Joe Girardi almost never criticizes his players, and his default setting in public is to give an upbeat version of the day’s events. But there was no sanitizing the facts on Sunday, when the Yankees pitched, hit and fielded poorly, seeming to take their cue from a wobbly Ivan Nova.
Asked to assess how Nova pitched, Girardi, the manager, gave his usual sunny spin — with a side of blunt honesty.
“I thought he did a pretty good job for not having anything,” Girardi said.
It was a good line, at least, on a day when little else hit the mark.