Well, the weather in Tampa and the Yankee play continued heading in two different directions Saturday afternoon, as the home-standing pinstripers took it on the chin from the Blue Jays, 9-1. But although the offense continues to struggle, much of the day’s trouble can be tied to one unfortunate bullpen outing.

Starter A.J. Burnett showed a good fastball but didn’t quite have the handle on his curve. He survived a shaky first and started the second by coaxing two infield popups in a row, but was nicked for two runs on Travis Snyder and Jose Bautista doubles and an Aaron Hill single. At 36 pitches, Joe Girardi removed him with two down in the second.

The Yanks scored a costly run and threatened for more in the third when double-Z righty Zechry Zinicola bounced a 3-2 pitch off the top of DH Francisco Cervelli’s head, the second hit by pitch against the Yanks’ number two catcher in four days. To add injury to injury, Cisco is one of just a few Yankees hitting early (2-for-4 with the two hbps) along with Robbie Cano, who was rested after going 3-for-4 the last two games. Austin Romine ran for Cervelli, Juan Miranda singled him to third, and Ramiro Pena plated the lone Yankee tally with a fielder’s choice to first base. Curtis Granderson walked with two outs, but the rally ended on Jorge Posada’s fly ball.

There were two bouts of good news around a very bad one on the pitching front, starting with lefty Boone Logan, who retired five straight, closing the fourth on two strike outs. Logan retired all four Phillies he saw two days ago on ground balls. But a 2-1 contest turned into a Toronto laugher when Jonathan Alabaladejo came out to start the fifth. Jonathan failed to retire any of three Pirates on March 3, and more than doubled that today, allowing the first seven batters he saw to reach, and eight of nine, with one walk and seven hits, including a three-run Adam Lind home run. He got a bad break when Posada could not hold onto an Alex Gonzalez foul pop at the screen, and the shortstop singled on the next pitch. But Travis Snider followed with a scorcher past first that Juan Miranda speared for the only out the Yankee righty garnered while facing the entire Blue Jays lineup.

The five-spot Toronto managed actually could have been worse, as good news appearance number two came next, with Mark Melancon also backing up his good first outing wih another. Following up a two-strike-out inning two days ago, Mark notched a strike out and four ground balls to strand three runners in the fifth and close the sixth in this one.

The Jays scored two in the seventh, but it was worth it to see beanpole-tall Andrew Brackman throw. At 6’11” or so, a lot of body has to work in consort for Andrew to be effective, and he was reached for catcher prospect J.P. Arencibia’s two-run bomb to left. But he looked in control getting four grounders even if second baseman Jesus Merchan reached safely on his.

The baby Yankees did their best to mount a comeback from a big deficit for the second day running, but were frustrated in their efforts during two deflating at bats by Jorge Vazquez. Colin Curtis was in the middle of the late-inning rumbles yet again, as he doubled to left with two down in the seventh. But shortstop Matt McCoy knocked down Austin Romine’s infield single up the middle, holding Curtis at third, and Vazquez blistered an 0-1 pitch down the third base line. The missile almost tore third sacker Brad Emaus’s glove off, but not quite, to end the threat. Then a stellar McCoy play on Vazquez’s base hit bid up the middle with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth became an inning-ending 6-4-3.

So the World Champion Yankees not only fell to 1-3 this March, but did so with the second ugly lopsided loss in a row. The pitching has been good at times, and very bad at others, while the hitting largely has yet to show up. Poor play from the best players is a clear illustration of the absurd. This latest loss falls on the 55th anniversary of the Dutch premiere of Samuel Becketts’ play, Waiting for Godot. With apologies to the descendants of the late genius, in many people’s minds the person most responsible for the Theater of the Absurd, we Yankee fans understand. We’re all:

Waiting for Good Play

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!