Diabolic (Postgame Notes 31 July 2008)

One could have argued that tonight was one of the most important games of the year for the Yankees to win. They had Andy Pettitte on the mound in the most favorable pitching match up of the Angels series...

So, like clockwork, the Yankees get blown out of the water.

Andy Pettitte has one of his worst starts of the season and it could not have come against a worse (for the Yankees) opponent.

He struggled in the first and second inning before giving up a pair of three-run home runs in the third--nine of the Angels runs were scored on three run home runs--a poor performance in a place where Andy usually succeeds.

The offense wasn't good at the beginning of the game, but picked it up in the later innings--problem is, when you're down by nine runs in the ninth, there's not a whole lot that an offense can do.

There was an absolutely HORRENDOUS call in the seventh inning, when Ivan Rodriguez was clearly safe at home plate--on the replay his hand is touching the base and Mathis hadn't even made the tag.

There's no shame in losing to a good team. The shame comes when you get completley blown out at home, with a pitcher who's built his reputation as a 'stopper' on the mound.

The Yankees haven't just lost four of their last five, but they've gotten blownn out in three of those games.

The pitching that had been so good straight out of the break seems to, with the exception of Joba, collapsed completley, and despite the excellent trade deadline, the Yankees still have issues that they need to deal with--and quickly if this run is to be for real.