Game 30 - Yanks Blown Out in Baltimore

After CC Sabathia provided the Yankee bullpen which a much needed rest last night, Phil Hughes flushed it all away when he got knocked out of the game in the 2nd inning.  Baltimore would score 8 runs off of him in the 2nd en route to a 12-5 shellacking.  Edwar Ramirez, Jonathan Albaladejo and recently called up Brett Tomko pitched the final 6 1/3 innings, but the deficit was too much for the Yankee offense to overcome.  Tomko made his Yankee debut after having a 0.64 E.R.A. at Scranton-Wilkes Barre.  But, like his new teammates on the staff have done all season , pitched an ineffective inning, giving up 1 run on Adam Jones HR and 2 other hits.  Great, another guy who can't get anyone out.

Phil Hughes remains an enigma.  He's been projected as the Yankee future ace since he was drafted in the first round four years ago.  To his credit, he's still only 22.  However, I fear this guy may never reach his potential in the big leagues.  He has rapidly ascended through the Yankee farm system and really has nothing else to prove down in the minors.  He could be an AAAA player - a term applied to players considered too good for the minors, but not able to make any impact in the majors.

The Yankee offense didn't provide much spark either tonight, though they did score 5 runs with only six hits.  The red hot Johnny Damon and the slumping Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher hit HRs in the losing effort, but they didn't stand much of chance, falling behind 11-1 at one point.  Arod, in his second game back, went 0-3 with a walk.  

Yanks are scheduled to send Joba Chamberlain to the hill tomorrow.  As if enough injuries haven't already besieged this team, Joba popped a blood vessel in his right thumb today.  The Yankees believe he should still be able to make his start and hopefully, provide some length in the game.  However, Baltimore is another one of those teams that are boring to watch because they take pitch after pitch, making games a mandatory 3.5 - 4 hours long.  

Other Notes:  Nationals fans have something to root for after all - Ryan Zimmerman has a 27 game hit streak going.  Eric Stults pitched a shutout for the Dodgers today against the Giants.  He's 4-1.  Who is this guy?  Tampa and Evan Longoria still own the Sox.  Of Longoria's 44 RBIs this season, 21 are against Boston!  Hey Francona, time to pitch around this guy!  You'd think he would have learned something from the Yankees when they stubbornly continued to pitch to Manny Ramirez only to watch him clobber them for over 50 HRs lifetime.  

Yankees Record:  14-16