Saturday, May 26, 2007

Clipped

What does the Yankee series win over Boston mean in the big picture? Absolutely nothing if they follow it up with lethargic performances, like last night against the Angels. Tyler Clippard returned from Cloud 9 and pitched like a rookie pitcher, struggling through four innings, but keeping the team in the game. Clippard looked sharp at times, sporting a lively fastball and nice change-up, but he left too many pitches up in the zone and the Angels made him pay for it.
Down 3-2 after four innings, with Clippard only at 76 pitches, Torre inexplicably pulled him. He certainly struggled out there, but Clippard was still holding his own and showing enough that he could keep the Yanks afloat. Plus, does Torre have any better options in the bullpen? The bullpen quickly answered that question. Matt DeSalvo could not find the plate, or the catcher for that matter, and the Luiz Vizcaino disaster continued. Seven runs, only three outs, and what seemed like two hours later, the game was unwatchable and out of reach. I have no doubt Clippard could have done better through six innings. Another case of Torre’s quick hook haunting the Yanks.


…He continues to fly under the radar, no steroid talk, no recognition as the best player in the game, but Vlad Guerrero continues to quietly dominate AL pitching. He punishes the ball every at bat, no cheap hits. One of my favorite road players to watch.




The lineup continued to show signs of life from top to bottom, with Abreu drawing two walks, Cano collecting a pair of hits and 3 RBI, and a few hits from Giambi. In the end, it was another loss when scoring six or more runs. A problem the lineup cannot fix.

The Boston series is long forgotten. Fate turns often in the course of the long baseball season. The key is consistency over a long stretch of games, something that continues to elude the Yanks. They showed signs this week, but need to avoid these clunkers if they want to dig out of this hole.

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