It was a beautiful day for a ballgame, but the Yankees weren't as pretty as the weather.
Andy Pettitte struggled, the offense continued to leave ducks on the pond and
G.I. Joe missed his second straight contest as the Rays
doubled up the Yanks 6-3 on a sun soaked afternoon in the Boogie Down. I was at the ballgame today with Brian -- the man, the myth, the legend -- from
Depressed Fan and we sat in some pretty sweet seats courtesy of Vinny from Kearny. Brian continually bashed Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui throughout the game and disappeared after the final out, but we had a good time despite the loss. I'm going to assume he got home safely.
The Good:Brian Bruney. The Maltese Falcon swooped in and kept the Rays at bay with dazzling relief work. The Yanks needed someone in the pen to give them some innings today and Bruney responded by completing two perfect frames. Bruney has been lights out so far this season and if it continues he just might nudge the unreliable Kyle Farnsworth out of a job. Bruney's day: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K.
Jorge Posada. Jorgie was back behind the plate and responded by picking up his first two hits of the season. Posada's two-run single in the eighth cut the Rays lead to 6-3 and injected some life into The Stadium, but it would be as close as the Yanks would come. Jorge finished 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs.
The Bad:Andy Pettitte. The veteran lefty made his season debut for the Yanks and it wasn't a good one. Pettitte was hurt by a Shelley Duncan throwing error in the third, but the Rays could have scored more if not for a fortunate out call on a B.J. Upton RBI-ground out later in the inning. A baserunning gaffe by Jonny Gomes in the second also helped Pettitte avoid further damage. The back-breaker came in the fifth when Gomes crushed a three-run homer in the fifth to give Tampa a 5-1 advantage. Pettite suffered his first loss of the season with this: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R (3 earned), 2 BB, 3 K, 2 hit batsman, 1 HR.
Derek Jeter. The Captain had a tough afternoon. He struck out twice -- once with the bases loaded -- and left five runners on base. Jeter finished 0 for 5 and is batting just .211 on the young season. Sadly, that's not even close to the lowest average for a Yankee regular.
Johnny Damon. Damon walked and scored a run in the first inning, but the Yankee leadoff hitter is off to a slow start. It's not hard to figure out why the Bombers are having trouble scoring runs. The Yankees No. 1 and No. 2 hitters are a combined 6 for 28 (.214) with 2 walks so far this year. Johnny D finished 0 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
The Ugly:It was just a matter of time.
Jason Giambi was inserted as the Designated Hitter for the first time this season and left the game in the fifth inning with a sore left groin. It's almost like Giambi goes out of his way to show his displeasure at being the DH. "It's so early in the season, a little bit cold and me DH-ing," Giambi said.
"We just said, 'You know what, let's go in there and make sure it's OK.'" I guess. It's not like Jason is tearing it up at the plate either -- he's batting a paltry .083 so far.
The Yanks will try and stop their mini-skid at two on Sunday and will give that assignment to their ace Chien-Ming Wang. The Wanger is usually a slow starter (he has a career mark of 1-3 with a 4.74 ERA in March and April), but pitched well in his first start against the Blue Jays. James Shields gets the ball for the Rays. Shields is coming off an impressive 2007 (12-8 with a 3.85 ERA) and picked up a victory in his first start this season against the Orioles. But he's had horrible luck against the Bombers. Shields is 0-4 with a bloated 8.58 ERA in five career starts versus the Yanks.
Time to right the ship and start swinging the bats.
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