April 27th @ The Orioles
Well, it was bound to happen. The Yanks were bound to lose a game where they looked downright unprofessional out there. I suppose one could take heart in the fact that they fought until the very last out. By getting the tying run (Brett Gardner) all the way to third base, the Yanks certainly gave themselves a chance to win it, even if they eventually came up one run short and lost by a score of 5-4. If only A-Rod had been a tad more patient and seen a more hittable pitch…
The Good:
- Robbie Cano (3-for-4; 12 for 23 over the past 6 games). He looked locked in tonight, slashing three singles and going the other way on his final hit of the evening. There are few things as dangerous to opposing pitchers than a streaking Cano hitting to all fields;
- Nick Swisher (3-for-4, 2 runs scored; 7 for 18 over the past 5 games). It’s nice to see Nick heating up a bit, especially as some of the Yanks’ other hitters begin to cool off;
- Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson’s defensive prowess was on full display tonight. They both ran down some hard-hit balls and generally commanded LF and CF like pros; and
- Phil Hughes finding a way to battle and stay in the game on a night where he clearly didn’t have his best stuff working for him. The sign of a maturing pitcher is one that shakes off a bad inning, hangs around and keeps his team in the ballgame.
The Bad:
- Phil Hughes, having nothing tonight. While it’s only one start, it was certainly not a welcome sight to see him regressing back to the enigmatic starter he was in early 2008 just five days after thoroughly dominating the A’s for nearly 8 innings;
- Dave Robertson and Boone Logan pretty much destroyed the game in the 6th inning. There is nothing — and I mean nothing — more infuriating than bringing in a LOOGY and then watching him walk the only man he was responsible for. The fine gents over at RAB actually did a write-up of Logan earlier today although I’ll have to respectfully disagree with their findings given that he has yet to pitch a clean inning in his three appearances thus far. As for Robertson, RAB wrote up a piece on Girardi’s inconsistent usage of Robertson thus far in 2010 and, again, I’ll have to respectfully disagree as Robertson, too, has been spotty and somewhat unreliable thus far. At least with Robertson we know there is hope for better days. Logan? I’m not so sure;
- Another game, another boneheaded move (or two) from the team’s unofficial captain, Jorge Posada. When he’s not falling asleep behind the plate or letting catchable (or blockable) pitches fly by him, he’s sailing throws into the outfield or running the bases like a nervous rookie; and
- The team’s overall defense was poor this evening. From Randy Winn’s “Damonesque” pop-gun throw, to Jeter’s 6th inning error, to A-Rod somehow letting a ball get by him that was millimeters from his glove, to the aforementioned throwing error by Posada, it was not the team’s best night in the field.
The Yanks are 12-7 and have now lost four out of their last five games (thanks for pointing that out, Evan3457). No biggie…but tonight’s game had all the charm of a sloppy mid-August contest where mental lapses cost the team what should have been an easy W.
Let me be the 1st pain in the ass to point out that they lost the last game of the A’s series and the 1st game of the Angels series, and therefore, this is not the first time they’ve lost back to back games this season.
In fact, they’ve now lost 4 out of 5, and the Rays now lead by 2 1/2.
Help us, C.C. Sabathia; you’re our only hope!
Evan3457 wrote:
Cripes, yes, you’re right. My bad.
Tex looked completely out of it this game, too. His first walk, he lost track of the number of balls and just stood there till the ump, who was laughing, told him to go to first.
Also, I think Hughes’ outing was complete luck. If this were a hot hitting team, he would have been knocked out in the 2nd inning. He couldn’t locate anything.
looking like this team is a bat short and definitely an arm short in the pen
matsui and damon are making cashman look terrible
Happy I didn’t watch this game past the 3rd, I could tell after the first few innings that this wasn’t going to be a night of sharp Yankees baseball.
Move past it and win today.
Corey Italiano wrote:
I actually don’t agree with you. The third inning was legitimately lousy and he should’ve given up more than one run but he improved in recording the next eight outs, including actually pitching his best against Wieters/Tejada to start the 6th inning, before Girardi lifted him for Logan.
Now, you can certainly say that it wouldn’t have been tied 1-1 after three innings (the O’s should’ve plated at least three runs that inning) but I don’t agree that he was horrendous all night. He was pitching to his defense which, through the first six innings, was playing pretty well.
Jake1 wrote:
It’s been less than a month. I don’t quite see where the Yanks are short on offense, especially if you consider that Teixeira hasn’t done a thing all year. Jeter, Teixeira, A-Rod and Cano all profile to be very productive hitters in 2010 and even though the other shoe will eventually have to drop on Posada, he’s been hitting more than enough thus far.
As for the bullpen…meh…there are plenty of in-house options if the Yanks feel like Robertson/Logan aren’t up to snuff.
YankCrank wrote:
It’s funny, that’s exactly how I felt. I knew I was writing today’s recap so I *HAD* to watch the game but, yeah, there were about a million other things I’d have rather done than watched the Yanks slog through a cruddy game where their bats got silenced by Millwood and three O’s relievers.
Jake1 wrote:
If you’d said Nick Johnson is making Cashman look terrible, I’d have agreed with that.
Teixeira’s been lousy thus far but at least some of his outs are loud outs. Nick Johnson is barely making contact (when he’s not standing up there with the bat on his shoulder, staring at meaty pitches). As far as DH’s go, Nick Johnson is completely impotent. Then again, better Nick Johnson’s selectivity (.384 OBP) than David Ortiz’s worthlessness (.241 OBP).
MJ Recanati wrote:
He shouldn’t have gotten out of the 3rd to pitch in the 6th, if you ask me. If he were pitching against the Rays or Sox, it’d have been a blowout.
Corey Italiano wrote:
Not based on the 4th through 6th innings it wouldn’t have been.
i didnt see the game i had work but lookin at the numbers minus the 4 walks doesnt seem like he pitched all that bad. it takes luck to be successful in baseball. takes skill but alot of luck at the same time.
@ BOHAN:
That’s why you can’t read a box score. He was pretty bad.
Corey Italiano wrote:
Should say :
That’s why you can’t go by a box score.
Corey Italiano wrote:
Two consecutive starts, two consecutive diverging interpretations. He wasn’t sharp last night but I wouldn’t go so far as to say he was “pretty bad.” He had one bad inning and, otherwise, did what Andy Pettitte has done dozens of times in his career: the bend but don’t break routine.
Yeah I’m inclined to say that battling through a bad inning and getting back on the horse – rather than imploding completely into a 6-run meltdown – is a good sign for Hughes.
I don’t think the Yankees are going to wind up short a bat, though I admit I would rather see Matsui than Johnson as DH and I can’t get over the Yankees letting him go.
Middle relief is a weak point – but it is for most teams, isn’t it.
[...] yesterday’s mildly dispiriting loss, the Yanks needed to find a punching bag to let all their pent-up [...]