Game 65 - Cano Continues Killing Club in the Clutch

How's that for alliteration? The Yanks lost to the lowly Washington Nationals 3-2, and they were the last team in the majors to lose giving up 3 runs or less in a game. The Nats starting pitcher, John Lannan, New York born and bred, mowed down the Yanks tonight, repeatedly throwing first pitch strikes and keeping the Yanks off balance. Through the first 8 innings, he only allowed 2 hits, including a solo HR to Robinson Cano.

Meanwhile, in a possible do or die start for Chien-Ming Wang, he allowed 3 runs in 5 innings of work. There was nothing exceptional about his start, but he was let down in the 5th inning by some shoddy defense and an ump's bad call. With the weak-hitting Willie Harris on 1st, he stole 2nd base when Ramiro Pena dropped Posada's throw. It appeared the throw would have nabbed Harris. With one out, Christian Guzman hit a grounder to ARod. Guzman was called safe at first - replays clearly showed ARod nipped Guzman by a half step. Instead of 3 outs, inning over, Nick Johnson tripled in both runners to give the Nats a 3-0 lead. Adam Dunn had homered an inning earlier.

Cano cut into the lead with his HR in the bottom of the frame, but Lannan continued to deal till the 9th inning. Johnny Damon led off the final inning with his 14th dinger, bringing the Yanks within 1. Mark Teixeira laced a one-out single to left and Brett Gardner went in the game to pinch run. With ARod at the plate, Gardner stole both 2nd and 3rd, setting the table for the tying run with 1 out. ARod worked a walk, bringing Cano up with runners on the corners. I've been killing Cano all season for his lack of ability to hit in the clutch. He is probably the last batter on the Yanks I would want up in any situation with the game on the line.

After tonight, my opinion about Cano hasn't changed. He promptly fell behind in the count, 0-2. During the at bat, he fouled off 6 pitches, mostly on a 2-2 count. I thought at least 2 of those foul balls were certainly pitches he could have drove to left field. On the 8th pitch, Cano grounded sharply to SS into a game ending 6-4-3 double play. The Cano apologists will say the guy went 4-4 with the go ahead RBI yesterday and he hit a HR earlier in today's game. The problem with Cano though, is his propensity to fail repeatedly in clutch situations. His stats with RISP are abysmal for a ballplayer of his talent. Maybe he should get pointers from his pal, Melky, who's had a penchant for the dramatic this season.

As for losing to the Nats, now the proud owners of 17 wins this season, these are the games the Yanks can't afford to give away. John Lannan was dealing tonight, but in the end, the Yanks still had a chance to tie this game. With the Nats bullpen, the worse in baseball, I like the Yanks chances had they went into extra innings. They play in the AL East, the roughest division in baseball, and every game counts. Boston won again tonight. You would never find that team taking a night off. Their lead is up to 3 games. The Rays lost tonight, but have been coming on like gangbusters winning 6 in a row before today. Not to mention Toronto, who is still hanging around and only 2 games back. The Yanks need to find a way to win against teams they're suppose to beat. This is the second type of loss in less than a week, too. They were shut down by Fernando Nieve last Saturday, a guy who hadn't won a game since 2006. Games like this could come back to haunt them.

Yankees Record: 37-28

Blown Games: 6