YANKEE NOTES
David Cone pays attention to everything, so it’s no surprise he is aware the Yankees are in the market for a starting pitcher.
Yet, according to Cone, who is today’s starter against the Orioles, it’s up to the arms already in Pinstripes to pitch better.
“They can get a starter, but the bottom line is that we have to be better than we have been,” Cone said of himself, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. “We have to pitch better than we have. We have to be more consistent with everything. I believe we can.”
With El Duque and Clemens pitching well in returns from injuries this weekend, Cone gets his turn tonight to add a jolt of confidence to a team that has been hampered by injured pitchers and ineffectiveness throughout the first three months of the season.
Until last Tuesday in Detroit, Cone had shown signs in his previous two outings that he was emerging from the darkest funk of his career. And while a three-inning stint against the Mets in a rained-out game didn’t count, he was impressive. But the Tigers tagged him for six runs and 11 hits in 4 innings and he gave up a grand slam to Dean Palmer.
So, again, all eyes today will be on the 37-year-old righty with a 1-6 record and bloated 6.40 ERA. El Duque and Clemens took the pressure of doing something trade-wise immediately. In fact, the Yankees didn’t have a scout in Chicago yesterday to see the Pirates’ Francisco Cordova, who left the game with an elbow problem.
But Cone is right. The Yankees can get Scott Erickson, his mound opponent today, or Mike Mussina, or Curt Schilling or Andy Ashby or Esteban Loiaza or Steve Trachsel and it won’t mean much if the other four starters don’t deliver.
The Indians have until Aug. 1 to select two names from a list of players provided by the Yankees in the David Justice-Ricky Ledee deal. Three of the names are pitchers Jake Westbrook, Randy Keisler and Ryan Bradley.
If Jorge Posada is going to get suspended for fighting with Tampa Bay’s Bobby Smith last Saturday, the Yankees would have liked to have been without their starting catcher tonight when Chris Turner is slated to catch Cone. However, since MLB offices aren’t open until tomorrow, baseball’s disciplinarian, Frank Robinson, can’t review the tapes or read the umpires’ reports before tomorrow.
Posada said Sunday he expects to be suspended although Joe Torre his holding out hope Robinson won’t ban Posada.
Andy Pettitte (8-4, 4.40) draws RHP Pat Rapp (5-5, 5.18) tomorrow night. The Yankees are undecided about their starter for Thursday but it’s likely to be RHP Ben Ford (0-1, 9.72) against RHP Sidney Ponson (5-4, 4.77).
