A season of false starts?

The epitaph for 2013?

 Today, CC Sabathia pitches.  Used to be, sending CC out against Tampa was like setting loose a hungry lion in an arena of corn-fed Christians.

Now, we cringe at the thought of Adam Warren pitching the fourth. 

Last night's Yankee game was a B-grade horror movie by Roger Corman. The arm fell off our best monster - Hiroki - but Girardi left him in, and left him in, and left him in... saving the bullpen? At the expense of our best pitcher? For what... so we can use them today when CC goes out in the second?

If we lose today, we lose another series, we lose another chance, we lose another week, and - frankly - we lose the surge of hope that was generated - falsely, perhaps - by the hideous malpractice of the Toronto Blue Jays. 

A-Rod's batting average is down to the .260s. An 0-for-12 series, and he'll have David Adams numbers. 

Brett Gardner is going in for an MRI on his hand, after being hit by a pitch. Does anyone in the 2013 Yankiverse recall an MRI coming back with anything less than terrible news?

The September call-ups are a week away. It's the time when teams showcase their future talent, giving hope to fans that brighter times will be coming. If we're not in a wild card race - and we are not far from being out of it - we will be coming upon the saddest Yankee September since the dim daze of the early 1990s. God help us.

Of course, if we win today...