Thoughts on the Mud Bowl

More than the sky was cryin’ last night as the Yankees dropped to 4-5 on a rainy, 8 inning shutout thrown by Zack Greinke.  GI Joe played role-reversal with the bullpen and starting pitcher, figuring that the rain would shut the game down and Kennedy would only throw a few innings.  As it turned out, Kennedy only tossed 3 innings, giving up 2 runs but also striking out three.  His ERA looks more like a shoe size right now, but his control was better and he was throwing the strikes that eluded him in his last start.  He would have gone more than 3 innings had the weather not fouled things up for sure.

The real difficulty last night came from failure by the Yankees to see the ball, hit the ball, and run around the bases.  No Yankee base runner made it past second base and the Yankees grounded into 3 double plays.  They also left seven on base and failed to move Molina from second to third with no outs in the third.  Molina’s no speedster, obviously, but a grounder to the right side is all it takes.

Red Cross Medical Watch:  Jeter appears to still be on track for a Friday return, but Girardi will watch him closely.  “You have to be careful you don’t bring him back too early because you don’t want it to become a six-week injury,” said Joe G.  Posada’s MRI did not show anything more serious than a sprain, which will likely keep him from going on the DL.  Jorgie has never been on the DL in his major league career – quite a feat.  He’ll be available to swing the bat tonight but will probably not return behind the plate until this weekend.

With those two down, Alberto Gonzalez and Jose Molina will likely start tonight’s game – if there is indeed a game.  There’s a flood warning for the Kansas City area and tonight’s forecast doesn’t look promising.  “Scattered thunderstorms, some strong early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Storms may produce large hail and strong winds. Low 43F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 60%,” according to weather.com.

If there is a game, Pettitte will try for his first win of the season after giving a decent if not sparkling effort in his first start.  Check back later for line-up and more good stuff!