I first posted this in the wake of Randy Johnson’s showdown with Felix Hernandez, but as tonight is his first start since that inspiring performance, here it is again:
Randy Johnson’s best consecutive starts this season:
April 24 (Tex), 29 (Tor): 17 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 1 HR, 4 BB, 16 K
June 11 (StL), 16 (Pit): 16 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 HR, 0 BB, 18 K
July 21 (Ana), 26 (Min)*: 14 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 HR, 2 BB, 15 K
Aug 26 (KC), 31 (Sea): 15 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 HR, 2 BB, 13 K
*this pair, unlike the others which are more evenly split, is largely due to the excellence of the second start
Johnson has not turned in three consecutive quality starts at any point this season. The closest he came was an eight-inning, three-run performance against the Mariners following the first two starts on the above list. I’ve disqualified that start, however, as Johnson actually skipped his turn following the Toronto game due to a strained groin suffered while completing that duel against Roy Halladay.
That skipped start would have come against in Tampa against the Devil Rays (Sean Henn took Johnson’s turn and got lit-up in his major league debut). Johnson has made three other starts against the Devil Rays this year with the Yankees, none of which have produced the desired result. Here’s a brief history:
Tues 4/19 (home): With yours truly sitting in $5 seats in the upper deck, Johnson pitches well but surrenders a two run home run to Eduardo Perez in the third and a solo shot to Perez in the sixth. Meanwhile, the Yankees struggle to hit current Columbus Clipper Hideo Nomo, who was pitching on three day’s rest. Final score 6-2 Devil Rays.
Tues 6/21 (home): Again facing off gainst Nomo, Johnson gets absolutely lit up, surrendering back-to-back homers to Damon Hollins and Kevin Cash amid a five-run second inning and a two-run shot by Jonny Gomes in the third. Johnson leaves the game down 7-1 after three innings, but the Yanks come back to win 20-11.
Tues 8/16 (away): Much like the first game, Johnson pitches well save a two-run homer by Eduardo Perez in the sixth. Still, he leaves with a 3-2 lead, which is erased when Perez hits a solo shot off Mariano Rivera with one out in the bottom of the ninth. The D-Rays win it in the eleventh when Scott Proctor, on in relief of Alan Embree, is ordered to intentionally walk Aubrey Huff to load the bases, then proceeds to walk Jonny Gomes on four pitches to drive in the winning run.
By now it’s common knowledge that the Yankees are 4-9 against the Devil Rays this season. With six games to play against Tampa this week (home) and next (away), the Yankees need Johnson to step up and stop the bleeding tonight, setting the tone for the remaining five games between these two teams. Outside of the six remaining games against the Red Sox, tonight’s contest just might be the most important game on the Yankees’ remaining schedule.
It’s also worth noting that the D-Rays are 29-20 (.592) since the All-Star break (just a game and a half worse than the Yankees who are 31-19, and two games worse than the Red Sox who are 31-18). That performance is in large part the doing of the sixth best offense in the American League, which has been lead by Perez’s excellent performance in a platoon role (.274/.388/.563), the hot hitting of Alex’s favorite Jonny Gomes (.284/.381/.557 in 264 ABs), and the consistency of 23-year-old second baseman-turned third baseman-turned second baseman Jorge Cantu (.292/.318/.500, 23 HR, 96 RBI). It seems to have taken all season for Cantu to ascend to the third spot in the Devil Ray order, and took until June for the D-Rays to give the 24-year-old Gomes a full-time job in the majors, which might help to explain the extreme difference between the team’s pre- and post-break performances (28-61 .314 in the first half). Of course, no team can experience a turn around of nearly .280 points without the pitching contributing. Witness:
Starters pre-break: 6.00 ERA, 5.7 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 1.27 HR/9
Starters post-break: 4.91 ERA, 7.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.32 HR/9
The first group includes thirty starts by Hideo Nomo, Rob Bell, Dewon Brazelton, John Webb.
The second group, other than a July 15 start by Nomo (7 R, 2 2/3 IP), is exclusively the current rotation of Scott Kazmir, Seth McClung, Doug Waechter, Casey Fossum, and Mark Hendrickson. Incidentally, those five are, in order, 21, 24, 24, 27 and 31 years old. Could it be that the Tampa Bay youth movement has finally begun in earnest? If so, the AL East just got a lot more interesting.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
2005 Record: 57-81 (.413)
2005 Pythagorean Record: 55-83 (.398)
Manager: Lou Piniella
General Manager: Chuck LaMar
Ballpark (2004 park factors): Tropicana Field (96/96)
September Call-ups:
R – Lance Carter
R – Dewon Brazelton
L – Eric Munson (IF)
Current Roster:
1B – Travis Lee
2B – Jorge Cantu
SS – Julio Lugo
3B – Alex S. Gonzalez
C – Toby Hall
RF – Aubrey Huff
CF – Joey Gathright
LF – Carl Crawford
DH – Jonny Gomes
Bench:
R – Damon Hollins (OF)
R – Eduardo Perez (1B)
R – Nick Green (IF)
R – Kevin Cash (C)
L – Pete LaForest (C)
L – Eric Munson (IF)
Rotation:
L – Scott Kazmir
L – Casey Fossom
R – Doug Waechter
L – Mark Hendrickson
R – Seth McLung
Bullpen:
R – Danys Baez
R – Travis Harper
L – Trever Miller
R – Chad Orvella
R – Joe Borowski
R – Tim Corcoran
R – Lance Carter
R – Dewon Brazelton
DL:
R – Jesus Colome
R – Rocco Baldelli (OF) (60-day)
Typical Line-up
R – Julio Lugo (SS)
L – Carl Crawford (LF)
R – Jorge Cantu (2B)
L – Aubrey Huff (RF)
R – Jonny Gomes (DH)
L – Travis Lee (1B)
R – Alex Gonzalez (IF)
R – Toby Hall (C)
L – Joey Gathright (CF)
1. Cliff,
Nice article as usual, but I believe you meant to say the Yankees won that 20-11 game. Wasn't that the one where the Yanks put up 13 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning?
2. Have the Yanks done anything against Fossum this year?
3. Stat trends that we hope continue:
A-Rod: 3 HR in 17 AB vs. Fossum
Vlad: 4 HR in 11 AB vs. Wakefield
4. This may be a stupid question but is Eric Munson of any relation to the Captain? I've never seen that name anywhere else and I could see Piniella giving the kid a shot if so.
5. Fossum lost his last start against the Yanks a few weeks ago with Wright pitching, though he didn't exactly get lit up: 4 hits, 4 runs on a 2 run A-Rod homer, and two unearned runs.
I'm not sure tonight's game is the most important game outside of the Red Sox series -- if RJ comes up with another stinker tonight, but the Yanks win the next 2 and the series against the Red Sox, they're still in reasonable shape (barring a real run by the other WC teams). However, I agree with most that RJ has to put up now...this is the type of game he's supposed to win and has to win.
6. re: Eric Munson
According to thurmanmunson.com, Eric is not his son. If there's any relation, the website didn't specify it. Thurman's son is named Michael.
7. Did the announcers just say that Wang will start on Thursday? If its true I think its great news.
8. Yes, Wang is starting Thurs.!
9. This Torre small ball bull in the 1st inning is insane.
10. Rich, what are you talking about? the double steal? I don't think that's small ball, it was an intelligent play since 9 out of 10 times the catcher will throw at third. Also, if you watch the replay, Matsui got a late jump, I think had he started on time he would have been safe.
11. whoa, is that right, Wang on Thurs. He's great but I had't been hearing good things about his pitching recently.
12. Yes, I don't believe in double steals with a slow runner like Matsui in the first inning with RBI machines like Sheff, A-Rod, and Giambi coming up. The cost is not worth any potential benefit.
13. Between Randy and Muus I have this constant anxiety about a potential inning collapse no matter how good they look. That said,Randy seems great
14. Sterling to Suzyn "It might be difficult to have Leiter come out of the bullpen with men on base" Duh
15. Wang active and starting Thursday (in Leiter's place, I assume), with Small going Friday. This is great news as I have greater faith in Wang finding a way to win, even if his fastball is the only pitch that's 100% right now, than in Leiter doing the same.
Also called-up:
Felix Escalona (IF)
Mike Vento (corner OF)
Scott Proctor (RHP)
Sam Marsonek (RHP)
(see Who's Who under Suggested Reading for more on Vento and Marsonek)
Still no Colter Bean or Jason Anderson.
16. Cano saw 7 pitches in that AB. Somewhere Goldman is going, "Huh".
17. Cano- Jeter, nice 9-1 combo in the order another run and the big boys coming up
18. Will watching the captain slap a single to right field ever get old? Hell naw.
19. Its funny that a game vs. the DRays has a playoff feeling, but this one does. Its been a while since September games meant so much. Its exciting and I hope it continues to be exciting until the final days of October.
20. A-rod with two K's?? Come on man, we want the Triple Crown!
21. I think Torre is going to be completely in
play -off mode for now so we may see a lot more small ball. The playoff for the play-offs or whatever he said like that. It could mean a few less homers and a few more clutch hits. Oh-oh I hope Randy's not headed for let down. Maybe Flash can make sure he stays OK
22. Sadly, early inning small ball will likely lead to less runs scored.
23. Can someone just tell me why a team with a $200 Million+ payroll has John Flaherty as the backup catcher?
24. Ruben was safe. Another lousy call by the umps.
25. Whether he's safe or not, it was a very nice play by Lugo.
26. Flaherty?
Two words: Tony Woemack
27. btw, Re: Flaherty: It's just further evidence, along with Po's decline, that trading Navarro was insane.
28. At least you could argue that the FO was blinded by Womacks post-season ummmm...pedigree, and his vague resemblence of Dave Roberts. Ya know, both fast, both have mustaches.
But Flaherty though?
29. Torre likes gritty players with experience even if they lack ability. Flaherty meets those qualifications.
30. I'm gritty. And I've played a lot of video game baseball. Can I be the backup DH?
31. According to this article Sam Marsonek was designated for assignment:
http://www.msgnetwork.com/content_news.jsp?&articleID=v0000msgn20050906T194118984&sports=baseball&league=mlb&team=Yankees&newsgroup=ap.sportsml.columnist.article/Yankees
32. RJ is melting down again.
33. Does Randy look as good in person as he does on yahoo?
34. Nevermind. I guess that's a no.
35. Looks like we need a lot more runs...
36. Man, from your comments I'd thought the Yanks were losing 10-0...
37. We're a pessimistic bunch.
38. But has RJ given us any reason to be optimistic.
39. Sounds like Randy's getting hit hard but all were caught. A little disconcerting for next inning.
40. Fossum looked lousy with a high pitch count but nobody's hitting him now. How bout a blast A-Rod
41. I guess you missed last Wednesday's game vs. Hernandez. That game gave us every reason to be optimistic.
Probably, its just the way you guys watch a Yankee game, where you EXPECT it to be perfect and are disappointed when its not and just think of it as if the players and coaches do their job when they win.
I see it from another perspective. I view it as a game of 9 guys vs 9 guys both trying to win, and in baseball more than in any other sport if your team is successful it will lose 1 out of 3 games.
42. damn it 3 K's.. to Fossum...
43. tocho, it's been a crazy season, and there are too many signs (bad RJ making a brief appearance, offense slumbering against a mediocre pitcher after a few early runs) that this is Tampa Bay happening all over again. But let's hope for the best.
44. I'm not big on momentum but this is getting a bad feel. At least they're at home.
45. Randy has to pitch effectively against top tier offenses for me to have confidence in him.
46. Max, tell me about it, I've followed every single game, and don't get me wrong, not sweeping this series would seriously hinder any chances of a division title and I'm sitting on the edge of my seat on this game.
we really need a DP right now.
47. Great play by A-Rod to end the inning. exhale
48. Arrghhh. Giambi thinks he's a lot faster than he actually is.
49. Jeez, I'm still significantly faster than Giambi.
50. WHY DOES GIAMBI ALWAYS DO THAT
51. What the hell happened. Sterling is baffled. Horible decision
52. I think RJ has been basically an average pitcher with 3 excellent games. But FYI, out of 30 MLB teams, TB is 9th in Runs, 10 in OPS and 2nd in BA.
53. marc, Giambi tried to strech a single to a double and was out by a mile, Posada-like base-running.
54. Posada would know better than to even try it.
55. Kaat is a pleasure to hear. After enduring terrible announcers, he's really great.
56. Sojo is the worst 3B coach ever. Fire him NOW!
57. Sojo is an idiot
58. THEIR BASE COACHES SUCK
59. WTF? Why are they taking that kind of chance?
60. Man nothing like Tampa to make the Yanks look mediocre. The double steal in the first where Matsui was thrown out at second was not a terrible play, though Godzilla got an awful jump. But both Giambi and Bernie (Luis Sojo) made ill-advised base running blunders in the sixth. The Yanks are just pissing away chances to score runs. They are jumpy.
Johnson got out of major trouble in the sixth, but hasn't had good stuff for three innings. Trouble is around the corner...
61. We've given up an entire inning on the basepaths so far.
62. Waldman just said it's ok to be aggressive, but not on the third out. But I thought that was precisely the time to risk being thrown out at home because the odds of the next guy getting a hit are slim anyway.
63. Waldman knows nothing about baseball.
64. RJ's PC is approaching 100.
65. Trouble.
66. Singleton says, "Lefties are 0 for their last 24 against Johnson." And you just knew the jinx was on...
67. I'm getting that sinking feeling
68. Johnson started off well enough but his stuff was flat after that. Tight spot for Gordon, runners on the corners and just one out (with Crawford bound for second...double steal?).
69. Wow, nice job, "ace." Leaves after 6.1 with the go ahead run practically in scoring position (Crawford can steal).
70. It's not "aggressive" when you're thrown out by a mile. It's more like "dopey." :-P
The YES announcers seem to think that the Yankees are just hoping TB makes a mistake, because the Rays are so error-prone. Jeez. They should be able to beat them outright, not just hope they screw up.
71. Oh God help us we're screwed
72. Why do I have no confidence Gordon will get out of this? Then again Houdini might have a tough time
73. Rich, actually, that's not true. I often find she has much more baseball sense than Sterling, though that's not saying much, I admit. But I do think she has a lot of sensitivity to various aspects of the game. Perhaps she's shakey on fundamentals, but I find her on the whole to be a keen observer of the game.
74. here comes the DP
75. Mueller Ks with the bases loaded to leave Boston tied with LAA after 7.
76. marc, probably because we've seen this at least twice in the series with Tampa this year. Respectable-ish job by the starter, pathetic job by bats, bullpen shits it away
77. And here comes the go ahead double.
$%&^*(^$^%$%
78. Pitiful.
Waldman is a good reporter, but as far as insight goes, I think she's lacking.
79. That's Ok if they hold it to a tie.
80. The worst part about these meltdowns that this team has against Tampa is that you can see them coming all game.
81. yay. Or something.
Can we PLEASE knock Fossum and Co. around?
82. Whewww.... at least its just a tie..
83. Tie game, middle of seven.
COME ON, LET'S GO!!!!
84. That's OK. Avoided disaster and we got and extra inning to beat them
85. What's the over/under on Cano swinging at the first pitch here? I'll say--just for kicks--that the bench tells him NOT to swing.
86. Why do they play so tight against Tampa? Is it the same reason they played so tight when up 3-0 to Boston last year? Somebody needs to convince these guys they are underdogs every game.
And it's a good thing Sierra is being worked into the lineup and Bernie's glove is still in the field. Not that Lawton has set the world on fire, but it's obvious he's not one of Torre's guys already and won't get a chance.
87. Maybe the match ups with Tampa Bay are bad? Maybe it's bad luck or the law of averages? I don't know.
88. If you took the over, you lose. ;)
89. How bout one of those doubles Cano
90. If the Yankees lose, the old George would have fired Sojo.
91. A-Rod must be happy that Fossum is gone. In all fairness, he pitched well. The Yanks squandered their opportunities in the bottom of the 6th. and you just knew that the drays would tie it in the 7th.
Now, lets get it done.
92. lets explode this inning. Just to soothe my ulcer
93. You know what? I dont buy into this "to be fair he pitched well" crap. Its pretty clear that every other team in baseball can hit this man. he has an ERA just south of five. "The New Muderers Row" shouldn't be the damn guy's saving grace.
94. How bout a blast now. These are the goddamn Yankees.
95. So, what do you think? Three runs by the Rays this inning? five? Eight?
96. Nothing but a base on balls to Matsui in the seventh. Ugh. My man, wildman Gomes leads off the eighth. I say he goes yard.
97. Thanks Bern.
98. Bernie would have caught that.
99. Gomes flew out to Bernie in center. Nice sliding catch for our old boy. This just in: Gomes can hit the high cheese. He tagged that ball.
100. Runs...
101. TFG (Tom Flash Gordon) a great inning!
102. hey.... No disaster
103. here comes the HR by A-Rod, mark my words.
104. 1-2-3 for Flash. Good job, dog. Now, let's see the Yanks score a run here and have Mo come on in to finish this sucker up.
105. with Cleveland winning the and BoSox hanging in there, they really need to win this one.
106. Alex, that fly ball to Bernie even sounded tatooed on XM
107. Baaad night for A-rod.
108. up to Sierra
109. Ortiz wins it for the Sox... We need this win.
110. well the f.... bosox won on a HR by Ortiz
111. Posada or Flatherty. Pick your poison.
112. Why did they take out the speedy Giambi?
113. nevermind. Forgot Bernie
114. Why do teams continue to pitch to Ortiz?
115. I thought A-Rod would hit well tonight, since they're back at home. No dice.
Giambi's having a good night, though.
116. Shouldn't Crosby take over for Sierra?, just a thought
117. No way.
118. Hell, Rich, the shocking thing is that the Angels didnt go to a completely ineffective lefty in that situation. That seems to be the strategy against Ortiz
119. No, then Crosby can't take over CF for defensive purposes.
120. Matt, I would hit in the gut every time he is up in a big spot, but you're right.
121. Mofo.
122. and lets face it, this game is probably going extras. Do we really want that Crosby bat in the lineup?
123. Damn.
124. Wow.
125. Oh jeez, Bernie...dammit.
126. ARGH
127. what about Lawton? my point is, with 150 people on the bench, why don't use a pinch runner for a guy with a bad leg.
128. And Bernie once again kills a rally
129. It's up to Mo. With the score tied. He needs to be on his A-game tonight.
130. Ortiz is unfair.
131. nevermind
132. Look at the bright side. At least this way we didnt load the bases, get Posada up and get our hopes up for the inevitable pop-up to short right field.
133. Oh shit. I forgot about Huff
134. uh-oh
135. not good
136. shit..
137. and it begins
138. Flaherty against Gathright? why am I not surprised he made it
139. Wow, they even own Mo.
140. Ortiz has a knack for hitting tie breaking home runs to win games, its weird, I can't remember the last time I saw him hit a come from behind 9th inning home run, but then again, not many do that anyway...
What I don't understand is why anyone would pitch to him at all in Fenway, that park is built for him
And as I speak, we once again screw up and will allow the D-Rays to beat us...we really don't deserve the postseason
141. Damn it......
142. I fucking give up.
143. If they lose this game, Torre need to flip his SHIT and make the entire team run laps from home to the the CF wall.
144. Team meeting time?
145. I'm beginning to get annoyed
146. single, sstolen base, error, stolen base. Hve I forgotten anything so far?
147. What is it with the freakin' Devil Rays, anyway?
148. too little too late.
GOD DAMN IT
149. Evidently, they aren't good enough.
150. It's unexcusable for Cano, it was an easy play. The division is going to be taken by the team that beats the f... drays, and the Yanks just can't get it done.
I'm still pretty confident that the Yanks will make it to the play-offs.
151. Well... at least we lead the league in leaving batters on. Also, Goldman rates Belhorn considerably higher then Cano on D.
152. Oh Cano!!! That was just awful. They had him positioned perfectly and he botched it. Now, I'll bet my house he swings at the first pitch.
153. OK, we get last licks and we're the mighty Yankees
154. Ok, here's the theory. The Yank players want Torre out. And they want Sweet Lou in as Yankee manager.
So they're doing they're best to go 4 and 15 against the D-rays this season.
155. I think Cano was screened by Rivera.
156. Bottom of the order against Baez. Yay.
157. Just how hard do you think our next 3 guys can swing?
158. Seriously. GET RID OF POSADA
159. Unless they score, it'll be 4 behind Boston. Not good. That error could be the last nail in the coffin.
160. If we can't beat Casey F-ing Fossum, than we don't deserve to win
161. Alex, can I get your house now? ;)
162. Flats couldn't have grounded to third on the first pitch? we really needed a replacement to do that?
163. I'll take it.
Be clutch, Jete.
164. please, no double play.
165. dont we have someone to replace our slow second baseman with?
166. Wow, that was awful
167. ...but with a whimper.
168. I hate first pitch swinging.
This team doesn't deserve to make the playoffs.
169. Ugh. Game over.
170. Oh shit. Put cano back in!
171. what a nightmare
172. Fuck them all. This is a fucking disgrace.
173. Another candidate for worst loss of the year. This one doesn't have me depressed, just angry.
174. Erm...I suppose it's not going well. What's happening? is the game even going on still?
Gameday is sucking right now
175. Well, that answers that.
176. Yes it is Matpatt, yes it is.
177. I simply can't comprehend how a team with this much talent can play so badly. Think about it. The DRays are keeping us from the PS. Disgusting.
178. missed the end of the game, what happened?
179. Now just to stick the hot pokers in my eye I have to listen to Suzyn interview the star of the game-Toby Hall. Hey, I'm not in the mood.
180. Cano hit a single, but Jeter hit into a DP to end the game.
181. Pardon my french but I think this team has a lot less practical talent than it has on paper. A lineup that features Sierra, Flaherty and the ghost of Bernie Williams isn't championship caliber in my book. They're gonna need to get pretty damn lucky to get into the post season.
182. Maybe we'd be better off with Bellhorn instead of Cano at 2B.
183. How's this for pain?
Went to the Sox game tonight, watched the Angels blow a chance to take the lead in the top of the 9th (Olerud saved the day, natch), then Ortiz wins it in a walk-off. Get into my car to turn on the Yankee game (reception not bad for 880 up here on clear nights), and immediately Cano makes the error to let the lead runner score.
(By the way, Ortiz' home run would have been out in any park -- it was smoked. Fenway does not help pull-hitting lefties.)
Thanks to you all for being my mutual therapy. Time to go try and sleep ...
184. Wow, my favorite player...Jeter's ended a lot of games this year. The odds of that are pretty small I bet.
185. Schteeve,
Yep and its especially bad against lefties, since Bernie and Jorge can barely get the ball out of the infield these days from the right side of the plate it seems.
186. Worst performance of the year. Fossum should've been KOed in 3. This team just flat-out lacks killer instinct of any kind. Cano should be benched, enough is enough from this guy, maybe he can come back next year and mature a little bit over the off-season. He really hasn't progressed at all, his mental errors are glaring and his patience at the plate has been Soriano-like. The base-running mistakes all game are inexcusable . Sojo really should've been canned months ago to set the tone that those kinds of things can't be tolerated. I agree, this team doesn't deserve to make the playoffs. I want them to, but they don't deserve it, mainly because of these games with the Rays of all teams.
187. I don't think, that is, I hope he isn't consciously trying to achieve this but Joe Torre is close to completing a sort of trifecta that, were it not for the 4 rings, would seriously tempt Steinbrenner to murderous thoughts: losing to the Red Sox in a historically egregious way (swept by them after coming within 3 outs of sweeping them), facilitating the first Red Sox WS championship in 86 years, and, now, probably being kept out of the playoffs by George's favorite whipping boys, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. If his name were not Joe Torre, what would we think of a Yankees manager who managed his way to these achievements in less than a calendar year?
188. We all want these guys to make the postseason. Though I'd like to think that, in the event that they don't, there will be a massive movement to make this team younger, more athletic, and stronger defensively up the middle (conversely, it seems that such teams give the Yankees fits). There are no quick fixes and no Randy Johnsons out there on the FA market this winter.
On the other hand, a first round playoff elimination will most likely spur another idiotic, overvalued off-season acquisition (Paul Konerko or the like) by the Tampa contingent, due to the erroneous thinking that we JUST MISSED another world series.
189. I'll apologize in advance for venting...
Like Alex said several comments up, this game doesn't depress me, it pisses me off. I've never been too irritated by the fact that the Yanks have been having so much trouble with the Devil Rays, because baseball is, after all, baseball, and sometimes fluky things like this happen. Also, the Rays have been playing fairly well since the break, so losing to Tampa is no longer a bad loss, just on the face of it.
The problem, though, is that this would've been an atrocious loss against any team, regardless of the city emblazoned across the fronts of the jerseys.
I turned on the game in the top of the second, and the first thing I saw was the score -- 2-0. The next thing I saw was a wicked slider from Johnson that dove like a rabbit into its hole. At that point, victory seemed likely. Then came the bottom of the second, which saw another long inning produce a third Yankee run. Fossum had already thrown sixty plus pitches, and suddenly victory seemed certain. Honestly, it didn't even occur to me that they'd lose.
But then the game changed, and with each missed opportunity, I felt the screws tightening. First there was Giambi's brain-lock in turning his single into an out, and then Sojo, foolishly sending Bernie home a few batters later. (Torre would later say it was risk you had to take in that situation, to force them to make two perfect throws, but I don't buy it. Not with Bernie as slow as he is now, and not when the play is happening in shallow right center field.) A while later, another opportunity vaporized as Bernie lined into a double play, a bit of bad luck that made me wonder if this game might be unwinnable...
And then came Canó. I can't necessarily get upset about his error, because things like that happen, but the whole thing still pisses the hell out of me, mainly because it's getting harder to convince myself that things are going to turn around. I suppose after 130 games, you are what you are. Randy Johnson is not capable of stringing together four or five straight dominant starts. The bullpen hasn't been bulletproof for four or five years now. There are no longer any automatic wins on the schedule. I know all of this because this is what we've all been struggling through for the past five months.
This team might still make the playoffs. In fact, I won't be surprized if it does, but only because all of the other teams are just as flawed. I just wish I didn't have live and die with this team over the next three weeks.
Now please excuse me while I gouge out my eyes with spoons.