Last night's Yankee loss to the White Sox came off the bat of the charmed Dewayne Wise (who had 7 RBIs to his name) and the runner scored was off the pitch from immaculate Phil Hughes (who hadn't given up a run since June 10). Up til that point, Chicago was playing like Mark Buehrle had depleted their luck budget for the rest of the fiscal year on one lush business trip to perfection.
But tonight they have a shot at pulling a Joba and weakening any "even a broken clock is right twice a day" perceptions. In Game 2 of the series, Chicago give the nod to long-reliever D.J. Carrasco (3-1, 3.58), after dealing scheduled starter Clayton Richard to the Padres this afternoon. He'll face Sergio Mitre (1-0, 5.91), who's let up about 100 runs in his last 2 starts. (Well, 7 actually. Which coincidentally is also his ERA against the Sox. Awesome.)
The Yankees offense seemed off-kilter last night, like when one of the lights in your Christmas tree is out and makes the rest of the string darken, but you can't figure out which one it is. Tonight they'll need to strike hard and early against the South Side version of Alfredo Aceves. Before the Sox start subscribing to any inflated confidence, let's see how their satisfactory middle-inning guy manages a lineup that typically has no discernible "bottom of the order." I wouldn't be surprised if Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez chase him out early. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Sox do the same to Sergio.
If last night's game was a starters' duel, then this one may be a bullpen one.