Joba struggled, Giese followed up with struggles of his own, and the Yankees offense cooled off after the second inning as they dropped the second straight game to Minnesota 7-3. I can’t help but think how destructive this will be heading into the regular season, Minnesota having the Yanks’ number. Clearly, their psyche is damaged after this.
Joba left pitches up and got hammered as a result in his one inning of work. Francisco Liriano experienced the same fate as the Yanks tied it at 2 in the bottom half of the first. But Giese got hammered, giving up a homer to Carlos Gomez and four runs earned in his two innings. Igawa actually looked good in his two innings, and Veras was dominant in his one, fanning two.
The Yanks managed just seven hits, only one (Teixeira’s double) for extra bases. Jeter singled, Shelley the Marauder had two, Melky had one, and Jesus Montero had an infield single off former Yankee Sean Henn in the ninth.
Unfortunately, Jorge Posada experienced some shoulder soreness when stretching Thursday, and its acting up today caused him to be scratched from the DH slot. He says it’s nothing major, but I’ll be relieved when Posada is back behind the plate on a regular basis. He’s just too crucial to the team, especially offensively and with his leadership. Fingers crossed.
Thanks to everyone for coming by the HDLR; it was fun regardless of the loss. Oh well, get ’em next time.