You can't win 'em all, I guess.
Mike Mussina was good, but Edinson Volquez was better and Jolbert Cabrera and Joey Votto combined for seven hits and three RBIs as the
Reds slipped by the Yanks 4-2 at The Stadium. This was a well-played game on both sides for the most part, but Johnny Damon's blunder on a fly ball to open the fifth proved costly. It goes down as a double in the box score, but Damon should have had it. Hey, these things happen. Cincinnati would score three runs in the frame, capped by an inventive slide at home plate by Cabrera for the Reds fourth run.
The loss snaps the Yankees winning ways at seven.
The Good:Robinson Cano. I almost wasn't going to give Robbie the nod since he made a lazy error in the fourth, but he did pull the Yanks to within 4-2 with an RBI-single in the seventh. The Yankee Universe is still waiting for Cano to start hitting in spades and maybe his two-hit Friday night is the genesis. It has to happen soon, doesn't it? Cano finished 2 for 3 with a run batted in.
The Bad:Bobby Abreu. The offense is starting to round into shape so this has flown a bit under the radar, but Abreu is struggling at the dish. Bobby leads the Yanks in RBIs with 44, but he's hitting just .205 in the month of June. He hit .330 in May. Time to start turning things around, Bob. Abreu finished 0 for 4.
The Ugly:Polls are stupid.
Derek Jeter was voted as the most overrated player in the Majors in a Sports Illustrated survey of 495 big leaguers. DJ came in at No. 1 with 10% of the vote, followed by Barry Zito with 9% and Alex Rodriguez and J.D. Drew finished tied for third with 7%. Ridiculous. I'm not a huge fan of polls or lists or surveys. Sometimes they are fun, but most of the time they are done just to get a reaction. They get the blood boiling and before you know it, people are arguing about something that can't be proven right or wrong. But it's amazing to me that Jeter's peers would think of him as overrated when he plays hard every day and has had a tiny bit of success during his career. Go figure. Anyway, to show how stupid these surveys can sometimes be, SI asked the same MLB players this question last week: "Among current major leaguers, which player would you pick to build a team around?" A-Rod came in first with 14% and Jeter came in second with 12%.
It's a battle of the unknowns Saturday afternoon at The Stadium. Dan Giese (1-1, 1.23 ERA) makes his first career start and will go against another virgin -- rookie right-hander Daryl Thompson (0-0, 0.00 ERA). Giese is filling the void left by Chien-Ming Wang (for now) and has pitched well in his limited duties as a reliever. Giese pitched 2/3 of an inning against the Reds (during his stint last season with the San Francisco Giants) and gave up a homer to someone (my research proved futile) for a 13.50 ERA. This will be Thompson's first sniff of the big leagues. He was 3-0 with a 3.25 ERA in four starts at Triple-A (that's the
Louisville Bats if you're interested) and 3-2 with a 1.76 ERA for the Double-A
Chattanooga Lookouts this season.
Time to start a new streak.
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