So What Else Is New?

You. Have got to be. Kidding me. Is it possible that the 9th inning of tonight's game could have gone any worse? Holy freeholy. The go-ahead run scores on a wild pitch. Justin Christian gets picked off. And the Yankees, in typical Yankee fashion, leave the bases loaded. Yankees lose. Thuhhh Yankees lose. So what else is new?

My jaw hit the floor when Justin Christian got picked off in the 9th. I know the kid is a rookie, and I know he has blazing speed, but there is no excuse for that. He steals a base or two here and there and thinks he's automatic. It's the same thing with Melky and his arm. He throws a few guys out at the plate and thinks he can do it every time, so he overthrows the cut off man, the run scores, and the runners advance. Same thing in my eyes. Christian's mindset needs to quickly change from "I'm stealing" to "I'm stealing if I can." I think he has it in his brain that he has to steal no matter what. Girardi needs to squash that. Speaking of Joey G, as much as this is going to hurt, I have to give Michael Kay credit for what he said after Christian's blunder. Kay commented that one of the reasons Girardi was brought in as manager was because of how well he does with the fundamentals and squeaking out a run or two here and there. Yeah, I'm not getting that from this team. They're playing horrible baseball.

Super Mariano has been less than super lately. He's now given up runs in 4 of his last 7 games. 5 if you count the run he gave up against the Angels. He's 0-2 with 2 saves and 1 blown save in those 7 games. His numbers, while still awesome, have been getting progressively worse. When it rains it pours.

So why did they send down Melky and bring up Brett Gardner? If you didn't read my last post, this is what I said about that move, "I'm not sure that bringing Brett Gardner up does the team any better. They're pretty much the same type of player. Having Gardner in the lineup is almost like playing Melky." Gardner in his return to the bigs went oh-fer-4. Melky could have done that. Sure he threw a guy out at the plate, but Melky could do that too. Like I said, they're pretty much the same player, a sucky one if you will. Brett looks totally lost at the plate. I've seen nothing from him that makes me think he'll succeed on a big league level. The Yanks are giving him a second shot and I really don't know why. I hope he proves me wrong, but i don't see it happening.

Andy Pettitte had a decent outing. Not his best, not his worst, but good. His 2 unintentional walks did him in. They pretty much led to all 3 of the runs he gave up. He pitched well enough to give the Yanks a shot to win. Too bad the offense didn't come through. So what else is new?

And as we've seen so much over the last week or so, when the Yanks lose, everyone ahead of them wins. Tampa Bay won. The Twins won. The White Sox are currently tied in the 9th. The Red Sox got rained out. The Yanks aren't doing themselves any favors by playing such poor baseball. Like I said Thursday, it's gut check time. Time to dig deep and pull a Michael Phelps on these fools. Man that dude is awesome!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie