Vazquez Pounded Again, Yanks Can't Complete Sweep

I'm really getting tired of writing the same line after just about every time Javier Vazquez takes the mound for a start. The Minnesota Twins hit rocket after rocket off of Vazquez, tattooing him until he left in the sixth inning.

The result of this is that Vazquez, who was just starting to turn some skeptics' minds, shot back to the top of the "Most Disliked Yankees" rankings. He had nothing and the Twins hit everything in the Bombers' 8-2 loss.

The soft-spoken Vazquez took a line out of the old Art Howe playbook and said he battled. He said that is the biggest improvement from earlier in the year.

"Even though we got the loss, I battled out there," Vazquez said after allowing five runs (all earned) on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. "My first few games of the season, I wasn't battling as well as I did today."

How does he define battling?

"I guess battling means staying aggressive," Vazquez said.

Vazquez barely touched 90 mph on the gun. Ideally, he wants to be between 90 and 93. With his velocity down, Vazquez needed to be more precise.

"Obviously, I have to locate better," Vazquez said. "Obviously, when you don't have your good fastball, you have less room for error, trying to locate better. That's what I'm trying to do."

That is what Vazquez had been doing. The progress that Vazquez recently had displayed seemed to vanish in the warm Minnesota air.

Was it really a week ago that he made the Mets look as if they were swinging with miniature bats? Was it really less than 10 days ago that Vazquez was striking out Kevin Youkilis in front of Yankees fans to end a Red Sox rally and win a game? Was it a little more than two weeks ago that he put together seven strong innings in Detroit? Yes. Yes. And yes.

And then there was Thursday night.

Vazquez had an excuse if he wanted to reach for it. He could've pointed to his bruised right index finger. It was a nasty contusion after he took a pitch off the finger while bunting against the Mets.
He and Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that wasn't the problem. Girardi didn't think it was Vazquez's fastball, he thought it was his off-speed stuff.

"He left some breaking pitches up and they didn't miss them," Girardi said.

It is one thing not to have any velocity, it is another not to have control. With one out in the first, Vazquez walked Orlando Hudson after going up 1-2.

The pitch that sent Hudson to first was a 3-2, 88 mph fastball in the dirt.

Next, Joe Mauer singled and Justin Morneau hit a sacrifice fly -- and right away it felt as if bad Javy had made the trip to Target Field.

The second inning was worse. In that inning alone, the Twins hit three doubles, hammering Vazquez all over the park. When Jason Kubel hit a solo bomb in the sixth, it was the first Twins home run in since May 19.

May 19 was the day after Vazquez bested Youkilis in the Bronx. On Thursday night, it seemed like a very long time ago.

But I don't think that is an accurate description. On Thursday night, he made it seem as if it was an eternity ago. Once again Vazquez showed he could not pitch for the Yankees and in the American League.

This act is becoming old and very tiresome. His velocity is down and he can't locate anything. I'll give him until after Interleague play is over because I think that's where he will pitch well. After that's over, I'll give him one more American League start, and then I'll say it's time for the Yankees to cut their losses.

Yeah, it would look bad for Yankees GM Brian Cashman, but so would keeping him on the team while he pitches them into a bigger hole in the standings. Why not try and swing a deal to bring Cliff Lee over here. Now, normally I am not one to just throw out superstars for the Yankees to sign and trade for because most times, it isn't necessary.

But the purpose of the Vazquez acquisition in December was to strengthen a rotation that only had three starters in the postseason last year. So why not do that but by trading Vazquez for Lee, or some variation of that.

I'm sure the Yankees could bring the Mariners to the table with a starting offer of Vazquez and catcher Jesus Montero for Lee. And I throw in Montero because the Yankees have Austin Romine, who might not be able to smack the ball out of the yard at the rate Montero can, but he can still hit very well and is a gargantuan upgrade on defense over Montero.

Like I said, I'm getting tired of Vazquez stringing together poor start after poor start, and I'm sure many other Yankees fans feel the same way. Let's give it just a couple more weeks.