I feel like I could cut and paste yesterday’s post: starting pitcher (Roger Clemens) pitches well enough to win (6IP, 4ER)…bullpen does well enough to leave the game in the hands of the Yankees’ offense…the world’s most expensive offense gets shut down (or shutout)…Damon and Abreu go hitless…and the Yankees lose to the O’s (4-0), a team they need to beat…

Brutal.

So let me take this opportunity to address a few words to George Steinbrenner (an avid reader of Inside the Stadium, I’m sure): PLEASE do not get an itchy trigger finger and fire Joe Torre. PLEASE. This is not his doing. The hitters are not hitting…this is not his fault and it’s not worth uprooting the entire structure of the team. If you gotta fire anyone, let’s start with the new guy, Hitting Coach Kevin Long. Or put him back in the minors where everyone seemed to love him. Even if the hitting drought can’t be pinned on Long, it would still send a message. The Yankees aren’t hitting…someone’s gotta go.

Thanks, George. That’s all I gotta say on that one…

And Kevin (who I know also reads this blog), sorry dude. Like Colon Powell with Iraq, someone’s gotta take the fall.