Nobody's Perfect, But That Game Was Perfectly Awful

So the Yankees began a 4-game series away to the Chicago White Sox last night, against a pitcher just coming off the Disabled List. True, it was Chris Sale, but they should still have been able to beat him.

Beat him? Until Zoilo Almonte singled with 2 outs in the 6th, we didn't even get a baserunner off him! Sale was pitching a perfect game.

In spite of this, going into the bottom of the 8th, the Yankees were still only down 2-0. As John Sterling teaches us, a 2-run deficit is "just a bloop and a blast." Or a walk and a wallop.

So whatever went wrong last night, we can't blame the Yankees' starting pitcher. The frequently-maligned David Phelps did his job for 7 innings.

But Joe Girardi looked in his Binder, and brought Alfredo Aceves in to pitch the 8th, and the ChiSox scored another run, and we went to the 9th down 3-0, having had just 1 baserunner.

But with 1 out in the 9th, with Ronald Belisario now on the mound for the South Siders, Ichiro Suzuki singled. Jacoby Ellsbury lined out, but Derek Jeter drew a walk. And, just like that, the tying run was at the plate. A passed ball moved the runners over to 2nd & 3rd, and, after 25 outs and just 1 baserunner, the Yankees were in business. And Mark Teixeira singled them home.

Now it was 3-2, with the tying run on 1st (Kelly Johnson pinch-running for Teix), and the potential winning run at the plate.

Unfortunately, the batter was Alfonso Soriano, and I don't think anyone could be surprised when he provided the 13th Yankee strikeout of the night.

WP: Sale (4-0). SV: Belisario (2). LP: Phelps (1-1 -- though Aceves deserved the loss more).

The series continues tonight, at 8:05 PM our time. Hiroki Kuroda pitches against Hector Noesi -- "the other guy" that Brian Cashman sent to Seattle, along with Jesus Montero, for Michael Pineda. Doesn't look like such a bad deal now, does it?