Yanks Clobbered Early

Pete Abraham over at the LoHud Yankees Blog really summed up some of the key points of the game.

Dan Giese is Dan Giese. He's not some wunderkind the Bombers have been grooming for a while, and he's not the next Doc Gooden. He's pitching about as well as can be expected. He made a few mistakes, but pitched like we should expect.

Ross "the run generator" Ohlendorf was bad. Worse than bad. His performance got him a quick demotion to Scranton and Kei Igawa was brought up. It's a sad statement when the Pinstripers replace you with Igawa. Actually, Igawa provides insurance if Ponson bombs and someone needs to be called in for long relief.

Pete really did a nice job summing up Edwar Ramirez. I like the guy and think he's got potential, but he really hasn't changed much since last year. He's got one decent pitch and the rest are sub-par. The biggest problem is that good hitters who do their research can figure him out fairly easy. Initially, and with unexperienced hitters, Ramirez can have great success. After a while, he starts getting hit hard.

At least things can't get worse in the second game. Wait a minute, did I just jinx us?

Rasner's Honeymoon Officially Over

Darrel Rasner finally had an off day, and boy was it a ugly. 9 hits and 7 runs over 3.1 innings. Rasner just kept hanging balls over the plate and getting hit hard, putting the Yanks in too deep of a hole to climb out of.

Ross Ohlendorf didn't have much control in his 1.1 innings, but Hawkins, Farnsworth and Ramirez got the job done afterward.

The offense wasn't bad, but not good enough to overcome an 8-run deficit. Giambi went 2 for 4 and had a home run.

After the game, Derek Jeter summed up the team best by saying they are "consistently inconsistent".  Once again the team is sitting back at .500 and each day that goes by is one less day they have to make a climb back to the top.

Yes, the Yankees had a similar record last year at this time and yes, they still made the playoffs, but that was an exception. It's certainly possible, but the probability of that happening gets smaller and smaller every day.

Rasner's off day will get him more attention during his next outing, as people will start to wonder if his early success was a fluke and maybe Ian Kennedy should get another shot in a few weeks when he gets back. I think Darrel will straighten around quickly and it shouldn't be too big of a deal.

Ross Ohlendorf didn't look very good either, and I think I'm officially putting him in the "too inconsistent to be trusted" category. I think he still has potential but for now, he's a Farnsworth type of reliever who should only be used in low leverage situations.

Back Above .500

It took extra innings, but the Yankees toughed out an exciting win last night. The winning pitcher? Ross Ohlendorf. Joe Girardi brought Ross to pitch the 10th and 11th innings and the struggling reliever walked 2, gave up 2 hits, and struck out 4 all the while allowing no runs. Granted Joe didn't have a lot of other options, but it looks like he's still got faith in the young pitcher.

Notably absent in both Friday and Saturday's games was LaTroy Hawkins, who looks to be in the doghouse and won't be called on in close spots. Kyle Farnsworth, on the other hand, has been brought in two nights in a row. The YES announcers commented on how Torre never used to use Kyle two days in a row and were hesitant as to how he'd perform. On Friday he gave up a quick run to close a 2-run lead to a 1-run lead. Last night he quickly got all three batters out.

Veras and Ramirez both continue to look good and are the heart of the Yankees middle relief right now. I'd take either of them over Farnsworth in the set-up role, but Girardi has been a longtime Farnsworth fan and that doesn't look like it's going to change any time soon.

Neither of the starters looked particularly sharp, but both Wang and Mussina managed to get through the bulk of the innings with the score close, and sometimes, that's all you can ask.

Bobby Abreu has been the offensive star the last two games, going 2 for 5 and then 3 for 4.

There has been a bit of sloppy play lately, and errors and bad plays that could be scored as errors are starting to creep into the mix more and more. Alex Rodriguez got picked off of second base after stealing it, and a similar thing happened to Derek Jeter a few days back. Last night's game had an errant throw by Jeter that cost the team a run and the night before Shelley Duncan had an error.

Shelley Duncan is a fun guy to watch. He brings a great deal of enthusiasm to the game and is good for bench morale. Unfortunately, he really hasn't improved his game much over the last year. He's hitting .161 and is playing average defense at best. He really hasn't turned out to be much of an improvement defensively over the lumbering Giambi and hasn't come close to the offensive production, despite the fact that Giambi was in a huge slump.

I like Shelly and would like to see him stick around, but he's got work to do. He might last a bit longer than Ensberg, but he's going to have to start bringing something more to the table if he wants to be successful in the big leagues.

Yanks Grit Out 2-1 Win

Mike Mussina pitched 6.1 innings giving up only 1 run on 5 hits and the Pinstripers had just enough runs to carry the day. The only run credited to Mussina came from a walk in the seventh inning which later scored after Ross Ohlendorf gave up two consecutive base hits.

Glass Half Full: Mussina looked good on the mound. Chamberlain and Rivera were locked on in their appearances. Joba struck out 3 batters and walked 1. Despite getting himself in a tight spot, Ohlendorf managed to get out of a jam with a double play.

Robinson Cano went 4 for 4 and brought his average up over .200 for the first time this year.

Glass Half Empty: Moose doesn't seem to be able to last a full seven innings, which would be ideal. Still, six innings is very good for the aging veteran.

Ohlendorf gave up 2 hits in 3 batters faced, allowing an inherited runner to score. I don't necessarily like the way baseball credits runs and earned runs and I think there needs to be another stat for runners who score while you're on the mound.

The Yankees only scored 2 runs. Without such a good pitching performance the Yanks would have been in trouble. This team needs to score more runs consistently. They won't always have good pitching to fall back on and even when they do (like with Wang yesterday) they still need to tack on a few more.

Overall: A win is a win. Moose's pitching was encouraging. The Yankee bats were disappointing, but they were good enough to get the job done.

Other Stuff: Joe Girardi's locker room closed-door meeting before the game inspired the Yankees to get the job done, but did'nt do much for their sleeping bats.

The Rays signed Kazmir to another contract, locking him up for a while. There had been talk about possibly trading Kazmir or another starting pitcher, but looks like he's going to stick around for a while.

Jeff Karstens threw five innings in extended spring training and should be available before long. He won't be a superstar but hopefully will be an option if someone gets injured or as a long reliever now that Rasner is in the rotation.

Yankees Sneak in Afternoon Game and Win

I missed yesterday's game because I didn't realize it was an early start. The Yankees won 6-3 with the help of 4 home runs during the game and a solid outing by Mike Mussina. Moose pitched 5 innings but started to crack at the end. Ross Ohlendorf gave up 1 hit and 0 runs in 2 innings, Joba Chamberlain retired the side in the eighth and Mariano Rivera gave up 1 hit and 0 runs in the ninth.

I'm starting to feel a little better about Mussina. He's settled down in his last few games and pitches decently. If he can get run support, he can get a few wins. He's still going to carry that 4.0-4.5 ERA and give up runs, but hopefully the offense will help him out.

I don't know what to make of Ohlendorf. I think he's got good stuff and have thinking that he would eventually be a setup man or closer. He had some troubles earlier in the season with long relief appearances, but yesterday he managed 2 innings just fine. He'll probably be fine with 2 innings of work but I think 3 might be pushing it, getting him a little outside is effective zone.

Joba created a stir once again with an animated fist pump that was all over the television media. I'm tired of this non-story.

Hideki Matsui remains the teams best hitter. If I ever mentioned a trade involving Matsui before, I retract it. We need his bat right now. Wilson Betemit hit a home run and may actually seeing the ball a little better. Struggling Robbie Cano went 2 for 3.

Team LOB: 1 - that's the kind of number I like.

Coming Up:

Kei Igawa vs. Kenny Rogers. The Yanks have been hitting Rogers hard and Igawa might actually stand a chance. I don't like to be pessimistic, but I doubt Igawa will get out of the fourth inning and won't be back in New York for a long time.

David Wells was mentioned in the Post as wanting to come back and play for the Yankees, who have rotation issues. I think that is pretty unlikely at this point. Expect Ian Kennedy to be back soon and Darrel Rasner to continue filling in for the injured Phil Hughes.

Rasner Makes Strong Case to Stay

Darrel Rasner pitched well in his 2008 major league debut. Rasner landed in trouble early and gave up 2 runs in the first inning on a single and a 2 run home run. After that he got 3 quick outs in the second inning, pitched out of a jam with 2 on in the fourth and went 1, 2, 3 in the fifth inning. His total numbers were 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 76-49 Pit-Str.

I don't know what kind of roster shuffling we're going to see in the next few weeks, but I hope we get to see more of Rasner. With a few days off this month the Yankees could get by with four starters, but I have a feeling we'll see Igawa getting a few starts.

I'm a bit surprised Girardi didn't let Rasner throw a seventh inning, but the Yankees have nine guys in the bullpen and Joe had plenty of fresh arms to finish the last three innings of the game.

Ross Ohlendorf gave up 1 hit and no runs, as did Kyle Farnsworth. Mariano Rivera wasted little time getting the last three batters out in order.

I don't remember ever seeing Rivera pitch this well. He's just dominating as a closer.

The Yankees had plenty of offense. Derek Jeter had 4 hits and brought his average up to .313. Melky Cabrera had a nice 2 run home run and was followed by a solo shot from Robinson Cano. Cano went 1 for 4 and Giambi went 0 for 2 with a sacrifice fly. Bobby Abreu had 3 hits and drove in a run. The team LOB was 8, which is a respectable number, but could be a little better.

The big picture

This was a very good win for the Yankees and should do a lot to settle down restless fans (I can't be the only one). Darrel Rasner made a strong case to stay in the rotation or to serve as a long reliever. The Yankees offense came alive, delivering the type of scoring that makes you worry less about your pitchers.

The bullpen guys have looked good for a few days now. Ross Ohlendorf and Kyle Farnsworth both looked in control, throwing strikes and getting ahead in counts. I get the feeling Joe has a lot of confidence in these guys as long as he can limit them to one inning.

So Much for Ohlendorf as a Closer

Ross Ohlendorf gave up the winning run in a 4-3 loss to Cleveland. Billy Traber has been sent down and I see Ross' stock slipping in Girardi's eyes. Ian Kennedy looked awful early on and got hit hard for 3 runs in the second inning. After that he settled down and played well, but had thrown 105 pitches by the end of the fifth. Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins pitched fairly well, combining for 3 scoreless innings, but Hawkins needed some help from his defense to get it done.

The Yankees weren't hitting today as a team. Damon and Jeter were cranking out the hits but the Yanks couldn't string together enough offense to put more than 3 runs on the board.

This was a tough game to watch, given everything else that has happened lately. Girardi continues to make lots of ineffectual moves with both his hitters and bullpen pitchers.

Kennedy's lines weren't bad but watching him pitch that second inning was painful. Once again, a Yankee starter couldn't make it past the fifth inning. The Bombers need their starters to go at least 6, preferably 7 or 8 innings.

Giambi continues to cost his team runs by playing first, and struggled at the plate. Robinson Cano and his .152 batting average were brought in to hit for Morgan Ensberg, who has been hitting much better than Cano.

Farnsworth has been decent in his last few outings. That's about the only bright spot I'm seeing right now, which is a sad reflection on the state of this team.

Tensions are going to start running even higher before long if this continues.

Joba Loses

Joba Chamberlain is not invincible in the bullpen as some have come to believe, and proved it in the Yankees 7-6 loss to the Chicago White Sox. The young star gave up the winning run in the ninth inning and was credited for the loss.  Maybe now some people will stop perseverating about how dominant he is as a late reliever and how he needs to stay in the bullpen.

That's not going to happen, but I can dare to dream right?

For the record, I'm a huge Joba fan and think he'll be an all star pitcher for many years with the Yankees. Giving up 1 run on 2 hits in 1.1 innings of work. Stuff happens and even the best pitchers get hit once in a while, so lets just hope this doesn't get into Joba's head too much. "I give up hits and that's the way it's going to be. I let my team down," said Chamberlain after the game.

The story of the night was the Yankee pitchers and the tragedy that surrounded each of them.

Phil Huges looked much better in his first 2 innings, giving up only 1 hit and no runs. In the first inning he threw quite a few pitches and worked into a few deep counts but in the second inning he ripped through the opposing batters. In the middle of the third inning the rain came again and after the significant delay, Joe Girardi and Dave Eiland decided to pull Hughes in favor of Ross Ohlendorf, who apparently they think is a long reliever.

Ross Ohlendorf has a lot of talent and could turn into a very  successful reliever in the major leagues, but the longer he pitches, the less effective he is. Ross' velocity and stuff as a starter was always a step down from his stuff as a reliever, where he'd come in and throw harder with more movement. This season he's had some nice 3 inning outings, but last night he came undone after one. The first inning Ohlendorf pitched beautifully, but the second he came out flat and got tagged. In the end Ross gave up 5 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings.

I didn't like Joe Girardi's decision not to have a long reliever on the team out of Spring training and it continues to hurt the team. Darrel Rasner is pitching extremely well in the minors and deserves a chance to come up. He's the guy you want to bring in to relieve Hughesey, Ike, or Moose if they need to come out early. A long reliever will eat up a bunch of innings, hopefully keeping the game close until you can bring in your closer. As much as I like Ohlendorf, he's definitely not long reliever material.

LaTroy Hawkins was decent, giving up 1 run in 2 innings of work. Kyle Farnsworth pitched a scoreless inning until slipping off the mound and hurting his right elbow. Kyle said he hoped to be back in action on Friday.

Brian Bruney didn't pitch this game but apparently sprained his foot or ankle on Wednesday night while attempting (unsuccessfully) to cover first base. Bruney will likely go on the DL so that another pitcher can be brought up. The Yankees have been using their bullpen heavily and need some fresh arms.

Jason Giambi had a decent hitting night going 2 for 4, but remains a defensive liability. He botched a simple 5 foot toss to Hughes who was running to cover first. Thankfully the athletic pitcher was able to reach down low and scoop the ball in time, but there is no excuse for that kind of sloppy play, especially when you have guys like Ensberg and Duncan available.

The Yankees will be making some moves today, putting people on the DL and calling up relievers from the minors. Now might be the time Chad Moeller gets sent back down since Molina and Posada both appear to be healthy. If so, once again, congratulations Chad on doing an outstanding job of filling in!

Hughes Struggles Mightily, Yanks Lose

Phil Hughes struggled early, throwing a lot of pitches and in the end was unable to get out of the third inning. It was a very disappointing outing for Hughes who was hoping to rebound from his last early exit. Hughes' numbers were bad and they paint an ugly picture of how he looked on the mound.

Hughes: 2.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 0 HR, 65-35 Pit-Str

Hughes and Kennedy have not shown they can pitch in the majors this year. They looked good in spring training and were sharp in their 2007 major league outings, but this year they haven't been anywhere near good enough in their regular season starts. The Yankees need these two guys to settle down and give some quality outings or else there is no way this team makes the post season.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was wild in his start, but gave up fewer runs than the Yankee starter, which was good enough for a win. Dice-K threw 116 pitches in 5 innings of work. He came close to giving up more in the fourth but got out of a jam and came back and pitched a decent fifth inning.

Dice-K: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 2 K, 0 HR, 116-62

David Aardsma pitched two shutout innings in relief of Matsuzaka.

Aardsma 2.0, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, 36-19

The good news for Yankee pitching is that Ross Ohlendorf looked good pitching three innings of relief. If he continues to deliver similar performances he could be the long reliever the Yanks desperately need.

Ohlendorf: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K,  0 HR,   49-27

Even though Boston was winning, many of the fans didn't seem to be enjoying the game. Fox panned the audience several times only to see grumpy, frowning fans curled up to ward off the cold. Apparently 46 degrees is not enjoyable baseball weather.

Latroy Hawkins came in in the 6th and pitched 2 nice innings. This is the fourth good outing for Hawkins. I came down hard on him after his first few appearances but he really has pitched well since then. Could I have been wrong? Possibly. His last three appearances have been on the road. It makes me wonder if Hawkins can't handle the Yankee faithful and their booing regarding his #21 jersey. No matter how well he pitches on the road, if he can't get it done at home he won't last long in New York.

Hawkins: 2.0, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, 17-12

The Yankees had their best chance when Boston brought in Timlin in the top of the eighth inning. Timlin has had absolutely no stuff in two appearances since coming back from the DL. Giambi hit a solo home run and then Molina and Cabrera hit singles before Timlin was pulled.

Timlin 0.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 11-8

Javier Lopez came on in relief and looked good, much improved over earlier outings, getting the BoSox out of the jam. While the Yankees were hitting fairly well and managed to put a total of 5 runs on the board, they fell short when they had too in situations like this. With Lopez coming on and the go-ahead run at the plate, the Bombers could do nothing. At the end of the game, the Yankees had left 9 on base.

Lopez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, 16-11

Manny Delcarmen came in to get the final two outs of the game and did his job, retiring both batters.

Delcarmen: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, 14-9

Boston's bullpen looked sharp with the exception of Timlin, who remains a huge liability at this point. After having designated Snyder and Corey, they're looking better overall as the rest seemed to have found their groove.

Kyle Farnsworth pitched the eighth inning for the Yankees and only gave up one run which, for Farnsworth, is pretty good.

Farnsworth: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, 12-9

Joe Girardi was making a lot of moves late in the game as the Yankees were trying to rally in the eighth inning. Unfortunately most of the subtleties were missed because ESPN's Joe Morgan was going off on a soapbox tangent and refused to let anyone actually cover the game. Joe was switching things up, trying to get his best bats to the plate in the critical situations but unfortunately it didn't work out.

Disaster struck as Jose Molina inured his hamstring and Jorge Posada came in to catch the eighth inning. Everyone knew Jorge doesn't have the best arm and his shoulder has been sore and the Red Sox took full advantage, stealing two bases.

In the end, the Yankees ended up losing the game and most of the burden for the loss gets shouldered by Phil Hughes, who couldn't get out of the third inning. Hughes is still a young, raw pitcher and will require time and patience before he settles down into a reliable starter. Until that happens it's going to be a rough season. The Yankee bats were swinging better but couldn't get the critical hits to drive home runs late in the game when they needed them. On a positive note, Ohlendorf is really looking promising for a long reliever and Hawkins has been pitching much better.

Lets just hope that Kennedy and Hughes settle down, Mussina can go more than 5 innings, and Pettite stays healthy. Thank goodness we've got Wang.

Disappointing Outing For Hughes

Phil Hughes wasn't dialed in today and the quiet Yankee bats did little to help him out. Phil lasted 3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, walking 4 and striking out 2. In defense of the Yankee starter, the umpire had an odd and inconsistent strike zone. Phil wasn't able to adjust and had poor control in his limited outing.

Ross Ohlendorf came in and pitched 3, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. Billy Traber and LaTroy Hawkins each pitched a scoreless inning. Latroy performed a little better than he has previously and perhaps the absence of booing Yankee fans helped.

There were no offensive standouts today and Alex Rodriguez struck out in all 4 appearances at the plate.

The Yankees defense was rather poor today and Kansas City stole 5 bases. Wilson Betemit couldn't handle any of Posada's throws on a couple of pitchouts, and Jason Giambi had trouble getting the ball out of his glove when a runner should have been picked off going from 1st to 2nd. In the late innings Benji Molina had come in and made a nice throw to get Gload attempting to steal 3rd.

Posada left the game with a sore shoulder and might be heading to the DL. The Yankees will be sorely missing his bat.

The Yankees are going to have to put bigger numbers up on the board if they hope to have a chance of winning this season with 4 unpredictable starters (Wang being the only one who has shown consistency).

AL East News: Dice-K was sharp in Boston's 5-0 win over Kenny Rogers and the struggling Tigers. Manny Delcarmen had settled down and pitched 1.1 innings to set up Okajima. Youkilis had 3 hits and 2 RBIs to lead the offense.

Baltimore continues to win with a solid outing from Brian Burres who gave up 1 run in 6 innings of work. Baltimore outscored the Rangers 8-1 and 1st baseman Aubrey Huff went 4 for 4 scoring 1 and driving in 4.

Toronto and Oakland are tied 6-6 in the top of the 6th and Tampa Bay is trailing Seattle, down 4-3.

Pettitte Unsuccessful In First Outing

Andy Pettitte couldn't quite deliver the goods in his first appearance of the 2008 regular season. The day started well with a warm reception from the fans despite the offseason HGH/steroid controversy.

The box score tells the tale pretty well. 8 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings is not going to get the job done. 5 runs scored but only 3 were earned to deep ball that was dropped by Matsui. Pettitte's control seemed decent (despite hitting Pena twice), but he didn't have enough "stuff" to get the batters out and gave up too many hits. Hopefully he'll revert back to his old self sooner rather than later.

Ohlendorf and Bruney eached pitched two good innings although Ross did give up a single home run. I'm liking these two guys so far this season.

A-Rod had a nice clutch 2 out RBI double to score Damon in the first. Nice to see Rodriguez get a hit when it matters.

The play of the day occurred early on when Jonny Gomes hit what looked like a home run that bounced off the top of the outfield wall and fell into play. Bobby Abreu made a nice play to throw the ball to Jeter who was able to tag Gomes, who had assumed the ball was a homer and was doing a lazy, head down trot. Gomes made up for it later by hitting a 3 run homer.

Bombers Shelled by Rays

A very disappointing outing for some Yankee pitchers. Ian Kennedy got behind in the count on a majority of batters and paid the price. He was unable to challenge the hitters and throw effective strikes. Kennedy lasted just 2.1 innings, giving up 6 runs on 4 hits with 4 walks and 2 strikeouts. He threw 70 pitches for 32 strikes.

I had high hopes for Kennedy this season, hopefully this outing was just a fluke, but I think this is going to be the way Yankee pitching goes this year. You'll get some quality starts and some we'd all rather forget.

The next three relievers performed admirably. Albaladejo, Ohlendorf and Traber combined for 4.2 (2.2, 1, and 1 respectively) innings of 2 hit ball. What I don't understand is why Thompson didn't leave one or two of them in for another inning.

Instead we were left with Hawkins coming in to pitch the 8th. Hawkins looked good on paper and did well in the spring but hasn't delivered the goods early on in the regular season. He only got 2 outs tonight giving up 6 runs on 6 hits. Maybe the fans are getting to him with their booing him for wearing the number 21.

To cap things off Farnsworth came in with 2 outs in the 8th inning and pitched the rest of the game. By the numbers he pitched 1.1 innings, gave up 3 hits, 1 run, no walks and struck out 3. The very first batter he faced hit a 3 run home run. Fortunately for Farnsworth the official stats don't credit him with 2 of those runs, but a manager can't rely on a guy who comes into a game in relief and gives up home runs.

Yankee hitting was pretty sparse and they're going to have to step it up a notch to keep this pitching staff afloat.

Quite a frustrating game all in all. Giving up 7 runs in the 8th inning isn't going to produce too many wins. A starter who is having a bad outing can be replaced with a long reliever, but you need to be able to rely on your bullpen to get batters out.