The Yankee game was delayed 5.5 hours by rain today, and someone must have packed up the Yankees bats for their upcoming road trip to Miami. The pesky GNats shutout the boys from the Bronx, 3-0, as another no-name pitcher from nowhere, Craig Stammen, befuddled, bamboozled, hoodwinked and stymied the Yanks for 6.1 innings. For Stammen, who entered the game with a robust 5.86 ERA, it was his first major league victory.
The Yanks embarrassed themselves by dropping 2 of 3 to the worst team in baseball. Until yesterday, the Nationals hadn't won a road game since May 13th. Coming into the series, they had lost 25 of 30 games. In the 3 game series, they combined for 7 runs and 19 hits against the worse pitching team. Totally inexcusable and absolutely unacceptable. After being swept in Boston last week, this was the perfect series to gain those 3 games back. Unfortunately, the Yanks lackluster performance during this series negated all chances of that happening. If Elijah Dukes made some plays on 2 catchable balls in game 1, we might be discussing a Nationals sweep.
As for the game, Joba Chamberlain's performance was nothing to write home about. It was a quality start, 3 runs in 6 innings. He yielded 7 hits and 4 walks, with six of the hits to Ryan Zimmerman and Christian Guzman combined. He struck out 6. One of his walks came with the bases loaded for the second game in a row. He walked Wil Nieves, yes, the same Wil Nieves that started his Yankee career 0-26. That was after he walked Willie Harris to load the bases. Between these guys, they have 1 HR this year, and Nieves has 1 lifetime HR to his name in 400+ career at bats. God awful. But Joba could have walked 10 runs in, because the Yankee hitters weren't going to do anything tonight.
Unfortunately for the Yanks, the lineup has gone in a collective slump, with the exception of Cano. Jeter is nursing a sore ankle and Damon is struggling. Teixeira, who like Icarus, flew too close to the sun, looks like he is coming back down to earth. And who can blame Tex, because no one stays that hot forever. ARod looks lost or injured or both. He's using all upper body on his swings and doesn't appear to be getting the torque his strong lower body usually gives him. Is that hip bothering him? Posada's in a small funk and Matsui is looking closer to 55 then his reported age of 35. Melky has also been slumping. Of course Cano is hitting - there's no men on for him! Before Swisher's 2 hits tonight, he was in an 0-16 slump.
The Yanks had a scare in the 8th inning. Brett Gardner made a great catch crashing up against the CF fence, but nearly knocked himself out as he hit the plexiglass. Initial tests revealed no concussions and he is expected to travel with the team tonight to Florida. The Yanks need to be careful - they don't want a Ryan Church issue like the Mets had last year when they brought him back too early.
As usual for the Yanks, now that they're not hitting, their pitching is coming around. The bullpen has been outstanding lately. Aceves, Coke, Hughes and Robertson have all been exceptional this month and now they have Brian Bruney back. If this team can having everything clicking at once, I don't think anyone in baseball could beat them. Hopefully, the bats will come around again - soon. Especially with a 9-game road trip in the National League parks - they'll be unable to use a DH.
Other notes: The Sawx lost to the Marlins in a rain-shortened game. I thought Boston would keep Florida there till the wee hours of the morning to give them an opportunity to rally. Thank you Mother Nature. Luckily, the Rays loss as well. Look out, Toronto! Despite losing Roy Halladay to the DL, they just swept Philadelphia and sit one game back of the Yanks. The Bombers hold a tenuous 1 game lead over the Jays and Angels for the wild card, but there's plenty of season left. KRod blew a save tonight against Baltimore with Joba's fist pumping buddy, Aubrey Huff getting the walkoff hit. Yanks are 8-8 this month.
Yankees Record: 37-29
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