No excuse for bad pitching, but ...

The Yankees have a day off. At 10-10, the team’s light years ahead of where they were at this time last year, but but they still stink. While their hitting hasn’t been stellar, their pitching has been awful. Mike Mussina’s done. Finished. And the children, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy look terrified to throw the ball near the plate.

Andy Pettitte and Chien-Ming Wang, excepting Wang’s last start, have been what the baseball cards say they are. Pettitte’s 2-0 in his last two starts, going 7 strong in each with 10 strikeouts and 3 earned runs. His ERA is 2.45 with 25 2/3 in 4 starts. Wanger got a no decision his last time out, but he’s still 3-0 with a respectable 3.81 ERA. His 7 walks are troubling, but he has one bad start in four when he’s up and wild. Those guys have vastly different styles, but they throw strikes. Smart strikes. They change speeds. They allow the ball to be put in play and turned into outs.

Mussina, Hughes and Kennedy are 1-8 on the season, and have thrown 50 2/3 innings combined. They’ve walked 26 batters. Contrast that with the 51 2/3 innings from Wang and Pettitte, and their 14 walks. Not hard to figure out why the Yankees are where they are.

Hughes and Kennedy have great stuff. Better than Pettitte at least. But Pettitte gets ahead of batters and doesn’t beat himself. Mussina’s nothing more than a batting practice pitcher at this point and if he throws another pitch to Manny Ramirez, Joe Girardi should be fired immediately.

Finally, Kyle Farnsworth got three games for missing ManRam. Figures. Let it be said, there is rampant anti-Yankees sentiment throughout the league and this is just another example. A-Rod gets drilled by the Red Sox. No biggy. Pete Martin sends Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter to the hospital, no problem (Sox again). Hideki Matsui gets plunked twice in the same game (Sox yet again). That’s fine. Shelley Duncan got suspended because Jonny Gomes (Rays) turned a 200-foot running start into a face plant into the back of Duncan’s legs. The pinstripers give a suggestion of retaliation and off to the naughty box you go. Farnsworth’s appeal will be upheld and he’ll likely get 2 games, instead of three. Still, it’s obvious and it’s garbage