Cellar Dwellin'

With last night's loss to the Devil Rays, the Yanks are now dead last in the AL East. Now if we were after the All-Star break, I'd be a little disappointed, but it's early, and even though the Yanks are in the midst of a 5 game losing streak, they're only 4 games out. If teams want to let the Yankees hang around, like they do year after year when the Yanks struggle out of the gate, I'll take it. The Yankees are a much better team than their record indicates and it's only a matter of time before the bounces start going their way and things start rolling. Remember 2005? On May 6 of 2005, the Yankees were 11-19, 9 games behind the 1st place Orioles and 6.5 back of the 2nd place Red Sox. The Yankees have shown time and time again that they're a resilient bunch that can overcome a little dysfunction. Things just have to start looking up. They just have to. Right?
It was good to see Chien-Ming back on the bump. I thought he had a pretty solid outing. It was typical Wang. 6.1 IPs on 81 pitches. And they say he can't go deep into games? Please. I was a little confused why Torre pulled him in the 7th. If there was ever a time you wanted a ground ball DP it was then. Wang consistently induces groundball outs. He was far and away the league leader in groundball outs in 2006. Why Torre pulled him? I'll never know. I think he totally mismanaged that situation.
This bullpen is driving me crazy. It reminds me a lot of the Atlanta Braves pen from 2006. It's frustrating watching the starters turn over leads just to have the pen blow it. And in typical Yankee bullpen fashion, it was a different reliever failing to deliver. I think every reliever this year has had their own period of implosion. They need to get it out of their system and need to do it with the quickness. I thought Myers made a good pitch to Crawford. How Crawford hit it that far was beyond me? It's a shame that Wang got tagged for those 2 runs.
We knew this day was coming. The A-Rod Hit Show came to an end. I think it's more the end of the 1st act and yesterday was just the intermission, and tonight he'll be back at it, doing his thing. What he's done this April is nothing short of jaw-dropping, but even the greatest of hitters are going to get out 6 to 7 times out of every 10 at bats. Just don't keep doing it! There wasn't much production from the top part of the lineup yesterday, and that's going to happen. Jeter was knocked out in the first inning. That didn't help things. I like Cairo, but he's no Jeter. He did play a great defensive game though. Props to him for that. Matsui hit an absolute BOMB! It was good to see him get his first dinger out of the way. And Jorgie continued to swing a hot bat. He's continuing to impress.
I don't think the Yankees are nearly as bad as their record indicates. The Yankees have been in every game this year. 5 1-run losses. 5 2-run losses. 1 4-run loss. The Yankees have a lineup that's going to keep them in every game. We just need consistent pitching. The rotation is already drastically improved with Wang back. Pettitte has been a rock. It gets another shot of adrenaline when Hughes gets his shot tomorrow. Moose is right around the corner. We really need these guys to get back and stay healthy. Pettitte, Wang and moose is a great foundation to build this rotation on. The main weakness right now is what looked to be the team's biggest strength a few short weeks ago. I know they're overworked, but the bullpen has to get it done. They have to.
We definitely need to put this roadie behind us. It's been tough, but hang in there. Things will be OK.
J