Heartland Pinstripes

That’s about it for this so-called effort tonight, a big, stinking pile of refuse masquerading as a professional game as the Yankees dropped a thoroughly uninspired 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay tonight. Pettite wasn’t sharp, giving up five runs earned in four innings, surrendering four in the fourth to end his evening. The offense was torpid, shut down by Matt Garza, grounding into three double plays, and getting more from the bottom of the lineup than the top. Gonzo got a couple hits, Cano got one to continue his hit streak, Molina “legged” out a double late, and Melky got a hit, making the 6-9 hitters 5-13. Conversely, the 1-5 hitters were a combined 1-17, a sure-fire way to lose.

Although I watched all the game that I could around shuttling GLG to and from soccer as well as bathing and chattering with my son, I quite frankly won’t spend any more time writing the wrap on this. What can I say that hasn’t been said in the last season plus a dozen times over? How many more adjectives must I trot out to describe slothful play from a lineup that, even without A-Rod (through this week as he continues to rehab his quad) and Posada (the guts of the team, as I called him last year), still has a lot of talent? How often can I–and others, for it’s far beyond only my observations–exhort the team to play with some fire instead of wilting?

I’ll end on this note: the most putrid sight I saw all night was the FAUX Sports camera panning over the Yankees dugout when it was 6-0 Rays in the sixth, and seeing a bunch of guys sitting around silently. What an embarrassment–no cheering others on, almost no one hanging on the rail to yell encouragement or pay up-close attention to the game, no one talking to each other on the bench. More than the loss itself, that bothers me most of all. This team looked resigned to the loss, and that’s an abject disgrace.

Wang (6-1, 3.12 ERA) faces Edwin Jackson (2-3, 4.04 ERA) tomorrow night. Redeem Yourselves! Thankfully we won’t have to hide the children Thursday night for another Igawa start, for Ian Kennedy is being recalled and will face Tampa Bay in the series finale as Igawa is hidden away in the bullpen closet. I’m not sure that Kennedy has everything sorted out yet, but he has to be better than Igawa. Just get out there Ian, challenge batters, and throw strikes. How sad it is that the highlight of the night is not having Igawa start later this week. An improvement over that would be trading him away as soon as possible, perhaps for a few boxes of balls and some line chalk. Miraculously, the Yankees are only four games behind first-place Boston despite yet again falling under the .500 mark.

The rainout of the series finale in Detroit yesterday provided a couple important benefits for the Yankees, primarily for the pitching staff. For the starters, the postponement allowed Girardi to shuffle the rotation to keep Pettite, Wang, and Mussina together.  I personally like that sequence–the lefty Pettite throwing fairly hard but with the tough slider; Wang mixing the heavy sinker with improved slider and breaking pitches; and Mussina keeping this slow and slower–three very different looks for opponents on consecutive days.

It also gives him the flexibility to skip Igawa’s next start Thursday against Tampa in favor Rasner, pitching either Igawa Friday against the Mets (GULP!), to replace him with Kennedy or another call-up from the minors, or keep him Thursday against the Rays. If the Yankees are for some reason committed to giving Igawa a second start (which I’d question), I’m slightly partial to it being Thursday and not Friday against the Mets in what is always a very intense series and atmosphere. He just doesn’t seem to handle pressure, and there would be pressure by the boat load Friday. Yet the Rays are no picnic, as was discussed on Yankee Fan Club Radio last night. Pitching Igawa Thursday would as of now mean he’d face tough lefty Scott Kazmir. The Rays might or might not crack .500 this year for the first time in franchise history, but they’re no pushover and, as we discussed on the show last night the Rays’ staff is stronger than in years past. While I’d hate to see Igawa (if he pitches at all) against the Mets, it’s unlikely he’d fare much better facing Kazmir and the Rays. I just don’t have confidence in the guy regardless of whom he faces. If he goes, the offense better score a lot of runs.

Back to what the Yanks gained from the rainout–a day of rest for the bullpen, which has been very good but overworked even with most of the recent Yankees starts being pretty good. Though the Yanks’ relievers have logged the second-most innings in the AL (just behind Texas) their bullpen ERA is third in the AL at 3.34, third in batting average allowed (BAA) at .228, and second in WHIP at 1.20. That’s pretty impressive given not just the overwork (mainly from lack of long starts from Kennedy and Hughes) but also the injuries to Bruney and Albaladejo, and Traber’s inefficiency leading to the lack of a lefty arm. The bullpen is a real strength for the team this year, and will be even more so when the offense comes around to consistently produce.  Nuke has been Cool Hand Nuke, allowing only 2 earned runs (on two solo homers in different games), eight hits, and three walks while fanning 12 in his last 11 2/3, helping smooth over the absence of Bruney quite well in the last month.  Importantly, Ohlendorf has been very good lately, throwing 6 1/3 innings of scoreless, three-hit ball with seven strikeouts in his last three appearances.  While still the de facto long reliever given the current composition of the pen, I’d be interested to see Ohlendorf get some short-stint work now and then provided the starters carry the ball through at least six.  He’s bounced back well from his earlier struggles.

The Rays have jumped out to a good start this year largely on the strength of their pitching staff for a change. While the offense ranks sixth in runs scored and eighth in both batting average and OBP, the staff is fifth in ERA and BAA, and fourth in WHIP. As the guys on YFCR said last night, their bullpen is much improved, ranking second in ERA and BAA, and third in WHIP. Troy Percival has rebounded well from forearm troubles that forced him to retire in 2006, saving 9 out of 10 chances. It remains to be seen how the team will fare in the next 3/4 of the season but, based on the first 1/4, the team is playing well and with confidence, but with stronger pitching than they’ve had before. The Yankees’ taking three of four is doable but a real challenge.