The headline seems to be the Yankees' new formula. Whether the breaking news from earlier tonight,
Phil Hughes going on the DL, will help or hurt that equation remains to be seen. For now, the Yanks just seem lifeless.
Joe Girardi made a good move today, starting Alberto Gonzalez at third over Morgan Ensberg. Personally, I'd like to see Shelley Duncan getting all of the reps at first for the time being as well. Giambi is a black hole on offense and defense, and the Yanks have way too many lefties in their lineup, and no real power threat from the right side. Put Shelley out there for a week, see how he does against righties. It'll balance the lineup out a little and he can't possibly do worse than Giambi is.
Pettitte didn't have it tonight, but it didn't matter much. Two runs aren't going to win you games. The Yanks had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the first. Giambi hit a sac fly and Melky singled to score the second run. That was it for the offense, completely blanked for the final 8 innings.
With A-Rod and Posada out of the lineup, the Yanks are really going to have to manufacture runs, something Joe Girardi seems loathe to do. One big problem, though, the Yanks are sorely lacking in the speed department. The only legit stolen base threats they have in the lineup are Damon and Abreu.
The highlight of the game came during the Yankees first at bat of the night. Johnny Damon turned a perfectly fine bat into kindling on a foul ball down the right field line.
Ian Kennedy looks to right the ship tomorrow against Nate Robertson.
Player of The Game: The Melk Man (A two-out, RBI single? Few and far between so far this year for any Yankee)
Team Record: 14-15
Damon's Broken Bats: 1 tonight, 14 on the season.
is this team really as dead as they look?? or are the yankees fooling with us like the last several years when they turn it on at the end. it seems like the same senerio has beed playing out for the past 3 seasons.. yanks look dead , everyone writes them off (including peter gammons and his yellow teeth) and says its the end of a dynasty and some how we pull it all together and make the playoffs. so far im not YET falling for the fact that were dead and will miss the playoffs for the frst time since 94 but it sure as hell is frustrating to watch these guys not hit day after day a rod or not i cant remember the last time the yanks were down 5-2 in the 5th and i felt there was no chance of them coming back
I still think they're just treading water, BUT, last year when they started slow they had Torre.
I was never Torre's #1 fan, but one thing he did exceptionally well was weather the storm. He shielded his players from scrutiny within the organization and he had the confidence in them to wait out bad periods of play.
I'll say this, I'd feel more confident in this situation if he was still here.