What started out as a pitchers' duel turned into a disaster.
Dan Giese looked good until his arrant throw led to four runs, his counterpart Daryl Thompson put up zeros through five in his Major League debut and his bullpen mates contributed with four innings of shutdown relief as the
Reds blanked the Yanks 6-0 in the Bronx. Is this 2008 or
1976?
Giese was impressive in his first big-league start and seemed poised to breeze through the seventh without giving up a run when he fielded a comebacker with a runner on first. But his throw to second was wide and pulled Robinson Cano off the bag. Instead of two outs and nobody on, the Reds had runners on first and second and no outs. Alex Rodriguez had a chance to pick up Giese on the next batter, but he missed the tag on a potential double play grounder and only recorded one out. A-Rod may have had a better chance to pull off the twin-killing if he went to second instead of trying to nab Ken Griffey Jr. running toward third. Hindsight is always 20/20, I guess. Anyway, Giese eventually gave up a two out, two-run single to Edwin Encarnacion and picked up the tough-luck loss. Still, it was a solid outing and Giese will get another chance to impress.
The loss was the second straight for the Bombers and they have been held to just two runs in the first two games of this three-game set.
The Good:Derek Jeter. The Yanks only picked up seven hits on the afternoon and Jeter had two of them. DJ's single in the third extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Jeter is still hitting well below his career average of .316, but he's due to heat up. The Captain is a career .336 hitter in July and has a lifetime average of .322 in the second half. Jeter finished 2 for 5.
The Bad:Jose Veras. The Yanks were down 2-0 when Veras entered the game in the seventh, but the righty reliever couldn't keep the Reds in check. Corey Patterson, not really known for his stick, blasted a two-run bomb off Veras to give Cincinnati a 4-0 lead. You could almost feel the air being taken out of the Yankee balloon after that hit. Veras has been great in June (2-0, 1.93 ERA coming in), but he didn't get the job done Saturday afternoon. Veras' line: .1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HR.
Billy Traber/Ross Ohlendorf. The Yankee offense provided little fight after falling behind 4-0, but the Traber-Ohlendorf tandem didn't help on their end. Traber started things off by allowing two one-out singles and Ohlendorf finished it off by allowing those runners to score. On paper, Traber's herky-jerky motion should be hard for lefties to pick up, but it just hasn't translated on the field. Ohlendorf throws hard, but can't seem to throw strikes and when he does, they are usually straight as an arrow. Frustrating. Traber's day: .1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K. Ohlendorf's deceiving vitals: .2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.
The Ugly:Missed opportunities. The Yanks had a chance to blow this game open early on, but couldn't capitalize on their scoring chances. The Bombers loaded the bases in the second inning thanks to a leadoff double by A-Rod, an infield hit by Hideki Matsui and a Jason Giambi walk. Thompson was on the verge of mental and physical breakdown, especially after failing to cover first on Matsui's grounder to first baseman Joey Votto. But the rookie right-hander struck out Jorge Posada, popped up Cano on the first pitch and struck out Melky Cabrera to escape unscathed. The Yanks mounted another threat in the third when Johnny Damon led off with a walk and Jeter followed with a single. But Thompson got Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez and Godzilla to fly out to every corner of the outfield for another scoreless inning. Sometimes you have to give credit to the pitcher (they're getting paid, too), but the Yanks should be embarrassed that a kid making his first-ever start (in Yankee Stadium no less) turned them away like that. Unacceptable!
Andy Pettitte (7-5, 4.29 ERA) will try and avert the sweep and will do battle against rookie Johnny Cueto (5-7, 5.19 ERA). Cueto was impressive in his first big-league start, striking out 10 Arizona Diamondbacks and earning a win in a 3-2 victory. But he's dropped two in a row, has walked 11 batters in his past 12 innings and has given up 18 gofer balls so far this season. Pettitte hasn't lost since May 17 against the Mets and owns a 0.60 ERA with 15 strikeouts in his past two starts. He's 3-3 in nine career starts against the Reds with a 4.05 ERA.
Remember guys, this isn't the Big Red Machine of '76 you're facing.
Oh, and for all you basketball junkies out there,
Arin It Out is holding a Mock NBA Draft Contest. The winner gets $50. If you possess the power of second-sight (or think you do), give it a whirl.
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