That said, rsmith has it right, he was just one of many. Mussina didn't have much. Posada botched a strikeout that should have ended the eighth, leading to the tying runs, which were helped out by Sheffield's error, though Sturtze didn't do his job either. Matsui got a key hit in the failed ninth inning rally (3 for 5 with a 2B and an RBI overall), but he also struck out with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth (at least he swung). And Womack's error lead aided the winning run, though Gordon didn't do his job either. Oh, and Sheffield went 0 for 4 and left six men on base.

It was a brutal game to watch, even when the Yankees were winning (both starters were painfully slow to the plate and the play was just ugly and sloppy throughout).

What costed them the game were the errors, most notably Posada's. Sturtze was doing fine until then.

Now, is it better to lose a game on errors like last night or to have your pitchers get shelled? Personally I would take the errors. I don't think errors affect fielders like poor outings can affect pitchers. Last night was an ugly loss but it was bound to happen at some point. And maybe it's better that the streak was broken before going to Shea. Now they get to start fresh in New York.

The best way to describe the at bat? Timid. And I wonder -- hope? -- if Joe would've considered Sierra in that spot had he been available. (Okay, probably not, but still...)

On the up side, it looks like it's going to take David Wells a couple starts to get back to where he was. Terry Francoma says he's going to let David "pitch through it." How long would this guy last in NY? Same-Same pitching immortal Curtis Schilling when he gets back. Can't wait to see the standings on June 9th.

I too think that Giambi's swing is still much slower than in the good old days. But he's still better than Womack, who has got to become the utility player he was designed to be!

Out, BB, Out, K (Posada error), Single, (Sheff throwing error) Two runs score, Out.

1,2,3 7th.

He did give up the walk & single, but I still think the 6th & part of the loss falls on Posada.

I actually like the way he responded in the 7th. The first two outs were long ABs. He could have imploded there.

I was also frustrated when Cano didn't lay down a bunt. Hot bat or not, don't you move the guy to 2nd?

Cliff and Alex, I'm wondering what you guys think of the reports in the Daily news yesterday about the possibility of the Yanks bringing Clemens back. Could management possibly be se so dumb that they would actually trade away Wang and Cano, who, despite their relative inexperience, appear to be two of the better prospects the Yankees have seen since Jeter/Mariano/Posada came up? I know it's early still, but I've really enjoyed watching Cano and Wang so far, and they both seem to be taking to the bigs far better than say Ruben Rivera, Ricky Ledee, Juan Rivera, Marcus Thames, etc.

I agree with all your earlier points, with the exception of the last one. Even great pitchers occasionally get shelled. When the Yanks play horrid defense, it just reaffirms that fact that they're a poorly constructed franchise.

On a Giambi note, I've been riding him hard all year, but he was only a tiny cog in the shit machine that was last night's game. He had no chance against Villone, and I'll bet everyone on this blog (who was watching the game) knew it. To NOT pinch hit for him in that situation is to set him up for failure.

Any chance that the market for Kevin Brown just opened up again?

If healthy, a return to the NL might be exactly what Brown needs.

But let's be honest, at this point, the last thing the Yankees need to be doing is trading away their farm system for a 42 year old pitcher who keeps retiring. What they need to do is do the opposite, keep the farm system and work on building it up. Keep the team core, sign free agents only (minus the few trades of non-prospects for relievers) and let the system grow again. Blah blah blah, its all been said before, but trading for Clemens would be a very bad move, unless it came at the expense of old players only...