Kei Igawa got his shot last night to show that he has made some improvement since last season. I didn’t see any improvement.

His inability to pitch low is still the main concern and the Tigers took advantage of this weakness, taking 11 hits over 3 innings (though really only in the 1st and 3rd innings). Igawa, who struggled all last season for the Yankees, had been showing better stuff in Triple-A this spring. But as we all know, Triple-A is not the majors. The current plan, according to Girardi during the post-game interview, is to give Igawa another chance. Whether or not the Yankees follow through with this plan is, well, up to the Yankees. More than likely Ian Kennedy, another "star"of the minors, will wind up replacing him.

I personally do not think that the solution to New York’s pitching woes lies in their Triple-A teams. We need to be looking further and outside of the organization. If Boomer is serious about coming back then let’s get working on the paperwork. Igawa, and Kennedy for that matter, are nothing more than band-aids for the moment. Unless the team is in a position to lose a minimum of 2 of every 5 games for the rest of the season, some more permanent plans need to be formed.

And what the hell was the deal with Betemit? Third base is clearly not the best of his utility positions and Ensberg should have been at that bag. There is no doubt that much of last night’s loss rested on Wilson’s shoulders. I haven’t quite figured out what some of Girardi’s logic is when he creates these lineups.

So the Yankees offense did what they could to save the game but a pop out from Duncan sent the team to the clubhouse with a loss of 6-to-5.

Four errors in total for the evening. 14 hits that couldn’t allow us to take the lead. And Albaladejo is going to the DL with an elbow injury to be replaced by Chris Britton. Tonight is another game.

Three things...

Three things became clear to me after last night's game 4 against Cleveland that the Yankees won by a score of 5-to-3, splitting the series 2-2 with the Indians. First is that everything that I have said about Mike Mussina still stands. While every other blogger was all but begging for his dismissal after the two Boston games, I kept saying... "He has value.." If you take Boston out of the picture, he is 3-and-1; and consider that the Boston loses were mainly a result of mistakes in dealing with Manny. Keep watching Yankee fans, the Moose might surprise you this season. He has been working on his delivery, throwing first-pitch strikes, and starting to dabble with "inside". In the 32.1 innings he has pitched so far this season, he has only walked 5 batters. No too bad, I say.

The second thing has to do with hitting... this team is capable of maneuvering some crafty hits and anyone who watched last night's game should agree. The sixth inning brought us infield singles by Cabrera, Jeter, and (my favorite of the night) Ensberg. Throw in an A-Rod hit-by-pitch and a few sacrifice plays and you have 5 runs on the board. Yankees baseball is not all about driving balls out of the park. Home runs are nice but I would much rather watch some crafty ball. These were not manufactured runs last night, they were the result of legitimate hits.

Finally, the bull pen can be effective. Not to keep repeating myself but keep an eye on Albaladejo. I think you may find him going places this year. With Bruney out and plans to move Joba, there are some seats open in the pen. I say Albaladejo gets one of them on a more permanent basis.

The Yankees are going to be just fine. Last night was a big win for them, even if only in a psychological way. It put the team 5-5 for this last road trip and one game over .500 for the season. They now have a 9-game home stand to look forward to and should be in a good position to face Detroit, Seattle, and Cleveland once again in a week on their own turf.

Some go down and some come up...

I believe there are good things in store for Jonathan Albaladejo. I have been meaning to write this several times but it seemed like every time the Yankees brought him up from Triple-A, I would blink one too many times and he would be back down there. Albaladejo was brought up again yesterday as Brian Bruney was placed on the disabled list with an injury to the Lisfranc joint of his right foot that is likely to require surgery. The Bruney incident was a big blow to the bombers as Bruney was proving himself as an effective inning-eater and a tremendous asset to a starting rotation that has been having trouble getting to the 4th and 5th innings. My prediction is that we won't see Brian until late in the summer, many weeks after the all-star break. But back to Albaladejo... originally from the Washington Nationals, he came into last night's game and pitched two very respectable innings. This was his third game coming to the mound for New York and each time I have seen him pitch I have been impressed. Keep an eye on this guy!

Girardi made some additional space for pitching by getting rid of third string catcher Chad Moeller. Moeller, who came in when both Posada and Molina were injured, did a commendable job behind the plate for the Yankees. Thank you Chad but right now the team really needs pitching so they brought up Chris Britton, who had made 11 appearances in 2007 for New York.

I think we will be seeing a few other pitching transactions during this 4 game set in Cleveland. I would be surprised if we don't see Duncan coming back soon too. This is a rough time for the team right now and adjustments need to me made. The bats are coming alive and I am getting excited for some May baseball.

Mixed Emotions

Wow. Last night's game against Tampa Bay was certainly an unusual one. Firstly, something must have been pumped into that dome air to cause all those home runs! Damon, Rodriguez, Ensberg and Cano (finally) all knocked one out of the park for the Yankees. Unfortunately, Yankee pitchers also let three go for the Rays.

We got to see some variety of talent on the field last night and I was pleasantly surprised by what they brought to the table. Moeller did fine catching for Bombers, and that is a good considering he is third-string. The Gonzalez at 2nd and Ensberg at 1st duo worked well and I think it made sense to sit Cano out for most of the game (more on that in a minute). Kennedy certainly pitched a whole lot better than his last outing and more importantly, it seemed that he made corrections and targeted improvements from his last start against Tampa.

I would have liked to have seen Albaladejo come in to the game for some relief. I think at one point he was in the pen but Joe opted for Traber and Bruney. Both were a disappointment but I think (hope) it was just a case of them having a bad night. I do like Bruney alot and think he will help in those middle innings but Joe needs to be sure not to over use him like Torre did with Proctor. Traber also has a targeted purpose and the Yankees need to be mindful of that. Clearly Joba was missed last night.

Back to Cano... I think Girardi took a risk by bringing him in the pinch hit and I think that risk paid off. Joe got lucky. Nothing more... nothing less. I was at my chiropractor last night and he asked me what I thought of Joe's decision to have Mussina pitch to Manny in last Saturday's game against Boston as opposed to walking him to an open first base. I told him that I think Girardi made a decision (took a risk) and it turned out to be a bad one. No, not really a bad one... just one that didn't work in his favor. Had Cano struck out last night, every paper in the city would be chanting "Clueless Joe".

So why mixed emotions? I am elated that the Yankees hit well last night, putting a season-high 15 hits on the board. I am especially pleased with ARod's 4-fo-5 performance at the plate. But I am concerned about bringing a 7-2 lead in the seventh to such a close game. If the hitting we saw last night continues throughout the entire season (and it should) then there really is no concern I guess. I just want to know that we didn't just get lucky last night (and I am not just referring to Cano).

Some back-dated comments...

Saturday Afternoon - April 5 (Tampa Bay)
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.