I must admit

I stopped watching last night's game in the 5th inning (when Tampa scored 4 off Andy). The offense looked inept, the pitching was declining as the game progressed; in other words, it was both exhausting and painful.

- However, there's good news today, as JB Cox was promoted to Triple-A Scranton and Mark Melancon was promoted to Double-A Trenton. I'll be attending tonight's Thunder game (as Dan McCutchen is starting), and with any luck I'll also get to see Melancon. If they both continue their early season success, Joba will be moving to the rotation soon to make room for one (or both) of them in the Bronx bullpen.

- Goose Gossage really needs to shut up. Unfortunately, he's (much like Hank) an instant quote, so whenever a media member wants something interesting, they know where to go.

Foul balls, rainouts and bad pitchers

Attended today's Wilmington Blue Rocks game (High-A affiliate of Kansas City) and (drum-roll please)... caught my first ever foul ball! Well, not exactly 'caught' - it more bounced and rolled right to me. We were sitting behind the first base dugout and a liner careened into my row, rolling toward me - I reached down and snagged it before it could get away. I was proud of my prize and I held it high for all to see.

Anyway, the Yanks were rained out which is a blessing in disguise: they can now push Kei Igawa back to Friday, when another pitcher could potentially take his spot. when his turn comes up on Friday. The other options are Ian Kennedy and Steven White, both of whom I would prefer to see take the mound.

Moose and the pen

Moose for five, the pen for four. An equation that worked well yesterday afternoon. Mussina was cruising through four (giving up just one hit), but it fell apart in the 5th, when he surrendered three runs (and the lead).

Fortunately, the Yanks found their power stroke and finally started hitting the way they're capable of. (Always make me think 'At Harvard, we don't end our sentences with prepositions.') Damon, Betemit and Giambi homered, Cano doubled and homered and Matsui had two hits.

Ross Ohlendorf is proving his worth, giving the team another multi-inning stint (2 ip, 1 h, 0 r, 0 bb, 1 k). Joba bounced back from his worth outing ever with a perfect, 1 k, fist-pumping inning. Rivera gave up a hit (!), but proceeded to shut the door. Even the hit was on a perfectly placed 0-2 cutter that the hitter took the other way.

The $46-million-man goes tonight against an offense that might literally kill him.

Cliff Lee?

I just don't get it. How is he getting by? Guys like Burnett, Sabathia, Beckett, Santana, Felix I understand. They have plus-plus fastballs and plus-plus offspeed pitches. Lee has an 88-92 mph fastball, a good curve and decent slider (and passable changeup) - he does have plus command, but still! Does being a lefty add that much? What the hell is so difficult about hitting him? His delivery is not particularly deceptive. He's not very tall (6'3"), and has a career ERA+ of just 98! They've faced much better pitchers in the past, future Hall of Famers in fact, and Lee made them look silly tonight...

Against southpaws, you really see how sorely the Yanks miss Arod and Posada, their best right-handed power threats.

Off days are strange

It feels like the Yanks haven't played in a month. In their past six games, they've swept and been swept. They faced three medicore Detroit pitchers (Rogers, Bonderman, Robertson), and were swept; yet when they faced two excellent Seattle pitchers (Bedard, Felix) and one mediocre pitcher (Silva), they did the sweeping. Baseball's a funny game.

Hopefully Andy can rebound from a poor start against Cleveland, the team that beat him up last time.

- Elsewhere, Phil Hughes has (again) had to explain his 'drop' in velocity. It's not really a drop at all. To paraphrase, he generally tops out at 94 in a game, but it's mostly below that. "I maybe touched 95 three times the whole year," he said. His command went awry sometime in April - that was his biggest problem. If he can get it back to his norm, he'll be fine.

- Ian Kennedy is starting tonight for Triple-A Scranton. Hopefully he too will iron out his command (he's had more walks than Ks this year).

Who else?

Chien Ming-Wang produced another gem, stopping the Yanks three-game skid. It's kind of sad that he's the only reliable starter right now. He might be the frontrunner for the Cy Young (not that it matters much in early May): 6-0, 3.00 era, 1.13 whip, 32 k, 13 bb, 1 HR.

The batters didn't help much, scratching across three runs in the first seven innings (with the Yanks only extra-base hit by Melky), until the 8th when they tacked on two more.

The pen though came through again with three shutout innings: Farnsy to Joba to Mo - 3 ip, 1 h, 0 r, 0 bb, 3 k.


- Elsewhere, Phil Hughes, already on the 15-day DL, found out he needs eye-glasses. He also thinks a mechanical flaw led to his fractured rib. Hopefully fixing both will improve his pitching (I'm really hoping). He probably won't be back in the Bronx until July.

Money talks

Especially to morons.