ARod And Tex Go Long But Offense Falls Short In CC's Promising Debut

Originally published 4/9/15
http://fieldgeneral.weebly.com/new-york-yankees/arod-and-tex-go-long-but-offense-falls-short-in-ccs-promising-debut

By Barry Millman 
It was a tale of two CC's. 

The one that faced down the stacked Blue Jays lineup for nearly six innings,  struck out eight batters, induced ground balls and kept it in the park on a night the wind was not a pitcher's ally. And the one that couldn't pull the trigger on the pitches he needed  to stop the bleeding when it started to flow in an endless 2nd inning.

When it was all over, four singles leading off that that inning became four runs on the scoreboard, and with the Yankees offense still in a state of slumber, that was enough to vulcanize this rubber game of  their first series of the season.

What I liked:

• ·      The young players contributed. Backup catcher JR Murphy was the only Yankee with two hits, and  shortstop Didi Gregorius drove in Murphy with his for the team's first run of the game. 

• ·     Alex and Tex hit their first home runs of the year. It was career number 655 for Alex and puts him five away from tying Willie Mays on the all-time list. Tex's scored his 1,000th  run and notched his 500th RBI as a Yankee. 

What I didn't like: 

• ·      The lineup went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and they're 3-for-21 on the year. That's abysmal. This offense simply isn't going to win many games -- or any so far - scoring three runs.  

• ·      The defense was shoddy again. Newly acquired second baseman Gregorio Petit let a slow roller to his right get through, allowing a baserunner to go from first to third.  When Beltran came up with it in the outfield and tried to gun him down at third, he hit the runner. The ball got past Chase Headley at third and the runner scored.  Nobody backed up Headley. It's academic  whether it was CC's job to do so or not. Looked like it though.

• ·      Gregorius committed his second baserunning mistake in three games after driving in Murphy by overrunning the first base bag and getting thrown out to end the inning. Maybe Ellsbury or Gardner should have a talk with him.

1-2. 159 to go.

What's next:  Game #4  Friday 4/10/15 vs. Boston Red Sox  7:05 pm