Blue Print for Failure

When Alex Rodriguez hit a bullet into the left field seats last night to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead, I had no reason to think the Yankees would win the game. You might ask, "why is that?". But if you have been watching the Yankees play the Angels on the west coast during the Joe Torre era, you just nod your ahead in agreement, because you know exactly what I'm talking about.

The players change, but the outcome is the same. Take a lead, blow a lead. Come from behind, tie or take a lead, blow the game. Go to bed angry at around 1 a.m. or later. Last night, we shut it down when the Angels took a 6-4 lead in the 7th. This way we saved ourselves the joy of watching Jorge Posada tie the game in the 8th with a 2-run home run, only to lose the game in the 10th, 7-6.

When I put ESPN on this morning to watch the score crawl on the screen, I would have been truly stunned to see a Yankees win. But when the score came up, I nodded my head knowingly. Thank goodness I didn't waste my time.

The most worrisome thing that came out of last night's game was the lack of control by Phil Hughes. The Phil phenom walked 5 hitters in 6.1 innings. His fastball was 92-93 mph and straight, and was often off line. He allowed only 4 hits, but the walks got him into trouble twice.

With 1 out in the 2nd, Gary Matthews Jr. hit one back through the box that eluded the outstretched glove of Robinson Cano. Sarge Jr. busted it for 2nd and got himself a hustle double. Hughes then proceeded to walk Casey Kotchman and Howie Kendrick to load the bases. Catcher Jeff Mathis hit a rope into the left field corner for a 3-run double and and Angels lead.

The Yankees cut the lead to 3-2 on a Hideki Matsui triple and an RBI ground out by Jorge Posada, but as usual, the Yankees struggled against a pitcher they haven't seen much of. In this case that was rookie Dustin Moseley. The Yankees did jump on the Angels middle relief in the 6th. Chris Bootcheck gave up a single to Bobby Abreu to start the inning, and then A-Rod launched his 40th HR of the season.

Hughes allowed a lead off single to Kendrick in the 7th and retired Mathis on a deep fly to center, but walked Reggie Willits to put the tying run in scoring position. Torre sent for Luis Vizcaino, who asked his manager for the day off on Sunday due to a tired arm. Apparently he needed more than 1 day off. Chone Figgins singled sharply to center to tie the game and Orlando Cabrera followed with a bullet to right for the lead. The Angels added an insurance tally on Vlad Guerrero's ground out.

Posada's home run off of Justin Speier sent the game to extra innings, but it didn't last long. Kendrick and Ryan Budde stroked back-to-back doubles against Sean Henn (2-1) to give the Angels another late night win.

Darren Oliver picked up his victory of the year. Angels manager Mike Scioscia was booted in the 8th inning for arguing balls and strikes.

...

Chone Figgins continues to kill the Yankees. In 36 career games, he's hitting .318-2-16 with 9 steals, 13 walks, and 24 runs scored.

A-Rod's 504th career home run was his first since hitting a pair against Cleveland on August 11.

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