the Lone Star State?
Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens must feel they are really back home with the way the Yanks have been batting in this latest road trip slump.
Just like the last few years they spent with the Astros, no run support. Just get more than 2 runs on the board and the Yanks have normally won with Pettite starting, though it’s not just been a lack of run support for the Rocket, though he hasn’t got much, it’s a nasty looking 5.32 that’s an even worse 7.15 in his three games, two starts and one in relief, on the road -will he ever get that 350th win?
Of course it not just the bats that haven’t helped Pettite the ‘pen has done their best to screw things up for him, number of leads he has left a game with to see frittered away by Farnsworth, Proctor, Bruney etc with the huge amount of walks especially.
Why was Proctor walking in a loss in the 9th the other night while Mo was sitting in the pen? A very strange decision as he’d had four days rest since getting his ninth save with 20 pitches against the Giants and would come in last night to pitch the eighth with Baltimore 4-0 up ❓
Would we see a better job from the Rocket if the bats were knocking in runs left, right and centre? Or is it just one comeback too many? Or did I just put the Toxic Web Kiss Of Death on him by sticking him in my fantasy team? And is that the same reason Mussina isn’t really at his best with the team being called Funky Cole Mussina?
It can be no coincidence that the Yanks season has mirrored Bobby Abreu’s. Starts off very slowly gets worse then hots up, what was he hitting about .450 when they went on that run and halved the number of game back of the Sux they were. But then Bobby starting slumping again and the Yanks stopped winning, .120 average over the last week or so is ugly as the team have lost 7 out of 8. I did have Abreu in the team but his good run started when I picked him.
So maybe the Yanks are going to be like the Astros and comeback from a crap start and storm into the playoffs in the latter half of the season like Houston did in ’05 in a run that took them to the World Series but that took trades – do we want to give up prospects for White Sox players who have under performed this year? – and a change of manager…so probably not then.