I guess the Yanks can't outslug everybody.

The White Sox jumped out to an 8-0 lead and survived a furious Yankee comeback to down the Yanks 13-9 on a brutally hot, disgusting afternoon in the Bronx.  The two teams both scored eight runs in the second inning, Roger Clemens was terrible, Jeff Karstens return from the DL wasn't a good one and Kyle Farnsworth continued his quest to become the most hated man in pinstripes this side of Carl Pavano.

I was at work for this game, but I kept tabs on MLB's Gamecast and Vinny in Kearny and Brian also kept me up to date via email.  I may not have caught every nuance of Thursday's game, but I think I got the gist of it.

The Good:

Wilson Betemit.  Derek Jeter got a rare day off on Thursday and the Yanks inserted their newest acquisition into The Captain's position.  Betemit's debut was a good one -- he ripped a three-run homer to center in his first Yankee at-bat and cut the White Sox lead in half at 8-4.  I still don't like the trade, but I have to give Betemit his due.  The newest Yankee finished 1 for 2 with a walk, a run scored and 3 ribbies.

Bobby Abreu.  What the hell?  Abreu had a great day and the Yankees still lost.  What is this -- opposite day?  Anyway, Bobby's solo home run in the sixth brought the Yankees to within 11-9, but that would be as close as they would get.  I usually don't care for the "on pace" stat, but Abreu is "on pace" to drive in 100 runs this season.  Not too bad for a guy who at times looked totally lost at the plate.  Abreu finished 3 for 5 with a stolen base, 2 runs scored and 2 runs batted in.

Alex Rodriguez.  No, A-Rod didn't get number 500, but he did break out of his 0 for 21 slump.  This whole "when is A-Rod going to get his 500th?" talk is really starting to bore me.  It's not like he's at the tail-end of his career.  He'll get 500 soon enough and then everyone will start talking about 600.  Then 700.  Then 800.  That's cool and all, but I'm just concentrating on the here and now.  Rodriguez finished 2 for 5 with a stolen base, a run scored and an RBI.

The Bad:

Roger Clemens.  Obviously, this was The Rocket's worst start of the year and probably ranks in the Top 5 of his worst career outings.  Like I said earlier, I didn't see Clemens pitch, but I've seen enough games to know that giving up eight runs in less than two innings isn't considered a quality start.  Still, Clemens only gave up three earned runs thanks to Robinson Cano's error in the second.  That may help Roger's ERA, but it didn't help the Yanks on Thursday.  Clemens didn't get tagged with the loss, but his line was still ugly: 1.2 IP, 9 H, 8 R (3 earned), 0 BB, 0 K.

Jeff Karstens.  I really don't want to put Karstens in here since he's worked hard to come back from a broken leg suffered earlier in the year, but his return was terrible.  He had a chance to keep the Yanks in the game and possibly vulture a win, but he couldn't hold down the Pale Hose.  The two-run homer he gave up in the fourth inning to Jermaine Dye after the Yanks tied the game at 8-8 really took the wind out of the Bomber sails.  I'm sure Karstens is glad to be back with the club, but he dropped to 0-2 on the season.  Karstens' line: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 killer HR.

Kyle Farnsworth.  And now we get to Farnsworth.  Farnsworth entered the game in the eighth with the Yanks down 11-9 and once again extinguished any hope of a Yankee comeback.  It's really amazing how he excels at crapping the bed.  He makes me literally angry with rage!  And yet, if I were to have him killed, I'd be the one to go to jail.  That's democracy for you.  OK, I'll stop quoting from Futurama and The Simpsons, but it's the only way I can stop from writing swears for 7 to 12 lines.  Farnsworth's "performance": 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 2 HRs.

The Ugly:

Stop whining!  Damon wasn't in the starting lineup on Wednesday night and was none too happy about it.  He was upset that he wasn't playing and that he wasn't told about it before hand.  He also hinted that maybe the Yanks should trade him if they aren't going to play him now that's he's hitting and healthy.  The balls!  Joe Torre penciled him into the lineup more than he should have during the season and didn't give up on him when he was struggling and now Damon's upset about not starting one game?  Damon has since backed away from his comments, but what's done is done.  Once an idiot, always an idiot.

The Yanks will wrap up their six game homestand with three against the Royals beginning on Friday night.  Odalis Perez will go for Kansas City and Chien-Ming Wang will toe the rubber for the Yanks.  The Yankees defeated Perez and the Royals last week in Kansas City, 9-2.  Wang finished July with 5-1 mark and a 3.03 ERA.  He also picked up a win last week against the Royals.  On Wednesday, KC manager Buddy Bell announced he was resigning from the club at the end of the season.  The Royals are 48-59 on the year and in last place in the AL Central, 13 games behind the Detroit Tigers.

Anybody blame him?