Split!

The Good

The Yankees split a series against the Dodgers, which means that we at least won one of the two games.  Kuroda was dominating last night.  7 innings, 0 runs and 8 strikeouts all the while playing and completing advanced Sudoku puzzles each inning.  We're not watching a mere man pitch.  We're watching an ace.  Too bad his team is awful.

It was good to see Overbay hit a homerun in the first game.  Tells me there's still some pop in that bat.

The Bad

We lost the first game even though Pettitte was able to match Grienke through 7 innings.  The problem is that having a lineup stacked with homerun hitters used to win us these types of games, and now, with a lineup stacked with singles hitters, we just can't win close games. 

The Ugly

In previous weeks, I had stated that we will know if the Yankees are serious about competing this season if they bring in 2 legitimate bats by the trade deadline.  When they brought in Soriano, it was a good first step.  We added some power, and though he strikes out a lot, doesn't walk, and doesn't hit for average, he's still an upgrade over say Vernon Wells.  The Yankees needed just one more big league hitter by the trade deadline to make a serious run at the post season, and that deadline came and went without the Yankees acquiring anyone.  So what does this mean?  The Yankees have given up on the 2013 season.  Even with Granderson returning, we basically just have a left handed version of Soriano.  This is not enough to overcome our run scoring drought.  It's not to say that the current team cannot outperform and make a run for the playoffs, but in not making the effort to bring in another bat, the Yankees are letting us know that they're looking towards 2014. 

Pop

Overbay's homerun adds not one, but two dollars for the kids at the Children's Health Fund.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 10hr = $20
Brett Gardner 7hr = $14
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 2hr = $4
Robinson Cano 21hr = $42
Ichiro Suzuki 6hr = $12
Lyle Overbay 12hr = $24
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 3hr = $6
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2
Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2
Derek Jeter 1hr = $2
Alfonso Soriano 1hr = $2

Total 90 hrs = $180