Cashman Stops By To Say Hello

From Tyler Kepner:Brian Cashman knew he would be at a ballpark Wednesday. His plan was to drive to Moosic, Pa., to see Sergio Mitre pitch and Xavier Nady play the outfield for the Yankees’ Class AAA team. Then he watched the way the major league team played Tuesday.After another dreary loss, Cashman, the Yankees’ general manager, decided to fly to Atlanta instead. His presence in the middle of a trip lent a sense of gravity to the Yankees’ recent struggles. They had lost nine of their last 13 before Wednesday.“It’s not going to last, I promise you that,” Cashman said. “We’re too good for it to last. But the last three weeks of poor play is mostly due to our offense. We have to get our offense going. We’ve been pitching real well.”Cashman defended the hitting coach, Kevin Long, and the manager, Joe Girardi. But Girardi is in the second year of a three-year contract after missing the playoffs last season. Even without a robust George Steinbrenner making threats, as he might have in th...