Woe Is Moe

I'm pretty speechless after watching tonight's 1-0 loss to the Angels. Thankfully, I'm typing and not talking. Wow. If you told me before the game that Sidney Ponson would throw 2-hit ball over 7 innings, I would have said you were crazy. Big Sid surprised me tonight. I thought for sure he'd have a typical Sidney Ponson outing. One where he gives up lots of baserunners. He did get hit hard tonight. Lucky for him all the balls were hit at people. He only managed 1 strikeout and 15 of his 21 outs came on fly balls. The outcome could have very easily been more lopsided, but I like I said, the defense did its job and Sid escaped with a pretty solid outing. Too bad the run support he's received lately was nowhere to be found.

Right from the get go, the offense tonight reminded me a lot of our early season offense. The 1st 2 guys reach base, the next 2 guys whiff, inning over, no runs scored. They had their chances. But in what's becoming typical Yankee fashion, they don't deliver in those situations. Credit to Ervin Santana for his outing. The bottom of the order was again beyond dismal, going a combined 1 for 13. They really need to do something with Wilson Betemit. I don't know, and probably never will know, what the Yankees see in him. He hasn't really done much of anything since he was acquired at last year's trade deadline. You mean to tell me there isn't another guy out there that could hit .250 and strike out 30% of the time? He's brutal. Same goes for Melky. He needs to step it up also. And as I mentioned yesterday, when Robbie Cano doesn't hit, the Yankees don't win. Since the break, the Yanks are 7-0 when he has a multi-hit game, and they're 2-5 when he manages 1 hit or less, one of those wins being a 1-0 victory against the BoSox. Come on Robbie, you're better than this.

And then there is Mo. The greatest closer ever. Bar none. Why is it then that he struggles so much when it's a non-save situation? It's inexplicable. Check out Mo's stats, courtesy of my crack research team, aka Pete Abraham's blog:

16 non-save situations: 21 innings, 18 hits, 7 runs, 3.00 ERA.
26 save situations: 27.1 innings, 12 hits, 1 run, 0.33 ERA, 26 for 26 in save opportunities

Mo has been lights out when pitching with the lead. In other games, not so much. He's still the man. He just needs to get himself in the right mindset I guess. Maybe the scoreboard operator should change the score when Mo's coming in. Mo has to step it up in the non-save situations. Especially when said situation is to preserve a 0-0 tie that Sidney Ponson started. Tonight's loss hurts. Especially because....

Those stinkin' Red Sox won in extra innings. Which means the Yanks are now 2.5 games behind them for the wild card. The Rays won also, and that puts the Yankees 5 back of Tampa for the division lead. It gets a little tougher with each passing day. It won't be any easier tomorrow when Mike Mussina goes up against Jared Weaver. This is a game the Yankees have to win if they want to salvage this series. And besides, its the last Old Timer's Day Yankee Stadium will ever see. If anyone is up to the task, it's Moose. He's been the ace all year and the Yanks need him to stop this little slide tomorrow. Of all the Angels' starters, Jared Weaver is by far the most hittable. The bats need to show up tomorrow.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie