New York Baseball: Girardi Manages Yanks to Series Loss

With the Yankees trailing rival Boston 7-5 in the top of the eighth, Jose Molina singled to left with no outs.  Manager Joe Girardi then pinch ran for the slow Molina with Wilson Betemit, seemingly in hopes of using Betemit's speed to draw New York within one run.

Melky Cabrera, pinch hitting for Alberto Gonzalez, then singled to right, moving Betemit to second and setting up a perfect bunt situation.  With the quick Johnny Damon due up next, all the Yanks had to do was lay down a bunt and they would have the tying runs in scoring position.  Even if Robinson Cano or Bobby Abreu couldn't follow with a single, all Cano really had to do was hit a ground ball to the right side to bring the deficit to just one with another inning to play.

But despite the fact that Damon is only hitting .190 and the fact that bunting has been very beneficial for the Yanks so far this season, Girardi chose to let Damon swing away, and of course the outfielder hit into a double play, ending New York's hopes for a series win.

But the confusing managerial decisions don't end there.  Because Giardi pinch ran for his catcher Molina (apparently for no reason), DH Jorge Posada, who cannot throw a baseball right now due to a sore arm, was forced to move behind the plate.  So now the Yankees not only had a catcher who couldn't throw out base runners, but they had also lost their designated hitter, meaning their pitchers would be forced to bat.  And because of all the moves Girardi made in the top of the eighth, the Yankees were only left with Morgan Ensberg and an injured Derek Jeter on the bench to pinch hit for the pitcher if his spot was to come up.

Clearly, Girardi didn't think the Yankees had a chance to come back in the ninth and he made sure of that by bringing in Kyle Farnsworth to pitch the bottom of the eighth even though Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera hadn't pitched in three days.  But obviously they're not allowed to pitch in games the Yankees are losing.

So what happened?  Farnsworth, whose ERA is now 5.68, gave up a lead-off single to the speedy Coco Crisp, who immediately stole second because the Yankees were fielding the equivalent of myself behind home plate.  The Red Sox continued to play small ball, moving Crisp to third and then scoring him on consecutive fly balls. What a novel concept.  Pedroia also singled off the worthless Farnsworth and of course stole second without a throw.

Now down three, the Yankees barely even tried to come back in the top of ninth, going down in order and losing the game 8 to 5.  It was one of the worst jobs of managing I have ever seen and that's saying a lot because I've watched about 1,500 Torre-managed games over the past 12 years.

I haven't graded the Yankees since their loss to the Royals on Wednesday, so here are their cumulative grades for the last four games (a win Thursday over KC, Wang's masterful performance on Friday versus Boston, and the two losses to the Red Sox over the weekend).

Joba Chamberlain, RP: (A)I moved Joba up to the top of the grading list because I really need to get this point across.  The last four days illustrate perfectly why Chamberlain needs to be in the rotation.  The position of setup man is obsolete when starters pitch a gem like Wang did on Friday and it's also obsolete when starters pitch poorly like Mussina and Hughes did over the weekend.  You're telling me that the inning and a third he pitched to preserve a three-run lead on Thursday is so important that his position in the bullpen can't be sacrificed by moving Joba to the rotation?  There's no way you can convince me that he's helping the team more as a setup man than he would by going out every five days and single handedly leading the Yankees to a win.

Joe Girardi, Manager: (D)He looks so brilliant at times like when he allowed Wang to pitch a complete game on Friday night, something Torre would never do.  But at other times, he looks exactly like his predecessor like in the eighth inning on Sunday.  Girardi also made a terrible move on Saturday when he allowed Mike Mussina to talk him into letting the starter pitch to Manny Ramirez with two outs and a base open in a game the Yankees led by a run.  Manny, who kills the Yankees time and time again, obviously hit a go-ahead two-run single.

Johnny Damon, LF/CF: (D) Damon stole the first two bases of the season for the Yankees Sunday (another disappointing stat).  Since Thursday, he went 1-9 with three walks, two runs, and a sac fly.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (D-) Over the last four games, Cano has gone 0-10 with seven runners left on base while batting second.  Hitting seventh, he was 2-7 with a walk and an RBI.  I wonder where he should bat.

Bobby Abreu, RF: (C-) Even Abreu is in a mini-slump.  He's gone three for his last 13 with just two RBIs.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B: (D)A-Rod has gone hitless in his last nine at bats.  He's 3-17 with only two RBIs since my last report.

Hideki Matsui, LF/RF: (A) Godzilla appears to be the only one hitting these days, yet he wasn't even in the lineup Saturday.  Matsui was 4-11 with three walks and two runs.

Jorge Posada, DH/C: (A-) Excellent at the plate (5-15 with a homer) but worthless behind it.

Jason Giambi, 1B: (D+)Hey, he's batting over .100!  When's the party?  The Yankees are 3-7 with him playing this year.  3-0 without him.

Jose Molina, C: (A+)If I told you a Yankees catcher had three multi-hit games in his last four contests, would you think that Yankees catcher would be Jose Molina?

Alberto Gonzalez, SS: (A) Here's another backup doing an excellent job.  Gonzalez has four hits in his last 10 at bats.

Melky Cabrera, CF: (B+)  Cabrera is hitting better of late.  He's three for his last 11 with four RBIs and a run.

Morgan Ensberg, 1B: (A) The Yanks are 2-0 when he starts this year.  Another solid effort for Ensberg on Thursday when he went 2-4 with a run scored.

Phil Hughes, SP: (F)Girardi wants to keep blaming Hughes' struggles on the cold weather, but there are plenty of pitchers doing just fine in the same conditions.  Hughes gave up six earned runs in just two innings on Sunday to increase his ERA to 9.00.  When will Joba enter the rotation?

Mike Mussina, SP: (D+) Saturday was better than his first start but not as good as his second.  The Moose looked good until he gave up three runs in the sixth inning.

Chien-Ming Wang, SP: (A+) The 2008 Cy Young winner was two defensive misplays away from a perfect game on Friday.

Andy Pettitte, SP: (A) Pettitte looked great on Thursday against the Royals, giving up just one run in 6.2 innings.  This is the type of effort the Yankees are going to need out of their number two starter if they're going to have any success this year.

Ross Ohlendorf, RP: (A) An excellent three scoreless innings in long relief of Phil Hughes Sunday.

LaTroy Hawkins, RP: (A)Three scoreless innings for Hawkins over the weekend.  LaTroy better be careful or his ERA will dip below 9.00 for the first time this year.

Kyle Farnsworth, RP: (F)

Brian Bruney, RP: (A) A scoreless inning and a third on Saturday.

Mariano Rivera, RP: (A)This is why Rivera is overrated.  He did nothing to impact the three games played in Boston and what he did on Thursday in Kansas City (pitching the ninth with a five-run lead) could've been done by any pitcher in the bullpen.  Except for Farnsworth.

Overall Yankees Grade: (C-)I can talk until I'm blue in the face about bunting and playing small ball, but the bottom line is starting pitching wins games and until the bottom of the Yankees rotation improves, or one of them is replaced by Joba, New York will continue to play .500 baseball.