Second Verse Same As The First

Another game, another horrible outing by a Yankee starter. Tonight's loss against the Orioles was like a remix of the Opening Day loss. You know, it was pretty much the same song but had a few little differences. The problem here is it's a bad song. One I personally don't want to hear again.

The starting pitching was again awful. Chien-Ming Wang, in his first start since June of last year, was brutal. His sinker wasn't sinking and the Orioles offense made him pay, chasing him after just 3.2 innings. They were hitting him hard too. He didn't do himself any favors either. He walked three and only threw 40 of his 73 pitches for strikes. I know it's the 2nd game of the season. I know it was Wang's first start, but these guys need to be better. The Yankees, for my money, have the best rotation in all of baseball. You wouldn't know that after watching the first 2 games. In the 1st 2 games, CC and Wang have combined for 8 IPs, allowing 13 runs, on 17 hits and 8 walks. That works out to an ERA of 14.62. Yikes. They haven't whiffed a batter, which is really surprising. It's on A.J. Burnett to end this little funk. I hope the decision not to carry a long reliever doesn't turn out to bite them in the ass.

Mark Teixeira was again awful. I know he stroked an RBI double in the 9th, but for all intents and purposes, he's 1 for 10 this year. I can't give him credit for his walk in the opener. That was one of the worst strike 3 calls I've ever seen. His 3 infield popouts were embarrassing. I got a text message from my buddy Tom after his 7th inning K. It read, "Teixeira is terrible." While I agree, he won't be for long. Teixeira is a notorious slow starter. It's widely known that he is horrible in April. He'll be fine. At least he got his 1st hit out of the way and picked up his 1st RBI. It can only go up from here.

I'm really pleased with the hit starts by Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon. They're getting the job done by getting on base. Jeter reached base 3 times, including his dinger in the 9th. Damon reached base twice. If only the big boppers behind them would get going. Teixeira and Matsui are a combined 2 for 19 with 3 RBI. Man, I miss A-Rod.

As I mentioned above, it's on A.J. Burnett to get things going tomorrow. I'm expecting big things from Burnett. I think he's going to have one heck of a year and a win in his first start will hopefully get the ball rolling. Since it's a 1:35 start, I'll be at work so I'll miss the TV broadcast, but will definitely have it on my XM Radio. I love the fact that the season has started, but I hate the fact that they play so many day games in April. Not counting weekends, they have 6 day games in April. I took the day off for the home opener, but I'll likely have to catch the other 5 on the radio. Hopefully, I have no meetings scheduled. Stupid work, always getting in the way.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie