No Surprise Party

Tuesday, Alex Rodriguez had a chance to give himself a birthday gift by cracking homer number 600. Instead, the Yankees' reputation of failing against pitchers they've never seen before gained some steam, as rookie Josh Tomlin knocked off the World Champs for an embarrassing loss. Over the first two games in Cleveland, Jake Westbrook and Josh Tomlin have looked like Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Is it really a surprise that Tomlin beat the Yankees? Ask Sean O'Sullivan about last Tuesday at the Stadium, when the rookie was masterful over seven innings. Five days later, the Yanks destroyed him as a member of the Royals. Something about that "first time" just doesn't go right for this team.

CC Sabathia was not great Tuesday night, but he was good enough to win. He always gives the Yankees innings and keeps the team in the game, but that's tough to do when you don't score until the eighth inning. Once in a while, it's OK to lose a game. But when you play in the American League East, two in a row is just about unacceptable. Tampa Bay continues to win, and third place Boston still has one of the best records in baseball. It's VERY tough to sweep a four game series, but you'd really like to see the Yankees take the next two before a showdown in St. Petersburg.

Not a good sign to see that Jorge Posada was scratched from the lineup with a sore knee. This is no knock on Cervelli, because he was huge when the team needed him early in the season, but Francisco can't hold a candle to Jorge's bat. If the Yankees were to do something at the trade deadline, Adam Dunn is not a bad idea for DH. Jorge is going to have to catch for the rest of the season until, hopefully, Jesus Montero is ready next year. Cervelli simply cannot maintain solid offensive numbers over the course of a full season.

Alex is finally starting to look like he's pressing a little bit. I can't say I blame him much, but to his credit, his fly out in the seventh inning probably would have been in the seats in the Bronx, and this anticipation/distraction would finally be over. One positive came out of tonight: Chan Ho Park pitched a scoreless eighth inning. If the Yankees can trade him away for a bag of sunflower seeds, the team would improve by the end of the week.