Staff Infection

I watched Saturday night's game with Cliff Corcoran. In the eighth inning when Boston cranked out seven runs against the Yankees' weak bullpen corps, Cliff said, "The Yankees are playing this game like they are the Red Sox. I didn't have much hope of them winning tonight, but then they made it close, only to have a few things go wrong late"—Hideki Matsui allowing a wind-blown ball to fall in for a double, Derek Jeter botching a double play—"and then they get blown out in the end."

The Yankees had trouble against Tim Wakefield for a change, although they managed to score five runs. (The last one, which tied the game, came on a dubious grounds-rule double call which resulted in Terry Francona getting himself run from the game for arguing.) Javier Vazquez was not impressive, though after the game, both Vazquez and catcher Jorge Posada thought that he was better than he has been in a long while. More concerning for the Yankees than the loss, was the fact that Paul Quantrill was ineffective once again. Other than Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera, the Yankee bullpen is not strong at all.

Kevin Brown will start on Sunday afternoon for the first time since he punched a clubhouse wall. He goes against Curt Schilling. Although a win would be sweet, it's more important for the Yankees that Brown has a decent outing. It's reasonable to assume that Schilling will be on his game. I'm interested to see how this one pans out.