Yankees drab in loss; Ozzie clueless in KC

Angels 4, Yankees 1

Yankees lost to the Redondo Beach Angels of Miramax or whatever they're called this year, 4-1. Shawn Chacon never had it, the bats didn't do much, and a decent effort by the bullpen was an afterthought in a rather depressing loss.

Pivotal moment in the game came in the top of the seventh, when the Yankees loaded the bases with one out against the BBE (Best Bullpen Ever -- ask anyone on ESPN). I was watching the game with a friend, who said "I smell a rally." I wasn't quite convinced, but I was starting to get a glimmer of hope. Bases loaded, one out, down 4-1 but with Sheffield and A-Rod and Matsui due up.

Well, before I could start to smell the rally, Sheffield hits a grounder to third, and is out by three steps on the tail end of a 5-4-3 inning-ending, rally-killing, essentially game-sealing double play. Way to leg that one out, Gary. Guess he wasn't smelling the rally or the RBI chance there. For the game, Sheffield left 4 RISP with 2 outs.

OK, it's four games in. I'm nothing close to worried, in the larger sense, but I do see glimpses of something very troubling. And it's not the starting pitching, it's not the defense, it's not the middle relief. It's this:

An unhappy Sheffield is a huge deterrent to team chemistry and winning.

I saw flashes of it last year; Sheffield went into a couple of pouts of different times last season and completely mailed it in, both in the field (where his play has gradually deteriorated anyway) and at the plate. This year, having to play the whole season apparently with the contract option being an unresolved issue, I expect the sulks to be longer and more numerous. A scary proposition.

Torre is trying to do what he can to keep Sheffield's ego boosted, continuing to bat him third, but the lineup as a whole suffers as a result. The Yankee lineup typically so far this season looks like this:

Damon, Jeter, Sheffield, A-Rod, Giambi, Matsui, Posada, Bernie, Cano. (Torre got wild last night and flip-flopped Bernie and Cano -- beat still my heart!)

Several points here.

1. The hitters, in order are: L, R, R, R, L, L, switch, switch, L (L). Way too bunched. When a team only has one lefty in the its bullpen, like the Angels, the lineup has to force the opposing manager to gamble a bit in late-game situations and let his lefty face a one or two dangerous RH hitters rather than lose him for the game.

2. Why is our #3 hitter batting 6th? Matsui is the best overall hitter on the team and the most clutch RBI man they have. Torre's ego-massage of Sheffield isn't helping Sheffield or the team.

3. My proposed lineup: Damon, Jeter, Matsui, A-Rod, Giambi, Sheffield, Cano, Posada, Bernie. That's L, R, L, R, L, R, L, switch, switch, (L). Harder to match up against, better balanced. What's Sheffield going to do in protest? Hurt hiumself? I can think of worse scenarios.

4. If Joe really needs to placate Sheffield, take my propsed lineup and fli-flop Sheffield and A-Rod. Sheffield will still feel like The Man, hitting cleanup, and A-Rod would take fine to hitting 6th and still drive in a ton of runs.

But enough bitching. This lineup should be able to score lots of runs even if Torre threw the names in a hat and pulled them out at random. I do see the spectre of the Gary Sheffield "job action" affecting this team negatively all year, though.

Randy goes tonight against Santana. Looking for better things to start happening. 1-3 bites but the 1998 Yankees started 0-3. (Trust me, I know that this year's model bears no resemblance to that team, but I comfort myself with statistical curiosities.)


Royals 11, White Sox 7

Strange game. The W Sox jump out to a 6-0 lead. Garland gives 5 of them back in the bottom of the fourth. Oops! W Sox tack on a run top 5 to lead 7-5. Ozzie (The Certified Genius) sends Garland back out for the 5th. OK, still got a lead, give him a chance to get 5 innings in and still get the win. Oops! Royals tie it up with 2, bottom 5. Oops!

The White Sox don't score top 6. Ozzie sends Garland out there for the bottom of the 6th! Royals go strikeout, infield hit, double. 8-7. Garland out, Thronton in. Double. 9-7 Royals. Oops! Thornton gets out of the inning, mops up the rest of the way, giving up a couple more runs, letting the Royals fans for one night at least take their eyes off the just-released Chiefs schedule.

Garland's pitching line: 5.1 innings, 10 hits, 9 runs, all earned. 2 walks, 2 wild pitches.

OK, questions abound here.

You can't have Garland start the 6th. He's given up 7 runs in 5 innings, thrown 90+ pitches. He's going to "right himself" in the 6th?

The White Sox have a terrific bullpen. After the bonehead move of letting Garland start the 6th, Ozzie finally pulls his head out of the bag of sunflower seeds and his own press clippings, and brings in Thornton. Thornton? You're only down a run at that point. You had the day off the day before. You wanted the lefty-lefty matchup againts DeJesus? OK, I guess. But your bullpen is good enough that that shouldn't matter. But OK. DeJesus doubles. 9-7. Still it's not out of reach. Ozzie puts the game into mop-up mode, and lets Thronton go the rest of the way?

Not to mention the lineup. Ozzie put the B-squad out there last night, figuring perhaps it's KC, it doesn't matter? Was he that afraid of Affelt? Since when does that lefty make the World Champions put a spring-training lineup out there?

Weird. But I criticize out of love, of course.