Last updated: 8:33 am
June 28, 2008
Posted: 5:00 am
June 28, 2008
IT feels as if the Yankees are playing four corners with their rotation though there are way more than a few minutes left in the season. There are too many games left for the Yanks to keep starting Darrell Rasner and Dan Giese and Sidney Ponson, and believe that a strong offense and pixie dust will get them into October.
You can't stall away the rest of the schedule hoping to get to the postseason on rotation bandages, prayers and reclamation projects.
PHOTO GALLERY: Mets - Yankees Doubleheader
MORE: Joel Sherman's Hardball Blog
You might get a moment of inspiration amid the desperation as the Yankees did last night. Ponson was placed on the roster after the Yanks were savaged by the Mets in a doubleheader opener, and he authored six shutout innings in a 9-0 triumph that brought a split to this Bronx-Queens twinbill.
But before anyone gets too giddy, let's remember Brandon Claussen and Tyler Clippard had their lone shining moments for the Yankees in Subway Series games. And let's remember that Rasner and Giese had their journeyman to The Man phase for the Yanks already this year. Might they again? Maybe. Their rudimentary stuff and track records, though, suggest it is midnight for Cinderella.
And let's remember that the more you trust Ponson, the more he will let you down. The Rangers were the latest team to learn that, just prior to releasing him for unbecoming behavior despite a 4-1 record.
His season record is now 5-1, 1-0 as a Yank, because Ponson escaped bases-loaded, no outs in the second and bases loaded, one out in the third. He retired the final eight men he faced. His sinker was superb and he did not record an outfield out. He badly outpitched Pedro Martinez, whose ERA climbed to 7.12 in six starts. If the Yanks are having difficulties with no-names, the Mets are not quite comfortable with their rotation brand names.
