Rock bottom

Tuesday night's game has to be rock bottom. It just has to be. As bad as this team has looked recently - and they've been awful - there is no conceivable way they can play as worse as they played in the series opener against the Baltimore Orioles.

It was supposed to be a night of new beginnings. While the weather was awful, Yankees fans saw a ray of hope in Alex Rodriguez. He hit a home run in his return...while the score was 10-0.

The most frustrating part of the night is that if Derek Jeter threw the ball four inches lower, the seven-run first inning would have only been a one-run first inning. But it happened, and Mike Mussina should have buckled down and not let it get to him. He's been on a great run recently, and it's a shame that stretch had to end in this fashion.

All told, the 20-25 Yankees have lost four in a row, six of their last seven and nine of their last 12. The duplication of their low point last season - 21-29 - is looking like a grim reality.

I'm not the most optimistic of fans but there is no way they will play this badly consistently. They could very well miss the playoffs, but the hitting and pitching will come eventually. And if they do miss the playoffs it won't be by much. While the Yankees are faltering, no team in the American League, especially the early wild-card contenders, has run away with anything.

The best part about a "rock bottom" scenario is that there is no where to go but up.

Going back to the game, Derek Jeter was hit on the hand and was removed from the game. X-rays came out negative and he is listed as day-to-day. Given the way the season has transpired thus far, it's shocking that there was no fracture. If Jeter had to miss an extended period of time, this season obviously wasn't meant to be.

Darrell Rasner will take the hill tonight to attempt to put an end to this nonsense. His turn in the rotation was skipped when Friday night's game against the Mets was rained out. Instead, Andy Pettitte started on his normal day on Saturday and blew up in the fourth inning. Rasner has given up four earned runs in his 12 innings this season.