Failure in the Halos House of Horrors

All those good feelings built up by the sweep of the Oakland A's and a four game winning streak were nearly completely wiped out last night by another tremendous case of RISP failur, the anagram that keeps on killing. The Yankees had Angels' ace Jered Weaver on the ropes early, but like Muhammad Ali doing rope-a-dope, the LA starter wouldn't go down despite being roughed up. The result was a 3-2 loss that dropped the Yankees lead over the Boston Red Sox to one game (two in the loss column) in the AL East.

Though they went in order in the 1st inning, the Yankees made Weaver work, particularly Derek Jeter who saw 15 pitches before he flew out to center. Yankees starter Ivan Nova was shaky, but battled his way into the 7th inning. However, he put his team in a hole in the 1st inning, something you can't do against a guy like Weaver no matter how many pitches he throws.

Erick Aybar reached on a one out single and moved into scoring position on a Nova wild pitch. Former Yankee Bobby Abreu doubled to give the Angels a 1-0 lead and later in the inning scored himself on an Alberto Callaspo ground out. The Yankees had a big chance of their own in the 2nd inning when Alex Rodriguez reached on a lead off double, moved to third on a Robinson Cano ground out and scored on a Russell Martin single to halve the lead. Nick Swisher drew a walk, but both Jorge Posada and Brett Gardner looked at a called third strike to allow Weaver to escape further trouble.

The Yankees tied things at two apiece in the 4th on walks to Rodriguez and Swisher and a ground rule double by Posada (the Yankees were victimized by Angel Stadium's low outfield walls). But Gardner struck out again, this time swinging, to strand two runners in scoring position. That would be all the Bomberless-Bombers would manage the rest of the night, which was unfortunate since Nova gave the lead right back in the home half of the 4th.

The Angels, wearing 1960's retro uniforms and hats topped with halos loaded the bases on singles by Russell Branyan and Mark Trumbo and a walk to Jeff Mathis. Peter Bourjos, who entered the game mired in a long slump, stroked his second single of the night to give LA a 3-2 lead. Nova retired the final two batters of the inning to keep it a one run game, but his offense was shut down for the night as the Yankees did not getting a single hit over the final five innings.

Angels Make Play for Halladay

According to the Toronto Sun, the LA Angels have made a considerable offer for Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay. The Angels have reportedly offered starter Joe Saunders, shortstop Erick Aybar, and minor league outfielder Peter Bourjos.

The deal would give the Blue Jays the a second starting shortstop they lost when Marco Scutaro signed with the Red Sox. Toronto had previously inked Alex Gonzalez to a 1-yr deal with an option for a second year. Saunders would give the Jays an experienced major league starting pitcher to replace Halladay.

Both Aybar and Saunders are locked up for the next three seasons.

Deja Lose

Friday and Saturday blended together as the Yankees blew another game to the Angels.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	2	1	0	1	0	0	2	2	0		8	9	1
LA Angels	0	0	0	1	7	1	1	4	X		14	16	1

WP - Weaver (10-3) LP - Pettitte (8-5)

Take a decent sized early lead, have your starting pitcher give it away, and then have your bullpen put the game out of reach. Such has been the recipe for disaster that the Yankees have put together the last 2 days.

Less than 24 hours after an ineffective Joba Chamberlain and his reinforcements turned a 5-1 lead into a 10-6 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, Andy Pettitte and company saw a 4-0 lead become a 14-8 defeat. The latter happened despite five home runs by the Yankees, including a pair by Alex Rodriguez, who passed Rafael Palmeiero for sole possession of 10th place on the all-time home run list.

Read the rest of my recap at Baseball Digest Online.