Grading the Yankees: New York Vs. Cleveland, Bombers Run Into a Buzzsaw

Too bad it was Wang's night to pitch.

Going up against the best hurler in the Majors right now without the aid of two of their best hitters, the Yankees might've been better off just throwing Ross Ohlendorf out there to start and taking the 11-0 loss.

But it was Chien-Ming Wang's turn in the rotation and so his seven inning, three run effort was wasted as the Bombers' bats couldn't solve the riddle that is Cliff Lee and his high school softball like 0.81 ERA.

You can't win all 162 games on the schedule and so as a fan, you have to accept some defeats.  This is one of them.  But some columnists and critics will still complain about the anemic New York offense and how it could only muster six hits against a guy allowing about half a base runner per inning. 

In actuality, what's really bad about this loss is the timing because it follows a game the Yanks should have won Tuesday night.  So instead of trying to win the series against Cleveland on Thursday, the Pinstripes will be trying to avoid getting swept for the second time on the home stand.

Here are my grades for the Yankees' 3-0 loss to the Indians.

Joe Girardi, Manager: (B-)I'm still confused as to why Girardi keeps batting Shelly Duncan (.192 average) ahead of Hideki Matsui (AL second best .339 average) in the cleanup spot.  I'm assuming it's because he doesn't want to bat the two lefties (Abreu and Matsui) back to back, but with Godzilla being a .295 career hitter versus southpaws and Duncan batting just .277 lifetime against them, it doesn't make much sense.  Nevertheles, Shelly was able to get a double off of Lee so it worked out somewhat for Joe.  And I'm pretty sure not even Joe McCarthy could've won this game for the Yanks.

Johnny Damon, LF: (F)Johnny really hated that off day Monday.  He's now hitless in his last nine at bats.

Derek Jeter, SS: (F) The Captain was 0-4 as well and even added a couple strikeouts.

Bobby Abreu, RF: (A)Abreu was the only Yankee to have a multi-hit game and he even threw out a runner from the outfield.

Shelly Duncan, 1B: (C+) A double in four at bats.

Hideki Matsui, DH: (C) Matsui increased his hitting streak to 16 games with a blooper in the second.

Melky Cabrera, CF: (C) 1-4 with a K.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (C) Slowly but surely, Robbie is coming along.  He has a mini three-game hit streak.

Morgan Ensberg, 3B: (B)It appears Ensberg and Betemit will share starts until A-Rod returns.  Ensberg did his job Wednesday, picking up a hit in three AB's.

Jose Molina, C: (D+) Molina can't get a hit to save his life, but he made two more outstanding defensive plays, throwing out a runner attempting to steal third and starting one of the most impressive 2-2-3 double plays you will ever see.

Chien-Ming Wang, SP: (A-) Okay, so Wang is second in the AL Cy Young race for now.

Kyle Farnsworth, RP: (B+) He didn't throw many strikes, but Farnsworth pitched a scoreless eighth.

Jonathan Albaladejo, RP: (C-) Gave up two walks and a hit but didn't surrender a run thanks to Molina's fancy footwork.

Yankees Overall Grade: (C-) The Yanks have to quickly put this one behind them because their last chance to salvage a game in this series comes Wednesday afternoon.