Yanks Hang 11 On Jays, K-Rod Implodes

Today, the Yankees trusted Chan Ho Park with an 8-run lead. He did not blow it. A whopping 11 runs in the third inning, and the Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 11-3.

Andy Pettitte pitched 6 strong innings for his 239th career win. Dustin Moseley made his Yankee debut, tossing 2 perfect innings, and Park pitched a perfect 9th. In that 3rd inning, A-Rod hit a 3-run double, and Brett Gardner, who almost never homers, hit a grand slam.

Whereas, in Washington, the Mets actually managed to have superrookie Stephen Strasburg beat... and Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez blew it, turning a 5-3 Met lead into a 6-5 Nationals win.

On WFAN, Steve Somers -- "the Schmoozer," a humongorious Met fan -- could do little other than say, over and over again, "Frankie Rodriguez!" He was having a conniption. "Frankie Rodriguez!" He was fielding calls from Met fans once again wondering if they might not have what it takes to compete with the 1st-place Atlanta Braves (who won today) and the 3-time defending NL East Champion, 2-time defending NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies (who are beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-2 as I type this).

"Frankie Rodriguez!" Somers compared "Frankie Rodriguez!" to Armando Benitez and Mel (tdown) Rojas. "Frankie Rodriguez!"

This guy was supposed to be the difference-maker, the man who was supposed to turn them from the choking team of 2007 and 2008 into the World Champions of 2009. Or 2010. Then again, so was The Great Johan Santana, wasn't he? He isn't. And neither is "Frankie Rodriguez!"

Wherever he is, Tug McGraw weeps. "You gotta believe"? Can anybody believe that the Mets wouldn't have been better off holding a seance and trying to bring the Tugger's screwball back from the great beyond to finish off the Nats? Because, at this point, a dead man who hasn't thrown a baseball in a regulation professional game in 26 years would be better than "Frankie Rodriguez!"

Now, K-Rod did make the difference for the Angels in 2002, their first World Championship and the only Pennant they have ever won. And he got them into the postseason 5 times in 7 seasons -- before that, they'd made it 4 times in 41 seasons, and that's if you count their 1995 choke into a Playoff for the AL West title that they also lost. And he collected a record 62 saves in 2008, his last season with the Halos.

For the 2010 season, 28-year-old "Frankie Rodriguez!" is making $12.17 million. For the same season, 40-year-old Mariano Rivera (who was not necessary today) is making $15 million.

Mariano is 18 of 19 on saves this season (95 percent), with an ERA of 0.86 and a WHIP of 0.686. "Frankie Rodriguez!" is 19 of 23 on saves this season (82 percent) with an ERA of 2.63 (a little higher than you want your closer to be) and a WHIP of 1.320 (a lot higher than you want your closer to be).

Mariano Rivera vs. "Frankie Rodriguez!" Reason Number 42... or is it Reason Number 75?... that it's better to be a Yankee Fan than one of the Flushing Heathen.