Well, Yankee mediocrity lasted one ballgame.

The Texas Rangers finally defeated the Yanks Thursday afternoon, 14-2, in a game that was a pitcher's duel until the fifth inning.  Then all hell broke loose.  It was the Rangers first win against the Yanks in six attempts this season.

The Good:

Melky Cabrera.  Melky drew the Yanks even at 1-1 in the third with his first homer of the season.  Cabrera also took advantage of a napping Kenny Lofton in center when he turned a base hit into a double in the fifth.  He finished 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.  Melky is starting to resemble the spunky player Yankee fans fell in love with last year.

Derek Jeter.  Jeter continues to pound the baseball as he picked up two more hits.  With Bobby Abreu struggling and Jason Giambi on the shelf (for who knows how long) Jeter has fit nicely batting in the number 3 hole.  I was always reluctant to have Jeter batting third because he can do so many things batting second, but my feelings have changed recently.  Maybe it's time to have The Captain in the third slot on a regular basis.  Jeter also made a pretty play in the field with the Yanks trailing 14-2 in the ninth.  That's why they named him Captain.

The Bad:

Chien-Ming Wang.  Wang wasn't as bad as his line indicates.  He only walked one batter, but that batter came around to score in the first.  He was also the victim of some shaky defense in the fifth which led to three runs.  The Yanks may have finished the game without any physical errors, but they made some mental ones.  Still, Wang gave up a bunch of hits and his record dropped to 1-3 on the year.  Wang's line: 6.1 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 2 K.

Luis Vizcaino/Sean Henn.  This horrible two-headed monster emerged from the bullpen in the seventh and spewed gasoline on an already raging fire.  The Yanks weren't coming back in this game, but the monster "VizHenn" turned a 7-2 game into a 14-2 laugher.  

The Ugly:

Spotty defense in the fifth inning.  Bobby Abreu misplayed another fly ball, this time off the bat of catcher Gerald Laird, as Laird hustled in with a leadoff triple.  Again, it wasn't an easy play, but Abreu is reminding me of Danny Tartabull in the outfield.  I hold my breath every time he comes within 4 feet of the wall.  After a ground out held the runner at third, Brad Wilkerson grounded a ball to A-Rod who had Laird caught in a run-down.  But, A-Rod and Jorge Posada botched the play and Laird scored on a head first slide as Wilkerson advanced to second.  A couple of base hits later and the Rangers ended the fifth with a 4-1 advantage that they would never relinquish.

The Yanks will head out to the Pacific Northwest and take on the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.  Darrell Rasner will try and make it two quality starts in a row and will go against Jarrod Washburn.

The fight for a winning record continues.