After dropping three straight at home, the Yankees are now five games behind the Rays. In my glorious youth, this would be a cause for worry, but given the existence of the Wild Card there’s no reason to get too exercised about this latest setback. Sure, the Tigers, Twins, and Blue Jays are just one game behind, but Juan Miranda is here now.

Miranda is slugging .700 in his 20 at-bats, so he doesn’t deserve ridicule. In fact, insofar as last night’s game goes, perhaps no one does. Andy Pettitte had an off night, and that’s going to happen sometimes. Heck, in 1930, Lefty Grove went 28-5 with a ERA of 2.54 in an American League in which the average pitcher had an ERA of 4.65. He was a god among men. Yet, in his second start of the season, against the Yankees, he gave

The Yankees have an unusual bullpen. Due to their collection of pitchers like Chan Ho Park, Joba Chamberlain, Alfredo Aceves, and Sergio Mitre, who are not only viable starters but conditioned to be starters, Joe Girardi can, if he so chooses, dispense with the match-up-based relief tactics that have come to dominate bullpen strategy in the age of Tony LaRussa and reinvent the long-man -- a pitcher who simply throws a few relief innings instead of jogging in and out to face one or two batters. These pitchers had seemed to be ticketed for extinction, having been outcompeted by specialists, but whether by plan or by accident, the Yankees are well-positioned to ignore this frequently counterproductive strategy and just let their best relievers pitch for as long as they can.

Rather than rush

You could be forgiven if you thought a flock of turkeys had taken over Joe Girardi’s postgame press conference on Tuesday.

“Joba! Joba Joba Joba!” was the sound emanating from the pack of assembled media types who surrounded the Yankees manager, as one in their agenda. Did Joba win back the eighth-inning role with his two-batter, two-strikeout performance?

“Nah,” Girardi said (I paraphrase). It was one game, one brief appearance lasting nine pitches. Yet, the media had hit on its story for the day, and every other question brought the turkeys back out: “Joba Joba Joba Joba!” It’s a good thing it’s not Thanksgiving, or none of them would have been safe. Today’s coverage of the game has predictably followed that line.

Look, guys: