CC and Andy Go Down...Are the Yanks Out?

Within a matter of hours, the Bombers lost both their lefty ace (Sabathia) and their other lefty ace (Pettitte) to injuries.  Are the pinstripes' division-title dreams now in jeopardy?

Just when fans thought that everything was hunky-dory in Yankee Universe, just as they were cranking back the levers on their La-Z-Boys and putting their feet up on their coffee tables, the Baseball Gods administered a sudden and painful shock to the team's starting staff.   Two key southpaws gone within a matter of hours.  When did Wednesdays become so cruel?

Let's travel back to around 11 a.m. Wednesday morning and take a look at the mid-season forecast.  At that point, it was clear skies and smooth sailing for the Yankees' clipper (if you'll allow) on the gentle waves of the 2012 season.  New York owned a 45-28 record, good for a 4-game lead in the AL East.  They were winners in 14 of their last 17 contests, and had put up an MLB-best 24-7 spot since May 22nd (thanks ESPN Research Department for that one).  It was gravy baby, all gravy.

Hours after southpaw ace C.C. Sabathia was placed
on the 15-day DL, Andy Pettitte left Wednesday's game
after a ground ball fractured his left fibula.

Then at about 11:30 a.m., some storm clouds materialized on the doppler radar (yes I am going to continue with this metaphor), as word broke that C.C. Sabathia and his tender groin (...phrasing?) were heading to the 15-day DL.  Certainly not great news, but not devastating injury and therefore not a devastating blow to the franchise.  The seas had roughened but the ship veered little from the course.

Fast-forward to 2:20 p.m.  In the middle of the Yankee Stadium diamond, Andy Pettitte took a sign, kicked, fired, and received a hard ground ball off the left ankle in return.  It was painful to watch.  Andy left the game on the next pitch and, sure enough, x-rays would later reveal a broken fibula.  The Dandy One is placed on the 60-day DL, meaning two months without his dandy antics or his dandy cutter.

Cue the scattered clouds becoming a full on maelstrom and the vessel buckling in the rocky tide.  Cue the feet flying off the coffee and the bodies bolting upright in alarm from their recliners.  Cue the first disturbing twinges of that feeling reporters and analysts love to toss around carelessly in the sports media world: PANIC.

But what if we resisted that convenient urge to panic for say, five minutes?  What if instead we step back, take a deep breath, and share an honest glance at this together before we let ourselves into a state of apoplexy, deal?

Adam Warren will make his major-league
debut for the pinstripes on Friday, replacing
the injured C.C. Sabathia.

For starters, the timing of the injuries is a big positive, especially in Sabathia's case.  Thanks to the upcoming All-Star break, it's likely CC will only miss 2 or 3 starts, assuming there's no setbacks.  My guess is that it's a very light injury, one that management is treating with excessive caution because the timing allows them the luxury of doing so.  Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.  Unfortunately, Andy is going to miss several starts, even with the All-Star weekend. No getting around that.

Recall however that Yankees have one of the better--if not best--bullpens in the business. Actually, it's the strongest aspect of their team. If starters Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes, and Hideki Kuroda can "step up" (in the words of manager Joe Girardi) and provide innings over the next few weeks, it will keep the relievers fresh. That reserve of energy could prove big in moments where the pen may need to help out old man Freddie Garcia and/or any minor-league fill-ins, such as Friday's probable Adam Warren.

Speaking of Warren, who is this dude and what has he done to earn the tryout? A quick scroll through his milb.com stats tells us that he has an 11-13 record and a 3.70 ERA in 42 starts with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre...which is to say they tells us nothing. One anonymous talent evaluator claims that Warren "will not overpower hitters with a fastball that rarely strays out of the mid-90s" (thanks nj.com), and a scouting report from 2010 had him throwing a four-seamer, two-seamer, cutter, change, and slider, with a nasty pick-off move to go with it (courtesy riveraveblues.com for that one). Good to see he has variety of movement on the hard stuff, but can he locate? We'll know soon enough.

Any other farm options for the Yankees?  Ramon Ortiz (having the best season) is aging, Delin Betances (having the worst season) has allowed almost a walk per inning, David Phelps (latest victim: see here) is rehabbing his wing, and Manny Banuelos (remember him?) is on the DL and has hardly pitched at all this year.

Personally, I'd rather see them give both Warren and fellow Scrantoner D.J. Mitchell a shot than watch them run old man Freddie out there again (even despite Mitchell's discouraging numbers). Hell, let Boone Logan have a crack at it and see if he can't get through five, like they did in the past with Phil Coke.

But no, they won't do that. They'll live and die with Garcia and when Warren fails to throw a perfect game in his first couple major-league outings, they'll make an early-August play for Francisco Liriano or Brandon McCarthy or the like. The Yankee farm system is currently so thin at pitcher one can hardly blame the front office for seeking outside help.

In the meantime, New York's offensive fixation with the longball will win them some games, even some series, and may mitigate this horrible Wednesday hangover. Be warned though: when all you do as a team is swing for the fences, you're bound to run into some vicious team slumps. We've seen it already in 2012 and we'll see it again. That's when they'll need to rely on the rotation and the bullpen to plug the leak in the vessel. The clipper is going to take on water; the key is to shovel it out as fast or faster than it funnels in (aka stay at or over .500 baseball...for those of you who've lost interest in the metaphor which I suspect is everybody).

The forecast has indeed become stormy, but it's nothing that isn't normal this time of year.  No need to call in the coast guard just yet.  But keep a watchful eye on the horizon Yankee Universe.  It's a long way to that postseason shoreline.

Sure, Sabathia's 'W' Over the Sox Was Gutsy, Courageous, Crucial, and Ameliorating, BUT...

...Why Yankee Universe Should Celebrate with Cautious Optimism and What Carsten Charles Needs to Do If He Wants to Beat Boston in October

YES Network commentator Ken Singleton probably summed up C.C. Sabathia's victory over the Red Sox most aptly last night when he noted that the southpaw had "definitely earned this one."

And even that might be an understatement.

The 290-lbs. Yankee ace has been known to perspire rather profusely when on the bump, but Sabathia pushed the term "sweating buckets" to its literal limits Tuesday evening. In six innings of work, C.C. threw a season-high 128 pitches (tied for second-most in his career), while enduring 30 batters, 10 hits, and 2 runs en route to his 18th win of the year. And keep in mind that this was a Yankee-Red Sox game, meaning each plate appearance lasted approximately half an hour.

By the time he recorded his 18th out, the man looked like he had spent five days in a sauna in the attic of a greenhouse in a submarine that was submerged in the river Styx.

Hyperbole? Never that.

Not only did C.C. sweat this one out in the physical sense, but in the metaphorical as well. The Sox had a runner(s) on base in all 6 innings, had a runner(s) in scoring position in 4 of the 6, loaded the bases in the 2nd, left 10 runners on base total, and forced the lefty to throw 78 of those 128 pitches from the stretch. Boston bent him and bent him and bent him, but the big man refused to break.

For the Yankees and their fans, this crack-but-don't-crumble narrative was a pleasant departure from the crack-then-crumble-in-miserable-fashion sequence they had come to expect when Sabathia toed the rubber against the Sox. Entering Tuesday, C.C. was a horrid 0-4 with a 7.20 ERA in four starts vs. Boston. Ouch.

A feared and formidable foe against the rest of the league
in 2011, Sabathia had looked mentally and emotionally
overwhelmed by a relentless Red Sox entering Tuesday

And here's what hurt even more than the ugly stats if you're pro-pinstripes: Boston was IN HIS HEAD. They had psyched out the Yankees' best pitcher. The man looked unsinkable against everyone else in the league, but as soon as he saw that old-English style 'B' and the matching red lettering on the caps and jerseys of the opposing team, that same man capsized harder than the Lusitania (too soon?).

Simply put, Sabathia looked scared of the franchise nemesis. It was in his body language on the mound. It was in the lack of confidence behind his pitches. It was in his fear of coming anywhere near the plate against even the weaker hitters in the Sox lineup.  In fact, you could argue that Boston jarred his mental skeleton so badly in his previous outing (6 IP, 9 H, 7 ER) that it carried over into his next three starts, all of which were subpar by the his standards.

So that brings us to the essential question (and inevitable follow-ups) posed by this article: how encouraged should Yankee Universe be by what they saw in Fenway last night from C.C. Sabathia?  Was this a C.C. that showcased a better attitude, approach, and plan against the Sox, or was Boston just having an off day?  Did we see relative continuity or a clear change?  Was it luck?  Was it courage?  Some other vague adjective?

To begin, I'll have to reference the obvious and the trite for a moment: it's a win.  A huge win.  It was a huge team win for a number of reasons (bounce-back from some bad losses, tone-setter for the rest of an important series, AL East standings implications, and so-on, and so-on).

It was also a huge individual win if nothing else for the fact that it was a win.  Just the sight a '1' on the left side of those '4' losses on the stat sheet was most likely a significant psychological boost.  It's a jolt of momentum in his favor.  It's positive energy he can build off of for the next time they meet, whether that's in late September or late October.  It's video that he can look back to and say, 'Okay, this is what worked when I beat these guys, this is what didn't.'

So from a mental and emotional standpoint, it's a definite sigh of relief.  Thus, the Yankee organization/fan base should feel free to bask in this moment of exhalation right along with him.  Go ahead y'all.  In through the nose, out through the mouth.

Enjoy that?  Good, because here comes the however...

HOWEVER, let's keep in mind that Sabathia labored heavily (128 pitches/buckets of sweat) just to get through six innings yesterday.  In addition, there were plenty of hard hit balls off Boston bats that happened to find Yankee leather, and if Adrian Gonzalez didn't have such a gaping blind spot for Sabathia's slider, things might not have worked out in #52's favor.

Now, while his pitch execution certainly played a role in all of that, I think that it was the pitch selection and his overall approach that led him to struggle as much as he did, despite avoiding the big blow.  So although Sabathia's future attitude and pitch execution against the Red Sox may very well improve thanks to this latest pick-me-up victory, I am not convinced that Sabathia's overall strategy showed marked improvement from his previous starts.  To specify, I noticed three things that I believe Sabathia will have to do if he wants to survive the Sox come playoff time.

1) Dude, where is your change-up? The change-up, the change-up, the change-up. I can't say it enough. It's such a key pitch against any team, but especially when facing a killer offense like that of the Sox.  I might be wrong (and according to Tyler Kepner of the Boston Globe, I am--see paragraph #5), but I'm pretty sure C.C. didn't throw a single change-up last night.  It is the culmination of a disturbing trend in which Sabathia (or whoever is calling his pitches) has upped his slider usage while steadily dropping the dosage on his change-up.  I don't know what doctor wrote you that prescription, but that guy's a quack for sure.

C.C. Sabathia's changeup, a staple of his arsenal earlier
in the season has all but disappeared in recent outings

The absence of that devastating fourth pitch gives opponents a massive advantage for many reasons.  For one, it's one less thing to worry about at the dish, one less thing to clutter the batter's mind.  Sabathia's success is stems primarily from his wide array of pitches, and his ability to mix them, work off of them, and throw all of them for strikes.  It keeps hitters guessing, and second-guessing, and third-guessing themselves, because you know that at any given time, you could see any one of those pitches.

In other words, Sabathia's deadly and varied arsenal disrupts the batter's timing and their comfort-level in the box.  The change-up bolsters the arm-action of the fastball which plays off the depth of the slider which complements the velocity of the curveball.  It's a symbiotic relationship, and when you take the changeup out of the equation, you weaken that balance exponentially and allow the hitter to get that much more comfortable.

One last comment on the change-up or lack thereof...think of this from the lens of the hitter.  When C.C. is on and using all his pitches, the thought is this:  If you see white (cowhide) out of the hand and violent arm-action, it's EITHER a fastball OR a change-up.  If you see a spinning red eye out of the hand (seams), it's a breaking ball.  But if you know that C.C. is not using the change-up, you can simplify your pitch-tracking process into cowhide=fastball, seams=breaking ball.  Much, much easier.

I don't know why the change-up has disappeared from Sabathia's repertoire so rapidly.  Could it possibly be motivated by a handful of bad results? (Kelly Shoppach's homer on 8/13 comes to mind.)  Regardless of the cause, I do know that if C.C. doesn't return to it, and return to it soon, he's going to be hard pressed to beat Boston in the playoffs.

2) You must pitch inside.  Again, this applies to facing any team but especially the Sox.  Boston, maybe more than any other team in the league, loves to hang out over the plate and sit on your junk pitches, waiting to pounce on them.  Kevin Gregg recognized this and delivered the appropriate message to Ortiz in the form of three fastballs inside to David Ortiz (sparking one of the greatest SOT calls by any NESN announcer ever).

I'm not saying that C.C. should go to the lengths that Mr. Gregg did.  Then again, maybe sending a message with a high-hard one earlier in the season when he was getting shellacked wouldn't have been the worst thing.  Regardless, what I'm talking about fall under the category of pitching 101.  You throw inside to open up the other half of the plate.  You don't need to put a guy on his back.  Just fling a fastball on the inner half towards the hip/hands every now and again to let the hitters know that it's YOUR plate and you're just letting them borrow it.  Now instead of hanging out over the dish and sitting on your junk, the hitters have that nasty little memory of the 96-mph fastball that nearly clipped their pelvic bone to deter them.

This is nothing new or alien to major league pitchers, yet it took Sabathia nearly four innings Tuesday to finally muster the nerve to throw anything convincing in towards the batter.  That batter happened to be Jacoby Ellsbury, who flinched as a fastball streaked by his hip flexor.  The next pitch was a fastball on the outside corner he hacked meekly at for strike three.  Well whadaya know.

If C.C. and the Sox dance in October, the Yankee ace will
have to get bold and start throwing more pitches inside and
to contact if he wants his team to repeat the success the
enjoyed in 2009.

Ironically, C.C. is usually a guy who isn't afraid to pitch in tight, at least relative to the average modern pitcher.  Against the Sox though, Sabathia rarely makes batters even slightly uncomfortable, and last night was no exception.  This to me signals that a part of him still has mental issues with Boston, and until he mans up and starts challenging these hitters on the inner half, he'll only be making harder for himself.

3) Don't walk the couple of guys in the order that can't hit.  It's one thing when you try and nibble against Ortiz, Pedroia, and Ellsbury, but when you load the bases because you're trying to throw perfect pitches to the likes of Darnell McDonald, we've got issues.  This one speaks most loudly to the larger confidence issue C.C. is having.  Why are you messing around with sliders in the dirt and fastball six inches off the edge of the plate when you've got a .192 hitter at the dish?  It simply does not compute.  Rear back and let it fly.  Trust your stuff.  Failing to do so is only going to more trouble when the dudes who can really swing the stick come up again.

With all of that said, let me reiterate that C.C. Sabathia pitched one hell of a courageous game Tuesday night.  But there were too many moments in which that timid pitcher emerged. I still saw an ace who was scared of pitching to contact, scared of coming inside with emphasis, and scared of utilizing a pitch he was so dominant with earlier in the year.

Was every bead of sweat was worth it?  Without question.  Do I have concerns that future beads of sweat expended against the Sox won't be?  You bet your overly-baggy baseball pants I do.

Yanks Winning the Metaphorical Arms Race, Losing the Literal One

First Joba, now Phil...have the Yanks completely lost their ability to develop and maintain young pitching?  And is Banuelos the next victim?

If one were to analogize 20th century baseball to the Cold War, the New York Yankees would undoubtedly be the United States.  They have accrued more championships, more legendary players, more fans, and more financial resources over that time than any other franchise in the sport, just like...America...er, did...back then.  Frankly, there is no Russia in this comparison.  This arms race isn't even close.

However, over the last twenty years or so, the Bronx Bombers have become more representative of the post-Cold War United States.  Just as our country has gone from the great producer of the world's commodities to the great consumer of them, so to have the Yankees gone from the great breeder of heroic players to the great purchaser.  Of course, this transition from an amateur signing/farm-based franchise to a market-based one didn't occur overnight; the Reggie Jacksons, Catfish Hunters, and Dave Winfields helped pave the way to the contemporary era of pinstripe money ball.  But the focus has shifted drastically in recent times, particularly over the past 9 or 10 seasons.



As a result, it appears that the organization has lost its knack for developing and managing young talent.  Either they lose patience and trade their prospects away, or they bury them on the bench behind older players, never allotting them the necessary playing time to polish their skills at the highest level.  Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera (the latter traded away after his best season...oh, how I miss you, Melk Man) stand as the only exceptions to this rule in terms of position players.  In terms of pitchers?  Not a single young arm has come out of the Yankee farm system in the last 10 seasons that has had sustained success with the team.  In this regard, the pinstripes are literally losing baseball's arms race.





This evokes a slew of concerns:  Has the franchise lost its ability to foster and develop young arms?  Will they continue to allow the free agent market and the whims of players like Cliff Lee to dictate the strength of their rotation?  What is it about the Yankees and their strategy when dealing with young pitchers that has created this issue?





Recently DL-ed Phil Hughes was diagnosed with a 'dead arm.'
Is he destined to become the next Joba?



Let's have a look at the most recent episode in this unfolding narrative.  The team recently placed 24-year old starter Phil Hughes on the disabled list with what they are calling a "dead arm."  This coming after three disastrous outings to start the year in which he has posted a 13.93 ERA in just 10.1 innings.

From the hurler's mouth:  "My arm strength's not there.  My arm feels dead."

Despite an 18-8 record, a 4.18 ERA, and an All-Star selection in 2010, Hughes entered the offseason as somewhat of a lingering question mark. He pitched brilliantly through the first half of last year, then lost some of his edge after the break, before finishing with a disappointing ALCS performance against the Rangers. When scouts and coaches noticed a drop in his velocity at the start of spring training, that question mark grew a lot larger. And instead of allowing him to work through this issue, the Yankees decided to limit his preseason work, thinking that the rest would allow Phil to recover his arm strength.

Wait...this story is starting to sound awfully familiar, no?  Let's continue.

The result?  A #2 power pitcher who has completely lost his power and no doubt some of his confidence.  Had Hughes complained of pain or discomfort in his arm, I would have understood the move to truncate his spring outings.  But as far as I know, this wasn't the case, and instead of encouraging Hughes to throw more to regain his zip, management did the opposite:  they babied him.

New York's two biggest pitching prospects in recent memory have both been subjected to heavy innings limits.  In my view, this has had an adverse effect on their health and their careers, and I'm sure I'm not the only member of the Universe that feels this way.

First there was Joba Chamberlain and the infamous "Joba Rules" that significantly limited his usage out of the bullpen in 2007, his rookie year.  In 2008, he was told he would start the year in the bullpen once again, but due to the insistence of owner Hank Steinbrenner, Joba was inserted into the starting rotation in June.  Naturally, the leash was short; Joba averaged a shade over 5.1 IP and 94 pitches over 12 starts before being bounced back to the pen.


Frequent role switches and strict usage limits hurt
 the once unlimited potential of Joba Chamberlain



Flash forward to 2009, the Yankees alerted Joba that he would be a full-fledged starter well before the beginning of the season.  The theory was that with plenty of time to properly prepare for his role in the rotation, Chamberlain would have a better chance of succeeding on the bump.  However, it appeared that the physical and psychological damage had been done.  Joba struggled with his consistency throughout the regular season, ending with a 4.75 ERA through 157.1 IP.  Though he pitched well as a reliever in the playoffs, the drop off in his control, movement, and velocity from his debut campaign was tremendous, if not depressing.

Flash forward once again to 2010.  Chamberlain is now told that he is competing for a spot in the rotation with none other than Phil Hughes.  If he doesn't win it, it's back to the pen.  Let's recap: you burst onto the scene as an unhittable set-up man, then you're converted to a starter mid-season, then you're crammed into the rotation the next season, then you're thrust into a competition for a spot with the other young power righty on the team the season after that.  And all the while as you're being bounced back and forth from season to season, the organization is babying your arm, never allowing you to build the kind of arm and body endurance that you need in order to succeed in this league.  I'm sorry, but you're not going to convince me that this kind of extreme protectionism is benficical long term.

Now it appears that Phil is suffering a similar fate.  Unlike Joba, Hughes began his career as a starter, and the Yankees never seemed to waver in their intention to use him as a starting pitcher long-term.  He was moved to the bullpen in 2009 (a move that admittedly worked to perfection), only becuase the team needed to make room for Chien-Ming Wang.  When he returned to the starter's role last year, the Yankees undoubtedly placed him under stringent pithcing limits, in what was an undivulged version of the "Joba Rules."  Is it true that Phil has been injury prone throughout his young career?  Yes, but none of those injuries involved his arm.  Yet the Yankees babied him, just as they did Chamberlain, and the year after he's pitched his first full seasonas a starter he suddenly has a "dead arm" issue.

How is it that both Joba and Phil suddenly lost their arm strength over the course of a couple seasons, during years that they are supposed to be in their physical prime?  Could it be that the obsession with their pitch counts, innings totals, and all those skipped starts actually weakened their arms, their stamina, and their psychological rhythym, especially in Joba's case?

The most incredible part about all this is that while the Yankees have been overly protective of their young starters, they have been overly liberal when it comes to using effective relievers.  Scott Proctor (83 appearances in '06 and'07), Paul Quantrill (86 in '04), and Tom Gordon (80 in '04, 79 in '05) stand out as sad examples of pitchers who had every last ounce of juice squeezed out of them by former manager Joe Torre and his managerial staff.

This issue was dug up a couple of weeks ago after GM Brian Chasman came under fire for his comments about how it was unfortunate that the Mets burnt out reliever Pedro Feliciano.  When the media cited these relievers as evidence of Yankee hypocrisy, Cashman was quick to push Torre off the subway platform and under the 4-train.  Mysteriously, Torre had no comment about the matter.  Not so media friendly now, are you Uncle Joe?

So Joe Torre burned out relievers, Joe Girardi babies young starters, and the happy-medium lies...where exactly?  Girardi, while he has yet to approach the gross overusage of the Torre regime, seems to be leaining on the JoSoMo trio quite heavily so far this year.  He pulled bonafide ace C.C. Sabathia from a 4-0 game in the seventh inning, despite the two-hit masterpiece he was spinning.

His excuse?  It's early April. It's cold. Besides, Soriano is my eighth inning guy.  Oh boy.  Here we go again.

It should be very interesting to see how Girardi and the franchise handle Manuel Banuelos and Dellin Betances, the Yankees two top pitching prospects, assuming they don't trade them away.  Will they be babied into injury and mental fragility?  Or will the Yankees actually allow common sense and the natural trajectory of their progression to determine how they incorporate these youngsters?  My money is on a trade for some washed-up former "ace" at the deadline.  Hey, gotta keep pace in that arms race, right?

Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head

6/9/10 - Camden Yards (Baltimore, MA)

Game 2: Yankees 4, Orioles 2

Box Score

So remember yesterday where I left off pondering what Chris Tillman would show up for the O's tonight and whether or not the Yanks would have their usual dumbfounded performance against an inexperienced pitcher? I guess the answer to that question is ambiguous at best. Tillman wasn't exactly brilliant and the Yankees weren't exactly confounded at the plate. The second-year starter worked his fastball high and tight and mixed in a slow hook and a change-up with some effectiveness over the first five frames of baseball, allowing just 1 unearned run and evenly distributing 5 singles. He ran into some problems in the second inning after a Robinson Cano opposite field single and a Posada walk (an at-bat in which the youngster got screwed out of two blown strike calls, from my view). But the kid stayed with it, getting the 7, 8, and 9 hitters, Curtis Granderson, Francisco Cervelli, and utility man Kevin Russo, all to fly out. Just more evidence of the weakness of their bench and the back end of that batting order, two areas where they have fallen off significantly from last season.

The aforementioned unearned run came in the fourth when Cano (who got on base with yet another oppo-field single to extend his multi-hit streak against the O's to 9) was batted in by a Granderson sacrifice fly. Cano had advanced to second on an errant pickoff through by Tillman, then moved to third on a grounder to second by Jorge Posada. Shooting yourself in the foot is not exactly a recommended practice at the major league level, especially against the Yankees. Dude, why were you even throwing over in the first place? Cano isn't a base stealer and it's doubtful he's thinking about it with no outs and his team down 2-0. Mental mistakes usually come back to haunt you in this game, my lad.

That run loomed even larger in the sixth inning when the Yanks jumped ahead in what proved to be the deciding rally. After Mark Teixeira singled on a slow-roller that foiled the deep shift at second, Tillman fed Alex Rodriguez not one, not two, but three hittable fastballs in a six pitch at-bat. Not even a struggling A-Rod could miss three times and he scorched the final meatball into left (a sinking liner almost shoestrung by Luke Scott) to set 'em up 1st-and-3rd, no outs. Pop quiz, Baltimore: do you walk Cano and chance a bases-loaded, no-out situation against the Yankees erratic bottom four? Well, normal baseball logic tells you 'no' of course, but when you consider how insane Cano's been against the bay birds, one is tempted to nibble the edges and live with the walk at the very least. Tillman actually threw some tricky slow curves and 2-seamers at Robby, but the hottest hitter in baseball fought off pitch after pitch before drilling a Baltimore chopper (cruel, cruel irony) over the glove of first baseman Ty Wigginton to knot the score at 2. Posada, who has looks bothered at the plate ever since returning from the DL, followed up with what should have been a double-play, but Julio Lugo suddenly forgot how to throw and the ball sailed into the stands. This error was moot though, as the go-ahead/game-winning run would have scored anyway, but the fact that the Orioles infield continues to make random, unnecessary errors in important moments is something that has hampered them severely in these close games with New York. I really do feel for them, despite the fact that I rip on them for being terrible. Does that make me doubly terrible? Hmmm...

On the flip side of the bump, C.C. Sabathia appeared shaky in the early going, and from what I can tell, the issues were once again mechanical in nature. He was mixing up his pitches fairly well, going to his change-up right from the onset and using it in a variety of counts, although still not as much as he would need to against a better team. His curveball also seemed to be more consistent than in his more recent starts, both in command and bite, although it burned him a couple of times. The fastball, however, was the most problematic pitch. The southpaw has been missing high and wide in the zone with the heater in the last couple of times I've seen him, an indicator that he is dragging his arm through the throwing zone and not following through with his delivery. I pray that this does not mean he's pitching with pain. Either his back is barking and it's hindering his torso action or his legs/groin are twingey and it's hindering his ability to full extend himself to home plate. Or maybe his motion is out of sync for whatever reason and he just needs to do something different in his bullpen sessions. Whatever the case may be, I am inclined to say that it's more of a physical bugaboo than a mental one, which could be worse in the long run.

On a positive note, C.C. bounced back from a rocky three innings to finish with four strong scoreless frames. After allowing a run in the second and third innings on 5 hits, a walk, and a costly wild pitch, the big man allowed just 1 baserunner over next three stanzas. It was if as soon as the rain started falling, he got in a groove. By the time it cleared up totally in the seventh, he was in a jam again, but a diving stopped by Cano on a Nick Markakis grounder prevented the tying run from scoring (was he touched by God this year or something?), and allowed Sabathia to wriggle out of a bases loaded bind. It'll be interesting to see if he can carry this momentum into his next start which is slated to be against Philadelphia right now. His last three outings have come against poor clubs (O's twice and Indians), and while the Phillies have certainly had some offensive droughts of their own this season, it should prove to be more of a challenge than anything he's had to deal with since his sparkling May 18th no-decision at Fenway.

Francisco Cervelli, who has been in a woeful 2-for-20 slump in June entering tonight, added some much-needed breathing room for Joba and Mo in the top of the eighth, slapping a solid shot up the middle with 2-outs to score Brett Gardener, who had been given the day off by Girardi but entered to pinch run. As my colleague "The Cody" astutely pointed out yesterday, Cervelli is showing serious signs of catcher's fatigue at the plate, which is understandable for a guy who has never had to handle an everyday role until this season. His bat has looked sluggish, and it has been screwing up his timing completely. I expect that Moeller will get a start in this upcoming Houston series, and frankly, I'm surprised that Joe is expecting as much as he is from the kid. Let him catch his breath, skip! The kid's never had to work this hard before. Girardi should no that of all people, seeing as he too was a catcher who struggled to produce in the batter's box. Speaking of kids, props to Kevin Russo for dropping a bunt single AND for saving Joba's ass with a stupendous diving catch to lead off the eighth inning. This dude is probably not going to light the world on fire with his hitting, but I like that he's hustling, that he's thinking, and that he's trying to make the little contributions to help the squad however he is able. Joba was his usual 'look-like-crap-in-one-AB-then-look-untouchable-in-the-next' self, but he pitched around a Matt Wieters double and built the bridge successfully. Mo was on the other end to finish the operation in the way that only he can.

Tomorrow A.J. Burnett will look to have a comeback effort after pooping himself in Toronto. Luckily, these birds don't bite, squawk, or do much of anything other than commit foolish errors in key situations. Sorry, Baltimore, but when it's that easy...

GAME MVP: Robinson Cano. Even when he doesn't hit it perfectly, the ball finds away to get a hit for him. Talk about a year. Leads the league in hits and average. Don't overlook the great defensive plays either.

Honorable Mention: C.C. Sabathia, for soaking in the rain droplets and finding himself in the second half of a solid outing