If You Thought ... - Devil Rays 8, Yankees 2

... that the Yankees would sweep Boston then lose two of three to Tampa Bay, please stand up. And if you thought Ian Kennedy would be the Yanks' best starter over the weekend, stand up too.

Weekends like these are why I love Tampa Bay. Even though they got thoroughly trounced last time they played the Yanks, this time they showed up, taking two of three.

They beat up on Phil Hughes, whose ERA is up to 5.65. At this rate, he's not looking much better than Jeff Johnson, who had a 5.95 mark as a rookie in '91. I can give the guy a bit of a pass for being young, but if he turns out to be the next Bobby Munoz, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.

- Kennedy pitched well in his debut, but so did Tyler Clippard and Chase Wright, both of whom have become afterthoughts. When Mussina was taken out of the rotation, I was surprised that their names weren't mentioned. After all, they weren't great, but they weren't horrible, either. They weren't nearly as awful as Kei Igawa. And for all the talk you hear about Joba and Kennedy, you hear nothing about Wright or Clippard. Those four homers in a row against Boston probably doomed Wright, and both guys will probably get traded sooner or later.

- Highlight of the weekend was Buchholz's no-hitter. For all I know, the guy might fade into mediocrity like Wilson Alvarez, the last guy to pull off the feat in his second ML start. But it's always great to see baseball history be made at Fenway, and steal some thunder from the Yanks. More importantly, it got Boston back on track after four straight losses.

- And speaking of teams that need to get back on track, I have no idea what to expect from the Yanks vs. Seattle this week. The Yanks who played Boston so well might show up, and put the wild card race to rest. Or the Yanks who played the Rays might show up, and Seattle might be able to turn things around. Gonna be one of the best series of the year.

Twinbill Sweep For Yankees

Gotta admit I was impressed by the Yankees sweep yesterday. After Friday night's 10 BB disaster, the Yanks regrouped in a big way. Sweeping the twinbill behind Igawa and DeSalvo reminded me a little of the doubleheader in 1996, when the Yankees started Brian Boehringer and Ramiro Mendoza. They easily swept the Indians, and that was one of the early indications that the '96 Yankees were a special team. But believe me, '07 is a far cry from '96.

The biggest difference between the two sweeps? The '96 one was against one of the great Indians teams of the '90s, one which had come very close to winning the Series the year before, the Indians of Manny, Thome, and Albert Belle.

This sweep was against the Devil Rays, one of the worst teams in professional sports history. Can't get too excited.

But the Yanks proved something yesterday - sometimes, they can still beat up on horrible pitching. And they'll need to do that consistently over the next couple of weeks, before August brings them the Tigers, Angels, and Red Sox.

Lousy Pitching, Yankees Win Anyway, Beat D-Rays 7-6.

I know it's sour grapes, but the Yankees were able to fiest on lousy Tampa Bay pitching for most of this series. Sure, they couldn't pull out a win when Clemens pitched a stinker on Friday, but on Sunday they did just enough to win. But come on, Edwin Jackson was not beating the Yankees.

It's never good when the Yankees win, but Mussina was spotty as usual, and the bullpen nearly gave the D-Rays a win with Villone stinking up the joint, and Farnsworthless reverting to form.

On Saturday you had Wang do the same as Mussina, 3 earned runs in 6 innings. I don't care that people call that a quality start. A 4.50 ERA doesn't cut it.

Clemens, of course, got rocked on Friday, with 5 earned runs in 5.1 innings. Another start or two like this and he ought to go the way of Julio Franco. Ah, all those fans who got pumped about two decent outings in a row....

So out of four games, they got only one good start, and that was from Andy Pettitte. What you have to take out of this is that a team that has even mediocre pitching will eat up these type of performances. Old York was lucky that as bad as their arms were, Tampa Bay's were worse. To put things in perpective, the D-Rays are dead last in ERA in the majors with a (gulp!) 5.80 mark. The second worst? The Texas Rangers at 5.05. Wow.

If these were all 5-0 games, I'd be way more paranoid. But the way they played this weekend gives me hope.

Lousy Start to Second Half: Junkees 7, D-Rays 3

What a game. What a crappy game. Andy Pettitte didn't have his best stuff, got out of some jams, but it didn't matter, as Tampa Bay was as flat as a pancake, losing to Old York 7-3 in a 1998 kind of game - you were never confident that the Devil Rays were going to start a rally.

Worth pointing out that Pettitte's been horrible in June and July. With 3 earned runs in 5.2 innings, his ERA creeps up to 4.27. Nice.)

On one hand, you can say that Tampa Bay stinks, so what do you expect. On the other hand, however, I don't like to think that way. I know Yankee fans are horny about their schedule, facing sub-.500 teams for the next few series, but any of those teams could get hot and give the Yanks a run for their money. In the beginning of the season Old York was getting beat by Tampa, Toronto, Chicago, so to me it's not hopeless.

Only two things to highlight. First, two caught stealings for Old York, one for Damon, and the other Melky. Second, Cano went 0-4, but who cares. This better not be the start of a roll.

- Red Sox won, so the lead remains at 10, and the tragic number for elimination in the AL East dips to 67.

Cellar Dwelling

Yeah, it's only April, but there's never a bad time to see the Yankees in last place. Even the return of Wang couldn't save them tonight. Kazmir pitched well for Tampa Bay. Did a good job keeping A-Rod's bat quiet.

And the Yankees pen was bad again, with Myers giving up the big hit to Crawford.

If the Yanks are worried about preserving the arms of the bullpen, then bringing up Phil Hughes is a dumb move. The guy will be on a serious pitch count, and as soon as he hits 80 pitches, they'll be warming guys up. For all I know, Hughes might turn out to be one of those guys who's very efficient and can throw a 75-pitch complete game. As a raw rookie, I highly doubt that will happen. Instead, Hughes will likely contribute to the bullpen woes.

The Rays Can Hit

Even after Sunday night's debacle, Igawa managed to pitch worse than Dice-K. At least Igawa gave up fewer dingers than Chase Wright. Devil Rays beating the Yanks? Never gets old.

Tampa Bay is currently tied for 4th in the majors, with a team .272 clip. They're second in homers with 25 (the Yanks and Braves have 26 each). The Yanks can only beat the Rays if their pitching is decent. Otherwise, they've gotta try to outscore them and win 11-10.

In '05, the Rays batted .274, third-best in the game. Their record against the Yankees? 11-8. Even with a 6.04 ERA against New York.

Last season, they hit .255, tied with Houston for worst in the game. Against the Yanks, they went 5-13.

If the Yankee pitching doesn't improve, and if Young, Dukes, Baldelli, etc. can keep progressing, the Rays will not be a doormat this year. Should be fun.