NO BEAST FROM THE EAST
Angels Expose Yankees Glaring Weaknesses in West Coast Showdown




By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
July 23, 2005

As my friend and I walked out of Angel Stadium Friday night I could hear the large throng of Angels’ fans yelling the all-to-familiar “Yankees Suck!” I turned to my friend and said, ‘You know I can’t disagree with them. They do suck.’ After the first two games of this series to a man the Yankees would agree.

The Anaheim Angels, who’ve had troubles of their own, both offensively and pitching wise, always seem to come to life when the Yankees come to town. This series has been no different. In Thursday’s game the Angels overcame four Yankee home runs to erase a 5-2 deficit and turn it into a 6-5 victory. How does that happen you ask? The ill winds of fortune began back in the first inning.

The Yankees’ Derek Jeter opened up the game against Bartolo Colon with a triple. Robinson Cano, the wonder rookie, did what he was supposed to do and knocked Jeter in with an RBI single to center. Gary Sheffield came up to the plate and promptly hit into a double play. What struck me most and what I have witnessed before is Sheffield’s failure to run hard down the first base line. A guy earning $13 million a year should be expected to run hard and at least try to stave off the double play.

With two outs, Alex Rodriguez homered to deep right center making the score 2-0. Had Sheffield done his job the score would’ve been 4-0 and would have really put the Angels back on their heels. Down by two the Angels were still in the game. Jason Giambi added a solo home run in the fourth inning to make the score 3-0. The Angels got a run back in the bottom of the frame to make it 3-1.

Yankees’ starter Randy Johnson kept the Angels at bay until the sixth inning when he gave up another run on a sacrifice fly by Bengie Molina, which scored Darin Erstad from third base. With the score at 3-2 Johnson finished the inning by getting Steve Finley to ground out to Jason Giambi. Unfortunately for the Yankees Johnson slightly tweaked his back when he slipped on the mound. His night was effectively ended.

The Yankees put more breathing room between them and the Angels when left fielder Hideki Matsui and Jason Giambi (his second) hit back-to-back home runs to make the score 5-2.

The game, however, became completely unraveled in the bottom of the seventh inning when Yankee manager Joe Torre brought in fireballer Scott Proctor to face pinch hitter Jeff DeVanon. DeVanon battled Proctor and was able to finally work a walk. Torre quickly pulled Proctor and brought in 40-year old left-hander Buddy Groom. Groom gave up back-to-back hits to Maicer Izturis and Chone Figgins. With the bases loaded Groom was able to strike out Darin Erstad, which brought the ever dangerous Vladimir Guerrero to the plate. Torre, again went to the mound, and called for set up man Tom Gordon. I had a bad feeling about the situation. Guerrero was nursing a 2 for 30 slump and was due to explode at any moment. Sadly, he picked this particular moment to do it. Gordon threw a cut fastball, which was low, but over the plate. Guerrero went down and got the pitch driving it over the centerfield wall for a grand slam. The Angels as they seemingly due against the Bombers took a 6-5 lead and held on to it to win the game. The Yankees threatened in the ninth inning when Alex Rodriguez led off the inning with a solid double against Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez. He made it as far as third base on a Hideki Matsui fly ball to center. Rodriguez struck out Giambi, walked Bernie Williams, and then got pinch hitter Jorge Posada to ground out to end the game.

It was a game the Yankees should have won. The middle relief let the game get away from them, and when a run really mattered the offense couldn’t get a lead off double home. It was a very demoralizing loss for New York.

If the Yankees had any thought of bouncing back Friday night, the Angels quickly put that to rest too. After the Yankees scored a run in the top of the second inning, lefty Al Leiter took the mound to face the Angels. Leiter, who was picked up from the Florida Marlins, was coming off a solid pitching performance against the Boston Red Sox. However, lightening didn’t strike twice as Leiter was lit up for six runs on 10 hits in six innings of work. Anaheim took advantage of Leiter’s, too much around the plate, pitching. Leiter added to his own demise when, in the second inning, his errant throw to Jason Giambi in a pick off attempt got by Giambi. The play scored the Angels Adam Kennedy from third base. The Angels put four across and led the game 4-1 after the second inning. Anaheim added another run in the third inning to lead 5-1.

The Yankees facing Anaheim’s hottest pitcher, John Lackey, were able to creep back into the game by scoring solo runs in the fourth and fifth innings to make the tally 5-3. Once again, the Angels went to work. With Maicer Izturis on first Leiter guessed right and threw a pick off attempt to first base. Izturis was seemingly hung out to dry. However, Giambi had trouble finding the ball in his glove and by the time he threw it to second base Izturis was sliding in under Derek Jeter’s tag. Izturis came around to score, when Kennedy’s ground got him to third and Erstad’s single got Izturis home.

The Yankees’ Gary Sheffield and Jorge Posada had a miserable night. Sheffield watched his average drop below .300 with an 0-3 performance and Posada was absolutely terrible. Posada went 0-4 with two strikeouts. Posada left 4 men stranded for the evening.

After the sixth inning the Yankees offense went on automatic pilot. They went very quietly in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. The only positive for the night was both Boston and Baltimore lost their respective games so New York didn’t lose any ground in the standings. The fact of the matter is the Yankees have stalled all the momentum they gained in taking three or four games from the Red Sox at Fenway and two of three from the Texas Rangers in Arlington.

Today, the prospects for the Yankees don’t look any better as they have Kevin Brown starting the game. Brown, who has been MIA since he was traded for last year, has shown that he no longer has the stuff that made him one of the nastiest pitchers in baseball. There is little doubt Brown will not be in pinstripes after this season. Whether he is in baseball next year is up to conjecture. He certainly won’t command $15 million per year and private jet flights for his family. The Angels counter with Ervin Santana. Brown is 4-6 with a 5.91 ERA and Santana is 4-4 with a 5.66 ERA. Today’s game will depend on whose offense decides to show up and produce the most.

Looking ahead I think the Yankees only chance at making the playoffs will be to win the Eastern Division outright. There will be no wild card entry from the east this year. There is a little more than two months of baseball left and a trading deadline that is rapidly approaching. If the Yankees have any hopes of turning things around they need to do it now. They have to get better pitching performances from top to bottom, and they need to rediscover a killer instinct. Let’s try starting with tonight’s game.


PLAY BALL!



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