Red Sox Bullpen Passes Test . Yanks Can't Trust Theirs.

If we learned anything in this week's thrilling Yankees-Red Sox series at wet, chilly Fenway Park, it is that the Yankees cannot trust their bullpen. They have weapons and loads of talent, to be sure. Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano continue to be the young heroes. Johnny Damon is having a far better season than he did in 2008. Derek Jeter is doing his thing, day in, day out. And A-Rod is always dangerous, on-track to hit career home run # 600 sometime in 2010 or 2011. But manager Joe Girardi knows their weakness. It is the bullpen.

Joe Girardi has shown in his 1 & 1/3 seasons that he is a by-the-book manager - very predicable. But he couldn't follow his own rules last night in the 8th inning, when he knew he had to remove CC Sabathia from the mound, but didn't. It was an interesting and revealing moment, demonstrating that Girardi and his staff can't trust their bullpen to hold the line late in a game. I'm sure he was also hoping to rest his bullpen in preparation for the subway series in the Bronx this weekend. But the immediate thought on his mind had to be that he didn't have a reliable set-up man available to work the 8th inning.