Yankees vs. Orioles
The Yankees began their season at Camden Yards with a 3 game series against the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles, who ended the 2008 season in last place, with 68 wins and 93 losses, had a team batting average (.267) just slightly lower than that of the ’08 Yankees (.271). In fact, the Yankees 180 home runs and 758 RBIs last season were not much more than the 172 homers and 750 RBIs put up by the Orioles. The point is… the O’s can hit. Their problem was pitching.
Yankees Starting Pitchers
C.C. Sabathia pitched just 4 1/3 innings in the first game. He allowed 14 runners to reach base (8 hits, 6 walks), 6 of whom scored. Although the Yankees scored 5 runs of their own, relievers Phil Coke and Brian Bruney were each charged with 2 earned runs, resulting in an embarrassing 10-5 loss.
Chien Ming Wang lasted a mere 3 2/3 innings in the second game, during which he allowed 9 hits, 3 walks and 7 runs. Edwar Ramirez, Jonathan Albaladejo and Jose Veras, combined for 4 1/3 scoreless and hitless innings after Wang’s departure. The Yankees again put up 5 runs in the game, 3 during a 9th inning rally, but came up short and lost 7-5.
A.J. Burnett didn’t last much longer that C.C. and Wang, leaving the game after 5 1/3 innings. Burnett struggled a bit, giving up 7 hits and a walk but struck out 6. More importantly, he allowed only 2 runs and gave the Yankees their first win of the season. Coke, Veras, Bruney and Mariano Rivera did not allow a run or a hit in the remaining 3 2/3 innings. The Yankee lineup was relentless, scoring 11 runs to defeat the O’s 11-2.
Yankees Bullpen
Despite the impressive relief pitching by the Yankees in the second game, Wang had already buried the Yankees too far down. It begs the question why Wang, or even Sabathia for that matter, was left in the game long enough to dig holes that deep. Does Joe Giradi really expect the Yankee hitters to score more than 5 runs every game?
Certainly Giradi did not anticipate such short outings from his starters. That may be why he chose not to have a long man in the bullpen this season. Sabathia, Burnett and number four starter Andy Pettitte should be able to give the Yankees a minimum of 6 innings per start. But who knows how many innings number five starter, Joba Chamberlain, will pitch per game or if Wang will be as durable as he was before his surgery last season.
Any pitcher can get injured, have a bad game or reach a high pitch count early. In this series alone, all of the Yankee relievers were used. In fact, of the 25 innings pitched, 11 2/3 were by the bullpen. If the bullpen continues to be used 4 or more innings per game, they’ll be burnt out before the All-Star Break.
