Joe Girardi was growing tired of his lineup after the first two games, but the third consecutive loss, this time 1-2 facing a sublime Justin Verlander performance, made him probably lose all confidence and belief these guys can do anything.

A great day from Phil Hughes was wasted, as the Yankees finished with 5-32, as Robinson Cano ended his embarrassing hit-less streak and Ichiro Suzuki got two hits. Eduardo Nunez was the glimmer of hope, hitting a home run off Justin Verlander in the 9th, but whatever followed just wasn’t enough.

Phil Coke came on, allowing two hits – Cano and Teixeira. But Raul Ibanez stepped up and lost the final duel of the game. An old and beaten up lineup, lacking confidence and what seems as any kind of hope the moment a referee decision went against them and Derek Jeter got injured. This team was supposed to be about more than that.

Girardi’s given up on Alex Rodriguez, but there aren’t that many more changes he can make. After taking out Rodriguez, Swisher and Jayson Nix. It didn’t change a thing in the general demeanor of his team, which was about having no patience and simply zero execution. Verlander threw 132 pitches in 8.1 innings, striking out only 3. But allowing him to leave the mound early during the first two innings set the tone, allowing him to throw a 98 mph fastball with one on and two out in the seventh.

How bad, by the numbers: They’re hitting only .200 this postseason; They’ve only had 2 postseasons in which they hit below .200 They hit .171 in 1963 and .199 in 1962. This was also the second time in franchise history with back-to-back games of 1 run or fewer and 5 hits or fewer.

Last time the Yankees were swept in a best of 7 series? Back in 1976 against the Big Red machine. From the looks of things, it’ll take a miracle or some divine intervention to get this depleted group, with C.C. Sabathia pitching against Max Scherzer, to avoid the sweep.