The Yanks came out swinging in the 1st inning, nearly matching their hit total from last night. 4 hits gave them a nice 3-0 cushion. It didn't last long. Mitre had absolutely nothing and looked like complete garbage on the mound. He pitched 3 pathetic innings and gave up 5 runs. Amazingly enough, Mitre did not receive credit for the loss. Eric Hinske hit a 2-run shot in the top of the 4th to tie the score at 5-all. It was his 5th HR in 20 ABs for the Yanks. I'd like to see more of him and less of Nick Swisher.
Through 4 innings, the Yanks had 9 hits and 5 runs off of White Sox emergency starter DJ Carrasco. They only had 3 hits the rest of the game against the bullpen. Ol' friend, Octavio Dotel, shut them down for 2 scoreless frames, allowing 1 hit. For the game, the Yanks were 2-10 with RISP, but 0 for their last 7. Jorge Posada was useless, stranding 6 runners and hitting into a DP.
David Robertson took the loss, allowing the go-ahead run to score in his 2 innings of work. The Yanks were still in the game till the 7th. Alfredo Aceves, who's been nursing a sore shoulder, since his arsonist act against the A's last Saturday, did it again tonight. He got lit up for 4 runs after it looked like he might escape a 2-on, no out jam. He retired the next 2 batters and then allowed 2 hits and a walk to open the floodgates. Aceves must be hurt, because right now, he's hurting the hell out of the Yankees. I guess Cashman didn't want to trade for another reliever, either.
The Sawx pulled out another win out of their ass against Baltimore. Interesting that David Ortiz hit another HR today - he's kind of had a resurgence after 2.5 terrible months...is this guy being tested? With Boston's win and the Yanks loss, the division lead dwindles to 1.5 games. Wouldn't you know, the Sawx end their season with a 4-game set against Cleveland, who traded their one ace, Lee to Philly. Meanwhile, the Yanks have finished their season series against the Indians. Amazing, utterly amazing how Boston continues to duck and weave teams' ace pitchers. When's the last time the Yanks faced Toronto without going up against Roy Halladay? I can't remember, but Boston's ducked him twice this year.
Initially, after watching the Yanks take 9 out of 10 on the homestand and 2 of 3 from Tampa, I thought they could stand pat at the trading deadline. But, with the recent news that Chien-Ming Wang is done for the season and Joba Chamberlain is on some secret innings limit, my gut feeling is the Yanks need another starter. It didn't have to be an ace like Halladay or Lee, but Washburn or Bannister would have been a nice upgrade over Mitre, who has shown nothing in 3 starts since being called up from Scranton. Rumors reported by Joel Sherman of the NY Post said the Mariners were looking for an Austin Jackson-like prospect. I'm not sure why the Yanks are high on A-Jax. My gut feeling is he will be like Melky Cabrera, but makes less contact. No thanks.
Yankees Record: 62-41
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