John's Takeaway Points from last night's game

1. It's an old cliche, but you're never as good as you look when you're winning, or as bad as you look when you're losing. And it's true.

2. Even the '98 Yankees went through rough patches.

3. You can't win without timely hitting. The Yankees aren't getting timely hitting.

4. Somebody is going to have to step up and get a big hit, but you can't hit a three-run homer every time you step to the plate.

5. Even the '98 Yankees went through rough patches. But these are certainly not the '98 Yankees.

6. Joe Girardi did everything right tonight in making the pitching changes. He took out Rappada and brought in Garcia to face Franceur, and it was absolutely the right move. It just didn't work.

7. Pop-ups were really hard to catch all game. Maybe it was the rain, or maybe it was the wind. But the pop-ups were hard.

8. Kansas City has a good young team.

9. These are not the best of times for the Yankees.