- By the time the end of the 5th and early 6th inning came around, it was clear even to the untrained eye that CC was done. His control was completely gone, his velocity was down, and his mechanics were awful as he was falling off to the right way more than usual. If it was that obvious to me sitting at home watching on ESPN, then why the hell wasn't it obvious to Joe Girardi, who had a front row seat?
I can appreciate wanting to get your ace lefty another matchup against a lefty hitter. But when he's just given up a leadoff walk and a hard hit ball for a double and now he's facing the most dangerous righty hitter in the lineup, you have to take him out. This "one game either way" stuff that Joe is spouting in the papers today is the classic sound of a guy trying to gloss over his mistake. The bottom line is, Joe left CC out there too long and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th runs given up in the 6th inning are on Joe. It may only be one game, but it's a game that could have, and should have been won.
- Joe's other blunder was taking Robertson out after the 6th and going with Chan Ho Park. I get that Park is the big free agent signing, and I get that everybody on the Yankees management team wants to suck his dick after the World Series last year, but sooner or later people need to realize that Dave Robertson is a beast. Sure he gave up the leadoff single to Adrian Beltre, but that run was probably going to score anyway. His stuff looked great and he got out of the inning with minimal effort. He's young, he's tough, and he's got a killer fastball-curve combination; he should have been starting the 7th inning. How quickly everyone forgets that Robertson led the AL in K/9 IP last season. Let Robertson pitch and maybe that 2-run homer from Pedroia never happens.
- OK, now onto some positive things. Nick Johnson and Curtis Granderson both looked pretty good in their first games with the Yanks. Johnson was 0-3, but drew 2 walks and saw a lot of pitches and Granderson took a lot of good swings (especially his homer in the 2nd) and seemed to see the ball well from both righties and lefties. His play in center was also strong. Not a bad debut at all.
- Cano looked good hitting in the 5-hole last night, going 2-5 with a run scored, a ribbie, and a double. But he saw only 9 pitches in his 5 at-bats, so he still needs to work on his patience at the plate in certain situations.
- Getting some range to his right also wouldn't hurt if Cano is trying to win a Gold Glove this year. Seriously, how many balls hit up or near the middle just made it under his glove? That ain't gonna help the old UZR right there.
- Jorge looked every bit the player he has been for the majority of his career last night, and that's both a good and bad thing. He was 3-4 with a HR, 2 RBIs, and a walk at the plate, and had a brutal passed ball that allowed the eventual game-winning run to score in the 7th. I love Jorge as much as anybody on the Yankees, but you can't try and tell me that Jesus Montero is going to be a worse defensive catcher than Jorge.
-And what the hell got into the bottom of both teams' lineups last night? Mike Cameron and Marco Scutaro getting clutch hits? Brett Gardner smacking RBI singles and stealing home? It was like bizzaro world with all these "defensive" guys putting up big numbers.
- The Red Sox bullpen, despite nailing down the game in the 8th and 9th when they had to, looked very beatable last night, giving up 4 hits, 3 walks, and 2 earned runs over 4.1 innings while striking out only 1 batter. Ramon Ramirez was awful, Hideki Okajima's stuff has dulled like a golf pencil over time, and even Daniel Bard still doesn't seem to have it all figured out, as evidenced by his 4-pitch walk to Nick Johnson in the 8th last night. All indications are Manny Delcarmen isn't at his best yet this year either, so that at least bodes well for the Yankees as this series and season moves forward.
- The Yankee 'pen wasn't much better last night, allowing 6 hits, 2 walks, 4 runs (3 ER), and also just 1 K over 2.2 IP. The big holes were Park and Marte, both of whom looked scared to death out on the mound and could not command their fastballs at all. Joba started off OK but then got into trouble when he allowed a base runner and focused too much on him instead of the batters. If he's going to lock down the 8th-inning spot he needs to improve that facet of his game and get back to blowing people away instead of throwing over to first and picking corners.
- There is truth to Girardi's statement that "it's one game either way" and last night certainly isn’t going to make or break the season. But it's never good, especially in the shark-infested media waters of NY, to start off the season with such a poor pitching effort. Marte and Park will get it together and CC will be fine moving forward; you just hate to see leads given up like that.
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