Rieber: Mechanics plaguing Yanks' Vazquez?

The murmurs of discontent began early.

Javier Vazquez was on the mound against the White Sox yesterday and Yankees fans were not going to be supportive or patient. They wanted results, and they wanted them now, and when Andruw Jones took Vazquez out to leftfield with two outs in the first inning the boos began.

It was only a solo home run and would have been a warning-track out in many ballparks. But Vazquez has no equity in the Bronx. Johnny Damon took care of that six years ago.

Two more home runs followed in innings three and four, another solo shot by Jones and a two-run blast by Mark Kotsay, and Vazquez heard all about it. By the time he headed to the dugout for good, a general uneasiness in Yankee Stadium had turned to a full-throated conclusion:

Vazquez can't make it here.

He allowed five runs in three-plus innings. He threw 46 strikes and 37 balls. He gave up seven hits, walked four and struck out two. He threw a wild pitch. He is 1-3 with a 9.78 ERA and was spared a defeat when the Yankees rallied to go ahead of the White Sox in the sixth inning of their eventual 7-6 loss. The Yankees are 1-4 when he starts, 14-4 when he doesn't.

Is it in his head? Enough has been said and written about that by people who don't know Vazquez, and we don't want to add to that group.

The Yankees think it's mechanical, not psychological. Manager Joe Girardi said Vazquez's "hands are breaking late" and that is causing a lack of velocity on his fastball.

Vazquez had neither control nor command. He gave up home runs on curves (Jones, Kotsay) and a fastball (Jones' second).

"The stuff is there," Vazquez said. "That's one thing I know."

A veteran scout who saw Vazquez for the first time this season Saturday disagreed. He gave this assessment:

"That's not the way he's always thrown . . . The stuff isn't the same as it used to be . . . None of [his pitches] were plus pitches. And they used to be. His fastball and slider were plus pitches . . . He used to have a filthy slider, and now he can't get to it because he just keeps yanking it because he's opening his front hip. The hitters see the ball earlier . . . He's opening his front hip way too early . . . His curveball is inconsistent."

Girardi volunteered that Vazquez is not hurt. So why is his stuff diminished? If you know how to get him more oomph on a fastball - legally - and more bite on his breaking stuff, you should be a pitching coach.

Vazquez's next outing is supposed to be Friday in Boston. With an off day Thursday, Girardi could skip him.

"That's not a concern of mine right now," Girardi said. "My concern is getting through tomorrow."

Oddly, Fenway Park might end up being a more hospitable locale for Vazquez to pitch than his home ballpark.

The ghosts from Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS have come across the street from the mostly demolished Yankee Stadium and followed Vazquez to the new one. Each run he allows, especially of the longball variety, brings back memories of Damon's grand slam and a pain previously unknown to Yankees fans, or any baseball fan, for that matter: the loss of a playoff series after a team was up three games to zero.

Is it fair for Vazquez to have to carry the full weight? Of course not. But Kevin Brown, the Game 7 starting and losing pitcher, is retired.

And Brown wasn't re-acquired from the Braves this winter. Vazquez was. He's been good everywhere else. Just not here.