I'm trying not to lambast Joe Girardi for leaving Andy Pettitte in the game after his walk to Garciaparra. I know it's reactionary because Pettitte started the inning having thrown only 82 pitches. Even after the walk, Andy was only at 90 pitches.
Pettitte, by the way, was brilliant for 6 innings.
I'm not going to get down on Alfredo Aceves, either. The 26 year-old ex-Mexican Leaguer has been a revelation, allowing only 44 baserunners in 46 innings before today. He was brought into a jam he couldn't get out of, and the 3 inherited base-runners who scored today doubles Aces total for the season (he's only allowed 6 of his 17 IR to come to the plate).
Instead, I blame the Yankee batters who did exactly what we expected them to do against a rookie with an ERA higher than his cap size.
Mark: a pair of groundouts and a K, Gio fed you a steady diet of curveballs that you couldn't square up.
Alex: a strikeout on 4 pitches then another on 5 pitches, followed by a 2 out groundout with a runner on 3rd.
Nick: you led off three innings with outs.
Robbie: at least I knew you were going to strikeout with a runner on second. The rest of your day was disappointing.
Jorge: in fairness, you weren't supposed to play today, and if your teammates had done their jobs you could have rested. But weak grounders to the second baseman are how rallies are killed.
So get a good night's rest. There's a rubber match to win tomorrow afternoon.