The Yankees won a rather disgusting game against the erstwhile California Angels yesterday, beating up on Bartolo Colon and the vaunted Angels bullpen 14-9. In a game marred by base-running and fielding mistakes, the possible A.L. MVP proved the difference.
Alex Rodriguez continued his personal vendetta against Colon, collecting two hits off him before crushing a home run to left field off Chris Bootcheck. ARod is now OPS-ing an asinine 1.630 vs. Chubby Colon. The rest of the offense looked solid for once, as even the Purple Rose of Miguel Cairo got in on the action with a suicide squeeze and an RBI triple (that was turned into a single when Robinson Cano was called out for failing to touch third base en route to scoring.)
For a while in the middle innings, this looked like a classic 2007 Yankees game, one in which the pitching was just bad enough to let down the offense, or vice versa. Andy Pettitte was dreadful for a second consecutive start, as his ERA continues to regress, falling more in line with his middling peripherals. Edwar Ramirez fell from grace, allowing two hits and a walk in an inning and a third (And whether or not he's for real, Ramirez needs a good nickname. Any suggestions?), as he appeared to rely too heavily on his "Bugs Bunny change-up", as Michael Kay incessantly called it.
Luckily, Scott Proctor and Big Mo bailed him and Pettitte out, and the Yanks got a much-needed win against their five-year-long nemesis. Two more wins this weekend will get them over .500 at the break...still out of reach of the playoffs, but a moral victory perhaps.
Good pitching match-up today: Lackey against the Rocket.
