May All Over Again: Angels 18, Yankees 9

Every time the Junkees do well, I'm too mad to blog. But then you have games like the last two against Anaheim, and you realize that life ain't so bad after all, and my dream of a Yankee-free October may come true after all.

When they were playing .750 ball, I thought, that's it. These guys are going to win the World Series. But a closer look at that run reveals that a lot of the games were blowouts where Old York scored a ridiculous number of runs, which, as we know, is not the way to win pennants.

In other words, the starting pitching is still spotty, and Mike Mussina is pitching exactly the way I thought he would. Giving up 7 earned runs in less than two innings gives him a hefty 5.22 ERA. His signing this past offseason may have been the worst in baseball.

Then the Yanks pull within two, scoring four in the third to make it 7-5. But Ron Villone and company gave it right back, and now we can see what the pitching situation is;

Mike Mussina: Done.

Chien Ming Wang: Been struggling lately. Is prone to giving up a lot of hits, gtes out of them with double plays, but has been lousy starting with the Toronto bombing. His ERA has gone from 3.49 to its current 4.10.

Clemens has looked old at times.

Phil Hughes has shown that his six no-hit innings against the Rangers was a fluke. He has gotten shelled in three of his last four starts.

And that leaves us with Andy Pettitte, who has been pretty good for the most part, despite a WHIP of 1.40.

So come playoff time, the Yanks have Pettitte, and no one else they can count on. So maybe all those blowouts weren't so bad after all.

Moose Pitches Like Old Self: Twins 6, Yankees 2, Tragic Number in AL East 70

For all you Yankee fans who got horny when the Moose shut down the A's last time - ha! Actually, he wasn't horrible (even though I don't consider 3 ER in 6 innings a "quality start"), but he couldn't hold the lead either, and after giving up the 2-run homer to Kubel, you knew he was out of gas. So his record is now 4-6.

Has anyone noticed that A-Schmuck is 0 for his last 18? His last hit came on June 29th. Yes, he still has great numbers, and he may still be the AL MVP this year, but he's been hot and cold. Great April, lousy May, great June, lousy July (so far).

Speaking of cold, that was the Yankee lineup today. They came up with four hits, and I know some of the regulars weren't playing, and it was Johan Santana, but they way the Old York broadcasters were going crazy about the offense in the previous few games, you expected something better.

And Brian Bruney came on in the ninth, trying to keep the lead to a managable two runs, and he gives up a home run to a guy hitting .182. If he gives one up to Morneau or Mauer, fine. But Luis Rodriguez? Gotta love it!

And the Red Sox won, so the lead goes back to 12. To be honest, I got paranoid after Tuesday's Yankee win. I thought it was the start of another hot streak. But Minny wins at Yankee stadium for only the third time in their last 18 games, and all is well in Yankee Despiser land.

- BTW, didn't go crazy about A-Rod's hammy injury because until I see him on the DL, it's much ado about nothing. Although Snorre may use it as an excuse for Alex's cold streak.

Clemens Should Have Signed With Boston: Orioles 4, Yankees 0 - Tragic Numbers 77, 79

So far, Clemens is 1-3 with an ERA of 5.32. I told you guys he'd have issues in the AL after dominating the NL (Comedy) Central. But no, the Junkee fans didn't believe me. What can I say? This is not Ca$hman's year. So it's probably better he didn't go to Boston.

Once again, the Bronx Bombers failed to do anything offensively. Damon went 0-4, as did Abreu, and zero extra base hits for anyone.

This team is starting to remind me of the Yankees of 1989-1992, when they couldn't buy a win. But hey, I'm not complaining.

- One thing I've noticed but haven't pointed out is that Old York is issuing a lot of free passes this year. They're third in the AL in walks allowed, trailing only Texas and Baltimore. This means more baserunners, and greater pitch counts, which is why Snorre is killing the bullpen.

- They've also allowed the most stolen bases in the league.

- What makes these losses even sweeter is that it's the Orioles without Miguel Tejada. Before the series I thought, okay, what can you do? They're going to face lousy teams and beat up on them. Yet here I am a couple of days later, and the O's may take out the brooms.

- Not too upset at Boston's struggles, because Old York hasn't gained anything.

- As much as they may not be out of the wild card race, still like the fact that they have four teams to jump over. Obviously if they win 20 in a row it won't matter, but even if they pick it up, all those teams have to go in the toilet for them to get past them all.

- Wang faces Cabrera in the series finale. Wang was unimpressive in his last outing, but who knows. Could go either way. (Really insightful point, if I may say so myself.)

How Sweep It Is! Rockies 4, Junkees 3: Tragic Numbers 82, 86

What a day. Roger Clemens struggled big time. I know, he didn't give up a ton of runs, but anytime you throw 90 pitches in 4.1 innings, you know you don't have your best stuff. I'm sorry, 4 earned runs in 4+ innings is not why you're getting $18 million! Seven hits and a walk in 4+ innings - he's lucky they didn't score more runs.

Props to the bullpen -- Snorre's boyfriend in particular (Scott Proctor) -- pitching a scoreless rest-of-game, but it wasn't enough as the offense, once again, faltered.

Johnny Damon is absolutely killing them. He's now batting .249 with no power, and has no business playing. As I've said a zillion times, if you're injured, go on the freakin' DL. Who knows - perhaps there's an element of PR that the guy has never been on the DL, and gosh darnit, they intend to keep it that way even if he can't move.

Abreu, ever since that 4 for 4 day is 6-28, also known as a .214 batting average. Cairo's doing nothing, and Andy Phillips can't buy a hit. Otherwise, the Yanks had opportunities but sqaundered them. In the series, they went 1-18 with runners in scoring position.

But not to worry, Snorre and Clemens had plenty of excuses: "I was taking deep breaths on the mound. My mouth got dry a couple times," Clemens said. "That was the more difficult part. Heat or cold is not a big deal. The one inning a storm blew in and the wind changed direction. The wind hit my chest and caused me to throw the ball out of the zone. But I made the adjustment. Then, the wind started to blow straight out." Can't make this stuff up.

So now it's on to San Francisco. We'll see what happens. Kei Igawa pitches Game 1, so we may as well pencil in another Yankee loss. Then Wang on Saturday and Mussina on Sunday. The Giants are a lousy team, they don't score any runs, but the pitching is not bad. In this series, they have (in order) Matt Cain, who's pitched way better than his 2-7 record, Matt Morris, who's having a really good year, and Noah Lowry, who has underachieved. I'm actually glad they don't face Zito, who stinks this year.

Because of the anemic offense of the Giants, I wouldn't be shocked if Old York takes 2 out of 3, but I wouldn't mind another series loss or sweep.

Just What the Doctor Ordered: Rockies 3, Junkees 1

Ah, life is back to normal. With a Red Sox win and a Yankee loss, I will sleep like a baby tonight.

Wow, this is not your father's Oldsmobile. These are not your father's Rockies, with scores like 16-15. Last time Mussina pitched in Colorado he said afterwards that he couldn't wait to get out of there and hoped to never go back again. Well, he pitched well (for him, 3 runs in 6 innings is pitching well), but Fogg was better, holding Old York to one run on seven hits.

The Yanks had oppotunities, leaving 13 runners on base, but the Rockies also left a bunch on (14 to be exact), nothing noteworthy other than Cano going 0-4, but the loss coupled with the Red Sox win makes the deficit 9 games, and they're 5 back in the wild card race. Couldn't ask for anything more.

Wednesday's game features Pettitte against Francis, two pitchers having outstanding seasons. For all I know, it could be a blowout, and I might be in a bad mood when all is said and done. But I'll take what I can get, and a Yankee loss always puts a smile on my face.

Back to Business as Usual: Junkees Drop One to ChiSox 6-4

So much for the momentum of A-Schmuck's home run, which John Sterling called A-Rod's most dramatic home run yet. Puh-leez. Then again, what the heck should I expect from Pa Pinstripe?

Anyway, Matt DeSalvo got into some trouble, thanks in part to some typical shoddy Yankee defense, and Snorre had no patience for him. I was a little surprised that Snorre went to the pen so soon, but I think it's safe to say that DeSalvo is NOT this year's Aaron Small. (Speaking of which, why not bring back Small for PR?)

Villone came in to give up a couple of runs, and before you knew it, the Junkees were way behind. Can't completely kill the Junkee offense as they did get 10 hits, but until the ninth, didn't string much together.

- Has anyone noticed that Jeter is having a horrible June? He's now 3-20, 3 for his last 27, and in that time his average has dipped from .355 to .326. Yeah, he'll blame his latest 0-5 on getting run into early in the game, but don't worry - he'll probably pull a Damon and play through it, further ruining the second coming of 1978.

- Damon, by the way, is also having a horrid June, and has absolutely zero power. If he's your DH, forget it. Another great signing by Brian Ca$hman.

- Tyler Clippard pitches on Tuesday. Pressure's on.

Let the Good Times Roll

What can I say? This doesn't get old.

Another Junkee starter can't get out of the fifth inning, Villone is back to his late '06 form, and just five hits for the mighty Bronx Bombers.

Might as well just copy and paste some of my old posts. How many times can I write that Melky stunk it up, that Doug Smith went o-3, that Damon struggled, that the Junkee pitchers couldn't find the strike zone, walking seven....

The only thing that's missing is Snorre complaining about the umps, as he did Saturday when Abreu got called looking on a pitch outside. I've said it before and I'll say it again. No team has caught more breaks than Old York over the past decade, from the Jeffrey Maier home run and on. Granted, that was a bad call, as was the stolen base in the Mariners game. But that's not why the team is in fourth place. If you're a game or two out of first, fine. You were robbed. But when you're in a different stratosphere than the Red Sox, pipe down.

- About time the Junkee fans realized about Snorre what we've been saying for years.

- So much for their hour-long team meeting before the game. Gotta love that they lost because had they won, the Junkee pundits would go nuts about what a great motivator Snorre is.

- Bobby Abreu's numbers: .233 BA, .320 OBP, .296 SLG
- Gary Sheffield's numbers: .254 BA, .370 OBP, .459 SLG