The Yankees’ bats were silenced Friday night by Felix Hernandez, then drove in nineteen runs over the next two days to take two of three from Seattle. So in a way, this weekend played out pretty much as you’d have expected it to.
First the positives: The bullpen tossed eleven innings of one-run ball over the three-game series, CC Sabathia cruised until the rains came yesterday, and offensive heroes were plentiful, from Eduardo Nunez driving in a run on his first major-league hit on Saturday, to Robinson Cano reminding managers why they shouldn’t intentionally walk Mark Teixeira to load the bases yesterday. They maintained a one-game lead over Tampa Bay in the East, so all is good. Right?
Perhaps. At this stage, they’ll take wins however they can get them. But Bad A.J. Burnett made his return after two not-terrible starts, and Javier Vazquez continued to confirm every one of our preseason fears. With Andy Pettitte injured and Phil Hughes on an innings limit, the Yankees can’t afford to have two pitchers so prone to getting not just beaten, but rocked. This is no way to win in October — or during a pennant race in September. It’s usually not a way to win in August, either.
Oh, and Alex Rodriguez is on the disabled list — though the Yankees yesterday improved to 12-0 without him in the lineup, so until that streak inevitably comes to an end, they’ve got bigger things to worry about.