Yanks Fall Back To 500 (Again).

Why do I do this to myself? I'm running on fumes and I find myself awake at 1:00am, having watched the entire game. I wanted to go to bed after it was 6-1 but I couldn't make myself hit the sheets. What an ugly game. D-Raz struggled. He's now lost 4 straight. He hasn't exactly been given a lot of run support. Tonight was really no different. For all intents and purposes the Yanks have scored 1 run in each of Rasner's last 4 outings. I know they scored 4 tonight but it was way too little, way too late.

I guess the silver lining tonight is the performance of the bullpen. Too bad they don't pitch that well in close games. I loved Ohlendorf's 'stache. He didn't pull it off. Worth a shot though.

A-Rod stunk it up tonight. Giambi is a hitting machine. Never thought he'd stay hot. I love the 'stache.

So here we are again, back at .500, not able to get over that hump. What an average team. They just can't put it together. Kind of like me and blogging after being up all day and getting little sleep. I'm outta here.

J-Boogie

Yanks Win In Extras To Get Above .500 But Quickly Drop Back To Even With 5-1 Loss

I apologize for not blogging about last night's game earlier. I was going to do it last night but it went to extra innings and I didn't feel like it after it ended. I had the full intention of doing it this morning. I rolled out of bed at 1130am and the missus advised she had to run out and I was in charge of the little man. She got back around 130 which is the same time that Cooper's same-aged cousin Vaughn came over for a play-date and I couldn't ignore the fam. So here I am, trying to catch up with a two-fer. I apologize for what I'm assuming will be a long one. I'll probably lump the games into 2 when I talk about the offense.


It was nice to finally see this team get over the hump. The feeling I had about the Yanks winning that game turned out to be right, though not for the reasons I thought. Chien-Ming Wang didn't have his ace or #1 stuff. The Wanger has been struggling as of late. He's winless in his last 5 decisions, posting an ERA over that span of about 5.67. He's pitched well enough to win a few of those games and last night's game was no exception. Typically the offense does him in but this time it was the bullpen. I'm not sure what's going on with Wang. I read on Pete Abraham's blog that he's fine physically, but feels the problems are caused by inconsistency with his arm slot. I'd like to think that's an easy problem to fix but I have no idea. If there's one thing I know, Wang will figure it out and be throwing like we know he can real soon. I don't see Chien-Ming struggling long term.


Edwar Ramirez's magical run of not allowing an earned run came to an end last night when Michael Cuddyer hit a game-tying HR off him in the 7th. The HR blew the win for Wang but what can you do? Nobody can be perfect all of the time. I still like Edwar for the setup role over Kyle Farnsworth, who I'll admit, looked alright last night. But he's looked alright before,a nd at the drop of a dime, blows chunks.


I was surprised that Ross Ohlendorf pitched as well as he did. He came up big a few times in his 2 innings. I thought the Yanks were done for in the 11th. 2 on no out and Morneau and Cuddyer coming up. Getting through that had to be a huge confidence boost for Ross. Build on that Ross. I've got faith in his ability to get the job done. I just think he's a year or two away from putting it all together.


And then there's Mariano. Again perfect. He has been absolutely lights out. 15 for 15 in save chances. 1 earned run in 25 innings. Man what a difference a year makes. Shame on you baseball fans out there that thought he was done. Resigning him to all the cheddar was definitely worth it.


I read a lot of comments out in the blogosphere likening Darrell Rasner to Aaron Small. Small if you remember was a minor league call-up who went a perfect 10-0 for the Yankees a few years back. After Rasner was 3-0 I read a lot of things comparing the 2. And now that he's lost 2 straight, I guess that turned out to be a little premature now wouldn't you say? Don't get me wrong, I really like D-Raz. He pitched a great game when he got tagged with a loss against Baltimore. He wasn't as sharp today as he's been in his last few outings but still pitched alright. I don't expect perfection from the starters. I expect them to keep the team in the game and give the offense the opportunity to do its thing. Rasner has done that every time. He may have lost 2 straight, but he's A-OK in my book.


I wasn't overly impressed with Scott Patterson. But he's not any worse than anything else I've seen this year. First game jitters maybe. I'll reserve judgement until he gets another outing or two under his belt. And I'm not sure why they don't use Chris Britton more. He seems to be the preferred guy they call up, but he seldom pitches. I've liked what I've seen from CB over the last several years. I wish they'd use him more often. Definitely in place of Luis Vizcaino, err I mean Latroy Hakwins. Guy is garbage.


As for the offense.....


I think it's safe to say that the offense has turned a corner. They've been swinging the bats real well lately and I expect it to continue. The hits are coming more regularly. The runs scored are starting to pile up. Going back to the win against Baltimore on 5/21, they've scored 5 or more runs 7 times, a span of 11 games. They had only done that 12 times in their first 45 games. Definite improvement. The only ones I'm worried about right now are Robbie Cano and Derek Jeter. Cano has been cold most of the year and Jeter is in a nasty slump. He had a decent game today but 1 game convince me the slump is over. Both Jeter and Cano are good with the stick so I'm sure they'll break out of it. Abreu has put together a nice string of games. Damon has also. They may have only scored 1 run today on the Jeter homer but they all hit the ball except for Matsui and Betemit. Matsui has arguable been the league's best hitter to date. He'll be fine. Betemit on the other hand. Why is he on the roster? We can't find anyone better? The Yankees have a very weak bench right now. Ensberg was just sent packing. Good. Shelley Duncan. Don't get me started. And Betemit? Terrible. Wilson hasn't hit since he was traded from the Braves to the Dodgers. He hit .241 with the Dodgers in '06. .231 with them in '07 before he was traded to the Yankees for Scott Proctor. He hit .226 for us last year and with today;s o-fer he's hitting .237. His combined average now with LA and NYY, in 452 at bats, is .235. I thought he had some power too. As a Yankee, he's gone deep 5 times in 122 at bats. I was expecting more. He needs to perform or they need to find someone that can. The bench is cutting it.


And all of that rolls up into a 2 game split and an overall record of 28-28. .500. Ugh. I'm getting so sick of that percentage. To quote the legendary George Clinton from the song Bop Gun (Endangered Species): We got to get over the hump. Andy Pettitte looks to do that tomorrow int eh final game of this 4 game wrap around series with the look-alikes. The Twins are sending out Livan Hernandez. The Yankees have owned Livan throughout his career. I'd like to say that gives me confidence but the Yankees don't often do what they're supposed to. I feel good about things, but we'll see. Don't want to jinx it like I almost did to the Wanger.


Peace, love and Pinstripes,


J-Boogie

Yanks Lose 10-9 in 11, I Lose 2 Hours Of Sleep Due To Rain And Shoddy Baseball

I'm starting this post during the rain delay. No need in staying up any later than I have to.

For starters, this delay should have started before Hideki Matsui even stepped into the box. I'd have to think the crew chief knew that he was going to halt the game in between innings. It makes no sense to me to allow the Yankees to bat in a potentially huge situation at such a huge disadvantage. Go ahead run on 3rd with 2 outs? Do the right thing and call the game there. Joe Girardi was absolutely in the right coming out and asking them to stop play. He knew the game was going to be stopped after the inning. Heck, my 9-month old son who is upstairs sleeping knew the game would be stopped. Like i said the right and fair thing to do was to stop the game and give the Yankees their fair shot.

Tonight was all about the longball. The 2 teams have combined for 9 dingers so far. Ross Ohlendorf tried real hard to imitate Chase Wright. Not the guy you want to mimic Ross.

Ian Kennedy and Ross Ohlendorf did an absolute horrible job tonight. The offense spotted each a 4 run lead and each gave it right back. You can't be doing that. Kennedy is apparently injured. It kind of reminds me of the kid in high school that claimed he was injured whenever he made an error. You know the guy. Nowadays he goes by the name "Softball Guy" or "Gym Class Hero." I prefer to call him Danny Mac. Just kidding bro. Making sure you're reading and paying attention. Ohlendorf hasn't exactly excelled in his role this year as the "longman." Ohlie has given up 9 ER in his last 3 outings -- 6 IP, 11 H, 9 ER, 4 HR. That's scary.

On the contrary, Edwar Ramirez and Kyle Farnsworth came in and closed the flood gates. Edwar has definitely stepped it up this year. He's still yet to give up an earned run in his 14 innings this year. If you factor in his numbers with Scranton, his line is 23 IP, 12 hits, 7 BB, and 28 K. That's pretty darn good. Looks like the advice he got from Mariano and Pedro Martinez is paying off. For those of you unfamiliar with the advice it was to establish the fastball before you bust out the change. Pete Abraham had a good little write-up about Edwar on his blog today. Had Edwar given up a run today, I guarantee Pete would have been flooded with e-mails about putting the whammy on him, Good thing that didn't happen. We can thank Bobby Abreu for that. Farnsworth has been pretty inconsistent this year. He's either pitched well or he's been absolutely terrible. He flirted with being terrible tonight. If not for a great throw by Bobby Abreu to nail the ever-so speedy Kevin Millar at the plate, K-Farns would have given up the go-ahead run and knocked Edwar with his 1st earned run of the season. The game in all likelihood would be over right now and I'd probably be sleeping, grumbling about another Yankees' loss.

The offense, for the most part, had a pretty good game tonight. The aforementioned longballs from Giambi, Damon, Abreu and A-Rod were the big highlights. Giambi has been an absolute madman at the plate since growing his luscious 'stache. Gold thongs. Mustaches. Hey whatever works, right? Johnny Damon was quite the spark plug tonight. As of now JD is 4 for 5 with 2 2B, 1 HR and 3 RBI. I've always said the team succeeds when Johnny is hot. If only our Captain could lay down a bunt. Jeter has been struggling lately. Counting his 4 ABs tonight, he's 2 for his last 25 with 1 failed bunt attempt and a key pickoff at 2nd base. Getting picked off with runners on 1st and 2nd and A-Rod at the plate? Not the thing you want to do. You know better than that Derek. Hideki Matsui is the goat of the night going 0-5. He hit the ball pretty hard to end the Yankees 9th. Who knows? If it weren't pouring cats and dogs maybe the outcome of that play is different. Maybe he'll get another shot at it if this game goes extras.

As I type this, it's now 10 minutes to 11 and it's still a rain delay. It's been about 40 minutes. The rest of this blog will be a "live blog."

It's 11:10, the tarp is off the field and the legendary Mariano Rivera is on the field taking his warmups. I get the feeling Joe Girardi does not want to lose this game. Blowing two 4 run leads and dropping back to 2 games below .500 would be a big blow to the confidence of the team. It won't by any means be a nail in the coffin but this is a game the Yankees shouldn't lose.

It's 11:13 and we're off. I get the sinking feeling that this game ends real soon. Mo is great but it's been that kind of night. To quote the legendary Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus, "blame it on the rain." Yeah, I just went there.

11:16-Mo just whiffed Markakis. Have a seat bub.

11:18-Mo just whiffed Aubrey Huff looking. Have a seat next to your buddy Nick.

11:20-Mo got a pop out for the 3rd out. It turns out that sinking feeling was just gas. Microwave popcorn doused in black pepper and garlic powder will do that to you. Try it. It's yummy yummy. Mo is awesome.

11:22- The mustachioed Giambino just grounded out to short. Curse you evil shift.

11:24- Perennial Gold Glove winner Wilson Betemit just hit a 1-out single. Let's go Robbie Cano.

11:27- Oh Robbie. There you go again, swinging at ball four. Show some plate discipline my friend. You're lucky it wasn't an inning-ending DP. At least now if we go to the 11th, Johnny D will leadoff.

11:30- Molina flew out to CF. I didn't see that coming. Where's Wil Nieves when you need him? Oh yeah, he's in Washington hitting .320. I'd still take Jose any day.

11:32- Mo is out for inning #2 and I still have gas.

11:32a- Millar rounds to Jeter on 1 pitch.

11:34- Winning run is on 2nd. The Giambino would have had that ball easy. Horrible defensive positioning by Wilson Betemit. Wilson Betemit = defensive liability.

11:37- Mo picked up his 3rd K of the night. If only Roger Dorn was on the team. He could walk to the mound and give Mo some sound advice. Strike this mofo out!

11:40- Mo just unintentionally intentionally walked Jay Payton on 4 straight pitches. Mo would never unintentionally throw 4 straight out of the zone.

11:41- Sorry that it smells in here. Oooh wee.

11:42- B-Rob just flew out to CF. Yay, more baseball, he says sarcastically.

11:46- Leadoff walk to Johnny D! Leadoff walks usually don't bode well for the defense. Just ask Mo Rivera, Kevin Millar and Dave Roberts.

11:47- Ouch. Bad form Orioles. 1)Mora should have let the ball roll. 2)More should have eaten the throw. I'm glad I'm not an O's fan.

11:48- 4 straight wide ones to Abreu. Bases juiced. No outs. A-Rod. Can you smell what the Rod is cooking?

11:49- Are you kidding me? Did I just saw what I think I saw? I did. I did. I did see a puttytat, I mean a 4-2-5 DP. That's a new way to kill a rally.

11:51- Did I call it or did I call it? I said above that maybe Matsui would get another shot if this game goes extras. Check the transcript. It's there. He came through in the clutch. Yanks lead 9-8. Suck on that rain.

11:53- The Big G whiffed to end the Yankees' half of the 11th. That inning had so much potential. At least they came away with 1 run.

11:54- I get it. Derek Jeter has an Edge. Enough already. I miss Giuseppe Franco.

11:55- LaTroy is on for the save. Yikes. If only Joba were still in the pen. I don't like this plan.

11:59- Leadoff single to Mora. This will be interesting. That sinking feeling is back again. I don't think it's gas this time.

12am- Warning track power there by Markakis. I thought that was the ball game.

12:01- Son of a monkey. Tie game. Winning run is on 3rd. Is anyone really surprised at what's transpired? Again I ask

12:02 & 12:03 - 2 free passes and the bags are full with 1 down.

12:05- Well, it wasn't gas this time. Ball game over. Way to go LaTroy. Nicely done.

Nothing is worse than staying up really late and then losing. I said a few days ago that working Joba into the rotation was not the move to make at this time. Consider this: Joba in all likelihood would have pitched tonight. Assuming he did, we're probably looking at a different ending. Joba probably would have also pitched in yesterday's loss as well. Joba in. Hawkins and Veras out. The Yankees probably don't lose 6-1. I'm not saying the Yankees would have won either game, but it's just something to think about. LaTroy Hawkins = really bad. I'm disgusted. I'm tired. I have to be up in 6.5 hours. It would have been a much nicer sleep if Hawkins did his job. At least he won't pitch tomorrow.

J-Boogie

Moose Is The Man, Mo Bounces Back, Yanks Win 2-1

Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooosssssssse! That's my boy. Anyone who has read this blog frequently knows I'm a big Mike Mussina fan. I am completely overjoyed with how Moose has been pitching lately. Over his last 5 games, he's thrown 29.1 innings, given up 27 hits, 2 BB, has 17 K and an ERA of 2.76. Oh yeah, he's 5-0 in that stretch. Yeah, I think I need to do another Moose call. Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooosssssssse! He was awesome again tonight. He's no longer an overpowering pitcher, but you don't really have to be when you move the ball around like he's been doing. The defense definitely had his back tonight. It doesn't hurt either that he has a 20mph difference between his heater and his changeup. Al Leiter made mention during the broadcast that at best most pitchers are lucky to have a 15mph difference between those 2 pitches. Moose is putting up 20. The predictions of his impending demise have been greatly over exaggerated. He's now 6-3 on the season ans is tied for the league lead in wins. Suck on that Hank Steinbrenner. Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooosssssssse!

I thought Ross Ohlendorf was going to blow the victory for Moose. If not for a sweet 6-4 DP by Jeter and Cano he would have. That was definitely the game saver. I was a little peeved that Ross allowed the inherited runner to score which was charged to Moose. Ross got lucky there. The D picked him up.

Joba was pretty dominant tonight. I'm not a fan of the walks but I'll take the 3 Ks. His slider is wicked.

As we knew he would, Mariano bounced back well from his outing yesterday. Mo has the great ability to put the past in the past, which is probably one of the reasons why he's the greatest closer ever. It was great watching him strike out Evan Longoria. That wasn't even close to being fair. Have a seat rook. You just got schooled.

I would be pretty ticked off right now if I'm a Yankee pitcher. Where the heck is the run support? I know they were going up against James Shields who has been outstanding lately, but come on? 2 runs? Pathetic. They got lucky with the run Abreu knocked in. The only one who should get any props tonight was Robinson Cano. You can't have a much better night at the plate. Robbie goes 4 for 4 and raises his average from .183 to .205. For those of you that aren't mathematically inclined that's a 22 point jump. I guess he didn't like having the lowest average on the team. Robbie is starting to come around. He's now hit safely in 8 of his last 9 games, going 13-33 (.394) and raising his average 55 points (.150 to .205).

The top of the order absolutely stunk tonight. Collectively the 1-5 hitters went 2-19 with 1 BB and 6K, and 1 of those hits was a bloop single into no man's land. They've got to do better than that. They haven't been getting it done and they really need to.

Somebody tell Hank to chill out. The team is only 3.5 games out of first. It should be a lot worse. But it's not. Keep your head up Hank. We're in decent shape all things considered.

Tomorrow night marks the return of Ian Kennedy. He really needs to throw a good game if he wants to stay in the bigs. He had a great outing in Scranton and he needs to bring that game with him to the big stage. He goes up against Scott Kazmir which is no easy task, especially when the offense is struggling. Take care of business Ike. Earn your spot and get us back to .500 and within 2.5-3 games of the top.

Tomorrow's game is an odd 4:10 start. I'm not sure what that's all about but at least it's not starting at 1pm. I hope to catch the first part on the radio and the end on TV. I'm kind of glad it's an early start because there are a lot of good season finales on tomorrow night. I haven't been able to DVR CSI lately because of the games. It looks like a good one. I'm glad that the TV season is coming to an end because that means I don't have to miss anything.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Win 6-3, Leave For The D At .500

I missed the game today (stupid work) so this entry won't have a lot to it. I caught the first 3.5 innings and the last 2.5 on my XM radio. I left at 0-0, came back at 4-3, and heard it end 6-3.

From what I heard, I thought Moose pitched pretty well. I missed the 5th inning when he gave up 3 runs. When I got back to my desk I quickly pulled up the box score. Moose's line didn't look unimpressive. 4 hits and 3 ER in 5 IPs, 86 pitches. It reads pretty good. Maybe if someone saw the game can let me know their impressions. Anyway, Moose moves to 5-3. He's off to a much better start this year. He just needs to make it deeper into games.

I missed Ross Ohlendorf's outing. I heard the last out of the 7th. It sounds like he had a good outing. I like Ohlie. I think his only problem is that he doesn't trust his stuff enough. Joba bounced back nicely from his blown save/loss from the other day. It was nice to hear him get Dellucci swinging. If only he could have done that the other day. And Mo. Still perfect. You gotta love Mo. He's been the man this year. His DHL Delivery Man award for the month of April was well deserved.

The boys brought out the lumber today. 4 longballs. Not bad. I'd rather see them pick up a nice string of base hits though. I think the longball mentality is one of the reasons why they're struggling at the plate. I sense that too many guys are looking to tie it up or put the team ahead with one swing then they are moving runners along. I'd rather see them do that. Matsui picked up 2 more hits and extended his hitting streak to 17. Godzilla is absolutely locked in right now. He's definitely carrying more than his weight offensively. The picture of consistency. Could Robbie Cano's 1st multi-hit game since April 12th signal the end of his season long slump? God I hope so. Robbie's now hit in 5 of his last 6 games, raising his average about 20 points. We need that bat Robbie. Keep it up.

So the team leaves home on a win and heads to Detroit looking for a little vengeance. A series sweep on their turf would be nice. I'm sick of this lose 2, win 2 style of play. Let's win a few, lose 1, and then win a few more. They're better than that.

A friend and I are making the roadie to see the team play on Saturday. The Tigers were nice enough to send me an e-mail today letting me know the start time is moving up 5 minutes. Phew. I'm glad they told me. The matchup for Saturday is Rasner vs. Bonderman. It's not the pitching matchup I was hoping for when I bought the tickets but what can you do. I'm just excited I'm going to see them play live. Now I don't have to wait until late July when they head to Toronto. Tomorrow's game should be pretty interesting. Kei Igawa makes his season debut. I'm not sure what to expect?

J-Boogie

Weighing In On Tonight's Yankees Loss

I've got to make this short and sweet because I am absolutely exhausted. 6am comes early and I ran a total of 15.5 miles today in an attempt to win a weight loss contest, a la "The Biggest Loser." It's a 12-week contest that ends Monday and I'm currently in 2nd place about 3 pounds behind the leader. By my estimate I have to drop 7-8 lbs. this week to have a shot. I'm busting my hump to get there. When the contest started I tipped the scales at an even 200. I'm about 5'11 and I was by no means big but had some weight to lose. I was already planning to try and get in better shape once Spring Training started so the timing was perfect. As of now I weigh about 160 and figure I need to get to 154 to win. I'm busting my tail running before work, at lunch, and after work in an attempt to get there. I admittedly am now skinnier than I want to be, but I've come so far and there are only 5 days left so why not go for it. Gotta leave it all on the table.

Tonight's game was blah. Phil Hughes again struggled. He has yet to put together a great outing. I was amazed when they flashed the stat that he leads the league in the lowest average innings pitched of all starters with 3.2. He went 3.2 tonight so at least he's consistent if nothing else. But right from the get go you could tell it wasn't going to be his night. When he walked Curtis Granderson to leadoff the game I cringed. Granderson is not the guy you want to walk. Hughes didn't get any help from Johnny Damon either on Magglio's bloop single. Damon has to have the worst arm in the league and the Tigers wisely exploited it. I'm not sure what the issue is with Hughes this year. He's not the pitcher we saw last year. I can see glimpses of him but then the bottom drops out and he's out of the game before it even started. I know he's young. I know there will be growing pains. But you have to wonder if he needs a little more time spent in the minors. If only the Yankees had another arm to call on. If he and Ian Kennedy continue to struggle, I wouldn't be surprised if something happens on the trade front. those 2 are killing the bullpen Speaking of the bullpen.....

Another great outing by the pen tonight. That's really the only bright spot. Over the last 2 games, the bullpen has thrown 9.1 innings, allowing 0 runs on 4 hits with 1 BB and 10 K. That's pretty darn good. Ross Ohlendorf was awesome tonight. He came in and stopped the bleeding which allowed the Yankees to keep it close, even though they fell short of coming back to tie the game. Speaking of the offense.....

The offense was horrendous tonight. Their inability to hit with runners in scoring position is mind boggling. Even without A-Rod and Jorge, this lineup is too good to strand 13 guys on base. they left 2 on in the 1st. They left the bases loaded in the 3rd and the 8th. They had their chances and failed again, as they've done way too often this year. One of these days they'll put it together.

So much for short and sweet.

J-Boogie

I Didn't See Much But What I Saw Was Enough

As I mentioned yesterday, I wasn't going to get to see much of today's game as I'd be at a 2 year old's birthday party. We left the part around 6:30 and when I got home I immediately went to the TV, flipped on the game and saw Grady Sizemore get cut down trying to steal 2nd base to end the 7th inning. Since it went to commercial, I hopped online to look at the box score. I was specifically interested in Ian Kennedy's performance. It was a 3-3 game so I was hopeful he made it into the 7th. 5 innings, 105 pitches, 4 walks. Not good. Now I didn't see him pitch so I can't really pass judgement on his performance, but it's gotten to the point where he's not benefiting the ball club in any way. Ike needs to be relied on to get a little deeper into games, especially when the bullpen is in shambles. I know he's young. I know there are expected growing pains. But right now, the negatives outweigh the positives. It looks like he only had 1 bad inning, which makes the high pitch count even more of a head scratcher to someone who didn't see the game. If the Yankees are going to keep him in the rotation, Kennedy needs to start pitching like a major leaguer. Right now, he doesn't deserve his spot in the rotation.

A quick scan of the offensive numbers told me that it looks like the Yankees were back to their old selves, failing to knock in runners that were in scoring position. all of the runs came on a pinch-hit triple by Posada. Lots of men LOB. The offense has been improving lately. Today's game looks like a step backwards. All i needed to see to validate that was the 9th inning. Johnny Damon, who has been on absolute fire lately, picks up a 1out single and moves to 3rd when Melky singles in his next AB. Jeter steps us and does the one thing he can't do in that situation and that's hit into the inning ending DP. Typical. I had seen a few minutes earlier in my box score scan that Jeter already had 3 hits so I liked the chances of him bringing home Damon and getting the ball to Mariano. I should have known better. Is it me or does it look like Jeter is trying to hit everything to right field? it seems like a lot of his singles are liners the opposite way, but so are a lot of his outs. Just an observation. They always talk about his great inside-out swing and his tendency to hit the opposite way. Maybe it just seems like he's hitting everything over there. I don't know. To me though it looks like Jeter is trying too hard to do that. Could be a reason why he's scuffling.

The Yankees have to do something with their bullpen. It's the same story every year. With the exception of Mo and for the most part Joba, everyone else is way too inconsistent. Nobody wants to step up and be the man. They all seem to have a string of good outings and then when they get into a pressure situation they cough up some runs. Today it was Hawkins and Farnsworth pitching well and it was Ross Ohlendorf's turn to be the guy who sucks it up. It's puzzling. And with the season-ending injury to Bruney, the demotion of Traber, the "maybe injury" to Joba, it doesn't look like it will be getting better anytime soon. Hawkins, Ohlendorf and Farnsworth need to step up their game.

I had hopes that this April would be different than the Aprils of the last few seasons. It started out so-so, got a little better and when they were 12-10 I felt good. Today's loss drops them below .500 and it's starting to be more and more like last year, except without all the A-bombs. It's been a rough schedule and I'm hoping they can hold on and salvage a game or two from Cleveland before heading to the D. If they can be .500 at the end of this roadie I'll be pretty happy. The ace gets the ball tomorrow and he really needs to have a good, long outing.

Come on Chien-Ming. We're counting on ya.

J-Boogie

Offensive Woes Continue, Yankees Need New Manager

I keep expecting the Yankees to have an offensive breakout and so far my wishes have gone unfulfilled. Just when you think they're standing on the verge of getting it on, they digress. They've had their chances and have shown some signs of life, but by and large they have collectively stunk up the joint. A-Rod and Abreu have been the only real consistent performers and even they have come up short in big spots. Is it me or do they sometimes make mediocre pitchers look like Cy Young? I can understand not racking up a lot of runs against a trio like Halladay, Burnett, and McGowan, but come on, they can't knock around Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson? I know it's early. I know the season is only 5 games old. It's just puzzling to watch. It doesn't seem like they're playing their game. They're not seeing pitches and working counts. It seems like they're being aggressive at the plate and it's not paying off. I've seen a lot of long swings. I have to disagree with a comment John Flaherty made about Shelley Duncan's plate appearance with the bases loaded. He mentioned he was seeing good swings from Shelley. I'm not sure what game he was watching because I couldn't disagree more. Duncan tries way to hard to crush the ball. He seems totally off balance and he never seems to have his feet where they should be when his swing is over. We need base hits in those big spots. Keep the line moving and the runs will come. We don't need 6-run homers.

I thought Pettitte pitched alright all things considered. His only real mistake was the pitch that Gomes hit out. Shelley Duncan didn't do anybody any favors by throwing the ball into left field. The Yankees are going to suffer dearly if they can't get a first baseman that can make the throw to second base. Yesterday, Giambi almost did the same thing but lucky for him Jeter was able to hold the bag while making the catch. It wasn't a great outing by Pettitte but he looked pretty good out there. He kind of burned out there around the end of the 4th. Understandable considering his shortened spring training. The real question is how will Andy feel tomorrow? Fingers are crossed that he feels good.

How about that Brian Bruney? He looked real good, striking out 4 over 2 hitless innings. Brian Bruney's success as major league pitcher will entirely depend on his ability to keep the ball over the plate. If Bruney has good control, he'll dominate. His struggles have always revolved around poor control. He's got great stuff and I think he'll do very well this year. Shedding 20 pounds didn't hurt.

Ohlendorf looked good also. He's got some nasty stuff. I was surprised Aybar took him yard. I'm not even close to lumping Ohlie in the same boat as Farnsworth and Hawkins. If I'm Joe Girardi I'd look to use guys like Bruney and Ohlendorf in close games. The bridge to Mariano should start with Bruney, Traber and Ohlendorf and not with Hawkins and Farnsworth. Maybe Hawkins can work his way up that pecking order, but Farnsworth? Never.

The Yankees are lucky to be 2-3. Their record could very well be 0-5. Tomorrow isn't going to be a walk in the park as James Shields gets the call for the Rays. The Yankees should be able to hit him, but if they don't, Wang better be on his A-game. He's the ace. He's the stopper. He's the guy that's supposed to stop losing streaks.

Oh yeah: Fire Rob Thomson! Get well soon skip.

J-Boogie

Accentuating The Positive

The Yankees just got finished getting their tails kicked by the Dev, err, Rays. Ken Singleton summed it up so nicely. It was a rotten game. I watched most of the game in fast forward, zipping ahead to each pitch. The wife is sick so I had to give our 7 month old son his bath, his bottle and then put him to bed. That process starts at about the same time as the first pitch is thrown. I joined the game about 48 minutes late and once I caught up, the wife and I watched this week's "Two And A Half Men." Hey, I've got to give her some TV time on Fridays. After I got done laughing pretty hard (it's a great show), I again zipped ahead through the game and once I was again caught up, it was time to watch "High School Reunion." Yawn. That took about 45 minutes and I got up to the live action just in time to watch them implode in the 8th. It wasn't fun to watch. The negatives definitely outweighed the positives. But there were a few bright spots which I want to make note of.

I mentioned in my recap post from yesterday that "we as Yankees fans should feel pretty comfortable with our bullpen." Tonight, that was half true. Jonathan Albaladejo was awesome. He came in and basically shut the rays down after he gave up a run-scoring double to his 1st batter. He gave the Yankees exactly what they needed. He ate up 2.2 IPs without giving up a run, striking out 4 Rays along the way. He looked pretty sharp throwing 23 of his 36 pitches for strikes. Most importantly he kept the game close. Too bad the bats didn't pick up the slack. It's also too bad he's likely on his way to Scranton. Pettitte comes back tomorrow and I'm pretty sure he's taking Abaladejo's roster spot. That's too bad. He has a lot of promise.

The performances of Ross Ohlendorf and Billy Traber should also be taken as signs of encouragement. Traber had an awesome spring and is showing that his spot on the roster is well-deserved. And I like Ohlie. He has a lot of upside and I hope that Girardi uses him in some tough spots because I think the kid will do a pretty good job when called upon.

Unfortunately, LaTroy Hawkins and everybody's favorite, Kyle Farnsworth, followed a great outing by the aforementioned three and promptly put the game well out of reach by giving up 7 runs between the two of them. It shouldn't have been as bad though because if Matsui caught that fly ball, who knows what would have happened. That ball should have been caught. No excuse for missing that. Thank God Damon is our regular everyday left-fielder because he catches that no problem. But he missed it and that's baseball. Hawkins still should have been able to shut the door and stop the bleeding. But he couldn't, and neither could Farnsworth. He's just as bad as he was last year. Right now, I can only hope that Girardi changes the depth chart of the bullpen and uses Traber and Ohlie more in trying to get the ball to Joba/Mo. Let Farnsworth and Hawkins do the mopping up.

The only other bright spot I noted was the double of the bat of Giambi. He took it the other way and that's not something we've seen much from Giambi in recent years. Hopefully he can keep that up.

The game couldn't have started any worse. You could tell right from the get go that Ian Kennedy didn't have it. Not a great start to the season. It seemed like everything he threw was landing in front of Molina. It kind of reminded me of my friend Don. He pitched on our high school baseball team and most of what he threw ended up going about 58 feet. It just seemed like Ike could never get it going. Just when you thought maybe he'd pull through, he digressed. I don't think it's anything to worry about. He'll bounce back. He's a control pitcher and i don't think the wildness will be an issue.

The offense was again for the most part non-existent. They had a nice little run there in the 4th. They were tagging Sonnanstine. 3 balls to the wall and one over. That's just a glimmer of what these guys are capable of doing. As the pen kept throwing goose eggs I thought for sure they would chip away at that lead. But like they've done all season, they just didn't get it going. It's early. Slow starts are common. No worries.

Pettitte makes his debut tomorrow. Should be interesting to see the crowd's reaction when he takes the hill. I imagine there will be a light smattering of boos amongst a lot of applause. If he can deliver a solid performance, all will be good in Andy's world. At least until he throws on the road.

Tomorrow is another day. Enjoy your night.

J-Boogie

So Close But Yet So Far

Was it me or was tonight's game pretty boring until the bottom of the 9th? I had high hopes when the Jeter and Abreu reached base with no outs and Alex at the dish. I was getting giddy with excitement anticipating another 9th inning clutch A-Bomb from A-Rod. He was so clutch last year in the 9th. He looked like he was swinging for the fences and that was his downfall. Just keep the line moving. I'll give him a pass on this one as it's only the 2nd game of the year. He spoiled me with his April performance from last year. You can't win 'em all.

I thought Moose pitched pretty well. Not great but not bad. It could have been a lot worse if not for a couple of "pitcher's best friends." Giambi's 1st inning error set his outing off on the wrong foot. I think Moose should have had the bag though. I thought for sure that was going to end up being out. Moose must not have been paying much attention during PFP. I was pleased though with Moose's overall performance. He got out of some tough spots and was just missing the corners. I think as the days pass and the weather improves, we'll see more of the old Moose that we all know and love.

The offense didn't do much to help Moose out. Credit that to AJ Burnett. He pitched a damn good ballgame. His only real mistake was giving up the A-Bomb. Alex's HR was pretty much the only offensive highlight. Throw out A-Rod's dinger and I don't think anyone reached second until the 9th inning when Jeter reached second on Abreu's bloop single.

Farnsworth didn't look too bad in his first appearance. The MelkMan should have pulled in that shot off the bat of Overbay. I thought for sure it was gone though. It wouldn't have surprised me in the least to see Kyle give up a dinger in his first regular season outing. That was a tough play but I thought Melky should have made the grab. It didn't look like he had his eye on the ball. Hawkins debut in Pinstripes was less than impressive. There's promise there and he's better than a lot of the other options. I think he'll do alright. It was good to get a look at the bullpen. Somebody needs to tell Ross Ohlendorf you don't hit the 8-hitter. Especially when said hitter is Marco Scutaro. It's not like it was Alex Rios, who by the way totally owns the Yankees. It's unreal how well he's done against them. Ross did well. Another pitcher hooked up by the double play. This game could have been a blow out if not for 5 double plays. Yankees pitchers allowed 17 baserunners. Considering only 5 scored I'd say they did pretty well. Props to Molina for gunning down Scutaro and Rios. I'm not used to seeing Yankee catchers throw out would be base stealers.

Michael Kay announced the attendance as being over 48000. Yeah right.

I'm excited for Phil Hughes tomorrow. I'm a big Hughes guy. I'm expecting big things.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie