Yankees 9, Devil Rays 1
A good start in what I see as an important series. Tampa beat New York, if I recall correctly, 11 out of 19 last season. With the East improved this year, winning, let's say, 26 out of the 38 games against TB and Baltimore is important both mathematically and psychologically.
Mussina was sharp but not terribly economical last night, having to come out having faced one batter in the seventh and having thrown 100 pitches. But all's well that ends well . . . Strutze actually didn't blow up, we tacked a few more late, and I didn't have to curse and scream at my TV, as I always do when Panic Joe has Mariano start warming up in the 8th with a 5-run lead.
Jeter had a home run last night and went 3-5. He's at .391, with 3 HRs and 18 RBI. (And an OPS of 1.175 for all you new-wave stat types.) Phenominal start. And while he did have better numbers as a leadoff man than Damon did, I knew that returning Jeter to the 2 spot in the order would be good for him and for the team. And Jeter's RBI numbers are with Damon off to an OK but hardly inspiring start (.284 BA, .360 OBP).
And, while we're on the subject of last night's game, what's all the fuss about Scott Kazmir? Here in the New York area, the media is obsessed with Kazmir, since he was drafted by the Mets and traded in 2004 mid-season when the Mets thought they had a shot at the playoffs. They got Victor Zambrano in exchange for the then-prospect, and Zambrano has been singularly unimpressive since joining the Mets (10-14 with a not very good ERA the gory details are here). New York writers and talk-radio hosts love to pound on the Mets every time Zambrano gets bombed but stays in the rotation. And the thinking is that the Mets are embarrassed to have traded Kazmir for this guy and thus are going to treat him like a good pitcher regardless of how poorly he actually pitches.
But really, other than being young, throwing hard, and being left-handed, what's so great about Kazmir? For his career, he's 14-14, 4.09. Very average. Walks a ton of guys. Always seems to be in the fifth inning when the 100 pitch mark comes. OK, he's young (turned 22 a few months ago). But so far, with Kazmir, there's no "there" there. Other than pitching well (usually) against the Red Sox, there isn't much to recommend this "phenom." Tampa may have ruined his career by rushing him up to the majors . . . time will tell. For now, despite Zambrano's struggles, the Mets don't have much to be embarrassed about.
Tonight it's Wang vs. Seth McClung. I still believe that Wang's shoulder is bothering him, so if this game degenerates into a classic NY-Tampa 15-11 deal it won't surprise me. I just hope the Yankees are on the plus end of it.
Set Your TiVo!
Friday night it's The Yankees and Blue Jays. Jaret Wright against Roy Halladay. The folks at YES I'm sure already are thinking this one is going to be an "Instant Classic." Don't use the bullpen too much between now and Friday, Joe. I expect you will have to piece together 5 2/3 innings out of the pen Friday night.
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