It was nice to be back at our Saturday season ticket seats today. The weather cleared up and it turned out to be a nice day (though perhaps a little chilly). We arrived at the stadium early to purchase some additional tickets at the advanced sales window. Season ticket holders get a
handful of discount coupons and we generally have no problems getting decent seats for some mid-week night games. Well, not this year. Practically nothing was available!I had all the best of expectations for a Yankee win today but like Friday night, it just wasn’t meant to be. I don’t really blame Pettitte (who received a warm welcome from the fans). True, he gave up 5 runs on 8 hits but I continue to see offense as the major downfall in these games. We left 21 players on base today including a bases-loaded situation. Unacceptable! What is it going to take to start hitting like a championship team? Today’s loss of 6-3 puts the Yankees on the bottom of the AL-East. Something needs to be done to turn around these slumps.Friday Night - April 4 (Tampa Bay)
There are some games that you just don’t deserve to win. Friday night’s 4-game series opener against Tampa Bay was one of those games for the Yankees. Pitching can set the tone for a game. Good, quality pitching can be a true motivator just as poor performance on the mound can drain some of the strongest inspiration. Ian Kennedy was horrible and he knew it. He may have gotten squeezed on a few pitches but, for the most part the strike zone seemed invisible to him. Last year when Kennedy and Hughes made their debut, I heard many compare the talent of these two noticeably young starters. I didn’t agree those comparisons then and as most would have to agree now, there was nothing even remotely comparable between Hughes’ quality start last night and Kennedy’s weak pitching tonight.This being said, if Kennedy could be described as weak, than Hawkins was just plain pathetic. Six runs off of six hits in two-thirds of an inning. An ERA of 31.50 for the game. Why is LaTroy Hawkins even here? Is it to keep Fartsworth company? In complete contrast, Albaladejo, Ohlendorf and Traber pitched incredibly well. In fact, I am not sure why Ohlendorf and Traber didn’t get more than an inning each.Now let’s discuss hitting. Aside from the third, which seemed to be something of a passing dream of what should be instead of reality, the Yankees had nothing. I know it is only game four but aren’t we supposed be in our best form after Spring Training, rested from the off season and eager to perform. I am just not seeing that. Why did we not see Shelley Duncan until the ninth inning? Or how about Ensberg? Yes, Giambi has definitely impressed me at first base but if he is cold at the plate, bring someone else in. I suppose that I believe in stirring the pot.I will be at Saturday’s game in my usual seat in Section 627 hoping that a Friday night loss will lead to a Saturday afternoon win. Tonight’s score of 13 to 4 needs to be vindicated.
Thursday Night - April 3 (Toronto)
I had a late meeting at work last night and was only able to hear the first 6 innings of the rubber match between the Yanks and Jays on XM radio as I drove home. That was really no big deal since not much happened before the sixth inning anyway.
Let me take that back… Phil Hughes did what I thought was an excellent job allowing only 2 runs on 4 hits over 6 frames. In fact, the entire pitching staff performed exactly the way they should have. Limiting a club like Toronto to only a few runs opens the door for a qualified Yankee offense to do their work and bring in the win. Hughes performed like, as Damon said in the post game, an ace in the making. Traber completed his task with lefty Overbay. Bruney, whom amongst a handful of other Yanks that dropped some pounds this past winter, was sharp. The Joba (who registered a 99 mph pitch) got the win after pitching the 8th and the Sandman led us to Frank. A very respectable night on the mound.
As far as hitting is concerned, I thought I was going to have to continue my rant from yesterday. But, thanks to Abreu, my rant can now just be a warning: Cano, Giambi, and Matsui… you really need to be doing better at the plate. I know it will happen and I am not really worried but I think in recent years we have lacked some consistency and predictability at the plate. I want my Yankees to make me proud. I am not going to mention A-Rod here because A-Rod is A-Rod. When he is on, we love him but, like every single other person in this world, he has the ability to disappoint us too.
So the Yankees win the game 3-2 and take the first series of the season 2 games to 1. I am looking forward to Tampa coming to town for the next 4 games, secretly hoping that we see some residual drama left over from Spring Training (the Elliot Johnson slide into Francisco Cervelli at the plate, the Shelly Duncan slide into Akinori Iwamura at 2nd, the Melk-man’s involvement). It is probable that Duncan will get his first start of the season tonight.
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