Sunday Bloody Sunday

Already knowing you have to get up before you know it to go to work on Monday makes Sunday night's sports viewing rather tense. How many times have you gone to bed angry after watching Sunday night football? Or had your hockey team lose in overtime and then your baseball team lose to their hated rivals. It was not a good Sunday night.

Phil Hughes (0-2) had his second straight poor outing as the Yankees lost their second straight game to the Red Sox, 8-5. The Yankees continued to fail in the clutch, and once again there were some questionable decisions by Joe Girardi.

Hughes threw 65 pitches in last just two innings, plus four batters in the 3rd, none of which he retired. He had no command of his fastball, possibly as a result of the cold temperatures. Either way, the Yankees were in a 3-0 hole before they even got their second turn at-bat.

A Bobby Abreu RBI double in the 3rd got the Yankees back into the game, but Hughes let it slip away in the Red Sox half of the inning. He walked J.D. Drew, his third walk issued in the game, to start the inning and then gave up consecutive singles to Manny Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis, and Sean Casey for a 5-1 Red Sox lead. Ross Ohlendorf came on and allowed 2 of the inherited runners to score on a wild pitch and a Jacoby Ellsbury single.

The Yankees rallied against a shaky Datsuke Matsuzaka (3-0) in the 4th. Trailing 7-1, Hideki Matsui doubled, and one out later Jason Giambi drew a walk. Jose Molina continued hit extra base hit surge with an RBI double to right. Alberto Gonzalez continued to swing a good bat, delivering an RBI single to center. He would move up on a wild pitch, but the slow footed Molina would have to wait for a Johnny Damon sacrifice fly to come home. It turned out Molina had also injured his hamstring and had to leave the game in the 8th inning. Chad Moeller will probably be recalled from Scranton for tonight's game in Tampa.

Robinson Cano's struggles at the plate continued as he stranded Gonzalez with an inning ending pop out. Back in the game, the Yankees continued to attack Dice-K in the 5th. A walk to Matsui and a single by Jorge Posada put two men on with two out, but Giambi lined out to center field to end the inning.

David Aarsdma replaced Matsuzaka in the 6th and issued a pair of one out walks to Gonzalez and Damon, but Cano grounded out and Abreu flied out.

Jason Giambi homered off of Mike Timlin to start the 8th, cutting the lead to 7-5. Molina and pinch-hitter Melky Cabrera singled to set up the potential for a big rally. But Girardi leaned too heavily on the baseball playbook, and the old adage, "you don't play for a tie on the road." Which is utter nonsense to us. Instead of having Damon bunt and move the runners into scoring position, he let him swing away. The slumping Damon rewarded him by bouncing into a rally killing double play, and the Yankees were done.

News and Notes

After allowing a pair of inherited runners to score, Ross Ohlendorf threw 3 scoreless innings to help keep the game from becoming a blow out.

LaTroy Hawkins followed Ohlendorf with 2 scoreless innings of his own. He's now made 4 consecutive scoreless appearances, covering 5 innings. In doing so, Hawkins lowered his ERA from 31.50 to 9.00.

No word yet on what roster move will be made if indeed Chad Moeller is called up. Girardi described Molina's hamstring pull as pretty bad, so it's possible he'll land on the DL. If not, a pitcher (Ohlendorf perhaps) would probably be sent down or Derek Jeter would finally be placed on the DL, though he's closer to playing.

Johnny Damon was 0-1, but did walk three times and stole the Yankees first two bases of the season.

A slumping David Ortiz got the full night off for the Red Sox.

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF	1	1	0	1	3	0	2	.190
Farnsworth, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Cano, 2B	5	0	0	0	0	0	6	.170
Abreu, RF	4	0	1	1	1	1	2	.304
Rodriguez, 3B	5	0	0	0	0	1	3	.260
Matsui, LF	3	1	1	0	2	0	0	.341
Posada, DH-C	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	.250
Giambi, 1B	3	2	1	1	1	0	3	.107
Molina, C	4	1	2	1	0	0	1	.364
1-Betemit, PR-SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.154
Gonzalez, SS	2	0	1	1	1	0	0	.385
a-Cabrera, PH-CF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.290
Totals	32	5	8	5	8	3	19
a-Singled for Gonzalez in the 8th. 1-Ran for Molina in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Abreu (2, Matsuzaka), Matsui (3, Matsuzaka), Molina (7, Matsuzaka). HR: Giambi (2, 8th inning off Timlin, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Abreu 2; Matsui 2; Posada; Giambi 4; Molina 3; Gonzalez; Cabrera. RBI: Abreu (6), Molina (2), Gonzalez (1), Damon (2), Giambi (4). 2-out RBI: Abreu. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez; Cano 2; Giambi; Abreu 2. SF: Damon. GIDP: Rodriguez; Damon. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Damon 2 (2, 2nd base off Matsuzaka/Varitek, 2nd base off Matsuzaka/Varitek). FIELDING E: Molina (1, throw). PB: Molina (2). Outfield assists: Matsui (Pedroia at 2nd base). DP: (Cano-Giambi).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hughes (L, 0-2)	2.0	6	7	6	3	3	0	9.00
Ohlendorf	3.0	2	0	0	3	1	0	2.70
Hawkins	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	9.00
Farnsworth	1.0	2	1	1	0	0	0	5.68

Boston	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Ellsbury, LF	3	1	1	2	1	0	1	.261
Pedroia, 2B	5	0	2	0	0	2	4	.283
Drew, RF	3	2	0	0	2	1	1	.353
Ramirez, DH	3	2	2	1	1	1	0	.300
Youkilis, 3B	3	1	2	2	0	0	0	.341
Casey, 1B	3	1	2	1	1	0	0	.318
Varitek, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	6	.244
Crisp, CF	4	1	2	0	0	0	2	.323
Lugo, SS	3	0	0	0	1	0	2	.238
Totals	31	8	11	6	6	5	16
BATTING 2B: Casey (3, Hughes). TB: Ellsbury; Pedroia 2; Ramirez 2; Youkilis 2; Casey 3; Crisp 2. RBI: Ramirez (12), Youkilis 2 (8), Casey (5), Ellsbury 2 (5). 2-out RBI: Ellsbury. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Varitek; Pedroia 2; Drew. SF: Youkilis; Ellsbury. GIDP: Varitek. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Crisp 2 (2, 2nd base off Farnsworth/Posada, 2nd base off Hughes/Molina), Ellsbury (2, 2nd base off Hughes/Molina), Pedroia (2, 2nd base off Farnsworth/Posada). FIELDING DP: 2 (Youkilis-Pedroia-Casey, Pedroia-Casey).

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Matsuzaka (W, 3-0)	5.0	5	4	4	6	2	0	2.70
Aardsma (H, 1)	2.0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2.35
Timlin	0.0	3	1	1	0	0	1	81.00
Lopez (H, 1)	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.50
Delcarmen	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.38

Hughes pitched to 4 batters in the 3rd.
Timlin pitched to 3 batters in the 8th.

WP: Ohlendorf, Matsuzaka.
Pitches-strikes: Hughes 65-35, Ohlendorf 49-27, Hawkins 17-12, Farnsworth 12-9,
Matsuzaka 116-62, Aardsma 36-19, Timlin 11-8, Lopez 16-11, Delcarmen 14-9.
Ground outs-fly outs: Hughes 1-2, Ohlendorf 7-1, Hawkins 3-1, Farnsworth 0-3, Matsuzaka 4-9,
Aardsma 3-3, Timlin 0-0, Lopez 4-0, Delcarmen 1-0.
Batters faced: Hughes 15, Ohlendorf 13, Hawkins 6, Farnsworth 5, Matsuzaka 25, Aardsma 8, Timlin 3,
Lopez 3, Delcarmen 2.
Inherited runners-scored: Ohlendorf 2-2, Lopez 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Jerry Crawford. 1B: Tom Hallion. 2B: Brian O'Nora. 3B: Paul Nauert.
Weather: 46 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 13 mph, L to R.
T: 3:55.
Att: 37,876.

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