Yanks Rip Johan Santana A New One

OK, why is it the Yankees can rip arguably the best pitcher in the game for 9 runs on 9 hits over 3 innings, but they can't manage bupkiss against pitchers with minimal starts that they've never seen before. After Friday's improbable victory, I blogged that the Yanks always seem to struggle against pitchers they're seeing for the first time. And sure enough, the Yankees offense managed only 4 hits off a guy named Fernando Nieve. I said that Andy Pettitte needed a nice, long outing. Didn't happen. Andy had a brutal outing. The Mets offense battered him all over the ballpark. That's when you hope the offense picks you up. It was a bad game to run into a newbie. I hope somebody, someday, figures out why they struggle so much.

I think everyone on the planet thought today's game against the Mets was a gimme for the Mets. Not a lot of teams fare well against the great Johan Santana. The Yankees always seem to do better than most when it comes to facing Johan. They sure had his number today. I don't think anyone saw that coming. The 9 earned runs Johan gave up were a career high. The Yankees offense exploded for 15 runs on 17 hits and 7 walks. They had 15 of those hits in 5 innings. The offense was running on all cylinders. Well, almost all cylinders. A-Rod and Nick Swisher were the only 2 starters who failed to get a hit. Swisher I'll give a pass to because he walked twice and leads the team in OBP. A-Rod though needs to get his act in to gear. Alex is tipping the scales at .230. His average has dropped 25 points (.255 to .230) over the last 7 games. Alex is 3 for 24 over that stretch. When he hits the ball, he hits it well. 18 of his 28 hits have gone for extra bases. His SLG percentage is a healthy .517 and his .913 OPS us nothing to scoff at. Those #s will obviously drop after today's ohfer. But he's hitting only .230! He's got 122 at bats under his belt this season. He's had plenty of time to get things worked out. A-Rod is a career .305 hitter. I keep expecting him to pull a Teixeira and go on a tear. Any day now.

A.J. Burnett had an extremely solid outing. He got out of a major jam in the 3rd inning and that was definitely the turning point of the game for Burnett. Hopefully, it's the turning point of his season. the 7 scoreless innings dropped his ERA to 4.46. After 13 starts last season, A.J. was 5-5 with an ERA of 4.32. His ERA after his first 16 starts last year was 5.42. It was over 5 after his 20th start. He finished the year with 18 wins and an ERA barely over 4. I think we'd all settle for that. I definitely would. A.J. is having a very similar year this season. There's a lot of time left. A few more starts like today and we'll all be singing his praises by year's end. He's done it before. He can do it again.

The Brian Bruney/K-Rod feud seems to be over. K-Rod is such a little girl. Bruney was right on with his comments about K-Rod's antics. K-Rod takes things a little overboard when he gets a save. I must have watched the ending of Friday's game 100 times (exaggerating of course) and I loved seeing K-Rod get pumped when Alex popped it up, only to lose it all a few seconds later. I thought the video of K-Rod confronting Bruney during the Yankees' BP was comical. Who does K-Rod think he is? I would have loved to hear that exchange. Something tells me Bruney would mop the floor with him. This whole beef though has got me thinking about Joba's fist pumps. Are they along the same lines as K-Rod's antics? Absolutely. Do I have a problem with it? Ask me again later. I'm now on the fence. If I say no, then K-Rod's antics shouldn't bother me. If I say yes, then I feel like I'm losing a little piece of my Yankee fandom. I'm torn. I wonder how Brian Bruney feels about it.

The Yankees have a well-deserved off-day tomorrow. It'll be their first off day since May 28th. They've played 17 straight days and I'm sure they could use the day off. Up next are the lowly Washington Nationals, owners of the league's worst record at 16-45. It'll be CC, Wang, and Joba going for the Yanks. Anything less than a sweep would be unacceptable. Unfortunately, they're facing 3 guys they've never seen before so who knows what to expect. I hope they've done their homework.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie