Hey, Ho, Rasner Got To Go

I really hope last night marks the final time we see Darrell Rasner start a game for the Yankees. What a pitiful performance. Thanks for showing up. In my opinion, he shouldn't even have gotten the ball. The Yankees know they need to pretty much win every ball game. If you look at Rasner's recent track record, all the signs are there that suggest he's not going to do well. He hasn't won a game in almost 2 months. The Yankees are 3-6 in his last 9 starts. Since winning his 1st 3 games of the year, he's gone 2-10. Since throwing an 8 inning game against the Royals back on June 6th, Rasner has made it past the 5 inning mark only 4 times in 15 starts. Does it make any sense to let Rasner start when you're faced with winning 20 out of 23? Absolutely not. They're basically signing your own death certificate. Rasner blows. If he gets another start, Girardi needs to go. There are other options that may be equally as sucky when you think about it, but you've got to at least give it a shot. Go with the slightly unknown over what you know is going to be terrible. I wouldn't be surprised if Alfredo Aceves gets a go at it. He can't do any worse.

Nice of the offense to wait until the last possible second to try and start something. It's kind of what they've done many times this year. They fail to do anything early and by the time they get it going, it's too little too late. That's how I'm expecting the season to end. They started out slow. They dug themselves a hole. Now they'll turn it on and the tail end, make a run, and fall short. But with yesterday's loss, they're now looking at having to win 20 of their last 22 if they want to win their way into the wild card. Not going to happen. Not with this pitching staff.

I've mentioned this in the past and I'll mention it again. Somebody needs to lay the smackdown on the schedule makers and the people who set starting times for games. The Yankees pretty much have to make the longest possible trip in the game, going from Tampa to Seattle. How fair is it that they had to play a night game last night? The Yankees always get screwed in these situations. As I understand it, the home teams get to set the starting time. The Yankees are a big draw and they're a bigger draw at night. It makes sense for teams to schedule night games over day games. If that's the case, MLB needs to intervene and either make teams change the start time, or schedule a day off for the travelling team. It doesn't need to be done in every situation. Maybe just when teams fly from one coast to the other. At least they get the benefit of gaining 3 hours with the time zone change. But it's still ridiculous.

The Yanks really need to sweep Seattle if they want to keep their already remote playoff chances alive. Dropping even 1 game to the M's pretty much makes it a done deal. Seattle is the worst team in the AL. Anything less than a sweep would be a failure. Two big question marks are the Yankee starters. Which Andy Pettitte will show up? Can Sidney Ponson pull out the smoke and mirrors and somehow work his way to a win? The team is on life support right now. If they want to come back from the dead, they really need these guys to show up. Andy sets things off. He needs to set the tone.

Hopefully that tone isn't a flat-line.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie