inning away games, the common theme from the Yankees offense has been a lack of offensive production. They are scoring only 4.4 runs per game when going into extras, compared to their almost five runs scored per game in non-extra innings. 

Despite scoring a total of 96 runs across 81 games, the Yankees offense sometimes vanishes. The most aggravating part is that on multiple occasions, the Yankees offense has been held to two runs or less 13 different times in extra-inning affairs. 

Although the offense can disappoint and disappear at times, the pitching staff has had little to no success in extras. Since the beginning of 2020, the Yankees pitching staff has pitched 98 innings in extras. In those 98 innings, 93 runs have been scored. 

It is an 8.54 extra-inning ERA for the Yankees. If the game goes into extra innings, the pitching staff is almost guaranteed to allow at least one run. Pair that with an offense that isn't scoring, and the team will never win games that go past nine innings. 

The Yankees are 1-6 this year when heading into extras, including losing all five extra-time games on the road. In those contests, neither facet of the team has done its job well. 

In five games, the pitching staff has only pitched two full innings while allowing a total of seven runs. That's equal to a 31.25 ERA. Past the ninth inning, opposing hitters are hitting .310 off the Yankees' pitching. 

The Yankees bats have practically not even been there. In their seven extra-inning games, they are hitting .063. In 32 at-bats, they have only gotten a hit twice. On the road, it's even worse, recording only one hit, one run, but zero RBI. The only run was a result of a wild pitch during Tuesday's game in Cincinnati. 

The Yankees are a great team with a 45-34 record, but have found themselves in these situations more often as of late. If they want to be a serious contender at the end of the season, they will need to clean it up in games like Tuesdays.