In Game Comment II

I said in yesterday's post that the season might well be in the balance right now. Well Ortiz just hit a game winning walk off 3 run homer in the bottom of the ninth, averting what looked like certain defeat. And the Yankees failed to play small ball in the 7th, refused to bunt Jeter, even though he's not hitting just now, and Farnsworth coughed up the 2nd homer of the day to a 225 hitter on the A's, putting the Yankees behind. If they don't find a way to pull this out they will likely be 2 full games behind the Red Sox by the end of the day, and if that happens, if the Red Sox sweep the doubleheader that was starting so badly for them, while the Yankees get swept at home by the A's, I predict the Yankees will have made their last trip to first place in the East this season and will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1994. When you have both a faulty approach (that damn Torre is still waiting on the long ball) and injuries to players that made that approach seem (and I emphasize seem) viable, you have all the makings of a mediocre baseball team. At this rate, I'd say 90 wins...and that won't get it done.

Remember when Farnsworth blew up during Mo's injury and Torre excused it with comment that he was not expected to close games but to set up effectively. What is there to say now except that he can't seem to do the job with the requisite consistency. A 4.36 ERA for a reliever is just horrendous! Demote Farnsworth to the 6th and 7th and pitch Villone as set up.