It's August 1st, and even after today's debacle in St. Petersburg, the New York Yankees are still in first place by themselves. That's normally no cause for concern, especially after the "successful" trade deadline moves made by Brian Cashman and the Yankees' front office. Lance Berkman, Austin Kearns, and Kerry Wood are certainly upgrades over Marcus Thames, Colin Curtis, and even the great Chan Ho Park. Things are looking up for the most part with a tough last two months of the regular season remaining.
Today, however, was one big question mark. After an emotional, thrilling win Saturday night fueled by several clutch home runs, Joe Girardi and the Yankees had the chance to take their second consecutive series against the Tampa Bay Rays, the team with the second best record in baseball, and the team right behind them in the A.L. East Standings. The ace of the team was on the mound, but the lineup was outrageous. I respect Joe Girardi's willingness to rest veteran players to keep them fresh for the stretch run, but was it necessary against the Rays? Couldn't this have waited until the Yankees return home Monday against Toronto?
Sunday's lineup did not feature Alex Rodriguez, who is beginning to show signs of frustration due to his pursuit of home run number 600. It did not feature Brett Gardner, a spark plug at the plate and on the bases, despite having a right handed pitcher on the mound for Tampa Bay. Finally, the lineup did not feature the American League Gold Glove Award winner at first base, Mark Teixeira. Instead, Girardi stuck Lance Berkman at first base, giving the new Yankee a shot in the field, and he inserted Austin Kearns into left field, who failed to reach base at all.
Lance Berkman did pick up his first hit as a Bomber, but his play in the field likely cost the Yankees two runs. Early on, a bloop pop up by Kelly Shoppach went off his glove, allowing the game's first run to score with two outs. If that ball is hit to Mark Teixeira 100 times, Tex makes the play 100 times. Hands down. Later in the game, Berkman failed to scoop up a relatively simple one hop throw from Robinson Cano. That runner eventually came around to score. If Tex gets that throw 100 times, he probably makes it about 90 to 95 times. I know Tex deserved a "half day" off, but this could have waited until tomorrow.
CC Sabathia was not great, but he just always seems to pitch well enough to win. In his last two outings, the mighty New York Yankees have not been able to score a run in support of him. Tough to win that way. Sabathia probably deserved to pitch seven innings and surrender only one run, but he still would have lost anyway. I was impressed with Kerry Wood's debut. The guy hasn't pitched since July 11, and he showed how good his stuff was by striking out three batters. Chad Gaudin had to help him get out of the eighth inning, but Wood is clearly an upgrade over Chan Ho Park, whom he replaced on the roster.
As good a day as Saturday was for the organization, Sunday was almost that bad. The Yankees got a great start from their ace against a tough lineup, but their lineup was missing some key elements, and most hitters failed to make contact against James Shields, who despite his 9-9 record and ERA over 4.00, has been pretty brilliant against the Yanks in 4 starts this season. It will be interesting to see how Joe Girardi sets up the lineup this week against Toronto before a Yanks-Sox showdown begins on Friday. Does Lance Berkman deserve to be hitting second? Should the red hot Swisher have been moved out of his original spot, where he has been putting up a fabulous season? The Yankees' roster greatly improved over the weekend, but many questions remain to be answered.
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