It was a frustrating Monday night if you were a Yankee fan.
Andy Pettitte blew three separate leads, Michael Cuddyer continued his offensive barrage with three more hits and Kyle Farnsworth couldn't handle the eighth inning as the
Twins cut down the Yanks 6-5 for a split of the four-game set. The Bombers rattled off 15 hits, but failed to make the most of their opportunities. Every batter stranded at least one runner on the night and the Yanks left 25 runners on base as a team. The Yankees sent the minimum to the dish only once, and that was because Derek Jeter was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double in the eighth.
This loss was a total team effort.
The Good:Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod got the Yanks off and running with a two-run blast in the first, his eighth ding-dong of the year. Rodriguez was also instrumental in giving the Yanks a short-lived 5-4 lead in the seventh. He led off the inning with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scampered home on Jason Giambi's weak grounder to first. Justin Morneau came up throwing, but it wasn't enough to get Rodriguez at the dish. It was a bang-bang play and it looked like the ball beat A-Rod to the plate, but home plate umpire Gary Darling made a gutsy (and correct) safe call. Unfortunately, it was the final run the Yanks would tally and that wasn't good enough on this night. Rodriguez finished 3 for 4 with a walk, 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs.
The Bad:Andy Pettitte. With one pitch, a gritty performance turned into a subpar outing. It's unfortunate because Pettitte looked like he had his good stuff. His cutter was sharp and his slider and curve had bite, but that didn't translate to zeros on the scoreboard. Pettitte was a bit unlucky at times, but also created some of his own misfortune. The big lefty threw wildly trying to nab Carlos Gomez at first in the third inning. Gomez raced to third and then tied the score at 2-2 on Alexi Casilla's bunt single. But Pettitte had a chance to qualify for the win if he just recorded one more out in the seventh. It didn't happen. I was a tad surprised Joe Girardi allowed Pettitte to come out for the seventh since he gave up two runs in the sixth. In fairness, Pettitte's pitch count was low and his stuff was solid so I can't kill Joe on it. But Pettitte didn't reward his manager's faith in him as he gave up a two-out, game-tying solo shot to Joe Mauer. To add insult to injury, it was Mauer's first jack of the year. So close and yet so far. Pettitte picked up a no-decision with this: 7 IP, 10 H, 5 R (4 earned), 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 1 error.
Kyle Farnsworth. The new bullpen concoction continued to blow up in New York's face. Farnsworth entered the game in the eighth with the score knotted at 5-5 and quickly gave up a leadoff double to Cuddyer. The newest Yankee killer then came around to score the go-ahead (and eventual winning) run on a one-out double by Delmon Young. The Twins could have blown the game wide open during Kyle's meltdown, but Chad Moeller gunned out Young trying to steal third. Good thing, since Farnsworth gave up a walk and a single before retiring the side. Maybe it's time to bring this plan back to formula. Farnsworth dropped to 0-2 with this mess: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K.
The Ugly:Hot potato. Jason Giambi has been swinging a hot stick lately, but his fielding continues to baffle. To be more accurate, it's the Giambino's throwing arm that continues to perplex. Giambi fielded Nick Punto's sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning like it was on fire and lofted a hand grenade to Robinson Cano covering at first. Cano recorded the out, but had his foot stepped on by Punto at first. Cano was OK and stayed in the game, but a better throw wouldn't have put Robbie in that position. And Jay Jay started his career as a third baseman. Unbelievable.
The Yanks head back to the Bronx and will welcome in the Toronto Blue Jays for a three-game set starting on Tuesday night. In case you haven't heard, Joba Chamberlain (1-2, 2.28 ERA) will make his first big league start in front of the home folks. The YES Network was promoting the snot out of this game during Monday night's telecast and everyone is eager to see if Joba has what it takes to be a starter. Expectations are high, but I'm sure the Yanks would be thrilled if Chamberlain can give them five quality innings. Roy "Doc" Halladay (6-5, 2.93 ERA) will go for the Jays. The Yanks handed Halladay his first loss of the season on April 1 with a hard fought 3-2 victory at The Stadium. Halladay is a strike-throwing, inning-eating machine and is coming off a terrific May (4-1, 2.52 ERA). He's also 10-5 in 27 games against the Bombers with a 3.03 ERA.
Time to see if the Joba experiment works.
Leave a comment
