Game 1 - Sabathia God-Awful

Ol' Crooked Cap was terrible today.  Absolutely terrible.  He couldn't throw his fastball for a strike.  The man didn't even have a strikeout in his 4+ innings.  Yankee announcer Ken Singleton thinks maybe Sabathia was having issues with his ribs.  He was using a heat pad between innings. I thought Girardi left him in 2 batters too long, too.  

The other new Yankee, Mark Teixeira, wasn't any better.  0-4 and left a big run at third in the 8th when the Yanks were still only a run down.  What was up with all the Baltimore fans booing him though?  Baltimore had no shot at signing him.  They made an initial offer, but was blown out of the water by Boston and Washington before the Yankees ever got involved in the bidding.  The B-mo fans must be delusional.  

New season, new pitcher, and the Yanks still make Brian "I bought steroids, but didn't use them" Roberts look like the greatest 2B ever.  And Adam Jones?  3-3 with 2 walks?  C'mon. And then there's the every man for every season, Cesar Izturis.  This guy's played for half the league, but today, the Yanks made Izturis and Roberts look like the greatest offensive middle infielders since Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker of the Tigers during the 1980s.  

Yankees hitting:  Jeter goes 3-5, but what I remember is him failing miserably in bringing in the runner from third with less than 2 outs in the 8th that would have tied the game at that point.  Terrible.  That's what killed this team constantly last year.  It was like a bad disease.  Posada and Matsui had nice bombs to give the Yanks a fighting chance.  Posada's HR tied him with the immortal Don Mattingly for 8th place on the all time Yankees list.  Mark this day down:  Cano walked - twice!  I might not be able to write that down again till mid-August.  Swisher had a nice pinch hit double in the 8th.  Girardi did a nice job moving Gardner earlier in the game when Jeter hit it through the hole while the SS was covering the bag.  Otherwise, Mr. Double Play would have started his quest to lead the league for a second straight year.

Yankees pitching:  I already discussed Sabathia's brilliant performance.  Historically, he hasn't pitched well in the playoffs, so pitching in New York might be a scary proposition for this guy.  Girardi should have never let reliever Phil Coke come out for the 8th inning.  He threw an inning and a third and looked good.  He had nothing left when he came back out in the 8th and gave up the 2 run homer to Izturis.  Bruney looked like a deer in headlights as well.  Why is a grown man who can throw 97 mph nibbling at the corners?  Challenge the hitters!   Marte - useless.  I thought the bullpen would do well this year.  I might need to seriously reassess.  Why should I reassess - the Yanks GM, Brian Cashman might need to.     

Final score 10-5, Baltimore.  

Yanks record:  0-1.  So far, a $200M bust.