Remember This?

"... the commitment to field a championship team is paramount, and that won’t change. Our fans expect that.”

How about this?

“All I can assure the fans is, we’re always going to field a championship-caliber team every single year.”

How's that working out for you, Hal?  Where did "getting absolutely shut down by Jesse Chavez" fall on that championship-caliber team plan?

Diagnosing The Source Of Travis Hafner's Slump

(Courtesy of the AP)

He's managed to fly under the radar for over a month because other players like Vernon Wells and Robinson Cano have been slumping big time too, but Travis Hafner is in a similar production freefall himself.  After last night's 0-fer, he's down to .231/.346/.463 on the season, which is still good for a .350 wOBA that ranks second on the team but a far cry from the high .300s-low .400s value he was holding through his hot start in April.  Hafner missed a handful of games in the middle of April due to a shoulder injury and since he's come back we haven't heard much about any physical problems, yet his production continues to plummet.  What's going on with Pronk that he's become just as much of a black hole in the middle of the lineup as everybody else?  Glad you asked.

Game 65 Wrap-Up: OAK 5 NYY 2

("You wanna get a hit?"  "Nah, fuck that.  How 'bout you?"  "Nah."  Anybody wanna get a hit?"  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Not really much to say right now.  The offense is a complete dead stick out there and they aren't even giving their pitchers a chance to win the game no matter how well or poorly they pitch.  Since shooting their wad with that 6-run inning against Aaron Harang in Seattle they have fallen off the face of the earth and it's one of those rare times where I'm actually happy I don't have to watch the games.

Game Notes:

- Regardless of how bad the offense was last night, and it was bad, Phil Hughes was just as bad.  Another "Bad Phil" start.  He gave up a 2-run homer to Brandon Moss in the 2nd, an RBI double to John Jaso in the 5th, and he failed to make it out of that inning.

- What made the outing worse was Hughes' lack of command.  He walked a season high 5 batters in just 4.1 innings.  Homers, inability to put hitters away, inefficient pitch count.  That's the Phil Hughes Formula.

- Not going to waste any more words than I have to on the offense.  They got shut out through 5, were sat down 11 in a row from the 2nd to the 6th, and scored their runs on a Mark Teixeira sac fly and a Jayson Nix groundball single.

- Tough night for the bullpen.  Joba Chamberlain got knocked around for 2 runs to put the game out of reach in the 8th and Preston Claiborne finally issued his first walk of the season, falling just short of the MLB record in the process.