Yankees Take Opener In St. Louis In 12 Innings

If the Yankee bats can just give David Phelps, Vidal Nuno, Chase Whitley and whoever else starts in place of the injured Michael Pineda until June, CC Sabathia until July, and Ivan Nova for the rest of the season, enough runs to win, or at least enough runs to get to the bullpen, we'll be in the thick of the fight for the American League Playoffs.

Yesterday, the Yankees opened at 3-game series away to the St. Louis Cardinals. The rookie Whitley started, and went 5 innings, and allowed 3 runs on 8 hits -- but no walks. His command needs work, but he has good control.

To lead off the game, Brett Gardner drew a walk, followed by singles by Derek Jeter and Jacoby Ellsbury. The same pattern was followed in the top of the 5th, as Ichiro Suzuki walked, while Brian Roberts and Kelly Johnson singled, to make it 2-1. This was followed by Whitley grounding out (It was an Interleague game in a National League park, so the pitcher has to bat), and Gardner hitting a sacrifice fly to score Roberts. 3-1 Yankees.

But Whitley loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 6th, and Joe Girardi brought in Preston Claiborne, who usually doesn't come in that early. He allowed a forceout and a sac fly, and that tied it. I can't really fault Claiborne, and, as I said, Whitley is a rookie. And being tied after 6 innings is hardly a bad thing.

The game remained tied, and went to extra innings. You know how I get when the Yankees go to extra innings: Every inning from the 8th onward, I think, "We had these chances to win, and we blew it, we're not gonna win this one."

The Yankees didn't listen to me. Fortunately, they did listen to me when they got rid of lefthanded reliever Randy Choate, a.k.a. Randy Choke. He pitched for the Cards in the top of the 12th. Ellsbury walked to lead the inning off. Then Choate hit Brian McCann with a pitch -- a big mistake if it was an accident, really dumb if it was on purpose. Yangervis Solarte bunted the runners over. Cards manager Mike Matheny ordered Ichiro walked to load the bases and set up the force at any base.

It didn't work: Roberts dunked a single into left. It only moved the runners up 1 base each, but it was enough to give the Yankees the lead. Alfonso Soriano pinch-hit for Alfredo Aceves -- scary that Girardi's Binder told him to bring Aceves in, but he now stood to be the winning pitcher. Soriano hit a sac fly to score McCann. Brendan Ryan singled home Ichiro to make it 6-3.

As Yankee Hall-of-Famer -- although I think he was still with Oakland when he said this -- Reggie Jackson said of a home run he blasted out of Fenway Park (metaphorically speaking), "We needed an insurance run, so I hit it to the Prudential Building."

You never know when those insurance runs will come in handy. David Robertson came in to close it out, but Jhonny Peralta -- all this time, and he still can't spell "Johnny" -- reached on an error by, of all people, Jeter. Robertson struck out Daniel Descalso for the 1st out, but allowed an RBI double to Jon Jay.

Okay, D-Rob: Enough fooling around, let's get these guys out. He did: He got Matt Carpenter to ground out, and struck Kolten Wong out singing. (Name sounds like it came out of the old Flash Gordon serials.)

Yankees 6, Cardinals 4. WP: Aceves (1-2). SV: Robertson (11). LP: Choate (0-2).

The series continues tonight: Phelps starts against Lance Lynn. Phelps grew up near St. Louis, in Florissant, Missouri.

"You grow up thinking about playing on this field," he said. "Obviously, you don't think about doing it in a Yankees uniform, but it's really cool. You walk out and you see the Arch. There's small things like that that do make it fun."

Actually, the current Busch Stadium didn't open until 2006. Phelps was already 19. He grew up thinking about playing on the field at the preceding Busch Stadium, just to the south of the new one. That wasn't possible, as he didn't reach the majors until 2012.

In his last outing, he pitched well, but ran into that near-perfect game by Chris Sale of the White Sox. Let's hope he does as well, and gets the runs he needs.

Like I said at the start: If guys like Phelps pitch well for the injured starters, and we get the runs, we'll be just fine.

*

Hours until the Red Bulls play again: 2, tonight, at 9:00 PM Eastern Time, away to Sporting Kansas City. This past Saturday, Metro played a lousy game in losing at home to 2-1 to the Portland Timbers.

Hours until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 3, tonight, at 10:00 PM Eastern Time, against former Soviet "republic" Azerbaijan, in one of the last events that will be held at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Under 2 weeks. This will be the 1st of 3 warmup matches for the World Cup, also facing Turkey at Red Bull Arena and Nigeria in Jacksonville.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 11, a week from this Saturday, June 7, 7:30 PM, vs. the New England Revolution, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

Days until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil: 16, on Thursday, June 12. A little over 2 weeks. In other words, the tournament could be underway before I do this list again.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 31, on Friday night, June 27, at 7:00, at Yankee Stadium II. Just 1 month.

Days until Arsenal play again: Officially, not until the new season starts in August. Unofficially, it's this, and I'm just busting about it:

Days until the Arsenal-Red Bulls match at Red Bull Arena: 60, on Saturday, July 26. Just 2 months.

Days until the 2014-15 Premier League season begins: 81, on Saturday, August 16. Under 12 weeks. (I previously had this erroneously listed as being on August 9.) The fixture list is usually released on the first Friday in June.

Days until the next North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham: Unknown. The next season's schedule, or "fixture list," usually comes out on the 2nd Friday in June. Derbies are rarely held that early in the season -- the 2013-14 season's September 1 match was unusually early.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 93, on Thursday, August 28, away to Washington State, at CenturyLink Field, home of the NFL Champion Seattle Seahawks. (It had been listed as August 30, but was moved up.) A little over 3 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 100, on Thursday, September 4, home to Woodbridge. It's on a Thursday night, rather than a Friday night, because of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

Days until Rutgers makes its Big Ten Conference debut: 109 days, on Saturday, September 13, time to be determined, against old enemy Penn State.

Days until Derek Jeter's last regular-season home game (barring injury): 120, on Thursday, September 25, against the Baltimore Orioles. Under 4 months.

Days until Derek Jeter's last regular-season game (barring injury): 123, on Sunday, September 28, against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Days until the Devils play again: 129. The 2014-15 NHL schedule has been released, and the Devils will open the season away to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, October 3, at 7:00 PM.

Days until the Devils next play a local rival: 130. Their home opener will be against the Islanders on Saturday night, October 4, at 7:00 PM.

Days until Game 7 of the 2014 World Series -- the absolute latest you can ever again see Derek Jeter in a competitive game: 155, on Wednesday, October 29. Just 5 months, and no more Jeter -- not as an active player, anyway.

Days until the next East Brunswick vs. Old Bridge Thanksgiving game: 196, on Thursday morning, November 27, 10:00 AM. Just 6 months.

Days until New York City FC make their Major League Soccer debut: Unknown, but a new MLS season usually begins on the 2nd Saturday in March, which would be March 14, 2015. That's 291 days. A little over 9 months. Whether it will be a home game, and thus at the new Yankee Stadium, is yet to be determined.

Days until the New York Islanders' last game at the Nassau Coliseum: 316, on April 8, 2015, at 7:00 PM, against the Ottawa Senators. A little over 10 months.

Days until the Islanders' first home game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn: Unknown, but an NHL regular season usually begins on the 1st Friday in October, which would be October 2, 2015. That's 493 days. That's a little over 16 months. Or, to put it another way, "493 Sleeps Till Brooklyn." Until then, even with their 4 straight long-ago Stanley Cups, they're just a Small Club In Hempstead.

Days until the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 801, on Friday, August 5, 2016. A little over 26 months. (I had previously undercounted this by nearly 200 days, but the months figure was right.)

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?

Pirates' Raid In New York Yields Only 1 of 3

So the Pittsburgh Pirates -- a National League Central Division team, and thus not normally on the Yankee schedule -- came to town this weekend. The Friday night game was pushed back to Sunday, as part of a doubleheader.

Michael Pineda is out until June, CC Sabathia possibly until July, and Ivan Nova for at least the rest of this season due to Tommy John surgery; he might be out until next May. So the Yankees' starting rotation now consists of the spectacular young Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, the steady older Japanese pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, and whoever else we can find.

Not "Spahn and Sain and two days of rain," like the 1948 Boston Braves: It's 'Hiro and 'Roki and three days of lucky.

On Saturday afternoon, David Phelps (pictured above) was sent out to start, filling exactly no people with confidence. Surprise: Phelps was fine. Joe Girardi left him out there for only 5 innings, but he didn't allow a run, with 5 hits and 3 walks.

Dellin Betances may have to be to 2014 what Mariano Rivera was to 1996: The guy who picks up from sometimes-shaky starters and forms an amazing bridge to the closer. (Remember, in 1995 and '96, the closer was John Wetteland; Mariano didn't get that role until '97.) Betances allowed a run over his 2 innings, but at that point, the bats made sure it didn't matter. Adam Warren pitched a scoreless 8th, and Matt Daley pitched a perfect 9th.

As for those bats: Mark Teixeira took Edinson Volquez deep in the 1st, his 9th "Teix Message" of the season. His typical (for a Yankee 1st baseman, anyway) slow start is well over. In the 3rd, Zoilo Almonte,  newly called up in place of the injured Carlos Beltran, and Brett Gardner, not guys from whom you would expect power -- say it, John Sterling -- went "back-to-back-and-a-belly-to-belly!" Obviously, Almonte's 1st home run of the season, Gardner's 3rd.

That was all Phelps and the bullpen would need, but Alfonso Soriano added a dinger in the 7th, and Brian McCann one in the 8th. (In case, case, his 6th of the season.)

Yankees 7, Pirates 1. WP: Phelps (1-0). No Save. LP: Volquez (1-4).

*

Kuroda took the mound for the Sunday opener. He allowed a run in the top of the 1st, a home run by Neil Walker. But he then settled down, going 6 strong, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks.

The Yankees came right back in the bottom of the 1st. Gardner led off with a walk, Derek Jeter singled, and Pirate starter Charlie Morton hit Jacoby Ellsbury with a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Teix singled home Gardner and Jeter. McCann singled home Ellsbury. 3-1 Yanks.

Kelly Johnson singled to lead off the 2nd. Almonte struck out, but his protection of the runner forced a throwing error from catcher Tony Sanchez -- filling in for our old friend Russell Martin, who is injured -- enabling Johnson to get all the way to 3rd. Not that the extra bases were necessary, as Gardner doubled, and Johnson probably would have scored from 1st anyway. 4-1 Yanks.

Again, the Yankees got the runs they needed early. The Bucs scored 2 in the 6th, but, between them, Daley and Matt Thornton in the 7th, Warren in the 8th, and David Robinson in the 9th stopped them.

Yankees 4, Pirates 3. WP: Kuroda (3-3). SV: Robertson (8). LP: Morton (0-6 -- no, that's not a typo: Zero wins and six losses. Though he didn't pitch badly yesterday, and was kind of undone by his backup catcher.)

*

With Vidal Nuno starting the nightcap, I expect it to not go so well. Don't blame him: He brought his A game, which is a C+ game by anyone else's standards, but was fine: 6 innings, 3 runs (only 2 earned), 6 hits, just 1 walk.

The Yankees took a 2-1 lead in the 2nd, then fell behind 3-2 in the top of the 6th as Nuno clearly tired. But Yangervis Solarte tied the game in the bottom of the 6th with his 5th homer of the season. Amazing: We thought 3rd base was going to be a big hole in the order with Ol' What's His Name suspended for the season, and whatever our problems, that position hasn't been one of them. On offense and defense, Yangervis provides service.

This time, however, for the 1st time in the series, and hopefully for the last time in any series, Girardi trusted Alfredo Aceves. Aceves was so good for us in the 2009 World Championship season, but now, he's had it. He allowed the go-ahead run in the 7th, and Thornton allowed another in the 9th. Girardi brought Preston Claiborne in to stop the bleeding, and he did all right as the last Yankee pitcher, but it was too late.

Pirates 5, Yankees 3. WP: Gerrit Cole. SV: Mark Melancon (the 6th of the season for the former Yankee -- and I'm not sure having him now, to set up for Robertson, would help much). LP: Aceves (0-2 -- let him go, Brian Cashman, he's not helping).

*

So here we are, with 7 of the season's 26 weeks gone, a little more than one-quarter of the season. How do things look in the American League Eastern Division?

The Yankees are 23-20, in 1st place by a slim margin. The Baltimore Orioles are half a game back, even in the loss column, 1 win behind us, as they have a game in hand: Were they to win it, they would be exactly tied with us. The Toronto Blue Jays are 1 back, 2 in the loss column. The Boston Red Sox are 3 back, and the Tampa Bay Rays 5 back, 6 in the loss column. (The Yanks and Sox have 2 games in hand on the Jays and Rays, and the O's have 3 games in hand on them.)

The elimination numbers that would give the Yankees the AL East title: The Rays 113, the Sox and Jays 117, the O's 121: Any number of Yankee wins and Oriole losses the rest of the way, adding up to 121, and the Yankees win the Division. If, the rest of the way, the Yankees take 2 out of 3 at home, and split on the road, that would give them 94 wins. That's usually enough to win the AL East, and would surely be enough to at least make the Playoffs.

Of course, that comes with some big ifs:

* If Tanaka can keep pitching like an ace, especially when teams face him a second or third time.
* If Kuroda, who's 39, can hold out for the rest of the season as a solid starter.
* If they can find 3 warm bodies to take the places of Pineda until June, CC until July, and Nova the rest of the way.
* If Pineda and CC do come back and can contribute in the 2nd half.
* If Robertson continues to do fine as the successor to Mariano.
* If Solarte continues to do fine as the successor to A-Rod.
* If Beltran comes back fine from injury.
* If Teixeira stays healthy and continues his power renaissance.
* If Jeter continues to play as though he's 36, rather than 40. (I suppose wanting him to play like he did in 2009, when he was 35 and playing like he was 27, is out of the question.)
* If nobody else suffers a long-term injury.
* If Girardi uses his eyes and his brain to manage, and not his dreaded binder.
* And If none of the other AL East teams catches lightning in a bottle and goes on a .600-or-better tear the rest of the way.

That's a lot of ifs. But you know what? There's only a 5-game difference, right now, between the 1st-place Yanks and the last-place Rays. Which means all the AL East teams have their share of ifs. Which means that it's anybody's Division -- including ours.

*

The Yankees are off today, a travel day. Tomorrow night, they begin a 9-game, every-day roadtrip: First, a run that may be (I'm not sure) unprecedented in baseball history, playing both Chicago teams away, first 2 against the Cubs, then 4 against the White Sox. Then they go down Interstate 55 to visit the St. Louis Cardinals.

The White Sox are 21-24, not looking good, and have had pathetic attendance, ranking 29th out of 30 in the major leagues, ahead of only fellow AL Central team Cleveland. The Cubs are even worse, 15-27. But the Cardinals are looking good at the moment, 23-21.

Stay tuned, my honorary nieces & nephews.

It CAN Get Worse, But I Wish It Wouldn't

Last night was a bad night. The shocking ending to the Castle season finale didn't help. Andrew Marlowe, how could you?

But the opening of the four-games, two-ballparks Yankees-Mets series may have been the worst regular-season game in Yankee history. We've had postseason disasters that were worse -- the 2012 ALCS, Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, the last 3 games of the 2003 World Series, the last 2 games of the 2001 World Series, the last 3 games of the 1995 ALDS, and the last 4 games of the 1981 World Series come to mind -- but as regular-season games go, this one will be hard to top. Or, is that "bottom"?

The Mets got a run off Hiroki Kuroda in the 1st, but the Yankees tagged former Yankee (and Indian, and Angel, and Red Sock, etc.) Bartolo Colon for 4 runs in the 2nd. Three straight singles by Brian McCann, Alfonso Soriano and Yangervis Solarte loaded the bases. Colon struck out Kelly Johnson and got a lineout from Brian Roberts.

But then, in one of those things that makes John Sterling say to Suzyn Waldman, "You know, Suzyn, you just can't predict baseball," a grand slam was hit -- by Brett Gardner. It was his 2nd home run of the season.

One does not simply blow a three-run lead. It is folly.

Travis d'Arnaud, the catcher the Mets got from the Toronto Blue Jays, who was supposedly making the R.A. Dickey deal tolerable, homered in the 5th. David Wright led off the 6th with a single. And then came a slap to the face. Curtis Granderson, who left the Yankees, signed with the Mets, and followed up his talk about how he'd been told that "true New Yorkers are Met fans," but until recently hadn't been able to hit sand if he'd fallen off a camel, hit one out to tie it up. 4-4.

The Yankees made the Mets pay for that in the bottom of the 6th. With one out, Soriano doubled. Solarte singled him home. On Twitter, I said, "Best 3rd baseman in New York," a reference to Wright being overrated. Johnson, who tends to either hit a home run or nothing at all, hit a triple, scoring Solarte.

Roberts grounded to short, and Johnson was thrown out at the plate, but Roberts reached 1st. Gardner singled him to 3rd. Derek Jeter -- showing Met fans how it's done since 1996, although he didn't do much in this at-bat -- was up. Joe Girardi ordered a double-steal, and d'Arnaud's throwing error to 2nd allowed Roberts to score. Shades of Mike Piazza, whose defensive liabilities canceled out his steroid-aided hitting. (Excuse me, his alleged steroid-aided hitting.)

7-4 Yankees after 6.

One does not simply blow two three-run leads in a single game. It is worse than folly.

Then Girardi made a really stupid mistake: He took Kuroda out of the game, and put Alfredo Aceves on the mound. In 2009, Aceves was a key figure in Title 27. Suffice it to say, if the Yankees rebound, and win Title 28, it will be in spite of Aceves, not with his help. He allowed a leadoff walk to d'Arnaud and a home run to Eric Young Jr. (the Piscataway High School graduate and son of former Met, Rutgers University and New Brunswick High star Eric Young). 7-6.

John Ryan Murphy -- pinch-hitting for Carlos Beltran, an injury to whom would be a big problem -- got to 2nd base with 1 out in the bottom of the 7th. He didn't score, partly because Strikeout Soriano struck (out) again.

Matt Thornton was on the mound to start the top of the 8th. Probably because the Mets had lefthanded hitters coming up. Is he destined to become the new Boone Logan, the lefty pitcher who gets called on to get lefty hitters out, only to find he can't, thus invalidating his purpose in the major leagues?

He got Granderson out to start the inning, and got 2 strikes on Eric Campbell. But Campbell hit a sharp liner off Solarte's glove, sharp enough to be scored a hit instead of an error, and it went for 2 bases. Lucas Duda (who couldn't hit the broadside of a barn going into the game) singled Campbell home. 7-7.

Girardi compounded his bullpen-choice mistakes by bringing in Preston Claiborne. Who allowed a game-winning home run to Chris Young.

Solarte led off the bottom of the 8th with a single, but Johnson grounded into a double play to eliminate him. Roberts singled, but Gardner struck out. How do you get 2 hits off the Mets bullpen in the 8th inning and not get a runner to 3rd? The 2014 Yankees found a way.

There was hope in the bottom of the 9th: The Mets brought in their closer.

Kyle Farnsworth.

Kerosene Kyle.

Not a Darn's Worth.

Surprising no one, Jeter led off with a walk. Tying run at the plate.

We can do this, people.

Well, yes, we can -- and, no, we didn't.

Jacoby Ellsbury flied out. Mark Teixeira pinch-hit for Murphy, and singled Jeter over to 3rd. Girardi then pinch-ran Brendan Ryan for the injury-struggling Teix.

Runner on 3rd with less than 2 outs? Tying run on 1st? Winning run at the plate? Against Kyle Farnsworth?

I liked our chances.

McCann grounded into a double play. Game over.

Mets 9, Yankees 7. WP: Jenrry Mejia (4-0). SV: Farnsworth (3). LP: Thornton (0-1).

A team hitting as badly as the Mets did over the 1st 6 weeks of the season should not be scoring 9 runs and getting 14 hits, including 4 home runs, off you in an entire series. The Mets did it to the Yankees in one game.

That is unacceptable.

And now, we go into tonight's game, with Vidal Nuno starting for us, against Met "ace" Zach Wheeler.

Oy vey.

As Bill Cosby taught us, Don't ever say, "It can't get any worse." It can always get worse.

But I wish it wouldn't. A Yankee win tonight, considering how many factors are against us, could be the spark that lights the season. It could also be a shock to the Mets' system, sending them back into the abyss, which would be a nice bonus for us.

But we can't consider what it would do to the Mets. We have to be concerned with our own team.

Considering that egg it laid last night, very concerned.

Should We Be Concerned About CC?

The Yankees always seemed to have trouble against the Milwaukee Brewers, especially in Milwaukee, when the Brew Crew were in the American League. Their shift to the National League in 1998 removed that particular obstacle.

But, this season, the vicissitudes of Interleague play have put a trip to Beer City back on the agenda. And the Brewers had gotten off to a fantastic start, leaving them with the 2nd-best record in the majors. (Ironically, the one team ahead of them was the Detroit Tigers, who moved over from the AL East and took their place in the AL Central, as the expansion Tampa Bay Rays took the Tigers' place.)

A big reason for this is that Francisco Rodriguez, who bedeviled the Yankees in the 2002 and 2005 Playoffs, helped the Angels win the 2002 World Series, and set the current major league record for saves in a season before melting down with the Mets, has found his form. K-Rod has been brilliant these 1st 6 weeks of the season, doing for the Brewers what he once did for the Angels, what Mariano Rivera did for us for so long.

The series opened on Friday night, with Masahiro Tanaka starting for the Yankees, and more than anyone else, he has been the biggest boost of the season for the Yankees.

A close second is Yangervis Solarte, who hit his 2nd home run of the season as the replacement for Ol' What's His Name at 3rd base. He took Yovani Gallardo, the supposed Brewer ace, deep. It was a 3-run homer, in a 4-run inning that also included an RBI double by Brian Roberts, who replaced Robinson Can-u-pay-me at 2nd base.

Tanaka cruised through the 1st 5 innings, but ran into a little trouble in the 6th. But he settled down, and got into the 7th. He allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and just 1 walk -- the only walk given up by Yankee pitching that night. Adam Warren finished the 7th, and got through the 8th, facing 5 batters and getting them all out.

The Yankees picked up an insurance run in the top of the 8th, making it 5-2. At the time, it didn't look like a big deal.

But David Robertson faltered a little in the 9th, giving up a home run to Mark Reynolds, one of the few players the Yankees had last season who was actually a bright spot -- and was now playing for the enemy. (Not to be confused with The Enemy, namely that team in Boston, whom Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers had a no-hitter going. With 1 out to go, he faced David Ortiz, and the big fat lying cheating bastard ruined it by cheating his way to a single. The Rangers still beat the Red Sox 8-0.)

But D-Rob settled down, and nailed down the 5-3 win. WP: Tanaka (5-0). SV: Roberts (6). LP: Gallardo (2-2).

*

But last night's game was started by CC Sabathia, and the Big Fella hasn't done too well the last year or so. I saw somebody on Twitter say the ace isn't even a 4th starter anymore.

That may be a bit harsh, based on last night's start: CC only allowed 1 earned run in 5 1/3 innings. He only walked 1 batter. But he also allowed 8 hits, and an error led to 3 Brewer runs in the bottom of the 3rd.

The error was by Brendan Ryan, a former Seattle Mariner shortstop, who had 1 game this season to his credit going into last night. His lifetime batting average is .237. His career OPS+ is 72. Last season, divided between LoDo and the South Bronx, he batted .197. The year before, .194. He was in the game to give Derek Jeter a day off, since today's game is the dreaded D-GANG: Day Game After a Night Game. He was in the game for his defense.

He made an error, and went 2-for-2, before Joe Girardi pinch-hit Kevin Johnson for him, put him at 3rd base, and moved Solarte over to shortstop.

This is where John Sterling turns to Suzyn Waldman and says, "You know Suzyn, you just can't predict baseball."

That made it 4-2 Brewers after 3. But the Yankees came back. In the 6th, Mark Teixeira hit a home run off Brewer starter Kyle Lohse (whom you might remember from the Minnesota Twins' Playoff teams of the 2000s), 1 of 2 hits he got on the night, getting his batting average up to .253. (Chalk it up to the 30th annual "slow start by a Yankee 1st baseman," I suppose, but he may have turned the corner.) And the Yankees tied the game in the top of the 7th, on an RBI single by Alfonso Soriano, to get CC off the hook.

But getting CC off the hook didn't lead to a Yankee win. The returned Alfredo Aceves, ol' Number 91 himself, blew it in the bottom of the 7th. With 1 out, he allowed a double, then got another out, but advanced the runner to 3rd on a balk, and then allowed a single to get the run home (which probably would have happened even without the balk). After the Soriano single, the Yankees never got another baserunner, as the Milwaukee bullpen did the job.

Brewers 5, Yankees 4. WP: Zach Duke (3-0). SV: K-Rod (15). LP: Aceves (0-1).

*

In spite of CC not getting stuck with last night's loss I'm thinking we should be concerned about him. The man has averaged 213 innings pitched per season since he was 20 years old, and 230 innings over the last 7 seasons. That's not much by the standards of even the 1980s, but in the 5-man rotation era, it's a lot. Especially considering that he did start that average of 213 a season at age 20 (in 2001).

Having 37 career complete games wouldn't sound like much in the old era, but in the new era, he is the current active leader. He is also the current active leader in strikeouts, with 2,433. His ERA+ over the last 4 seasons -- including this one, only 6 weeks old -- has gone from 143 to 125 to 85 to 71.

In 2013 and '14 combined thus far, he's made 33 starts, of which only 19 (including 3 that he lost anyway) have produced games in which he's deserved to win. (Based on performance -- based on personality and the fact that he's a Yankee, he deserves to win every game.) In those 33 starts, he's 17-17, with an ERA of 4.94.

Last season, he led the AL in earned runs with 112. Up until then, for his career, he was 191-102 with an ERA of 3.50 -- but that 4.94 has jacked it up to 3.63 (to go with his record now being 208-119). Meaning that, in the last season and a quarter of baseball, his career ERA has gone up 0.13.

His next start will most likely be on this coming Thursday, against the Mets, at Citi Field, a pitcher's park. If he does well there, we can relax a little. But if the Mets, who've tremendously struggled (to put it politely) at the plate this season, can beat him, then we can be very concerned that CC isn't the pitcher he was from 2001 to 2012, and may never be again.

He'll be 34 in a little over 2 months. A little soon to be burned out. He's not injured -- indeed, he's never failed to make at least 28 starts in a season -- but for him to lose his effectiveness due to overuse would be a shame.

The series concludes this afternoon, a 2:10 PM start (1:10 local time). David Phelps is scheduled to start for the Yankees, Matt Garza for the Brewers.

Come on you Bombers!

UPDATE: CC has been placed on the 15-day Disabled List, due to inflammation in his knee. So he won't be pitching against The Other Team on Thursday. He'll be eligible to come off on May 26, while the Yankees are in St. Louis.