Tease 2 Officially Done

So, the Yanks have done it again. After winning 6 straight against the half-decent Cubs and Pirates, people thought the Yanks were finally putting it all together. Tim Marchman of the New York Sun said in his Monday column that "Yankees are for real," as he was very impressed that the Yanks hit Oliver Perez, Carlos Zambrano, and Glendon Rusch pretty well.

But after the loss against Tampa Bay and then when they were down 10-2 early on Tuesday night, I thought things were over. Then, when the Yanks punished Tampa 20-11, I thought, so maybe they'll lose one, but they look like they're back anyway. But after the last two games of the series, it's now safe to say this team is back in the toilet.

The starting pitching was awful this series. How can you let yourself get beaten by guys like Jorge Cantu and Jonny Gomes? All 4 starters were terrible. Sean Henn's 7 walks were all too reminiscent of Steve Trout, RJ and Pavano were giving up tons of dingers, and even the usually reliable Wang stunk it up. Are batters starting to figure the guy out?

And on the hitting side, again the Yanks couldn't get them when they needed them. Bernie and Sheff were good in sparking Tuesday's comeback, and Shemp deserves credit for making Monday night's game a close one, but other guys didn't do a whole lot. A-Rod had another clutch shot that night, turning an 18-11 game to a 19-11 game. I'm sure that made Snorre breathe easier. But when the Yanks lost a close one the night after, A-Rod had nothing to give. What else is new?

The Yanks are lucky that the Mets are also in a funk now. Although the Mets will probably screw things up like last time, I like their chances in this one. They trot out Pedro tonight, then face Henn and then Johnson, whom they knocked around last time.

And Boston is starting one of those hot streaks like last summer. Their pitching is starting to come together, especially with Wells and Wakefield heating up. Go Sox!