Game 148 - Rivera Blows Game

AJ Burnett finally showed up and pitched 7 solid innings, holding Seattle to 1 run as he turned a 2-1 lead over to the bullpen. He even picked off the napping Ichiro Suzuki twice off of first base. Phil Hughes pitched a scoreless 8th inning, and as it's drafted up, turned the ball over to the great Mariano Rivera to finish up the game. It didn't happen.

Mo looked unhittable for 2 batters, striking them out both, but then lost the game on 2 pitches. He allowed a double to the feeble, decrepit Mike Sweeney, who hasn't played a 100 games in a season since 2005. And then, to my horror, he allowed the girl softball leadoff hitter, Suzuki, to turn on an inside cutter and drill it into the RF seats for the game-winning HR, giving Seattle an improbable 3-2 victory. Why can't this girly slap-hitter do this more often? I might almost respect him if he did. Nah, probably not.

Suzuki's still the only major leaguer I've ever seen lay on the ground for 5 minutes after being hit in the back with a pitch from my hero, Hideo Nomo. I saw Tino Martinez take a 98-mph heater from Armando Benitez in 1998 that touched off an ugly brawl against Baltimore, and he didn't crumple to the ground like nancy-boy Suzuki did.

It was Mo's first blown save since his Boston debacle in April. He recorded a career high 36 straight saves.

Yankees Record: 94-54

Blown Games: 8

Game 125 - Joba Brutal After Week Layoff

The Yanks came out smoking for 4 runs in the bottom of the first, but the Rangers had the last laugh, crushing Joba and holding on to beat the Yanks 10-9. Joba Chamberlain allowed 7 runs in 4 innings, all after he retired the first 2 batters of the inning. He allowed 2 runs in the 2nd and 5 in the 4th, as the bottom of the Rangers batting order chewed him up. In both rallies, he allowed Pudge Rodriguez, Chris Davis and Elvis Andrus to reach base both times against him.

Pudge was absolutely useless in his short stint with the Yankees and his best days are long behind, but Joba found a way to allow a single and walk a guy who's only walked more than 40 times in a season twice in his whole career. Davis has been so bad, he was sent back down to the minors after he was on pace to shatter the strikeout record, but he touched Joba for 2 singles. Andrus came into the game with 23 RBIs all season, but he knocked in 3 runs. Pitiful performance as Joba continues to go full count to way too many hitters.

The mysterious 2-out run scoring rallies continue to haunt the Yankee pitching staff and it certainly cost them tonight. 9 out of Texas' 10 runs came after 2 outs were retired. Chad Gaudin relieved Joba and wasn't much better. He allowed 2 HRs and 3 runs. He did break up the monotony of 2-out runs when he allowed a 1-out, solo shot to Nelson Cruz. He almost allowed more runs with 2 outs when he escaped a 2-out bases loaded jam. All runners reached after he got 2 quick outs. This epidemic began in the White Sox series in Chicago and has gotten worse. According to a post by River Ave Blues, the Yanks have allowed over 42% of their runs to come with 2 out. The league average is near 36%. It appears the pitching staff is not buckling down or focusing on ending innings without further trouble. Trends like this could hurt the Yanks against playoff-caliber teams, especially a team like the Angels who have players that make contact and force things to happen.

The Yanks made one last charge in the 9th, plating 4 runs before Texas recorded an out. But with runners on 1st and 2nd, Joe Girardi inexplicably had Nick Swisher bunt. He fouled out to 3rd. Why in the hell would Girardi have Swisher bunt against a reliever who was clearly struggling and hadn't recorded an out? Swisher was up in the count 1-0 and he could work out a walk, take him deep or perhaps hit a fly out to move the runner to 3rd. But a bunt? Terrible managing, absolutely terrible. The next batter, Melky Cabrera, lined into a double play to SS to end the game and dreams of another miraculous comeback.

Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano both went deep in the losing effort. Cano's HR was his career high 20th, as he became the 6th Yankee this season to hit 20 or more. That tied a team record set in 1961 and 2004. Posada and Derek Jeter have outside shots to be the 7th player for 20 or more HRs. Speaking of The Captain, he continued his hot streak, going 2-3 and ended his Cano-like walkless streak at 114 plate appearances. In fact, he walked twice.

The Bosox defeated the Chisox and now trail the Bombers by 6 in the division. They were able to complete a trade with the Mets earlier in the day for Billy Wagner. This season is far from over.

Yankees Record: 78-47

Blown Game: 7

Game 17 - Pitcher's Duel at Fenway

The Yankees suffered another humiliating defeat at the hands of the hated Red Sox. In a matchup that looked to be an old fashioned pitcher's duel on paper, turned into a slow pitch softball game. The Yanks quickly jumped all over Josh Beckett, building a 6-0 lead by the 4th inning. AJ Burnett was cruising, pitching one-hit ball for the first three innings. In the bottom of the 4th, the wheels fell off yet another bus for the Yanks. AJ turned into Absolute Joke, and turned a 6-0 lead into a slim 6-5 margin after 4 innings when he allowed a run scoring single and a grand slam to the highly suspect and suddenly looking buff again, Jason Varitek.

By the end of the 5th, the Yanks lead evaporated as Absolute Joke allowed banjo hitting Jacob Ellsbury to tie the score with a HR and newly anointed Yankee killer, Jason Bay, hit a 2-run double giving the Sox an 8-6 lead. Gone are the days of Manny and a much younger, perhaps enhanced Big Sloppy, but these Red Sox can still hit. How come no one is talking about what a joke hitting in Fenway Park is? I've been telling my buddy Craig even I could have hit about .260 in this ballpark.

The Yanks' hitters did their best by crawling back in this game. They tied the score at 8 on a Damon 2-run shot, only to have the Beantowners bounce back and go up 9-8. The Yanks then reclaimed the lead 10-9 when the midget Pedroia, a fraudulent Gold Glove winner last year, let a ball go through his wickets, leading to the go ahead runs. Never fear, Red Sox fans, the Yankees God-awful bullpen just kept coughing it up, serving up a 3-run blast to the gimp Mike Lowell. The Yanks staged one last gasp, as Cano hit his second HR of the day, bringing the Yanks within 12-11.

The Yankees bullpen however, would do everything they could to make sure the Sox wouldn't blow this game, allowing 4 more runs in the 8th, the fifth straight inning Boston scored.

Yankee Bomber Doghouse: Everyone who impersonated an MLB pitcher on the Yankee staff today. They should all forfeit a day's salary to charity. Absolute Joke was handed a huge 6-0 lead and flushed it down the toilet. 9 Red Sox runs came with 2 out. Unacceptable. For the Yankee hitters, there's not much to complain about, but Jeter failed getting a run in with less than 2 outs, striking out with men on second and third in the 7th. And Melky is up to his old tricks that he pulled last year, where he was horrendous and an utter failure with runners on third with less than 2 out. Finding himself in this position yet again, he weakly grounded back to the pitcher in the 8th, getting Posada caught in a rundown. If I were GM, he would be banished to AAA.

The Yanks have been besieged by injuries as Bruney, Wang and Ransom officially went on the DL today, but that's the least of their worries. I don't think GM Brian Cashman envisioned his bullpen being this horrific. I personally thought the Yanks should have signed reliever Juan Cruz from the D-backs this offseason. He signed with KC for cheap after striking out 71 batters in 51+ innings with a 2.61 E.R.A. Certainly he would have been a huge upgrade over Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras. Plus, has anyone seen Damaso Marte this year? Why pay so much money on a team and not upgrade the latter part of the game with good relief?

Red Sox are probably feeling giddy these last 2 days. I have not been impressed with either Lester or Beckett and their bullpen is suspect, despite the reports I heard they're bullpen was much improved. They gave up 11 runs today to a Yankee lineup that has been struggling. I don't think they'll be putting up 16 runs everyday to bail out their overhyped pitching staff (although no more overhyped than the Yanks much abused staff). That being said, I feel a sweep coming.

Yanks Record: 9-8

Does today's loss count as a Blown Win?

Game 16 - Brutal Loss

Tonight was a brutal loss to swallow for Yankee fans. Up 4-2 in the bottom of the 9th with 2 out, Mariano Rivera served up a game tying gopher ball to Jason Bay. And then to top off the evening, Kevin "Please Don't Throw at my Big Head" Youkilis won the game in the 11th with a moon shot off of Damaso Marte.

Joba Chamberlain started the game for the Yanks and apparently was visited by the ghost of Chien-Ming Wang past, using 4 double plays in 5 1/3 innings to constantly duck out of trouble and avoiding the big innings by the Bosox. He walked 4 and struck out 2, both Ks coming against the blow hard, hypocrite Big Sloppy Ortiz, who called out Joba for throwing near the Nugget Youkilis' head a couple of times. When Joba left in the 6th with one out, I must admit, I had no confidence the Yankees bullpen would be able to reach Rivera with a lead. Never in my imagination did I imagine Rivera would once again collapse against the hated Red Sox after a brilliant effort by the Yankees pen to bridge the gap to him.

Although the Red Sox had many chances early in the game to break this game open, the Yankees had just as many, if not more, and were a putrid 4-19 with runners in scoring position, blowing one opportunity after another. It seemed like they had 2 runners on base every inning, but couldn't come up with the big hit to put the game out of reach. Hopefully, this game will not carry over the rest of the weekend, however, they must face old nemesis Josh Beckett in Saturday's afternoon match.

Yankee Bomber Doghouse: Rivera. C'mon, you can't be serving up a game tying HR with 2 out in the 9th. Haven't you blown enough saves against the Sox? And of all teams, this just kills Yankee fans. Nick Swisher makes the list for failing to get in a run with the bases loaded and no outs. Different season, different players, and yet the same old results that haunted and killed this team last year - failing to get that runner in from third with less than 2 outs. Others who also failed: Cano, who hit into a miserable double play with the bases loaded in the 9th with 2-out, failing to bring in any insurance run for the Yanks. And Jeter, Teixeira and Cabrera all failed in extra innings with a runner in scoring position.

Where is Brian Bruney? Apparently, he has a cranky elbow and was sent back to NY to have it checked out. They could have used him instead of the ineffective Marte. The Yanks put the ghost of Chien-Ming Wang present on the DL with "weakness in the abductor muscles of both hips". I don't know what this is, but bravo to the Yanks for coming up with this mysterious ailment. They just can't send this guy out again till he's right. The reign of the Interstate King may have come to an end tonight. Cody Ransom was pulled from the game in the 8th for a pulled quadricep and placed on the DL after the game. The Yanks called up Dave Robertson from AAA and probably will call up Angel Berroa to replace Ransom till Arod returns. The only good thing that came out of tonight's game was watching Big Sloppy get the Golden Sombrero with 4 Ks. Time for someone to retire maybe? Or has someone's secret source dried up? Interesting.....who are those 103 other names that tested positive back in 2003? Hmmm.

Yankees Record: 9-7

Blown Wins: 2

Game 6 - Girardi Blows Game

The Yanks flushed a nice comeback today, falling to the Royals 6-4.  Manager Joe Girardi overmanaged himself, trying to play mix and match with his relievers in the 8th inning.  His relievers coughed up the 4-3 lead, and a nice performance by Joba Chamberlain, by giving up 3 runs - all after 2 outs.  

I actually blame Tony LaRussa for this loss.  He's the one that started the reliever parade in the late 1980s-early 1990s and has every manager mimicking this overblown stategy ever since. 

It's also led to the game averaging over 3 hours in length.  Girardi brought in lefty Damaso Marte to start the 8th inning and he promptly retired the first 2 batters he faced.  Marte relieved Brian Bruney, who had pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning.  Bruney has been tabbed the 8th inning bridge to Mariano Rivera, but I thought Girardi made a good move, keeping Marte for the 8th to face the Royals lefty batters.  However, that was his last good decision of the day.  

Girardi started getting cute by overthinking and overplaying his hand.  Instead of staying with the hot hand, Marte, he brought in Jose Veras to face pinch hitter, Billy Butler.  Veras promptly walked Butler and Girardi made another trip to the mound. Out goes Veras and in comes Phil Coke.  The lefty Coke promptly got lit up for 3 straight hits and when the dust settled, the lead was gone and the Yanks were down 6-4.  The Yanks promptly went down quickly in the 9th, with Royals closer Joakim Soria striking out the side.  

I don't understand why managers won't stay with the hot hand when it comes to relievers. Marte cruised through the first 2 batters.  He was in the game, already warmed up, and throwing strikes.  Let him face the righty hitter - if he gives up a hit or walk, then you can start tinkering with the idea of bringing in another reliever.  Instead, Girardi opted for the merry-go-round of relievers and paid the price.  What Girardi should have thought about, and obviously didn't, was what would he have done if the Royals just tied the game and not gone ahead?  This game could have gone 12, 13 or 14 innings and his bullpen was near depletion!  If you want the win that badly, just bring in Mariano to get the last out in the 8th and pitch the 9th.  If Mo gives up the tying run, at least Girardi still would have had plenty of relievers in the pen. 

Unfortunately, this loss will bring out the people who think Joba should be in the pen.  I think Joba should get his chance as a starter, and has the potential to be an ace someday.  I think he's more valuable giving 150-175 innings a year, opposed to 60-75 innings.  

Other disturbing trends from the game and series:  I hope Teixeira's wrist injury is minor, because Matsui is killing this lineup.  This guy is starting to look like the 53 year-old that he is. He took strike 3 right down the pipe to lead off the ninth.  Nice job.  Also, I don't want to see Melky Cabrera anywhere near a game unless the Yanks are up by 10, down by 10, or as a defensive replacement in the 9th inning.  He went 0-3 today, hitting into 2 double plays.  For the season, he's now 0-4, with a K, the 2 DPs, and a pop up.  I'd rather see some other young kid getting a chance.  Melky is what he is - a below average player.  

Nick Swisher finally played the goat, allowing a weak grounder to go through his wickets at first, leading to 2 unearned runs against Joba.  What's really disturbing for this team though, were all the strikeouts this series.  The Yanks struck out 29 times!  That's nearly 10 a game, and equivalent to a whole game worth of strikeouts.  This team needs to put the ball in play and make things happen.  Without Arod and with an aging, decrepit Matsui being run out there everyday in the lineup, their offense needs to make things happen.  You can't put pressure on a defense without hitting it into play.

Wang will need to step up tomorrow against the socialist Rays.

Yanks Record:  3-3 

Games Blown To Date:  1

P.S.  Dear TED - Please see response under Game 5 comments.