Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Blech
In a season of disappointments, the Yankees suffered what may have been their worst loss of the season last night, falling to Baltimore 10-9 in 11 innings.
The offense started off well enough, scoring four runs in the second inning. Ian Kennedy gave that lead back right away, then strained a lat muscle in his third inning of work and will be heading to the DL. The offense got four more runs, then Ross Ohlendorf gave up three HRs in the fifth to allow Baltimore to tie the game at eight. Ohlendorf has been miscast as a long reliever this year, although in this instance he was pretty much bad righ out of the gate. I don’t know how much longer he should be in the majors with people like Chris Britton, Scott Patterson, and Scott Strickland pitching decently in the minors. None of them are long relievers, but then again, is Ohlendorf?
After the O’s knotted the game, both pens shut down their opponents through ten, with an hour long rain delay mixed in. The Yankees got a run in the top of the eleventh, but with Mariano Rivera having thrown two innings, the Yankees had to go to LaTroy Hawkisn to try and close it out. Hawkins managed to get one out, sandwiched between a single, a double and two intentional walks before giving up a deep fly ball that got the winning run home. Hawkins had been pitching decently after a rough couple of outings to start the year, but he’s given up five runs in the last two games. Like Ohlendorf, it seems silly to have him pitching when there are potentially better options sitting in the minors, but I don’t expect a roster move with him.
I wasn’t particularly impressed with Joe Girardi’s managing in this game. I thought he should have yanked Ohlendorf after the second HR but he apparently had decided he was pitching through the fifth regardless of what was happening. That type of ridigity in bullpen management was one of my major issues with Joe Torre. I thought he should have pinch-hit for Jose Molina in the tenth with one on and two outs, but I guess that’s forgiveable. I did like the fact that he used Mariano Rivera in a tie game on the road. I don’t expect Girardi to be perfect, he’s still relatively inexperienced, but hopefully he’s learning as he goes.
The season is almost one-third over, and the Yankees are still sitting in last place. While I still expect them to start playing better, at some point it’s going to be too late.
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