A rather maddening game tonight. I wasn't expecting Sabathia to be at the top of his game; as we discovered last year, he's a slow starter. But the Yanks went out to an early lead. At 5-1 in the 4th, it started to look like the Yanks would win.
No dice. The Sox came back and tied the game. The Yanks took the lead again. The Sox finally took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the 7th, tacked on an insurance run in the 8th, and held on for the win.
It's only one game, of course, but a few things stuck out. One, the bullpen was pretty disappointing. I'm really wondering if the Yankees rushed Joba too much. He went from A-ball to AA to AAA to the big leagues in just one season. I think that's hurting him now. (I also think the Reds are probably making a mistake, starting Mike Leake in the big leagues right after drafting him.) Two, three balls got past Jorge Posada tonight. Only one was ruled a passed ball, but still...when your catcher is turning 39 this year, you have to wonder if he's slipping a bit when things like that happen. Three, Brett Gardner did okay at the plate tonight, but I fear he's overrated on defense. Yes, he's got nice speed, but his instincts in the outfield aren't very good. He always seems to jump the wrong way and take poor routes. And his arm is not very good. I'm sure he'll get better with more practice in left field, but watching him really makes me appreciate what a good defender Bubba Crosby was.
Curtis Granderson was a bright spot. He played nice defense, and hit a home run in his first at-bat. After the game, YES put up a graphic listing the players who hit home runs in their first at-bats. Bubba Crosby was on the list. Andy Phillips should have been on the list, but I don't think he was. (I'm not 100% sure; the TV was just on in the background, and I looked up when I heard Bubba's name and caught a brief glimpse of the list.)
This game sure dragged on. It was almost four hours long. Not sure if it was all the hits, or a lot of commercial time built in, or what, but it seemed to go on forever.
Despite the unhappy ending to this game, it's sweet to have baseball back again.
