Very short note on this series tonight. I’m mad at the Baseball Gods, and I need to sleep.
But in the “Good News” Category, I think the Yanks — and their fans — have much to (painfully) smile at after what could have been a disheartening three-game sweep.
Basically, it comes down to pitching. The Yanks lost one game because Mariano had a meltdown. They lost the other two because Jeff Karstens and Chase Wright pitched. Clearly, that won’t be happening for much longer.
But meanwhile, the Red Sox lined up their rotation to throw Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka, and the outcomes, despite two ridiculous standing ovations by fans that I thought knew better, were less than spectacular. The Red Sox threesome of supposed aces combined for 20.2 innings. They gave up 25 hits and 15 earned runs. That’s an ERA of about 6.50.
The Yankees were playing this series without Jorge Posada for much of the weekend, without Hedeki Matsui for much of the weekend and without Johnny Damon for much of Saturday. I’m not a betting man, but if I were, I would say that the outcomes of at least two of these games are different with a full lineup and Major League starters.
Take heart, Yankee fans. When the Red Sox come into our house next weekend, we’ll have Kei Igawa and Chien-Ming Wang going on Saturday and Sunday, somebody who probably isn’t Chase Wright on Friday night, and a lineup featuring Hideki Matsui as well as Posada and Damon.
With Mussina not far behind, things could look a lot worse after an infuriating three-game sweep. And aren’t you, dear readers, proud of me? I didn’t once mention Joe Torre’s utter inability to handle in-game bullpen decisions or base-running strategies, two things that clearly came back to haunt the Yanks tonight.