ANAHEIM, Calif. – If you thought Ian Kennedy’s pitching was awful against the Angels last night, his mouth should have been washed with soap when he described the embarrassment.
Asked to replace Joba Chamberlain in the rotation, Kennedy was spanked so hard he didn’t register an out in the third inning of a 10-5 loss that was witnessed by 44,158 at Angel Stadium.
With the Yankees’ season circling the drain on two fronts – the AL East and wild card – Kennedy wasn’t bothered in the least by giving up five runs and nine hits in two-plus innings.
“It’s always disappointing, but it’s my first bad outing in a long time, since the All-Star break,” said Kennedy, whose previous seven starts were in the minor leagues.
“I felt like I made some good pitches and got out of the second inning. I am not too upset about it. You move on, and I have already done that. I am not going to look too much into it.”
When those words were relayed to Kennedy’s teammates, they were met with arched eyebrows. After all, this is a pitcher who has now failed all three major-league tests given to him this year, a pitcher who is 0-4 with an 8.17 ERA in 10 games (nine starts), a pitcher who has given up 50 hits and 26 walks in 392/3 innings.
When asked if Kennedy will make a scheduled start Wednesday against the Twins, manager Joe Girardi said, “He is in the rotation. He has to find a way to get better.”
Yet, if Kennedy believes last night wasn’t bad there is no hope – because he was awful.
Five straight hits in the third led to his dismissal and the Angels erasing a brief 3-2 Yankees lead.
At this time a year ago Kennedy was preparing to fool everyone with a solid September, a month that should never be trusted.
So much for the former first-round draft pick out of USC in 2006 blazing through three levels of the minor leagues a year ago and the three solid big-league outings in September.
After faltering in two previous big-league gigs this year, the only thing Kennedy has proven is that he can succeed at Triple-A, where even Kei Igawa has tasted some success.
The Angels are 24-14 in the last 38 games against the Yankees, and their 72-43 ledger overall this season is the best in the majors.
The Yankees missed a chance to gain ground on the Red Sox in the AL wild-card race and trail them by three games. Since the AL East-leading Rays beat Seattle last night, the Yankee deficit is 6½ games out of first place.
Alex Rodriguez, who started the game in a 0-for-15 slide, homered in the first. Xavier Nady homered in the sixth.
Jered Weaver took advantage of the Angels spanking Kennedy and reliever Brian Bruney to post the victory even though he wasn’t sharp. In six innings, Weaver gave up five runs and seven hits.
Torii Hunter went 4-for-5, homered and drove in four runs to highlight a 17-hit attack.
Four runs in the seventh off Darrell Rasner and Bruney put the game away for the Angels.
Chien-Ming Wang isn’t returning. Chamberlain says he will be back from a bout of rotator-cuff tendinitis before the end of the month, but we will see. Journeyman Dan Giese goes today against the best team in baseball, and Andy Pettitte’s last two outings have been terrible.
Until last night there wasn’t a Yankee who didn’t understand the severity of the situation surrounding the club. Then Kennedy entered the room, dressed, got spanked, undressed and told the world, “I am not too upset about it.”
He was the only one who wasn’t.
Angels:10
Yankees: 5