On a very similar piece to April 18, 2008, I wrote that the “Yankees lose first game to Baltimore, fall back to .500.” Can you remember how that one felt? Well, this one is worse. Everything went from going very well, to going very bad in a matter of one out. In the 5th inning, Pettitte entered just cruisin’-a-long (although a little rocky at times), and he was sawing through the order, per usual, and then two outs…BAM! I can’t explain it, it is “baseball.”
mlb.com : “I fought with myself the whole game,” Pettitte said. “I battled my command and really never felt like I got in a real good rhythm. With two outs, I had a hard time getting guys out. They really made me work extremely hard and really wore me down pretty good.”
Pettitte did well into the 5th inning, when he found himself out of gas. Two outs were recorded in usual Andy Pettitte fashion, and then the wheels came off. He allowed two singles, and then a 3 run shot to Peralta. Next up, Gutierrez, who followed with a harder bomb. Back-to-back style. That was all it took to relinquish the 3-1 lead they had going into this mess, and created a 3-5 deficit.
The offense came from Giambi today, as he enjoyed another 2 home run day. Giambi has had a lot going for him lately, and I like to think that his stock is rising in a Yankees uniform. He is doing a lot of the little stuff that doesn’t necessarily show up in a “stats” column, or the box scores. He has been taking a lot of pitches, moving runners around, and even though he has been doing that, he saw his ERA jump to a .186. Don’t worry Jason, I got your back. It’s the intangibles that wins big games at this level, not numbers, I mean who needs numbers, right?
The Yankees lose this one 4-6, and look forward to the 3 remaining games in this 4 game series. The Yankees are sitting right at .500, with a record of 12-12.
