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.

Back To Double Digits - Rockies 6, Yankees 1

The two-week nightmare may still be going on for Met fans, but for Yankee haters, it's just a memory. The Yanks are back to their old ways - bad hitting and bad pitching. Pettitte stunk tonight, and the offense didn't show up again. And the Sox beat up on Atlanta, 11-0, pushing the lead to 10 games. The days of "the Yankees picking up games like candy" are thankfully over.

Torre was full of excuses as usual, claiming that the Yanks had trouble picking up Francis' pitches because they've never faced the guy before. Too bad.

One guy who's back to normal? Bobby Abreu, hitting 5-21 (.238) this past week. With a .333 SLG, to boot.

And with Damon a possibility to go on the DL, the Yanks need depth. Phillips won't help much at first. I think the Yanks will get a stopgap like Shea Hillebrand, and, come the trading deadline, go for a big name like Teixera. You knew Cairo wasn't a solution there.

Great to see the Sox back to their old ways. The way Tavarez is pitching, it takes away from the disappointment of Schilling's DL stint. But I think Gabbard and Lester should be fine filling in.

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!

Rookies Will Save Ca$hman's Hide

There's a reason Ca$hman hasn't gone the veteran route with all his pitching woes. First off, who's available? Brian Lawrence? Chan Ho Park? Joe Mays? If you can get someone decent, fine. But the Scott Ericksons of the world are never any good, unless you have a Dave Duncan or Leo Mazzone (perhaps Rick Peterson) who can turn these guys around a la Jeff Weaver, but the Junkees went the PR route in hiring Ron Guidry, who like Mel Stottlemye, never made a decent pitcher good, so getting journeymen arms is a waste.

But the bigger reason is that by using rookies, Ca$hman has given himself the perfect out. "We're building for the future, we didn't want to deviate from the plan, so even though we missed the playoffs in '07, we're in better shape for '08."

If he gets some stinker 35 year old, what can he say then? He looks bad. He got lousy players. If his AAA guys mess up, what can you expect? It's a learning process!

So let's suppose this happens. These guys better turn out decent! I know Sterling and Waldman fawn over every single one of them, but if they all turn out to be busts -- which is a very strong possibility -- then Ca$hman is out of excuses.

But that's what this supposed youth movement is about. Ca$hman covering his fanny. Make no mistake about it.

SITYS: Mussina Full of Excuses

From today's New York Post:

May 17, 2007 -- CHICAGO - Out of all the Yankees, Mike Mussina is easily the biggest creature of habit. So, when his routine was thrown off by a day off Monday and a rainout Tuesday, the veteran right-hander had trouble adjusting.

"It's tough to stay sharp," Mussina said of having six days between starts. "I didn't stay sharp."

It showed in the first game of yesterday's doubleheader against the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field, where the White Sox hung a 5-3 loss on the Yankees. "We needed a well-pitched game and I didn't do it."

Working in front of the Dead Bat Society, Mussina (2-2) gave up five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

"Everything," Mussina said when asked what the extended rest affected the most. "I didn't feel like I had finish on my pitches."

Seventeen Years in the Waiting

You know how long it's been since the Sox last swept the Yanks at Fenway? In that series, they started Chuck Cary, Andy Hawkins, and Mike Witt. Who would probably match up pretty well against Pettitte, Karstens, and Chase Wright, but anyway. The Sox hit .363 in the series.

It was a great series, and not just because the Sox swept. Friday and Sunday were classic Yankee-Red Sox games, and after a rocky beginning, Josh Beckett looked like guy we saw in '03.

Matsuzaka and Schilling struggled, and I wasn't expecting that. I certainly wasn't expecting the Yankee bullpen to perform as badly as they did. Rivera's performance reminded me of 2001, with Coco Crisp's triple bringing echoes of Tony Womack. On this blog last year, I predicted that Crisp would be better than Damon, so you know damn well I'm rooting for that to be a turning point. And Proctor did not make a good case for being Rivera's successor, giving up a 3-run homer to Mike Lowell. I love how Lowell was a salary-dump throw-in in the Beckett deal last year, but has come a long way since his abysmal '05 campaign.

And I don't wanna hear the Yankees bellyache about injuries. You still have the highest payroll in the game. Get a little depth. Josh Phelps is your big bat off the bench? The Yanks have fallen mightily since their bench had Glenallen Hill, Jose Canseco, and a bunch of needles on the floor.

- So I'll enjoy this sweep. At least till this coming weekend.