April 13, 2009: The Yankee Massacre

Wow! What more can you say after first watching the Rays lift the pennant to the D-ring followed by an offensive explosion against the Yankees number 2 pitcher. It was so bad, that by the eighth inning Yankees' manager Joe Girardi actually threw in the towel and sent Nick Swisher out to pitch. Words can't describe the thorough ass-kicking the Rays gave the Yankees.

This game had it all. Here are some of the things I noticed (With so much, I'm going to start at the beginning of the game) :

• Welcome back, Bossman Jr.  BJ Upton rejoined the team with a vengeance.  His first at-bat really set the tone of the entire game. He worked a walk of Chien-Ming Wang and then promptly stole second and then stole third. He took Wang right out of his game.  From the moment Bossman stole second, Wang was finished.  If this is the lineup plays like this every night, we're in for a real good season.

• Big night, 'Los! Great job by Carlos Pena taking advantage of his bases loaded opportunity to blow the game wide open.  Everytime Pena gets in a little slump, he finds a way to remind me what a great find he was.
  

• The Kazmanian Devil continues to impress. 2-0 on the season already and looking real good. For the second game in a row, he looked like he was content letting the defense get the outs and not pressing for strike outs.

• Pat Burrell, home run king.  Pat the Bat finally comes through with his first dinger. We hear he's a streaky hitter. Tonight would be the perfect time to start a streak.

• Jason Bartlett hits his 2nd home run of the year after hitting only one late last season. They may need to check his bat for cork.

• After the game, Joe Maddon called his new lineup a "vicious circle." I may have to keep that term going.

• Open letter to Joe Girardi: It will be easy to blame your starting pitcher for tonight's performance, but I saw plenty of mental errors all over the field.  This team is too talented to look worse than the Orioles. I understand you're missing $50 million of your lineup, but please act like you care and send out a real pitcher in the eighth.