Red Sox 8, Yankees 5; Hughes, Offense Struggle

Lots to disenchant people with tonight's game.  Hughes, to start with, was lousy.  Again, this is to be expected with young pitchers and, again, this is to be expected with Hughes when he does not locate his fastball.  He looked just ghastly tonight--2 IP (though he pitched to 4 in the 3rd), 6 hits, 7 runs 6 earned, 3 walks and 3 K's on 65 pitches/35 strikes.  Terrible.  In an 8-5 game, his poor start was the difference, no two ways about it, especially when Matsuzaka was not at all good.  Worse, the Yankees again left on a ton of runners--nine in all, six in scoring position--while having only one two-out RBI.  The offense was better, and should continue to improve, but it again failed to plate runners in key situations.  Worse, A-Rod shows signs of regressing to his 2006-style swing, a genuine cause for concern. Plus, Cano continues to look pathetic at the plate.  Spring Training is so far away, people.

The Yankees started the game and the tone in ominous ways tonight.  Damon worked a good walk, stole second before Cano recorded the first of five outs tonight, Abreu worked a four-pitch walk to put Matsuzaka on the ropes, and A-Rod came up, clueless as can be, swung at the first pitch which looked to be a slider down in the strike zone, and grounded into a 5-4-3 DP. Don't tell the arrogant Morgan otherwise, however; according to him, A-Rod hit the ball hard but at someone all night.  Nonsense.  His impatience and inability to recognize the pitch--a sure DP pitch--got just what Matsuzaka wanted as he threw 14 pitches, only five of which were strikes.  In a study in contrasts, the Red Sox plated three in the bottom of the first.  Ellsbury walked, stole second on a poor pitchout, an even poorer throw from Molina, and a horrible attempted catch by Gonzales gave him third.  Pedroia fanned.  Drew walked on four pitches--just as Abreu did in the top of the first--but Ramirez assembled a better, seven-pitch at-bat to score runs. While he too swung at the first pitch, it was a fastball down Broadway that he missed, then worked a 1-2 count to 3-2, and belted a hanging curve for a two-out single, 1-0 Red Sox.  Youkilis hit a sac fly to center, 2-0, and Sean Casey tagged a fastball up for a ground-rule double to right that gave the Yankees a lucky break by keeping Ramirez at third.  A passed ball that was really a cross-up--not the first of the inning or game between Hughes and Molina--gave Ramirez home, 3-0 Red Sox, and Hughes threw 39 pitches in the first.  Poor job, but worth remembering is who knows how many Matsuzaka would have thrown, and how many runs they would have scored, had A-Rod shown some patience.

Though the Yankees failed to threaten in the second, Hughes settled down briefly in the bottom half, fanning Pedroia.  The Yankees finally scored in the third, when Damon walked, stole second, and scored on Abreu's double off the monster, 3-1 Red Sox.  But A-Rod again wilted at the plate, popping out to Casey in foul territory.  Boston blew it open in the bottom of the third, burying the Yankees in a hole that was too deep despite a good comeback.  Hughes walked Drew, allowed a single to Ramirez and another to Youkilis that scored Drew, 4-1 and no outs.  Casey then singled to center, 5-1 still with no outs.  Hughes exited to end his terrible start, and Ohlendorf allowed two inherited runners to score.  Varitek flew out to Matsui in left, Crisp advanced the runners with a ground out to Giambi, a WP scored Youkilis 6-1, Lugo walked and Ellsbury singled to score Casey 7-1. 

Credit where due, the Yankees bounced back right away to make a game of it.  Matsui doubled on a ball that the greatest center fielder Francona has ever seen badly misplayed, Posada fanned, Giambi walked, Molina doubled to score Matsui, 7-2, Gonzales singled in Giambi after a great ten-pitch at-bat, 7-3, Molina failed to score on a wild pitch but scored on a sac fly from Damon that could have made it 7-5 but instead made it 7-4, and Cano ended the rally with a weak uppercut swing pop-out to Lugo.  Still, the Yankees cut the lead in half with more than half the game to play.  Ohlendorf wasn't great but got a bases-loaded DP to Varitek to end the fourth without allowing a run.  The Yankees got two on with two outs in the fifth but Giambi lined out to center to end that threat off a weak and tiring Matsuzaka.  The Yankees got two walks in the sixth, but Cano advanced the runners with a weak ground out, and Abreu flew out to left to again end the threat against a shaky Aardsma. 

Hawkins worked a 1-2-3 seventh, giving some hope for the eighth.  The Yankee closed the gap to 7-5 on a lead-off homer from Giambi to right off Timlin, Molina singled and was taken out for a pinch-runner--more on that later--Melky entered for Gonzales and singled, presumably with the thought that the K machine Betemit would move to short and Posada with the injured shoulder would catch.  First and second, no outs.  What happens?  You guessed it, Damon hits into a 4-4-3 DP, two down and a runner at third.  Not only does he not drive the ball, he hits it right at Pedroia at second.  Melky did a bad job of not obstructing Pedroia or making the DP tougher, but there was little he could effectively do after such a weak ground ball from Damon.  Cano then worked a long at-bat only to ground out on a 4-3.  Lousy baseball, lousy situational hitting yet again, and honestly lousy managing, as we'll see in the bottom of the 8th.

Enter Nuke LaFarnsworth, and also Jorge with his weak shoulder in to catch.  Crisp promptly singled on the first pitch and stole second without a throw, probably with Jorge told not to throw as he entered the game--brilliant move Girardi--Lugo flew out to move Crisp to third, and Ellsbury's sac fly scored him, 8-5, a big insurance run in what had been a tighter game.  Some questions here: how long is Nuke LaFarnsworth going to be on this team, trusted in key situations? Why was Posada, who was held out of the game because of a sore shoulder that prevented him from effectively throwing, inserted into the game when he might be expected to throw? While I like Girardi, why are more people not taking some of his in-game decisions to task?  He's made a few bad calls in less than a week that have directly led to losses.  I've heard a lot of guff from fellow bloggers last year who whined about Torre, complained about his allegedly sleeping during games, and crowed noisily about his bullpen and other decisions.  Some of these same people have sat on their hands as Girardi has made some genuinely poor decisions.  See above post.

The ninth was feeble, with Delcarmen setting down Abreu, A-Rod and Matsui in order.  For those who noticed, A-Rod is giving that same weak, clueless, front-armed lumberjack swing that he did in 2006 when he struggled so badly.  It's not the results that merit the comparison to 2006, it's what he's doing to merit the comparison to 2006.  He's out on his front foot, he's not waiting back, he's lunging, he's not recognizing, he's pressing at the plate, and he's plainly flailing.  It's not a good sign, especially as others struggle in their own special ways. He was 0-5 and has dropped to .260.  Cano is a mess at the plate, going 0-5 and lowering his sub-Mendoza average to .170.  He too is lunging, he's failing to take the ball to left field, he's golfing at balls in the dirt, and he's upper-cutting balls by dropping his back shoulder to produce pop-outs.  Horrible. 

Some positive at the plate.  Molina was 2-4 with a run and an RBI, upping his average to .364.  He's been huge.  Matsui was 1-3 with two BBs and a run, hitting .341, excellent.  Abreu was 1-4 but got his 6th RBI.  Gonzales to me has earned the right to stay, getting another hit, his first RBI to ignite a comeback, and working a walk to hit .385 now. I'd send Betemit packing and recall Duncan.  Jorge was 1-4, Giambi was 1-3 and scored twice, belting his second homer in three games off Timlin.  I'll reserve judgment on Giambi until he hits someone other than Timlin, and raises his average from .107 to at least .207 but, right now, it still doesn't cut it, not for over $20 million.  Damon was 0-1 but walked three times and stole two bases, the first two the team has this year, scoring once.  On offense, this team needs more than Jeter and Posada back healthy.  It needs an enema; it's got a backlog of dung. They force Matsuzaka to throw 116 pitches through five, including working six walks, and only got four runs.  He got off easy, and still doesn't impress me much.  He's not bad, but he's just not that good.

Speaking of which, Hughes was abysmal again. He again failed to locate his fastball, and he and Molina weren't on the same page on a couple cross-ups that hurt the team.   Crucially, Hughes lacks an effective third pitch.  Nice fastball--which he threw repeatedly and not necessarily for strikes--nice curve...then what? Boston is full of smart, patient, and talented hitters.  They can sniff out pitching problems a mile away and, even without Lowell and Ortiz, made Hughes and the Yankees pay.  Not so the other way around. Hughes has good stuff--not great.  His poise and maturity have helped him a lot thus far.  He needs to develop a good third pitch, either a change-up, splitter or slider.  I know he's young, but a big part of struggles stem from his being a two-pitch pitcher.  Ohlendorf wasn't great, especially with his three walks, but used his hard sinker to get a big DP from Varitek, and on the whole kept the Yankees in the game.  So did Hawkins through 2 good innings, throwing only 17 pitches.  How long will the Yankees continue to use Nuke in pressure situations?  Forget it! He's not worth it.  He's a bust.  Ditch him already.

Kennedy (0-1 13.50 ERA) faces Sonnanstine (1-1, 6.00 ERA) tomorrow night in Tampa Bay.  The Yankees need to right the ship and start winning division games again after dropping the series to Boston.  There's far more to analyze, but it's late and I have other work to do.  Maybe tomorrow night, after the two-week mark. It's long past due, guys.  Wake up.

[Edit: Before I forget, shame on the so-called "Fenway Faithful" for the choruses of "Yankees Suck" chants.  I've read insipid defenses of this from people who try to couch such boorish behavior at Fenway in terms that individualize poor behavior, that trivialize rank nonsense and heckling of players such as Posada's son who suffers from craniosynostosis, and pretend that Fenway is such a friendly place to visit for a game.  To think that such chants emanate from the stands with children about, every single game repeatedly, makes me wonder how parents explain this to their kids.  For anyone who knows me and what I've written, I'm critical of this wherever it occurs, including at Yankee Stadium.  In addition to setting a poor example before kids, it sets a poor example of rooting for a team--against one instead of for another.  Be proud, "Fenway Faithful."  Again you've illustrated none of the precious "class" that some of you like to assert doesn't exist at Yankee Stadium.  Pot and kettle for anyone trying to defend such rank behavior.]