Wally Matthews is a jerk.

"It's kind of a reworking of an age-old question -- who quit first, the New York Yankees on Joe Girardi, or Joe Girardi on the New York Yankees? -- but unlike the classic chicken-and-egg conundrum, the answer to this one came directly from the manager's mouth."

The Yankees quit (or burned out).

Girardi does not quit.
 

"Asked why he had gone to Blake Parker in the seventh inning of a game his team absolutely, positively, had to win Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays, Girardi replied: 'He has the most experience and has probably been pitching the best in a situation where you’re down 3-0. If it’s closer, I probably go to Adam [Warren], but knowing that we’re going to need these guys a lot if we’re going to make a run, you’re hoping he can get through the seventh, you get a couple runs then maybe go to Adam, but it just didn’t work.'

Let that sink in for a moment. "If it's closer ...?''

Which led to what seemed like a natural follow-up: 'Joe, do I understand that you’re saying 3-0 is no longer considered a close game?' "

No, you don't understand what he's saying. "Closer" is different than "close." Right? It's a normal use of the English language.

It's not because you're dumb, it's because you are trying to get a rise out of Girardi. It worked! Now you have a column and are briefly the center of attention! Congratulations to you.


Besides, what does Wallace Matthews have against Blake Parker in the first place? Are you just judging players after the game? That's very easy to do.

 

"Here's exactly what he said: 'No, Wally. But I’ve been throwing Adam multiple innings. Parker has been throwing pretty good for us. He didn’t tonight. I could have went to Adam and then maybe I don't have him tomorrow. We have some issues, in a sense. We don’t have a starter Monday. I’m just trying to piece it all together.'

Then he said, 'I'm done, I'm done. That's it,'' and left the room.

What exactly he was saving his bullpen for was never made clear, because as everyone knows, there is no tomorrow for the Yankees. Not if they lost today."

He was saying he never quits.

He's saying you play to win the game. That's the great thing about sports. Hello?

Girardi is constantly lying to the press. Torre did the same thing and was better at it. It seems to go against Girardi's nature.

Girardi wanted to say all year: ARod stinks and is a cheater; Teixeira is a decrepit joke; my bullpen management doesn't help much when the team scores zero runs; Pineda is gutless; if you want Gardner and Ellsbury to  be benched or moved down in the lineup, please name a suitable replacement; the GM gave up on me, I didn't give up on the GM.


" 'Things are kind of slipping away at this point,' said Brett Gardner, always a rational voice in the Yankees' clubhouse. 'We're not out of it, but definitely not in a good position. It’s frustrating.' ''

Sure, he's rational. He's allowed to be. Girardi is not allowed to be.


"But unlike his manager, Gardner was not willing to give up. 'I think until you’re six back with [five] to play, or whatever it is, you’ve still got a chance. Crazier things have happened. We’ve just got to win.' "

Go screw yourself, Wally. You just called Girardi a quitter and you're a disgrace for saying it.

By the way, if Gardner hasn't actually given up, he sure plays like he has.

This is not the first time the team has tired down the stretch. Maybe Girardi has worn out his team. They don't seem to go to the wall for him.

The problem then is not that he quits ... the problem might be that he's too intense.


"After that, he was sure to be asked about starting Billy Butler at first base, a decision that cost his team two unearned runs -- and essentially the game -- in the first inning when Butler bobbled a routine grounder. And about how the Yankees had Francisco Liriano on the ropes in the top of the first, loading the bases but failing to score. And about how he had suddenly decided to abandon the use of the young kids on his roster, who temporarily at least had injected a dose of energy and enthusiasm into his clubhouse and created the impression that the Yankees were, in fact, playoff contenders."

Easy:

1) Teixeira stinks.

2) Have you seen this team with RISP this year? What team have you been watching?

3) Because they stink, too, other than Sanchez.

Any more stupid questions?


"As soon as Girardi admitted going to Parker -- who allowed the Blue Jays to bust it open with four runs in one-third of an inning -- because he wanted to save his effective bullpen guns (Warren, Tyler Clippard and Betances) for another day, he was telling you he considered this game a lost cause.

And it is hard to reconcile a team with the proud history of the New York Yankees -- the Bronx Bombers, for George's sake -- conceding defeat when trailing by a measly three runs."

Be a man.

Walk up to Parker in the locker room, look him in the eye, and tell him that his appearance in a Yankee game is conclusive proof that the Yankees have given up on the game and given up on the season.

Parker's ERA when he entered that game was 2.93.


If you think George would have a problem with his manager, I wonder what George would say about his GM giving up on the season? Ownership giving up on the season?


"The third inning was even worse, when the Yankees got the first two runners on base -- Gardner via an error and Jacoby Ellsbury on a single, the Yankees' only non-Sanchez hit -- but went nowhere when Sanchez flied out, Butler struck out and Didi Gregorius popped out. The Yankees managed two more baserunners all night -- a Sanchez single leading off the sixth and a walk to Aaron Hicks in the seventh -- but could do absolutely nothing with them."

Wally Matthews with his first in-game analysis of the season!

Hey, Wally, why did they get rid of ARod? Don't you think ARod could have had a productive at-bat in that situation? Wally?

I mean, what is this? The Yankees have been horrible with situational hitting all year. From day one. Not all year, actually. Probably the past 10 years.

We have a beat writer who slogged around locker rooms for five months who finally noticed that the Yankees can't hit.

The Yankees have scored 644 runs this year, and the year is almost over.

Here are the collective clutch stats, genius:

• RISP: .229.
• 2 outs RISP: .222

You knew this already, though, right? Since you watch all the games and stuff?

I mean, you're suddenly all overwrought about the Yankees being the Yankees.


"It was still only 3-0 to that point, but as far as the manager was concerned, it could have been 300-0.

'I know that we lost another day, it seems like most of the teams [the Yankees are chasing] are winning or won,' Girardi said before his curtain line. 'We’re going to have to win a lot of games.'

But there aren't a lot of games left, and it no longer seems even the manager believes the Yankees are capable of winning them."

The manager was right, by the way. The Yankees were not going to score 4 runs. Because they stink is the overarching reason.

Not sure why the beat writer wants to fixate on the manager's attitude when the team is in the midst of three consecutive shutouts.