The Yankee Clipper: Disappointing Loss

There are games that you should win, and last night was certainly one of those for the Yankees. So why did they come out on the short end? While This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes looks for some rays of sunshine, let's take a look (with A-Rod looking absolutely ridiculous Presidential on the right from ESPN.com):

1. The Yankees bullpen and defense didn't perform. Boone Logan and David Robertson (and to a lesser extent, Alfredo Aceves) just didn't get the job done. Phil Hughes struggled but got through 5 2/3 with a 2-1 lead and turned the ball over to Boone Logan with the lefty, Luke Scott, up at the plate. Logan promptly walked him. Robertson came on to face Wigginton who he hit (on an 0-2 pitch). He then allowed three straight RBI singles to Rhyne Hughes (rookie), Nolan Reimold (struggling), and Caesar Izturis (just bad) before finally striking out Adam Jones.  As the Post's Joel Sherman writes, the Yankees bullpen is a little bit of a mess in front of Mo. Ben from River Ave Blues breaks down the Boone Logan decision.
2. The bullpen was bad, but the Yankees' defense didn't help them out. Aceves' run could have been prevented but bad defense by Derek Jeter (error to lead off inning) and Jorge Posada (who sailed a throw down to second into CF) but Caesar Izturis (Yankee killer) made it 5-2. Randy Winn also had a chance to throw out Luke Scott at the plate in the 6th but ended up throwing the ball straight into the ground (a la Todd Zeile in the 1996 ALCS).
3. The Yankees base-running was atrocious--and hurt them. Jorge Posada hit a home run but had a tough game defensively and running the bases. In the 6th inning, Posada was caught straying too far off second base (where the heck was he going) and Miguel Tejada easily threw over to get Jorge. Posada is not a good baserunner and this is not the first time a base-running gaffe of his hurt the Yankees.  Another bad baserunner on the Yankees is Robinson Cano who somehow thinks he's a base stealer just because he's a middle infielder. Well Cano got caught at second and ended a potential rally. NoMass has a memo to Cano to stop attempting steals.
4. The Yankees looked like they had another 9th inning rally, but they fell just short. It was the perfect scenario for the Yankees: a rookie pitcher trying to get his first save and a jittery team that had only won 3 games all season. Nick Johnson came off the bench to "hit" but you knew he was just there to walk and like Johnny Walker himself, Johnson kept on walking, which brought the tying run to the plate with one out. Derek Jeter struck out and then an error by Izturis (and Brett Gardner's speed) kept the inning alive. Teixeira lined a single on the first pitch and brought the Yankees within a run with the speedy Gardner on third. A-Rod stepped up and smacked one on the ground but Julio Lugo was playing him perfectly and just got Tex at second base for the final out of the game. So close. And the Yankees' slide continues. Was it the beginning of the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx?
5. A few other notes from yesterday. Joe at River Ave Blues and Jay at Fack Youk have really good recaps of the game. The Yankees assistant GM Jean Afterman got into a ridiculous "controversy" and apologized to the President according to Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York. Doug Glanville wrote an interesting piece for ESPN.com about Teixeira coming up without a position and turning himself into a great defensive first baseman and ESPN's TMI blog looks for the "next Teixeira." Oh, and MLB cracked down on Twitter use from players or writers which prompted an uproar from the Tweeting world and denials from MLB, with a good overview from Aaron Gleeman of HarballTalk.

One last thing: the Ryan Howard contract was absolutely ridiculous. ESPN's Buster Olney calls Howard "overpriced", ESPN's Keith Law laughed when he first heard about the "unwise" contract (Matthew Carruth of FanGraphs did the same), BTF via ESPN's TMI projects the rest of Howard's career, Will Leitch of NY Mag calls the deal (which he describes as having a home-town tax) "absolutely insane", and HarballTalk's Craig Calcaterra summarizes all of the reactions to this deal. The Yankees go back to CC Sabathia tonight to try to right the ship after a bad stretch here. The quest for 28 continues with the ace back on the mound tonight