I'm just kidding. Seriously...quit looking for the button. I hid it.

Actually, before the recap, I just want to throw some numbers at you: .163/.250/.256. That's who was put in the line-up in the #2 hole tonight. If you have an answer as to why this makes sense, please let me know and I'll send you a box of green tea.

The big story was obviously Phil Hughes' first start so let's begin there. Hughes was in trouble in the first inning, giving up a single to Alex Rios (went to second on a SB), a double to Vernon Wells and a single to Frank Thomas. 2-0 Toronto. He settled in from that point on until the fifth. At that point, Hughes gave up an infield single (should have been an out) and after another SB, a ground ball up the middle brought that run home. He gave up a single to Vernon Wells (3-for-3 off Hughes) before leaving the game and Wells came home on a sac fly by the Big Hurt. 4-0 Blue Jays. The final line was for Phil was 4.3 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 1 BB and 5 Ks with 91 pitches thrown.

The Jays scored the rest of their runs off the Yankees pen while A.J. Burnett simply shut down the Yankees lineup for 7 innings before the Jays pen closed the door. Toronto scored their last 2 runs off the Yankees pen in the 7th when they walked the bases loaded (2 from Henn, 1 from Proctor). One run scored on a sac fly from the Lyle Overbay and another on a wild pitch by Proctor. 6-0 Toronto.

Honestly, for his first major league start, and accounting for jitters (and looking at the glass half-full), I thought Hughes was all right. He certainly showed far more promise than any of the other potential #5 starters that the Yankees have tried out this season and looked pretty effective against most of the Toronto lineup. However, he struggled against the really good hitters (Rios, Wells, Thomas) in the Blue Jays lineup. Still, since this was his first start, I'm basically giving Hughes a pass but I'm certainly very interested in how he does against a pretty decent Texas line-up next time around.

In any case, with yesterday's loss. the Yankees losing streak has hit 6 and they are now in the cellar of the AL East and possess the third worst record in the majors through 20 games. That means that to get to 95 wins (let's just set that as the generally accepted cutoff for the playoffs), they'll have to play .613 ball the rest of the way. That's 87-55 for those scoring at home. They went 86-56 both last year and in 2005 for those who think that such a pace would be unsustainable. Personally, I'm not panicking and while I understand why people might be, I still think that I will be proven right in the end. The turnaround is coming. The first steps will begin this weekend (weather permitting) when they take at least two of three from the Red Sox.

If you're into swing mechanics, Jeff Albert of SwingTraining.net makes a guest spot over at the Baseball Analysts and details the changes in A-Rod's set-up and swing.


Jeff had looked at A-Rod's swing before so here are his thoughts from prior seasons.

At this moment the Yankees lead the Majors in runs scored (120). They have outscored the opposition for the season by 20 runs. That is the 4th best run differential in baseball and second in the AL only to the Red Sox, yet they currently sit in last place. Generally teams that outscore their opposition by 20% for the season don't end up at the bottom of the standings.

What does a stat like that tell us? It's only April.

Figures the good weather spell we've had in New York ends as soon as the Yankees come into town.

No makeup date has been announced. Likely date will be September 20 or 24, as both teams have off days at both ends of a scheduled series at Yankee Stadium.

Peter Abraham reports that Kevin Thompson was sent down to make room for Wang. Torre said that they didn't consider Melky. In the piece, he also mentioned that Phil Hughues will wear number 65 when he makes his start on Thursday.

Mr. Abraham also has this from A-Rod:


Finally, he says that Jeter expects to play today after being hit in last night's game.

Last evening saw the Yankees lose their fifth straight game and slide to last place in the division. However, as with most things in life, last night's loss was not without positive developments:

Matsui drilled a Kazmir fastball into the deep right field seats for his first HR of 2007. He appears to have his timing back after the DL stint.

Chien-Ming Wang projects to be fine this year based on last night's performance. Wang's velocity (Disclaimer: on the TV radar gun) was consistently mid 90's on the fastball, low 90's on the sinker. His "bowling ball" sinker created multiple ground ball outs and he was able to control innings that could have exploded, most notably Tampa Bay's half of the 4th: They had 1st and 3rd with no outs. Their two runs scored that inning could have easily been more.

The Yankees fought back in the top 7th. Scott Kazmir's lazy throw on a Matsui grounder got by 1B Pena. Posada made Kazmir regret the mistake with a solid double that tied the score. Phelps's hit plated Posada and the Yankees had the lead 3-2.

At this point, I must ask parents to have their children leave the room, because the following paragraph is gruesome:

After two quick hits in the bottom of the 7th, Vizcaino replaced Wang and got a quick out. Baldelli got an IBB to load the bases. Myers entered to face Crawford who somehow got his bat on a very good pitch (quite a bit down and in) and golfed the ball into the stands for a 6-3 TB lead. The Yankees scratched out another run but it ended in a 6-4 defeat.

Injury Report: Jeter took a fastball to the leg in his 1st AB and was moving (delicately) under his own power before Cairo replaced him...no word yet on his short term status.

Losing 5 in a row is of course disappointing, but you'd rather do it:

1) In April, and
2) when the division leader obliges you by losing 2 straight and you're still only 4 games out of first place.

The team also has an opportunity to right the ship in the next 5 games...4 wins between now and this Sunday would do the trick.

To make room for Godzilla, Chase Wright as demoted. With Wang coming back tonight, someone else will need to be. It could be Kevin Thompson, but some are saying it should be Melky.

The Yankees offense put up 8 runs (with Giambi, Jeter and A-Rod extending their hitting streaks of 10, 14 and 23 games, respectively), but the Yankees pitching staff allowed 10.

Kei Igawa was the biggest offender, allowing 7 ER in 4 and 1/3 innings. Bruney also allowed 3 ER in 1/3 of an inning's work... but he's been otherwise hot and has been pitching a lot, so that's not a big shock. Mo closed out the game (or, at least, the Devil Rays batters side of it) with a scoreless 8th.

A-Rod continued his amazing run with a 4 for 5, 2 HR, 4 R, 3 RBI performance that brings his batting average up to .400. Cano hit his first homer of the season and went 2 for 3. Abreu scored 2 runs while Jeter, Giambi, Matsui (welcome back) and Phelps each had 1 RBI of their own.

With his 2 home runs, A-Rod became the first player in the history of baseball to hit 14 home runs in the first 18 games of the season. We're witnessing the hottest start of all hot starts. He tied Albert Pujols record of 14 home runs in the month of April. He's tied for the AL lead in average, he's got 7 more home runs than anyone else and he's got 17 more home runs than anyone else. In those last two categories, he has double the number of the guy in 2nd place (Ian Kinsler in homers, Giambi and Ortiz in RBI). Wow.

Tonight, Wang (good timing) returns to face Scott Kazmir (1-1, 5.25 ERA), the man who is on all of my fantasy teams.

Edit: Thursday, not Tuesday. My mind was elsewhere.

Phil Hughes will start on Thursday.


Via Joseph via Tyler Kepner.

Peter Abraham points out a couple of interesting tie ins to Chase Wright's four consecutive home runs allowed.

Wright was only the second pitcher to ever allow such a thing. The other was Paul Foytack, an Angels pitcher. On the day he did it, one of the home runs was hit by Tito Francona, Terry's father. And the first team to hit four consecutive home runs was the Braves in 1961. The person who broke the home run streak? Joe Torre.