Girardi Throws Away Game, Cashman Throws Away Solarte for WHO?!?

I was supposed to go to last night's Yankee game. A friend won 4 tickets, but has no interest in baseball, and was willing to let me have them, provided I could give the other 3 away.

Would you believe, no takers? My brother-in-law was going to be one of them, and it would have been fairly easy for him to give the other 2. But he had to work late, so he couldn't go, and I couldn't find takers for the tickets.

And then he found out his meeting was canceled. So he, and thus I, could have gone after all.

It's just as well that we didn't go. I would have wanted Joe Girardi fired. I still might.

*

The Yankees opened a 4-game home series with the Texas Rangers last night. The Rangers have gone into an unbelievable tailspin, while the Houston Astros seem to have found their footing. Not only do the Astros no longer have the worst record in baseball, they're ahead of the Rangers in the AL West. Worst team in baseball? The Astros aren't even the worst team in Texas anymore.

Carlos Beltran opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the 1st inning. The Rangers tied it up in the 3rd, but Jacoby Ellsbury made it 2-1 in the 4th with a home run, his 8th of the season.

Going into the 6th inning, Shane Greene was doing well in his 1st Yankee Stadium start. And he got the 1st 2 outs. Things were looking good.

Then he allowed a single, and then a walk, and then an RBI single.

At this moment, the right thing to do would have been to get somebody warmed up in the bullpen.

The problem was, Girardi had already done that, and he pulled Greene. And brought in Matt Thornton.

Why Girardi pulled Greene, I understand. He might have been tiring. I didn't agree with the decision, but I understand it.

But Thornton? Thornton has not gotten the job done all year. Yes, the next batter up was a lefthanded hitter, but how many times did the lefty-on-lefty matchup burn Girardi when it was Boone Logan who was the lefty out of the pen?

And that next batter? Rougned Odor. No, that's not a misprint: It's pronounced "ROOG-ned OH-dore" -- not "OH-der" like a smell. He's 20 years old, a 2nd baseman from Venezuela, who until last night had 195 major league plate appearances. Any righthanded pitcher should have been able to get himself out.

But Girardi's Binder told him, "Bring in Logan Thornton, or I let general manager Brian Cashman release those embarrassing pictures of you."

Girardi brought in Thornton. Odor singled to left, bringing home the go-ahead run. Thornton allowed another RBI single to Shin-Soo Choo, before Girardi realized, "Holy cow, bringing in Thornton was a mistake. What does my Binder say now?" It said, "Bring in Adam Warren," and Warren stopped the bleeding by striking out Elvis Andrus.

But, speaking of guys named Elvis, we can't go on together with either suspicious minds or Girardi's Binder. Joe, don't be cruel. Mariano Rivera, you were always on my mind.

Rangers 4, Yankees 2. WP: Miles Mikolas (1-2 -- no, I'd never heard of him before, either.) SV: Joakim Soria (17). LP: Greene (2-1, and this loss was very much undeserved, but you can't charge a loss to the manager).

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But as the old saying goes, it can always get worse. You know what damn fool thing Cashman did today?

He traded Yangervis Solarte! Solarte had gotten off to a great start this season, but stopped hitting, went down to the minors, and was called back up, but then Girardi traded him to the San Diego Padres before he could re-prove himself.

Who did the Yankees get from the Padres for Solarte? Chase Headley.

Who? Chase Headley? Isn't that the actress who plays Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones? No, that's Lena Headey. Isn't Chase Headley a pitcher we already have? No, that's Chase Whitley. I know, he's the villain from Blazing Saddles! No, that's Hedy Lamarr. "That's Hedley!"

Headley is 30 years old, from Colorado, a switch-hitting 3rd baseman who can also play the outfield. Until now, he's played his entire career in San Diego, since 2007. In 2012, he won a Gold Glove, and led the National League with 112 RBIs -- but talk about an outlier, his next-highest total is 64. He hit 31 home runs that year, otherwise his peak year is 13. And he strikes out more than Mickey Mantle or Reggie Jackson ever did: 73 times already this season, 142 last year.

Seriously: Cashman thought this was a good trade.

His reasoning is that Headley is a defensive upgrade on Solarte. Funny, but he wasn't all that interested in defensive upgrades when he had Eduardo NunE5!

Now, Headley is supposed to be the everyday 3rd baseman -- even though the recently-arrived Zelous Wheeler is doing the business both at bat and in the field.

What the hell is wrong with Cashman? At least with Girardi, we know what the hell is wrong with him: He's too "by the book"!

These guys may both have to go.

Anyway, good luck in San Diego, Yangervis. Chase Headley, I hope you can win games for us, but the way the manager and the GM are going, who knows.

UPDATE: It turned out to be a decent trade. Solarte didn't do much for the Padres, while Headley was rather inconsistent for the Yankees, looking good one game and terrible the next.

Tanaka Won't Go to the John. Maybe He Should.

Not only is The One Yankee Who Still Gives Us Hope, Masahiro Tanaka, on the Disabled List with an elbow ligament tear, but he's been given a choice: A rehab that might allow him to pitch again in 6 weeks, or Tommy John surgery, which would put him out for the rest of 2014 and, at least, the 1st half of 2015.

Lots of baseball pundits are saying Tanaka should be sure, and get the surgery. Maybe he should "go to the John."

The thing is, if that happens, and Brian Cashman doesn't make any good deals in the meantime (a pretty safe bet), then the Yankees can start looking toward April 2016 for any hope for progress.

You know, like the Mets.

*

David Phelps started the series finale in Cleveland last night, and I was sure that the Yankees would lose.

Well, it wasn't Phelps' fault. He pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. A decent start.

And the offense had been doing its job: Zelous Wheeler hit a home run (his 2nd), for 2 runs, and Yangervis Solarte singled home another run. When Phelps was relieved for the bottom of the 7th, the Yankees led 3-2.

Hard to believe, but leaving Phelps in might have been a good idea. The bullpen blew it. Between them, Matt Thornton and the newly-acquired Jim Miller allowed 4 runs in the 7th, and Miller allowed 3 more in the 8th.

Indians 9, Yankees 3. WP: Carlos Carrasco (2-3). No save. LP: Thornton (0-3), who really is in a gots-to-go situation. Bury him at Scranton.

*

Cashman has made another trade, getting pitcher Jeff Francis from the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later.

A 33-year-old lefthander from Vancouver, Francis has been in the majors since 2004, with the Colorado Rockies, the Kansas City Royals, the Rockies again, and has already pitched for both the Cincinnati Reds and the A's this season. He's 70-80 in his career, mostly as a starter, with a career ERA+ of 94. He went 17-9 for the Pennant-winning 2007 Rockies, but hasn't topped 6 wins in a season since. Not exactly inspiring.

In addition, Miller, following last night's debacle, was designated for assignment, and brought reliever Matt Daley back up from the minors.

Tonight, the Yankees begin their last series before the All-Star Break, 3 games in Baltimore. Here are the projected pitching matchups:

Tonight, 7:05: Hiroki Kuroda vs. Miguel Gonzalez.

Tomorrow, 4:05: Shane Greene vs. Chris Tillman.

Sunday, 8:05: Girardi has not yet selected as starter, and our old friend Buck Showalter has selected Kevin Gausman.

Big Moves, Big Score Was Barely Big Enough

This is how the Yankees' 2014 season has gone: On Saturday, against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, they scored only 1 run, and, tantalizingly, it was almost enough; yesterday, they scored 9, and, frustratingly, it almost wasn't enough.

The Saturday game was started by David Phelps, leading Yankee Fans to produce reactions ranging from "Uh-oh" to "Oy vey" to "Aw, shit!" But he pitched 7 innings, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks. Shawn Kelley, who's also had his difficulties this season, pitched the 8th and the 9th, no problem. The game went to extra innings. Matt Thornton pitched the 10th, no problem.

How many Twins pitchers does it take to hold the 2014 Yankees to 1 run over 11 innings? Apparently, 6. Francisco Cervelli, subbing at catcher for the banged-up Brian McCann, got 2 hits, including the RBI single that drove home the only Yankee run in the 5th. Derek Jeter, Brian Roberts, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran and Ichiro Suzuki each got 1 hit. All 7 Yankee hits were singles, and only 1 drove in a run.

Thornton came out to pitch the bottom of the 11th. Chris Colabello led off with a double. Kendrys Morales hit a grounder that advanced him to 3rd with 1 out. Joe Girardi ordered Thornton to intentionally walk Josh Willingham to set up the double play -- or, at the very least, a forceout at home plate. But then Thornton hit Oswaldo Arcia with a pitch to load the bases.

The batter was Trevor Plouffe. Sounds like the name of a British General. He hit a grounder back to Thornton. He threw home for the force, and Colabello was out. But, on this day, Cervelli giveth, and Cervelli taketh away. Cervelli threw to 1st to complete the inning-ending double play, and his throw got past Mark Teixeira, and Morales scored the winning run.

Twins 2, Yankees 1. WP: Brian Duensing (2-2). No save. LP: Thornton (0-2).

True, Thornton set up the situation for the losing run. But he shouldn't be blamed. Had the Yankees scored so much as 2 runs in the 1st 9 innings, he wouldn't even have been in the game. And, to his credit, he did pitch a scoreless 10th.

*

Yesterday, the 2nd tour of duty in Yankeeland for Alfonso Soriano came to an end, as he was designated for assignment.

He gave the Yankees another half of a good season last year, with 17 home runs and 50 RBIs, and almost helped us get back into Playoff contention. This time around, however, he was batting just .221, only .204 against righthanded pitchers, with 6 homers and 23 RBIs. His trademark speed is gone: 1 of only 4 players to have a 40-homer-40-steal season, and the only one to do so without steroids, he's stolen just 1 base this season. He's 38 years old, and it shows.

He has 412 home runs. His career may be over.

That's sad. What's not sad is that the Yankees traded Vidal Nuno to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

You know the old saying: "Great trade! Who'd we get!"

Brandon McCarthy. He's a righthanded pitcher from Colorado Springs, like Goose Gossage, but that's the only reason to compare the 2 men. Today is his 31st birthday.

He made his big-league debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2005, although he was not on the postseason roster of that year's World Champions. On September 5, 2012, while with the Oakland Athletics, he took a line drive to the head off the bat of Erick Aybar of the Los Angeles Angels. While he managed to get back on his feet, he subsequently underwent surgery for 2 hours to relieve cranial pressure after CT scans revealed he suffered an epidural hemorrhage, a brain contusion and a skull fracture.

He's been 8-21 since, including losing 10 of his 1st 11 decisions this season. His ERA this year is 5.01, with an ERA+ of 75. However, he's won his last 2 starts in impressive fashion. It should also be noted that the Diamondbacks are currently tied with the Houston Astros for the worst record in the major leagues, so he hasn't had a lot of help.

He wore Number 32 in Oakland and Arizona. That number has been retired for Elston Howard, so he won't be wearing it with the Yankees. At this writing, he is still on the 40-Man Roster, not the 25-man Active Roster, and has not yet been assigned a number.

Also, he has a gorgeous wife, Amanda, who's a better Twitter writer than he is. She claims to have a dog (a Westie), but neither mentions any children.

*

The Yankees scored more runs in the 1st inning yesterday than they did in 11 innings the day before. Ricky Nolasco started for the Twins, and he had nothing, and the Yankees took advantage.

Brett Gardner led off the game with a walk. Jeter singled. Ellsbury flew out, getting Gardner to 3rd. Teixeira singled home Gardner. McCann returned to action, and I do mean action: He hit a double to right field that scored Jeter. It should have scored Teix as well, but he was thrown out at the plate.

The top of the 2nd began with 3 straight singles, by Roberts, Ichiro Suzuki and Kelly Johnson. Bases loaded, nobody out? Surely, there would be no Yankee RISPfail this time, right?

Well, Gardner popped up.

Someone mentioned on Twitter that bases loaded, nobody out has been the bane of the Yankees' existence.

That made me think of Bane, the Batman villain. I thought, "First, you will load the bases with nobody out. Then you will pop up. Then you will ground into a double play. Then... you have my permission to die. Or, at least, to be designated for assignment."

But Jeter remembered his Captain Clutch nickname, and hit a sacrifice fly to center field that got Roberts home. Is 1 run enough when you get bases loaded and nobody out? No. But Ellsbury realized that, and hit a screaming liner to right field, his 5th home run of the season. 6-0 Yankees.

The 4th began with singles by Ichiro and Johnson. Gardner flew out, but Jeter singled home Ichiro. Ellsbury grounded into a force play that eliminated Jeter, but also got Johnson home. Teixeira singled. McCann was up, and Anthony Swarzak, who had replaced Nolasco as the Twins' pitcher, balked Ellsbury home.

The Mets beat the Texas Rangers in an Interleague game, 8-4. Were both New York teams saving all these runs for a "Sunday dinner"?

9-0 Yankees. Surely, they couldn't blow this.

Hiroki Kuroda had been pitching well, but he faltered. With 1 out in the bottom of the 4th, he gave up a walk, a wild pitch, an error on his own throw, a double, an RBI double, and a 2-run homer. Just like that, it's 9-4.

He got into a jam in the 6th. Girardi replaced him with Adam Warren, who got out of it, but allowed another run in the 7th. 9-5.

Jim Miller replaced Warren in the 8th, and gave up a home run. 9-6.

David Robertson was given the ball to protect a 3-run lead and finish the Twins off in the 9th. He struck out Brian Dozier to start the inning. But he gave up a single to former Yankee tin glove/noodle arm Eduardo Nunez. Then he gave up a single to Chris Parmelee. And just like that, after having a 9-0 lead, now the tying run was at bat in the bottom of the 9th.

Oy...

Robertson struck out Willingham. Just 1 out to go.

Come on...

Arcia singled home NunE5. Now it's 9-7, the tying runs are on base, and the winning run is at the plate, in the form of Kurt Suzuki.

I can't look...

Suzuki grounded to short, and Jeter flipped to Roberts for the forceout.

Ballgame over. Yankees win. Theeeeeeee... whew... Yankees win.

WP: Kuroda (6-6). SV: Robertson (21). LP: Nolasco (5-7).

The Yankees took 3 out of 4 in Minnesota. They are 14-4 at Target Field since it opened in 2010.

*

So here we are, more than halfway through the season, 14 out of 26 weeks. Here's how the American League Eastern Division stands with 12 weeks to go:

The Baltimore Orioles lead the Division. The Toronto Blue Jays are 2 games back, the Yankees 3 1/2, but, due to a variance in the number of games played, both the Yanks and the Jays trail the O's by 3 in the loss column. The Tampa Bay Rays are 8 1/2 back, 10 in the loss column. And the Boston Red Sox are 9 back.

You'll notice I haven't included the Wild Card standings. This is because, beyond my usual stubbornness, the current AL East standings allow me to truthfully maintain that the Yankees are very much in the race for the Division title.

*

The Yankees' current roadtrip continues, first to Cleveland, then to Baltimore. Then comes the All-Star Break, with the Game also being in Minnesota, a week from tomorrow. After that, the Yankees have a well-deserved 10-game homestand, with Cincinnati (Interleague), Texas and Toronto.

As to the ASG: Jeter, as could be expected as a Yankee in his final season, was voted the starting shortstop for the American League. The managers select the pitchers, and John Farrell of the defending World Champion * Red Sox chose 2 Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka and Dellin Betances. No other Yankee was selected. None of the preceding should be considered a surprise. Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners was the only former Yankee selected. Every team is entitled to at least 1 selection, and the Mets' honoree is 2nd baseman Daniel Murphy.

Here are the projected pitching matchups for the Yankees-Indians series, with all 4 games slated for a 7:05 PM first pitch:

Tonight: Shane Greene, making his 2nd big-league appearance and 1st start, vs. Justin Masterson.

Tomorrow: Tanaka vs. Trevor Bauer.

Wednesday: McCarthy, in his first Yankee start, vs. Josh Tomlin.

Thursday: Phelps vs. T.J. House.

The Yankees have not yet set any starters for the following 3 games in Baltimore.

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.