Yanks have pitching problems, but enough to go to the Wells?

There was a lively discussion between Girardi and several of us in the Yankees dugout before the game on that (not lively enough for any first pumps, however) and, predictably, Girardi defended his guy.

"I saw Dennis Eckersley show a lot of emotion," Girardi said. "I think it just depends on the person. Jeff Nelson used to do the 'chainsaw' and I think, because he was a veteran, people made less of a big deal about it."

Someone mentioned the gyrations of Los Angeles Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez, and Girardi offered up Carlos Zambrano, whom he caught when he was with the Cubs.

"You were not going to take the emotions out of him," Girardi said. "If you took the emotions out, he wasn't going to be the same guy.

"I remember catching Carlos, sometimes I'd have to turn to the umpire and say, 'He's not talking to you. He's talking to himself.'"

Girardi will be the one talking to himself if the Yankees don't find some pitching -- and, no, nobody's talking about Wells.

Slow starts aren't unprecedented for these Yankees. They were 9-14 as April 2007 ended, and one game under .500 (16-17) last May 10 -- just as they are on this May 10 (18-19). Though they didn't win the AL East, they did climb into the playoff window through the wild-card slot.

"I think we've played some good baseball, but I think we can play better baseball," designated hitter Jason Giambi said. "We've had a crazy first month on the road (18 of 20 games away during one April stretch because of Pope Benedict's visit), we've had some bad weather, we've got a lot of guys hurt.

"I think a lot of people in here are optimistic. Myself and Robby Cano are coming around at the plate. When we get Alex Rodriguez back, that will be huge.

"I think that's the way most of the guys in here look at it: We've played good baseball, not great baseball. But nobody in our division is running away with it, either."

Poll What is the solution for the Yankees' pitching? 8% Bring back Boomer!   24% Time to start Joba   36% Let the kids develop   32% There's no helping them   Total Votes: 10294

Funny, that's partly how the Tigers, losers of six of their past seven entering this portion of Comerica Park's Superpowers Summit (Boston-Detroit for four; Yankees-Tigers for three), are viewing things. Good baseball might even be a stretch to describe Detroit -- at least, over the past week -- but nobody in the AL Central is running away with it.

While Igawa's only accomplishment was to help re-calibrate the previously silent Tigers bats -- who knows, maybe this was the game that would get Detroit going -- Giambi, hitting .109 as recently as April 20, also is coming around.

Giambi smashed a second-inning homer against Detroit starter Kenny Rogers, snapping a hitless streak against lefties that carried back over his past 22 regular-season at-bats, and now is 4-for-10 with five RBI in his past three games.

But even this Yankees lineup is lacking, what with A-Rod (thigh) and catcher Jorge Posada (shoulder) on injury rehab assignments in Tampa.

The Yankees, by the way, now are 1-4 against lefty starters in A-Rod's absence, and they're scheduled to face two more in the next week -- Detroit's Nate Robertson on Sunday and Tampa Bay's Scott Kazmir on Thursday.

Daunting, yes.

But right now, the Yankees are more concerned with their own pitching.

"The hard thing is trying to find a combination of young kids to win with," Giambi said in what pretty much is the Yankees' motto here in early 2008.

But within that, beware of the old guys, too.

Wells? He'll be 45 in two weeks, and in 29 starts for San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers last season -- and each club needed starting pitching at the time about as badly as the Yankees do now -- he was bounced around for a 5.43 ERA. And that was in the weak-swinging NL, where "hitters" step in to "bat" swinging things like bamboo shoots instead of "Louisville Sluggers."

"You know what?" Girardi said. "It's hard not to play this game. I'm sure he wants to pitch again. He did well in New York. The passion people have in New York. ... I'm sure all of us would love to still play in New York.

"I don't know if he's capable of pitching, still."

Then again, it sure didn't look like Igawa is.