With the Yankees game being postponed tonight, here is a look at the rotation the next couple of days:
Thursday vs TOR, Hughes
Friday vs BOS, Pettitte
Saturday vs BOS, Igawa/Karstens
Sunday vs BOS, Wang

Also, with the Yankees off tonight, and the luxury of the MLB package, I had a chance to watch the Atlanta/Florida game. The Braves led 3-0 the entire game (from the 2nd on) until the bottom of the ninth. Bobby Cox left Tim Hudson in and after a single in the ninth he let him stay in. After another single in the ninth, Hudson still in. Another single, still in. So, after Hudson loaded the bases with no outs, Cox brought Wickman in, who gave up a double, got a strikeout, gave up a single, and then threw a wild pitch that ended the game. Good managerial skills by Bobby Cox bringing the closer in with the bases loaded and no outs rather than a clean slate in the ninth. Bobby Cox deserved to lose the game after those decisions.

If Luis Vizcaino and Mke Myers did their job then Joe Torre would have been a genius. However, that is not the case and the Yankees fall to 8-11, dropping five straight. Only five days ago, the Bombers were about to play Boston for the first time, were 8-6, and had swept the Indians, the last game coming from behind down four runs with two outs in the ninth.

But here we are, 8-11, last place in the East, chasing not the Red Sox, but hte Blue Jays, Orioles, and Devil Rays as well, with a pitching staff that starts and ends with Andy Pettitte. The Bombers have a two-game set with Toronto and then Boston comes to the Bronx for a weekend rematch.

I know I have said befoe that the Yankees need to win this game, and need to sweep this team, and I have said it loosely, hoping they would, but not putting all my chips in the pot. However, it is April 25th, and most people will say don’t worry or panic, however if you don’t play with urgency in this division, in this league, you will find yourself on the outside looking in when October comes.

It is nice to know that today is Andy Pettitte’s turn on the mound, the one arm that has been reliable both starting and relieving, and who Mo has stolen two wins from. Philip Hughes (#65) will be in the Stadium tomorrow night and face the Jays, getting his feet wet in the league, and we are all hoping that he is dominant enough to remain wearing pinstripes, and not hearing about the diaster that the staff is all the way from Pennsylvania.

It’s Pettitte against A.J. (Mr. Inconsistent) Burnett and the Blue Jays who are coming off of a two-game sweep at Fenway, the same place where the Yankees faced a sweep, in reverse style. The Bombers need this one. They need need tomorrow’s and they need two out of the three this weekend against Boston to start showing the league this past week has been just a fluke, and they are the scariest team to face in major league baseball.

I am tired of reading ESPN.com and hearing Bill Simmons tell the world the Yankees are losing invincibility, I am tired of him getting his facts wrong (saying that Torre used Pettitte in a panic move, rather than knowing it was Pettitte’s bullpen day), and I am tired of Red Sox Nation being proud of mediocrity (three standing ovations to Sox starters who gave up five runs each), and I am tired of starting off the season playing catchup.

Winning needs to start today. I’m glad it starts with Andy.

The Yankees are averaging 6.4 runs per game, 18 games into the season, and only have eight wins to show for it. That number hasn’t changed since Cleveland was in town.
Last night was another great example of what the Yankees are capable of if they had even somewhat decent pitching from their starters (not named Andy Pettitte). Kei Igawa was horrible and this time it cost the Yankees a much needed win against the Devil Rays and the then the bullpen that people were worried about being overworked for September is already tired and their fatigue was displayed last night.

I don’t think it is even important to talk about the game last night besides the fact that A-Rod is finally A-Rod and then some. But, Joe Girardi did make a good point on YES last night when Michael Kay reported that the Red Sox also lost. Girardi said that it is April and not important to worry about the Red Sox, but that good teams try to win each series and that is how they are successful. So, if you look at the Yankees to this point in the season in the few series that they have played. Here is what it looks like:

1-1 vs TB (Tie)
1-2 vs BAL (Loss)
2-1 vs MIN (Win)
1-2 vs OAK (Loss)
3-0 vs CLE (Win)
0-3 vs BOS (Loss)
0-1 vs TB

The Yankees are currently 2-3-1 in their series to this point and now this two-game series in Tampa Bay can only get them a tie if Wang can win tonight.

Basically what it comes down to is the fact that the Yankees need to go back to their old formula, the one that gets team in the playoffs. Beat up on the teams you are suppose to beat up on, and then play .500 ball against the true competition. If the Yankees had followed this method to date, they would atop the AL East, but instead they are chasing. Let’s hope it changes tonight.

0-3.  A horrible weekend even worse, the Yankees have dipped below .500 once again (8-9) and are four games back of Boston.  There are still 145 games left in the season, so it is not like the Yankees are out of the race, but to go Tampa and pull a sweep Tuesday and Wednesday, then do the samr thing to Toronto on Wednesday and Thursday, getting back on track before Boston comes to town.

Like, I talked about the other day. the Red Sox starting three are not scary in the least bit, and all had their worst starts of the season (well, Schilling was worse on Opening Day at Kansas City), but between Schilling, Beckett, and Matsuzaka, all three could have easily gotten the loss in their respected games, and their combined line was:

20.2 IP, 25 H, 16 R, 15 ER, 4 BB, 19 K, 1 HR

Not exactly what Boston was looking for, but Schilling got off the hook for a loss, and Beckett and Dice-K both got a W, even though they were awful.  Standing ovations were given to their starters as well, Boston praising mediocrity once again.

Last night I was at the game three rows off the field from the Boston on deck circle.  I was able to get a good view of Daisuke’s movement when right handed batters were up.  Last time I saw him against Felix Hernandez was on the other side of the field, but Matsuzaka’s stuff isn’t special.  Sure, he beat up on the Royals, but since then has had his trouble and last night was no different as he got tapped for five runs.  The Yankees saved $103 million.

Tonight Kei Igawa will try to turn this three-game losing streak around as he faces Casey Fossum tonight Tampa Bay.

Unbelieveable weather in Boston today as the temperature is just right and very similar to yesterday’s weather.

Chase Wright (1-0, 5.40) will make his second major league start tonight against Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-2, 2.70) at Fenway Park as the Yankees try to salvage this three-game series with a win.

The Bombers have gotten to the Red Sox starters as they have scored ten runs against them in 13.2 innings to this point, and will look to add to that as Dice-K takes the mound tonight.

Hopefully Wright can hang around with Matsuzaka until about at least the sixth.  He does not need to outpitch the Japanese righty, but he does need to give the bullpen a break and give the Yankees some sort of chance to win the game.

I will be heading down to Fenway around 5 for the game for my second look at Matsuzaka, hopefully this time he gets the loss like last time against Felix Hernandez.

Johnny Damon will be in the lineup for the Yankees tonight, but Jorge Posada will not.

So, I wanted to post this after today’s game since last night I was in such a bad mood over the collapse that I was in no way about to report on Mo’s latest blown save.  However down 0-2 in the series against the Red Sox has brought some good things out of the series even though they haven’t won a game yet.

But first, you can’t really be that mad about today’s 7-5 loss.  Jeff Karstens was making his first MLB start since the end of 2006 season, and he is fresh off the DL.  It is hard enough to be on with all your pitches in your first start back, let alone against the Red Sox in Boston.  On that note, here are some positive to look at:

First, the Red Sox are suppose to have the ultimate pitching staff and their "Top 3" are said by the media to be the most feared in all the game.  Well, they have given up ten runs in the 13.2 IP that Schilling and Beckett have thrown in the past two days.

Alex Rodriguez has extended his amazing beginning to this season and has come through in clutch situations even in Fenway and what he is doing is just flat out unbelieveable. 

Joe Torre now knows that maybe Vizcaino isn’t who he thought he was, I understand it is early, but he isn’t throwing strikes right now at all, and no first pitch strikes for that matter.

Andy Pettitte is pitching extremely well.  He is 1-0 with a 1.85 ERA, but should be 3-0 if Mariano had not blown two saves, both while Andy had a W in hand.  Pettitte’s start have come against Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Oakland, and Boston, three of the four teams have a chance of making the playoffs this year and he has only allowed 5 ER in 24.1 IP.

Brian Bruney is pitching well as well, and maybe it is time for him to get the nod in the eighth.  Might as well give him a shot and if he blows it start a square one (Farnsworth) again.  Can’t hurt to try.

Even with all these things said the Yankees are 8-8, the Red Sox are 11-5.  Obviously the Yankees are three games back in the standings, but it is April 21st.  Should they be worried?  Not at all.  Think about this…the Yankees are without Matsui, Posada, Wang, Mussina, and Pavano at the moment and are still playing fine. 

The Red Sox lineup is not comparable to the Yankees and doesn’t stack up as well as seen the past two games, and once the Yankees have a starting rotation again finally, they should have no problems.  The Bombers should have won the game last night, but should of, could of, would of, they didn’t and it is time to look at Sunday night’s game. 

The Yankees might be three games back right now, but you can bet they won’t be soon enough.

New York Yankees
Johnny Damon CF
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jason Giambi DH
Jorge Posada C
Robinson Cano 2B
Melky Cabrera LF
Doug Mientkiwicz 1B
Andy Pettitte SP

Boston Red Sox
Julio Lugo SS
Kevin Youkilis 1B
David Ortiz DH
Manny Ramirez LF
J.D. Drew RF
Mike Lowell 3B
Jason Varitek C
Coco Crisp CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Curt Schilling SP

Bob Ryan (Boston Globe) is on TV laughing about the state of the Yankees to this point.  Well, the Yankees basically don’t have a starting rotation and are 1 GAME out of first place from the Boston Red Sox who are 100% healthy.

The Yankees play Boston in a three game series tonight, Saturday, and Sunday.  The Red Sox are currently in first in the AL East, but that can all change this weekend.

I spoke with the Boston Red Sox bloggers from Yanks Fan vs Sox Fan, and got their take on the Red Sox this season, and what to expect.

NK:  The Yankees (8-6) come into Fenway Park one game behind the Red Sox
(9-5) in the AL East standings, but the Yankees have been able to
achieve that record without a set starting rotation.  Should the Red
Sox be worried once the Yankees get Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Mussina
back?

YFSF:  The Red Sox should be worried about the Yankees right now.  The Bomber offense is extraordinarily powerful, and adapt at eating into bullpens, where opposition is weak.  The travails of the starting pitch are probably exaggerated by the bad first week.  As you note, Brian Cashman has done a good job of stocking the minors with arms ready to fill in at adequate replacement level.  Plus, there’s Philip Hughes.

NK:  Manny Ramirez hit his first home run of the season on
Thursday against Toronto, but it seems like every year Manny starts off
slow and then all of a sudden is hitting two homers a day for a week.
Should Manny’s power slump this season scare Red Sox Nation, or is it
the same old Manny?

YFSF:  There is absolutely no reason to worry about Manny.  The "slump" will end up as statistical noise over the course of the season.

NK:  Coco Crisp is once again struggling at the
plate and has yet to really win over the fans in Boston and put
together his offense like he once had in Cleveland.  Is it smart for
Francona to stick with Coco or is it time to move on and make a switch
in center?

YFSF:  Coco may be disappointing Sox fans (to the glee of Yankee rooters), but right now he’s the best option the Sox have in CF.  Wily Mo Pena is best off as a bench player.  It’s too early to sour on players.

NK:  Joel Pineiro was quoted saying “I can’t wait to get
out there. I can’t wait to go out there and beat
up on the Yankees. … The fans in Boston, they want us to rip their
heads off.”  Is Joel out of line since he has a limited role with
Boston and the chance of him getting into a serious situation this
weekend is slim to none?

YFSF:  We’re thrilled when a player on either team gets excited about the rivalry as us fans.  I can’t complain about that.  Also worth noting that Pineiro has handled A-Rod better than any pitcher in baseball over the course of his career.

NK:  Mike
Timlin has had his ups and downs before, but was able to get a key
double play ball hit right back to him against Toronto on Thursday.
Timlin is the setup man of choice as of now, but do you see Donnelly or
anyone else taking over that role as the season goes on?

YFSF:  I suspect the Sox bullpen is going to be in a continual process of evolution over the course of the year, as Tito retires to ride the hot hand, give everyone work, and not push his staff into the ground.  The good news is that Papelbon is there as an anchor, and it looks like the team is going to be creative in how he’s deployed.

Well, ever since I cataloged the first few at bats of the season for A-Rod he has turned it up in a big way.  With his walk off home run on Thursday, Alex now has 10 homers and 26 RBI on the season along with one of the league’s best batting averages (a triple crown in the making).  His center field shot today off of Joe Borowski was a an absolute bomb and gave the Yankees an 8-6 win, coming back down 6-2 with 2 outs in the bottom of ninth and no one on.  What a game.

However, the Yankees are now in Boston for a three-game series where they last were for the Boston Massacre 2006 back in August of last year when the Bombers took five in a row from the Red Sox.  This weekend should be a little different since the Red Sox team has changed dramatically (RF, SS, 2B) while the Yankees have virtually the same team (Phelps and Mientkiewicz).  Doug Mientkiewicz returns to Fenway Park where he was a member of the 2004 Boston team.

Andy Pettitte, Jeff Karstens, and Chase Wright will start for the Yankees this weekend against Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.  Should be one great weekend of baseball.

I will be at the game Sunday night for Wright vs Matsuzaka and will get my second look at the Japanese right hander this season (saw him against Felix Hernandez for Hernandez’s one-hitter), so I should be able to get a better look at exactly his whole routine and pitches, and I will be sure to put them up on here.

Also, Yankees/Red Sox series preview to come tomorrow with some help from the writers of Yanks Fan vs Sox Fan.

In the meantime, check out Empire vs Nation, a new site dedicated to the greatest rivalry in sports.

Chase Wright only threw one first pitch strike (to Grady Sizemore) to start the game, but got squeezed big time on a full count to Sizemore as an outside corner pitch was called a ball.  Posada went to throw it down to third for a toss around the horn, but Sizemore got first and later scored.

Walk
Walk
Ground out
Ground out
Line out

Mid 1st
CLE 1, NYY 0