It's Getting Better All the Time....

First of all, Clippard got clipped by the Angels on Friday night, which makes him pitcher #275 that the Junkee fans fawned over after a good first outing only to get bombed the next time out. Hey, where's Chase Wright? Didn't he have that great debut against the Indians? And whatever happened to Matt Desalvo? Oh right, he got rocked in relief on Friday night, bringing his ERA to a nifty 5.29.

Oh yeah, and the Red Sox won, extending the lead to 10.5.

And then on Saturday, Wang gets tatooed in the first inning, the mighty Yankee bats never recover, so another loss. Bobby Abreu is now hitting .235, Cano is at .260, but hey, Doug Smith is up to .234, so things aren't that bad, right?

And then the Boss comes out of his shell for the first time in a while. Don't know what to make of that. Thought he was senile, but he sounded pretty with it in that interview. And I love how he gives it to Ca$hman. The guy is full of excuses. When he didn't have sole authority, he tried to make it like all the bad signings were other people's decisions. Now his excuse is that he's been trying to rebuild. (And that's why he signed Johnny Damon last year, a guy who can't do anything? We all know he did it to stick it to Boston, but they're having a good laugh right about now.) Listen Brian, you can't dance at all parties. Damon's been a bust, Mussina has been a disaster, Abreu over Sheffield is one for the ages, Cano was a one-year wonder, Doug Smith was PR, Luis Vizcaino is absolutely putrid, and Melky ain't what you thought.

Speaking of Damon, enough injury excuses. Drives me crazy when these guys think they're such great guys for playing hurt. If you can't do anything, go on the DL. But if you're out there, you've got to produce. Don't tell me about your hamstring, your ankle, or any other body part.

All the excuses in the world won't change the fact that 2007 may be a Yankee-free October!

Junkees Batter Wakefield, Cut Lead to 9.5

When Wakefield pitches, it's all or nothing. Either he's fabulous, or he gets tatooed. He's been that way throughout his career, and Monday night was no exception. The Junkees took advantage, stealing some bases, and Boston had no chance.

While watching the game, Wang looked impressive, but looking at the stats, he wasn't exactly Cy Young. He gave up 7 hits and walked 3 in 6.1 innings, and was lucky to get out of some jams. Still, he deserves credit for the end result.

The Junkee offense did just enough to get by. Nice to see Mientkiewicz (0 for 4, .212 batting average) continue to stink up the joint. Wow, picking him up was the ultimate PR move. Ex-Met, guy who caught the last out of the '04 Series for the BoSox, and a character. And that last name ... you think he'd be a Yankee if his name were Doug Smith?

Anyway, the way I see this series is this - the worst that can happen is that the Junkees sweep, in which case they'd be 7.5 games out. But even if Boston takes the next two, that would increase the lead to 11.5. And I would still be uncomfortable. I've learned to never count out the Junkees. Until I see them mathematically eliminated, I'll continue to be paranoid.

Looking ahead, you have Julian Tavarez, another guy with whom you don't know what you'll get, taking on Mike Mussina, for which -- if you think about it -- the same can be said. So expect a high scoring contest on Tuesday.

Texas Ends Season Series On High Note

Whenever you see Chien-Ming Wang vs. Brandon McCarthy as the pitching matchup, you have a feeling as to where the advantage lies. But last night, Wang, who doesn't strike anyone out, couldn't get anyone out, allowing seven runs. Luis Vizcaino stunk again, and I still think he'll gone by June.

By the way, whatever happened to Robinson Cano? Last year, they were all ranting and raving about him, as if he was the next Ryne Sandberg. This year, Cano's numbers are average: .250, 1 HR, and a platry .293 OBP. You wonder if the pitchers have figured the guy out. To be fair, he did bat .398 last June, so maybe he hasn't broken out yet. But so far, he's stunk. And Abreu's been terrible, too (.325 OBP, .309 SLG), and Matsui doesn't scare you that much anymore (.258, 2 HR). So far, lots of holes in the lineup.

That botched rundown by A-Rod reminded me of the '06 A-Rod. Wouldn't mind if he made a comeback.

- Yankees play Seattle this weekend; let's see if Rasner and DeSalvo can do it again. No Jeff Weaver this time, thankfully.