Yanks in (more than) a sentence: Yankees 7, Twins 2
1. Sabathia calmed down eventually, but a legit batting order would’ve taken him for 4-5 runs when he was leaving everything up in the zone early. All things considered, he got them into the sixth inning. Given how the bullpen is going nowadays, that’s plenty.
2. The pitchers-hate-throwing-to-Posada thing won’t become an issue against the weak-sister Twins, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an issue. Last night, Posada went to the mound, what, seven times? That’s extraordinary. It doesn’t matter if he’s the passionate, pulsating heart of this team if he can’t communicate with Sabathia and Burnett when it matters most.
3. When A-Rod got the first two-out hit, you could practically feel the tension dissipate in the stadium. He was one or two more at-bats away from inciting a full-out mutiny, complete with pleas for Scott Brosius (career OPS: .744) to come out of retirement.
4. Loud crowd. Bully for us.
5. Girardi seriously over-managed the bullpen. I realize he wanted to get Coke and Joba some work, but this isn’t the time to mess around. Whenever possible, the Yanks should go starter —> Hughes —> Mariano. Anytime some other reliever ends up in the game, the disaster potential multiplies.
OTHER GAMES: Playoff predictions and whatnot here… Holy lord, the umpiring has been inept, esp. in game 1 of Rockies/Phillies… No idea why the Rockies would ever have a righty pitch to Ryan Howard… Cards blew roughly 37 opportunities to blow last night’s game open… The ball sounds different coming off Matt Kemp’s bat than it does off any other player’s…
