Saved by zero

A-Rod saved us. Hail prima donna, full of grace. You know, aside from the fact that his three RBI didn't technically affect the outcome of the game.

But I've decided to be positive about him as long as possible, since I've failed at my attempt to be positive about the Yankees' permanent homelessness. So actually, I'm going to credit the early lead he provided Sabathia with giving CC the confidence/comfort level he needed to have his first truly dominant start of the year.

I'm also not going to say that we finally saw "the real CC." We've been seeing the real CC all along. A good pitcher, but not a great one, who has flashes of brilliance like last night. We got him because we needed starters. We drastically overpaid for him because the Yankees show love by wasting money, just as they expect their fans to do. However, if the man could continue getting run support, and Captain Buzzcut would continue letting him stay in when he has a lead so the bullpen can't blow it, he could certainly prove himself to be the #1 starter we've told ourselves he is.

Too bad that will never happen.

Wait! Positive thoughts! Good thing that has finally started to happen. Let's hope it continues.

As a side note, why are we in Baltimore again for the second time in 5 weeks? Who makes these schedules? They're absurd.

And Alex: I still don't like you, but thanks for the runs. Now sit down and shut up until it's time to play again.

Melky Melks Himself Usemelkful. Eventuamelkyly.

Melky. What kind of name is that anyway? Deep in the dark recesses of the Yankee bench, there still lies a guy who can come through once in a while. He is the man they call Melky, and when he's not hacking at a pitch over his head (which he did yesterday, mind you) and not chasing a misplayed routine fly ball, Melky running uphill although the ball seems to be rolling down, until it turns into a triple, he does manage flashes of brilliance.

He hit the last home run in Yankee Stadium.

He hit the first walk-off homer to win the first game to require extra frames (Clyde Frazier I'm not but I figured I'd go for it) in the Interactive Yankeetainment Experience. And in so doing he sealed the deal on another inconsistent Yankee's strong outing (Hi, Jose Veras!)

I think I like this version of Melky...unseen most of the time, surfaces only occasionally, gets the job done when he does surface.

But I bet Joe Girardi uses last night's 14th inning flash of brilliance (luck? brilliance? desire by the Oakland pitching staff to go home?) as a basis for more frequent Melkying, and I just don't think that melks sense.

Coke, fiend.

The title is misleading. Though the Royals managed to have a Coke and a smile, Phil Coke wasn't the problem per se. He was beating himself up after the game, but let's be honest: there was no reason to bring him in. In a bizarre and ironic twist, Veras had been brought in as a "righty specialist" and didn't get the job done. But let's not crucify Veras, either. The bigger question is what buzzcut-sporting genius decided to pull Marte for no reason other than the lefty-righty game? 

Am I being unfair to Girardi? Maybe. He continues to inspire very little confidence in me, and so it's always going to be tempting for me to point a finger his way in these situations.

Meanwhile, what were the Royals wearing? I love powder blue unis as much as the next guy, provided the next guy is my cousin, who is the only other guy who likes powder blue unis (Hi Frank), but there were serious problems here. First commandment of powder blue unis: Thou shalt wear powder blue pants with thy powder blue jersey. I will waive commandment #2 (thou shalt not wear powder blue at home) on the grounds that the Royals wore powder blue at home in the height of the Powder Blue Era. However, note the white-on-blue lettering on George Brett in this...uh...interesting photo:

The Royals' alternate shirt as seen today was blue-on-white-on-blue, which looked like death. It looked, actually, like they just ripped the patches off their whites and sewed them on the blues. 

By the way, apparently the Royals had these unis last year, too... I could just admit that I forgot and/or hadn't noticed, but instead I'm going to pretend I just felt the need to comment now because I didn't have a blog then.