Like many veteran pitchers, Paul Byrd has diminishing stuff but superior knowledge on how to use it. There isn't much room for error. Byrd is either very good or his numbers are very bad.

Thursday it was more a case of the latter, as he gave up three home runs in a 6-3 loss to the Yankees. Byrd relies on precise control of his pitches in order to make up for his lack of one dominating pitch.

He won 15 games last year using that formula. He's off to a slow start this season, and one of the reasons is his inability to keep the ball in the ballpark.

Byrd has already allowed a team-high 10 home runs in just 40 innings. Six of those 10 home runs have been hit by the Yankees.

Because he is basically a six-inning pitcher at this stage of his career, home runs can be ...More