Cano, pen blow late lead

Posted by mobile phone:
I can’t quite decide what exactly about this afternoon’s Yankee loss was so representative of the rest of the season.

Was it Robinson Cano’s terrible play on a double-play ball in the sixth that opened the Toronto flood gates? Was it the sheer inability of the bullpen to hold a lead late at home? Was it Joe Giradi’s repeated bad decisions today? Was it Alex Rodriguez’s ninth inning double play in a situation in which just about anything else would have been better?

While I know everyone wants to blame A-Rod, I’m less inclined to do so. Rather, Cano’s error and then pen’s failure to hold the lead were far more important to the game than anything else. If Cano fields that ball and makes a clean toss to Jeter, the Yanks turn two. But Cano tried to flip it and made a bad feed. The Blue Jays wouldn’t look back.

But Cano didn’t blow this on his own. He had plenty of pitching help. Brian Bruney allowed two of his three inherited runners to score, Damaso Marte couldn’t do the job again,and Edwar Ramirez allowed both of his inherited runners to score. All that added up to a five unanswered Blue Jay runs in the seventh and eighth and a 7-6 Blue Jay win at a time when the Yanks can’t afford to lose.

While we try to let this game fade into memory, we have to question Joe Giradi as well. He left Darrell Rasner, effective for seven innings, in for a seventh inning even after the first batter against him reach. He left Bruney in for a batter too long and removed Jason Giambi from a close game. The more things change…