It comes from Yankee centerfielder Johnny “I’m always hurt” Damon. Sorry. Couldn’t resist. After the Yankees dropped their sixth straight 6-0 to the Jays in the Bronx spoiling 20 year-old promising rookie Phil Hughes’ major league debut, Damon had this to say about his team’s recent struggles:

“There’s going to be panic soon if the winning doesn’t start. We have to stay close,” he said. “If we can’t start getting victories, I’m sure there’s not going to be too many happy people.”

With Boston coming in this weekend though tonight’s forecast isn’t promising, they better get it turned around soon! This team is just terrible right now. A-Rod’s homer stroke has finally cooled off. There’s no clutch hitting. Zero relief. And it’s rare that a starter goes deep into games.

As for Hughes’ debut:

4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K’s  91 pitches

It’s not as bad as it looks. The kid was nervous and gave up two runs on three hits in the first inning but then settled down tossing three scoreless before running out of gas in the fifth and giving way to Brian Bruney- one of the only effective relievers Joe Torre has. Sean Henn would be the other and he allowed two runs tonight.

Recalled from Triple A Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after posting a 2-1 record and 3.94 ERA while there, Hughes wasn’t too bad. His fastball was around 92-93 and K’d five. But his problem was that he left a few balls up. Against a star like Vernon Wells (3-for-3), you can’t do that. He understood that afterwards.

You could see the top prospect get another start before going back. If he does, it will be against another good hitting club in Texas next week. Getting experience at this level isn’t bad for the kid.

As for the team, it’s going to be a tough ride for a while.

It comes from Cubs GM Jim Hendry who spent $300 million in the offseason but still sees his team out to a 7-11 start and now told the media that former staff ace Mark Prior will undergo exploratory surgery tomorrow:

“There’s nothing wrong with his arm. He’s had some back spasms, it’s not anything serious.”

Sure, there’s never been anything wrong! That’s like Brian Cashman declaring that the Yankee pitching staff is good.

This is the quote of the day but does it really matter how many home runs A-Rod hits if the Yanks lose games? The third baseman hit a moon shot in the ninth to tie Albert Pujols’ April homer record of 14. Too bad it came in another loss- this time 10-8 to the D-Rays.

So he’ll likely win his third MVP. It will probably come on a team that doesn’t see October for the first time since the strike shortened season in 1994. This team is about as mismatched as the one he starred on in Texas for former employer Tom Hicks. Who will Yankee fans blame if it happens?

Instead of a pic of the day, we’ll just show this telling quote from Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr, who was dynamite in the four-game sweep of Atlanta:

“I am just enjoying every moment I have a chance to play here. I love this organization. I love the players I am playing with. They are all great players. When I was young, Mario (Lemieux) gave me the Cup. I always wanted to help the younger guys like Mario helped me. If I can do it or not I don’t know. It was always my goal for the last five or six years. Maybe this year.”

We noted before the playoffs that No.68 was going as well as he had all season since recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. The superstar looks very motivated. So his telling remarks might be worth storing away as his team prepares for Round Two next week. Their opponent won’t be determined until the Devils-Lightning series concludes along with Islanders-Sabres.