Yanks Dominated By Beckett; Lose 4-0

Commentary:

It took 9 games but the Yankees offense finally failed to show any signs of life during Sunday night's game at Fenway, losing 4-0.  This poor showing was no fault of New York's hitters however.  Josh Beckett, after a troubling first start of the season, bounced back with a phenomenal outing last night, limiting the Yanks to 2 hits over 8 innings.  He struck out 10 and walked 1 by harnessing all his pitches.  The New York hitters looked off balance all night and only managed two singles (Cano and Chavez).  It definitely was a reality check for New York who had been scoring runs with ease so far this season.

The Yanks weren't helped by a sub-par outing from CC Sabathia who only managed 5.2 innings while throwing 118 pitches (Beckett only needed 103 to get through 8).  It was CCs first poor start of the season and is now 0-1 despite two fantastic starts prior to last night.  The bullpen didn't help matters when Chamberlain relieved CC in the 6th and allowed 2 more runs to score.  Some good news was the Boone Logan looked better although he did walk a batter.  In the 8th, Girardi decided to bring in Freddy Garcia as a reliever which was somewhat surprising.  He will pitch later this week so it seems like Joe just wanted to get him some work.  Garcia's first appearance of the year was mediocre, allowing an insurance run.

In the end, Boston ended up taking the series but the good news is that they once again forgot how to pitch tonight, losing 16-5 to the Rays.  Dice-K looks like he has no idea how to pitch anymore and Wakefield should retire.  So in the battle of the AL East basement dwellers, the Rays have climbed even with the Red Sox.  The series continues tomorrow.

As for the Yanks...

Grades:

Offense:  C-  They don't get a lower grade due to the dominance of Beckett.

Starting Pitching (Sabathia):  C  Although the earned runs weren't awful, 118 pitches for 5.2 is unacceptable for an ace--especially when Beckett had his A game.

Bullpen:  C+  A decent outing from Logan and Garcia.  Poor performance by Joba.

Weather for Tomorrow's Matchup (vs. Orioles):

Not looking promising for baseball tomorrow as a storm system will SLOWLY CHURN across the Northeast bringing damp and chilly conditions.

Game Time Conditions (7:05pm):  Cloudy with showers.  Temperature of 48 degrees.  Good chance of not completing  the game.

Verification of Yesterday's Forecast:

Forecast Temp: 50
Observed Temp: 54
Forecast Conditions:  Cloudy with rain developing.  Possibility of not getting the game in. 
Observed Temp:  Mostly cloudy with showers.  Game played in full.

Grade: B