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Yankees Waste Rasner's Solid Effort
There were no late-inning heroics Friday night.
Darrell Rasner spilled his guts for eight innings, but Kyle Davies and two relievers stifled the Bomber bats as the Royals trimmed the Yanks 2-1 in the Boogie Down. The Yanks mounted a rally in the eighth, but Jason Giambi was punched out checking his swing on a 3-2 pitch with runners on first and second. It was a horrific call by home plate ump Ed Montague -- I could tell Giambi held up in "real speed" even with my pinstriped heart. Jay Jay argued and Joe Girardi yelled in disbelief, but to no avail.
There's no guarantee the Yanks would have tied the game or taken the lead if Giambi walked in that at-bat (Robinson Cano was up next and he finished with two doubles on the night), but damn you Eddie for not giving the Yanks their chance.
The Good:
Darrell Rasner. The Yanks are going to give Rasner a complex. Rasner worked out of jams in the third and fourth innings, but the Royals broke through with single runs in the fifth and sixth. David DeJesus turned in a nice piece of hitting on his RBI-single in the fifth and Kansas City picked up their second run on a double play. This was probably Rasner's best performance of the season and it went for naught. It's a cryin' shame. Rasner actually lowered his ERA to 2.58 with his effort and still got tagged with the loss. The righty dropped his third straight game, but has given up only six runs in his past 19 1/3 innings (2.83 ERA). Hang in there, Ras. Rasner fell to 3-3 despite this: 8 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K.
The Bad:
Johnny Damon. I've been singing Johnny's praises (it's been easy the way he's been hitting), but I can turn on guys at the drop of a hat. Actually, I'm not turning on him and I could have made a case for anyone in the lineup, but Damon earns my scorn for this night. Johnny D was the only Bomber regular who didn't reach base with either a hit or a walk and also made the final out during three Yankee rallies, such as they were. Damon grounded out with a runner on third in the fifth, fouled out to first with a runner on first in the seventh and grounded to short with a runner on first to end the game. Damon's 14 game-hitting streak also went up in smoke. Hang in there, JD. Damon finished 0 for 5.
The Ugly:
Pow! Right in the ear. Bobby Abreu was having a tough at-bat during the Yanks rotton-luck eighth. Royals lefty Ron Mahay had Bobby reaching and quickly got ahead on the count. Abreu leads with his ass at times and did just that on a 1-2 pitch. He chopped it foul, but the ball somehow caught him on the left ear (the unprotected one). That's not easy to do. But Abreu rallied and eventually stroked a single to left. I wonder if that blow will give his ear extensive cauliflowerering. I guess time will tell.
Andy Pettitte (5-5, 4.21 ERA) will do battle with Brian Bannister (5-6, 4.60 ERA) Saturday afternoon. Bannister picked up a win against the Yanks April 8 in Kansas City and won his last start -- giving up one run in 7 1/3 innings against the Cleveland Indians. Alex Rodriguez is all or nothing in five career at-bats against Bannister. A-Rod has two homers and three strikeouts. Pettitte is 2-0 in his past three starts and is 12-3 with a 3.06 ERA in 20 career appearances against the Royals, including a 6-1 victory on April 10 in KC. Andy used to eat up right-handed hitters, but they are batting a robust .344 against him this year (lefties are batting an anemic .173).
I'll be away for the weekend so no roundups for the next two days. I know this crushes all six of you out there, but make sure to check out Brian's recaps (you should be reading his stuff anyway). I don't know what his plans are this weekend, but I'm sure he'll be watching. In fact, I'm convinced he's cloned himself two, perhaps, three times considering all the crap he does.
Hopefully, the Yanks will be over .500 come Monday.
Darrell Rasner spilled his guts for eight innings, but Kyle Davies and two relievers stifled the Bomber bats as the Royals trimmed the Yanks 2-1 in the Boogie Down. The Yanks mounted a rally in the eighth, but Jason Giambi was punched out checking his swing on a 3-2 pitch with runners on first and second. It was a horrific call by home plate ump Ed Montague -- I could tell Giambi held up in "real speed" even with my pinstriped heart. Jay Jay argued and Joe Girardi yelled in disbelief, but to no avail.
There's no guarantee the Yanks would have tied the game or taken the lead if Giambi walked in that at-bat (Robinson Cano was up next and he finished with two doubles on the night), but damn you Eddie for not giving the Yanks their chance.The Good:
Darrell Rasner. The Yanks are going to give Rasner a complex. Rasner worked out of jams in the third and fourth innings, but the Royals broke through with single runs in the fifth and sixth. David DeJesus turned in a nice piece of hitting on his RBI-single in the fifth and Kansas City picked up their second run on a double play. This was probably Rasner's best performance of the season and it went for naught. It's a cryin' shame. Rasner actually lowered his ERA to 2.58 with his effort and still got tagged with the loss. The righty dropped his third straight game, but has given up only six runs in his past 19 1/3 innings (2.83 ERA). Hang in there, Ras. Rasner fell to 3-3 despite this: 8 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K.
The Bad:
Johnny Damon. I've been singing Johnny's praises (it's been easy the way he's been hitting), but I can turn on guys at the drop of a hat. Actually, I'm not turning on him and I could have made a case for anyone in the lineup, but Damon earns my scorn for this night. Johnny D was the only Bomber regular who didn't reach base with either a hit or a walk and also made the final out during three Yankee rallies, such as they were. Damon grounded out with a runner on third in the fifth, fouled out to first with a runner on first in the seventh and grounded to short with a runner on first to end the game. Damon's 14 game-hitting streak also went up in smoke. Hang in there, JD. Damon finished 0 for 5.
The Ugly:
Pow! Right in the ear. Bobby Abreu was having a tough at-bat during the Yanks rotton-luck eighth. Royals lefty Ron Mahay had Bobby reaching and quickly got ahead on the count. Abreu leads with his ass at times and did just that on a 1-2 pitch. He chopped it foul, but the ball somehow caught him on the left ear (the unprotected one). That's not easy to do. But Abreu rallied and eventually stroked a single to left. I wonder if that blow will give his ear extensive cauliflowerering. I guess time will tell.
Andy Pettitte (5-5, 4.21 ERA) will do battle with Brian Bannister (5-6, 4.60 ERA) Saturday afternoon. Bannister picked up a win against the Yanks April 8 in Kansas City and won his last start -- giving up one run in 7 1/3 innings against the Cleveland Indians. Alex Rodriguez is all or nothing in five career at-bats against Bannister. A-Rod has two homers and three strikeouts. Pettitte is 2-0 in his past three starts and is 12-3 with a 3.06 ERA in 20 career appearances against the Royals, including a 6-1 victory on April 10 in KC. Andy used to eat up right-handed hitters, but they are batting a robust .344 against him this year (lefties are batting an anemic .173).
I'll be away for the weekend so no roundups for the next two days. I know this crushes all six of you out there, but make sure to check out Brian's recaps (you should be reading his stuff anyway). I don't know what his plans are this weekend, but I'm sure he'll be watching. In fact, I'm convinced he's cloned himself two, perhaps, three times considering all the crap he does.
Hopefully, the Yanks will be over .500 come Monday.
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