NEW YORK _ There's no way to look at the Yankees' just-completed 10-game homestand as anything but a success, despite it concluding with Sunday's 8-4 loss to the Rockies at steamy Yankee Stadium. The Yanks won seven of 10, rediscovered their offense with 42 runs over the last six games and got to sample the rare air of having the best record in baseball.
And yet with just 3.1 innings of work, James Paxton managed to put the Yankees back in the place where the homestand started when the All-Star break was over: looking like it needs a pitcher to make the starting rotation more dependable.
Paxton looked like he might be shaking off a burgeoning rep as the rotation's biggest enigma with three solid starts in a row � allowing a total of five runs over 18 innings � but he was hit hard over an outing that began with Charlie Blackmon taking his second pitch over the wall in right centerfield.
