Here's some good news: The Yankees enter the three-game series against the Sox having lost three of four and struggling with
offensive problems of their own.
Bobby Abreu has
taken the place of Alex Rodriguez as the Bronx's whipping boy, Robinson Cano is hitting 100 points lower than he did last year, and Rodriguez himself has cooled considerably after a blazing-hot start (.776 OPS, compared to 1.297 in April).
On the other hand, Derek Jeter is leading the league in hitting with Jorge Posada right behind him, and while Hideki Matsui are Jason Giambi haven't hit their strides, their OBPs are higher than Jermaine Dye's slugging percentage. And Dye is having the best season of the Sox's big bats so far.
I have the feeling that when I pick up the papers over here the next few days, Yankees fans will have a much better idea of what a bad offense actually looks like.
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It took a while, but I finally got around to
eulogizing Dustin Hermanson. I was waiting for him to land on another team, and so far he hasn't had much luck. The Reds cut him just before the start of the season, and their bullpen has been roughed up. I remember seeing somewhere that Philadelphia was interested, but there's no deal there yet, either. Here's hoping he catches on somewhere.
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Minor league round-up:- Norfolk 5, Charlotte 4
- Brian Anderson went 2-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. He's hitting .319, but the 12 strikeouts in 47 at-bats are a concern.
- Toby Hall went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, but was 0-for-2 trying to throw out baserunners. It's hard to say what that means, because Eldar Torres stole both bags, and he had 41 of those last year.
- Heath Phillips gave up four runs in 5 1/3 innings, and it could've been more considering he gave up seven hits and five walks. Carlos Vazquez pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and hasn't allowed a run in five outings at Triple-A so far.
- Mississippi 4, Birmingham 3 (11 innings)
- Gio Gonzalez pitched five innings and a batter: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR. From the line alone, it's hard to say why he was pulled.
- Chris Getz went 3-for-4, raising his average to .319. Chris Kelly hit a two-run homer, his second of the year.
- Dewon Day pitched two scoreless innings, but Oneli Perez took the loss by allowing a run in his second inning of work.
- Winston-Salem 8, Salem 7
- Aaron Cunningham went 2-for-5 as he tries to break out of a slump; Micah Schnurstein went 2-for-4 with two doubles, and has 19 doubles to go with 10 homers in 36 games.
- Victor Mercedes went 3-for-5 with a double a homer, and 3 RBI. He's batting .382 (13/34) in his last seven games out of the No. 2 spot.
- Starting his first game of the season, Matt Zaleski gave up all seven runs (six earned) in five innings. Joseph Torres and Brian Omogrosso pitched two scoreless innings of relief apiece.
- Kannapolis 7, Savannah 5 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Chris Carter hit a three-run homer, his seventh of the year.
- Justin Edwards lasted only 4 1/3 innings, giving up six hits and four runs. Ryan Rote picked him up with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for the win.
- Savannah 6, Kannapolis 5 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Maurice Gartrell went 2-for-3 with a solo homer.
- Jose Zazueta struggled with his control, only going four innings. He gave up four runs on only two hits thanks to six walks.