Today's gut-punch moment came in the bottom of the third when Andy Pettitte, of all people, got frazzled in the middle of an Angels' rally and balked. It led to the go-ahead run and even though the Yanks would come back to tie the game the next inning, that was it.

To their credit, the Yankees did everything they could to change their luck. The tried to bunt, they tried to hit and run, they tried to steal. All with varying degrees of success. Some people are probably blaming A-Rod for this loss, but trying to steal third in the top of the eighth was absolutely the right play to make. He had the right read, he had a good jump. Only a little bad luck (perfect pitch to throw) and a bad call (he sure looked safe) made it seem like a bad play. As far as I'm concerned, that's a chance I'm willing to take in that situation. Of course, even if he had stolen the bag, they probably still wouldn't have scored, but it would've made it a little more interesting.

Pettitte had that one bad inning, but it was enough. Girardi went to Marte in the bottom of the eighth to face Vlad with a runner on first. I'd love to know how many times in his career a lefty has been brought in to face Vlad in the eighth inning or later with the go-ahead run on base. I'd bet that's the first time. Marte got through the inning, but as we've seen before, Damaso is a one-inning guy. Girardi left him in there to start the ninth, he let two guys on before going to Mo, and then a dribbler somehow got through, plating the winning run. I have no idea how that ball got through. I watched the replay about 10 times and it looked like Cano was fooled by the speed of the ball or just assumed Betemit would field it. Betemit didn't and Robbie wound up watching a ball he should've at least knocked down trickle into the outfield.

Two pieces of good news. Number 1: Ian Kennedy was sent packing before the game. Enjoy Scranton. Number 2: The Sox lost. As bad as the Yanks are playing, and seriously, forget the injuries, they're just playing bad baseball, they aren't dead. It's off to Minnesota for a three-game set tomorrow. The Twins are 2.5 games ahead of the Yanks for the Wild Card. A sweep, and the Yanks pass them, simple as that. Win the series and it's cut to 1.5 games, which is nothing. After the Twin, the Yanks have an off day, then head home to start a stretch of 9 straight games against teams at or below .500 (the Jays are 59-59). If the Yanks can survive those twelve games without losing any more ground to the Sox, they have a shot. On the 26th, 27th and 28th the Beantowners come to the Bronx for a three-game set.

Of course, it's only good news if the Yanks can pull their acts together over the next 12 games against teams they really should beat. Sid the Kid tomorrow against the Twins, hopefully he can stop the bleeding again.

Player of The Game: A-Rod, for at least trying to give this team a shot in the arm.
Team Record: 63-55
Damon: Another one died a hero today. 47 on the season, no graphic until the team wins.



Also on the Network:
√ Four Straight? [Depressed Fan]
√ A Little Help? [Depressed Fan]
√ The first taco [Cobra Brigade]




[August 11, 2008 9:23 AM]  |  link  |  reply
JJ said

Girardi should've paid attention to your letter to the Skipper from last week when he left Marte in vs. the Angels. You are absolutely right that Marte is just a one inning guy.

Here's a name that should scare any fan...
Freddy Garcia is now throwing for any interested scout that will look at him. Ruben Amaro of the Phillies took a look at him and must have had flashbacks of last year's nightmare when he was a Phillie, and luckily passed on him.

If you had to grade Joe Girardi on his managerial ability at this point, how would he do? The loaded question is, do you think Mattingly would have done better to this point? Would be interested on your take on this.


[August 11, 2008 11:53 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Brian replied to JJ

That's a really good question JJ. There's no way to tell how Mattingly would've handled the pen, he's never had to do it before.

There are a couple of areas that I think Mattingly would've been a marked improvement over Girardi. Probably the biggest is acting like you're in charge, and you know what you're doing. It seems like a stupid thing, but I swear Girardi has looked and acted like he was over his head on several occasions and the pressure really seems to be getting to him. Mattingly isn't as high-strung as Girardi, and I think he'd be a steadier hand at the controls.

I was a Mattingly guy from the get-go (my son's middle name is going to be Donald), so I'm probably not going to be able to give you an objective answer. All I can tell you is that I've seen Girardi make some highly questionable calls that have directly cost the Yanks games.

Overall, though, I think the Yanks miss Bowa the most. He kept guys like Cano focused, he was a much better third base coach than Meacham and he really gave them some fire. Every coach on the team now seems like a complete stiff.

[August 12, 2008 7:35 AM]  |  link  |  reply
JJ said

Do you think if the Yanks don't get in the playoffs, Girardi will be gone and the door will be open for Mattingly to return? I was kind of thinking that Girardi might have been hired as a 'disposable coach,' give him a year, give Mattingly another year to learn the biz, then if Girardi didn't make the playoffs, Welcome back, Don.

I may have preferred Mattingly to Girardi, but I'd hate to see the playoffs without the Yankees in it. They just wouldn't be the same without them.

[August 12, 2008 11:42 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Brian replied to JJ

I don't know how long of a leash they're going to give Girardi. Honestly, I think he's kind of a stooge for the front office and they'll probably cut him some slack because of the injuries. I'll talk about that in an upcoming post.