Results tagged ‘ CC Sabathia ’

Yankees Dominate Twins 10-2 in Series Opener

CC Sabathia bounced back from his last start the only way you would
expect it, by putting together 7 innings of 3 hit, one walk ball while
giving up only one earned run. Although dominate performances are
somewhat expected you never really know, Sabathia did give up 6 earned
against a much less potent Seattle Mariners lineup just 5 days earlier.
It is worth noting that CC’s ERA is a whole run and a half (1.57
actually) better on the road than at home, that seems to be a trend
with Yankee pitchers this year.

While Sabathia put together a sparkling performance his counter
part, Scott Baker, was getting hammered by Yankee batters and couldn’t
find his way out of the 4th after loading the bases. At the end of the
inning Baker was charged with 5 earned runs, and if it wasn’t for the
defensive play of the game by Carlos Gomez, robbing a grand slam from
Alex Rodriguez, it would’ve been 7.

Baker has been struggling this year, posting a 6 and 7 record with a
5.31 ERA (last night factored in) after coming off a career year in
’08. Being one of the strong holds in, what the Twin anticipated to be,
a young talented rotation with a chance to compete, management might be
scratching their heads and wondering where the talent has gone. The
Twins rotation has put together a robust 4.40 ERA, that is including
Blackburn posting a 2.94, and their wonderkid Liriano has shocked the
baseball world with his sub-par performances all year. The Twins
pitching has caught the Yankees at the worst time, the Bronx Bombers
are streaking and putting up numbers (7.2 runs/game over the last 5
games) on teams all over the league. Tonight they face another young
struggling pitcher in Glen Perkins, who is substantially better at home
than on the road but struggled mightily against the Yanks in his last
start. Back to that shortly.

Matsui drove in the first run of the game with a single in the top
of the first and the Yankees didn’t look back. Two more in the top of
the 2nd provided all the offense that the Bronx Bombers would need, but
they didn’t stop there adding 7 more runs on their way to a 10 run
offensive onslaught. Side Track: Matsui has found his way into a 7 game
hitting streak with 3 homers in that run. Matsui might be coming to
form now and his knees might be feeling better, look out for a big July
from him.

Every starter in the lineup accounted for at least 1 hit, with
Teixeira, Cano, Cirvelli and Gardner having multi-hit games accounting
for 11 of the Yankees 16 total hits. Surprisingly enough, especially
being indoors, the Yanks won the game, and put up a 10 spot, without a
homer, one was robbed from Arod as mentioned earlier. The Bombers drove
home runners in scoring position by way of sacrifice flies (2), singles
(2), extra base hits (2) and one walk with the bases loaded. They were
patient at the plate and did what they had to do with the ball and
nothing more, small ball wins games too.

The Twins had no definitive answer for the Yankee bats as they
touched up reliever Brian Duensing for an additional four runs and R.A.
Dickey for one. Dickey finished out the last 3.1 innings and cooled
down the Yankee bats for the remainder of the game.

Yankees Player of the Game:

Mark Teixeira: 4 for 6 last night with 1 RBI. I chose him over
Gardner (3 for 5, 2B, 2 RBI) because this might be the spark he needed
to bust out of the slump he was in, and help him find his power.
Teixeira is homerless in his last 22 games.

Twins Player of the Game:

Carlos Gomez: Not for his bat, but for his glove. His home run,
grand slam, saving catch in the 4th actually kept the Twins within
striking distance of the Yankees before the game got out of hand.

Game 2 Preview: Burnett (7-4, 3.83 ERA) vs. Perkins (4-4, 4.38 ERA)

It has been noted a few times that Burnett stated “once he hits his
stride, watch out”. We might just be witnessing his prediction coming
true. Over his last 4 starts (3-1) A.J. has only allowed 3 earned runs
in 27.1 innings pitched (0.99 ERA) with two of those starts coming on a
road, so he can pitch well away from home. In 5 starts against the
Twins in his career Burnett has put up decent numbers, 1-1 with a 3.90
ERA, but with his current trend we can almost expect a good performance
out of him. The Yankee bats are hot right now and should handle a
struggling pitcher, but Perkins, over his last two starts has only
given up 2 earned over 14 innings. His last start at home he pitched to
his ability going 7 innings while giving up 4 earned, so there should
be some expectation to at least produce that from the Yankee bats.
Perkins has struggled with the Bronx Bombers in the past going 1 and 3
with a staggering 7.71 ERA and only lasted .2 innings in his last start
against them giving up 6 earned before getting the hook. I am
predicting a Yankee win tonight with the bats being more of a driving
force, it’s hard to think that M&M will stay quiet during the
Yankees 3 game stay.

Other Notes:

Paul Konerko: 3 homers yesterday, what a performance and now I am 1
for 3 in 3 home run player being in my lineup (Votto last year, Ethier
this year were both on my fantasy teams bench)

Mets: Should they just give up? They are performing horrilby and
there is no great light at the end of the tunnel. Any big trades coming
up soon?

Hope you enjoyed the new and improved…let me know what you think… riveraverant@yahoo.com or just simply comment!

Thanks!

Pettitte Comes Up Big at Home, Win 4-2

If you have been
following Pettitte at home this year then you might have joined me in a
sigh of relief yesterday as he put up his best outting at home since
his 2 run performance against the Rays on June 8th (that start was
sandwiched between two terrible starts, one against the Rangers and one
against the Mets…both loses). Andy looked great yesterday and showed
the Yankee fans what we have, pretty much, only seen on tv this year
during his away game starts, giving us 7 innings with 2 earned and a
hit/walk per inning…I would call that a great game. And I have to put
my foot in my mouth because yesterday
I was very skeptical in how Andy would perform at home and the Yankees
ability to win a tight game with Washburn on the mound. I was proven
wrong and I am glad to admit it and the Yankees now own a 7 game
winning streak and are on the brink of a potential sweep. It’s good to
see the Yanks beating the opponents they should beat, that’s what makes
championship teams. But they do have to figure out how to beat the Red
Saux.

I think I speak for most of the Yankee faithful when I say the
little skid they had against the NL East had us all a little nervous,
but now they are coming to true form and with everyone healthy they are
proving to be a force that most teams don’t want to mess with. The
lineup is definitely feared and up to any challenge and the rotation is
coming together with Wang and Pettitte, the scary part is that Joba is
now the question mark in there. If Pettitte can build off the great
start he had yesterday, the woes he has faced at home may have faded,
and he can get those ghosts out of his head. The key to Andy having
success at Yankee Stadium, and any pitcher for that matter, is his
ability to keep the ball low and cause ground balls. Pettitte had great
success with that last night and it is the key reason to why he won
that game, however he was facing a offensively depleted team so that
could factor into the equation too. Even though you have to expect a
bad outting here and there from an aging Pettitte we have to hope this
is a good start to him having strong pitching performances at home, we
can’t have two pitchers in our rotation being question marks. But the
offense have been lively and had clutch at bats in key moments to help
them pull out the victory.

No matter what the Yankee bats did last night Seattle always had an
answer for them in the top of the next inning, except of course in the
top of the 8th, after A rods homer. Side Track: In case you haven’t
noticed, or are just ignoring it, when Arod hits the Yankees win,
pretty funny considering he is on a 7 game hitting streak and the
Yankees have won 7 in a row (just coincidence…in the number that is).
When Arod is in the lineup it makes everyone around him better, just
look at the batters around him and what they are doing. But the key to
him hitting is him getting rest, let’s hope Joe Girardi sticks to his
guns and rests him even in situations like this where he is destroying
the baseball. They are facing a very shaky opponent on the mound tonite
in Jason Vargas so we might see Arod rested, or he could be in the
lineup as DH again, but he does need a rest, there is a big series
starting tomorrow afternoon. Anywho back to last nights game. Washburn
looked good and he pitched the way I expected him to, but he was just
outdueled and made a horrible mistake to Arod in the 7th to give away
the game. All the Yankee scoring came on towering homeruns in which
Washburn put the ball right down the middle of plate, if he doesn’t
make those mistakes he pitches a shutout, but that’s the story for any
losing pitcher I guess. The only thing I am a little bothered by is the
fact that these guys are leaving men on base, 7 to be exact but
surprisingly only 2 of them were in scoring position. Washburn, like
Pettitte, kept the ball down and got a ton of ground balls including 2
double plays, so at least Jarrod was pitching a good game because this
hasn’t been a trend lately as the Yanks have scored an average of 7
runs per game over their winning streak. Lucky 7′s! And you can’t
average that without driving in runners when they are on the base
paths, so we have to think that this is a one game occurrence. Our
offense is hot and can’t cool down against Jason Vargas tonite, a
pitcher who is coming off 2 horrible starts on the road against strong
hitting teams like the Yankees.

As prefaced just before tonite’s game features CC Sabathia facing
Jason Vargas. The Yanks go for the sweep tonite with their stud ace
Sabathia and the Mariners put all their chips on Vargas as they hope to
salvage at least one game and try to stay a float and in contention in
the AL West. The advantage clearly goes to the Yanks in this matchup as
Sabathia is hitting his stride and is in mid-season form, if you
question what he is capable of click here.
Vargas is a journeyman pitcher, weird because he has only been in the
league for 4 years but has been on 3 teams, who has had minimal success
at the Major League level and is pitching pretty good right now but he
doesn’t have dominate stuff so the Yankee bats should be able to handle
him. Sabathia is coming off a great start against the Mets, giving up 1
earned in 7 innings, and is looking to build on it. He has been knocked
around at home, where he has inflated numbers, but has had  success
against Seattle, but that was a different time and place. CC should
have no problem handling them tonite, due to the fact that this team is
offensively inept and most of their power comes from the left side. So
I am predicting completion of the sweep tonite. LET’S GO YANKEES!!!

Enjoy your long weekend…in case I’m not back…but let’s be honest…I will be.

Bats Power Yanks to Victory

HOLLER!!!!!!! The Yankees have once again taken a series and
everything…at least it seems…is right again with the Bronx
Bombers…everything has been going so good over the past 2 games that
even Arod decided to join the party! Hey Yankee fans, if you were
wondering how much of an impact Arod’s hitting has on the Yankees you
just have to look at the two past series, against Washington and
Florida, and then compare them to the two games they won against
Atlanta (Check last nights box-score here)…A
DIRECT CORRELATION! When Arod hits…he fuels the rest of the team and
therefore gets them more pitches to hit and then they score more
runs…and with last night as an example this team has the ability to win
when their pitching doesn’t show up…Pettitte was not impressive out of
the gate…even with a two run lead…and thankfully the Yankee bats were
there to back him up and beat up on a very good starter in Derek Lowe.
Two things can be a factor to what sparked this sudden burst of
offense…Joe Girardi getting tossed out or Cervelli’s first MLB homerun.
I would like to think it was Girardi but I might have to go with
Cervelli’s homer…here’s why…The Yankees were
at their best when they were relaxed and having fun with the game…when
they struggle (like any team and I can’t say I blame them) they aren’t
having fun, they try to fix everything at once, and therefore keep
digging themselves into a hole because they are pressing too hard…when
you press or try to hard to fix something you usually make it worse
because you do uncharacteristic things…i.e. Teixeira swinging at
pitches he usually wouldn’t chase…This example is mostly because he
felt the need to have to make up for what Arod was leaving behind…he
wasn’t getting pitches to hit so he was chasing bad pitches to try to
get the offense started…this continued last night as well as Lowe and
other pitchers attacked Arod (and rightfully so) because of his
horrific performance as of late and pitched around Tex and gave him bad
pitches to go after…and he did…going 0 for 5 last night…but if last
night is any indication Arod is back and hopefully starting one of
those HOTTTT streaks like we see from him where he hits .400, 10
homers, and 30 RBIs in a month…OR BETTER!!! If that is the case get
ready to see Teixeira’s numbers go wayyyyyy up…you can see Arod’s
impact on the top of the order as well…with Jeter going 4 for 5
yesterday…and getting a hit the night before…Side Track: Have you
noticed how many bases Jeter has stolen? If not he has 17 for the year
(and has only been caught once)…and one in each of the last 4
games…does he know how to play in the roles he is put in? Any doubters
on Jeter’s ability should just look at his career and how he changes
the game, and how much he understands it…bottom line is that Jeter
shouldn’t be a 2nd or 3rd ballot Hall of Famer…he proves year in and
year out why he should be 1st ballot…back to the top of the order…Damon
also had an impressive night at the plate going 3 for 4 while driving
in 4 ribbies…With Arod back you can imagine how many pitches these guys
are going to get…and if they start to click they can do A LOT of
damage…I’M VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!!

I am aware of how off track I just went there and that was a little
crazy…back to my point wayyyyyyy before with Cervelli’s homer 2 nights
ago…It fired this team up…they started to relax again and enjoy the
game like when they were young…it sparked this team and so far they
haven’t looked back…and hopefully this charge keeps them going through
this series with the Mets…tonite’s game isn’t looking too hot though :-(
…Now they can relax…Arod has the monkey off his back…and this team will
be dominate on offense again…I know everyone, me included, acted like
this little skid was the end of the Yankees…but look how quickly that
thought process can turn around…the good news is that they have
momentum going into bailout ballpark and might be the team to expose
the Mets and the farm team they are putting out every night…this series
is HUGE for the Yanks…and I am expecting HUGE things from them…I don’t
really want to touch on Pettitte because that’s a downer…he just was
flat out miserable last night…so let’s chalk that up to a bad
performance…he did only give up 3 earned :-D hahahaha….But the bats are hot, the bullpen is looking GREAT!!! and we are ready for the Mutts.

Before the preview I wanna touch on the bullpen quickly…what a GREAT
performance from these guys last night…Aceves came in for Pettitte in
the 4th and flat out dominated the Braves bats…only putting on 3
batters over the 2 and a third innings that he pitched. My boy Coke
came in and shut them down, only giving up 1 hit while striking out 2
over 2 innings…and even Robertson got in the action…too bad he gave up
a bomb to McCann (he’s really good by the way…REALLLLLLYYYY underrated,
in my opinion) but alls well that ends well…Mo got his second
consecutive save in a row (and he didn’t have to bat this time)…so
things are looking good ALL OVER!!! YES!!!! I’M PUMPED!!!

If this game actually happens tonite we see a pitching matchup that
is really lopsided…for the Mets of course…CC Sabathia against Mike
Pelfrey…my reference earlier was obviously sarcastic…but that gets lost
in writing ;-)
…Tonite (or tomorrow, which may be the case) is a huge test to see is
Sabathia’s arm trouble was just a freak thing or if it is something we
have to be concerned about. I am going with a freak thing…muscles
tighten up all the time and it was a good thing they took him out…the
last thing we need is CC going down for an extended period of time…he
is wayyyyy to important to this team and their success…I am going with
the “he’s fine” route and there is no sign that anything different is
happening. CC has had success in his one and only start against the
mutts…pitching 8 innings of 1 run ball, putting on less than a runner
per inning, and striking out 3 and getting the win…this Mets team is
similar to last years…except for the fact that the lineup is filled
with Triple-A players (no matter how well they are playing) so Sabathia
should have a fun time on the mound, especially with how big this place
plays. Pelfrey is a kid with a lot of potential but struggles with his
command…in 1 start against the Yankees he is 1 and 0 with a 7+ ERA, he
obviously has struggled against this team buttttttttttttttttt…this is a
new year…..but with the way the Yanks are batting right now…I don’t
know if I would be so eager to pitch against them…I think the Yanks
take this one with power and a great pitching performance…could
potentially be a problem if they are only thinking long ball…but
Pelfrey will be afraid of Arod and Tex so expect Jeter and Damon to get
a lot of hittable balls…Sabathia can attack this whole Mets lineup with
out a worry…LET’S GO YANKEES!!!

Ummmmmm….Might be back later I feel like I am forgetting something….late!

Yankees, Nationals Game 1

Well this is not gunna start off the way you think it will but I do
have a quick story to tell you about my night, last night. So there I
am, 2 strikes in the 10th, a third needed for immortality, well sort of
(this is bowling by the way), I make my approach and release the ball,
as it rolls down the lane I notice something was terribly wrong, I
threw it too slow and it’s hooking WAYYYYY to early…The ball hits the
pins and I stand there staring at a 3-4-6-7 split (for those
non-bowlers…that’s not a good shot at all) and so there I am, all alone
at the foul line with my hands on my head…I blew it…I blew my chance at
my bowling alley’s strike-a-pot…I blew my chance at $3,800. Yeah so
that was my night last night, the only good news is that I bowled my
high series at 746…Thought I would give you some insight to my exciting
personal life…LOL…well on to tonite’s game.This
game should be a walk in the park for the Yankees…but then again that’s
what I said about the matchup of Pettitte vs Nieve, this past
Saturday…but that was then…this is now…and these are two completely
different pitchers. If you want to peer at yesterday’s
post you will see a preview of the upcoming series against the
Nationals and a brief overview of tonite’s matchup…but why would you go
there….when you are here already? So here we go….

The Yankees are coming off a HUGE series win over the Mets and an
absolute bashing this past Sunday, when they won 15-0, a game in which
they faced oft-considered the best pitcher in the game, Johan Santana.
Needless to say, that is a huge confidence boost for the Yankees and
gives them the momentum going into this 3 game series. Tonite the
Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia takes the mound against 2nd year pitcher Shairon Martis,
a matchup that should have Yankee hitters and fans feeling
confident…and should keep the momentum rolling for the Yankees through
the series. Clearly the Yankees have the advantage on the mound tonite,
a seasoned Vet at home, facing a young kid who has never pitched
against the Yankees…let alone Yankee Stadium. CC has also had great
success in the past against the Nationals, with 2 starts against them
CC has gone 1 and 1 with a 1.65 ERA (allowing only 3 runs over 16.1
innings)…including a 5 hitter where he fanned 9 batters, while with the
Brewers. CC is also coming off a terrible loss, in his last start, to
the Red Sox, where he went 7+, and fell apart in the 8th where he let
the first 3 batters on…and was charged when all 3 batters scored. CC is
definitely looking to bounce back after that disappointing loss…and the
Nationals are the perfect team to bounce back against…most of their
power is from the left side of the plate (except Ryan Zimmerman)
and CC has dominated left handed batters this year, but has also
struggled at home posting a 4.07 ERA and giving up 3 homeruns. However,
I believe, all the planets are aligned and show signs that Sabathia
will pitch great tonite against the MLB’s worst team.

Along with that I believe the bats will help CC out tremendously
tonite. The Yankees are a dominate team, as well as an intimidating
one, with an opposing lineup full of all stars and potential Hall of
Famers, tonite is not a good night for Martis to be making his first
start against the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers have the momentum from the
Mets series on their side and flat out dominated them in their 15-0 win
this past Sunday….BTW
that was without their two best players performing…THAT IS SCARY!!!
Like I said before the Yankee batters are probably licking their chops
at the chance to get at this kid…but lets not be too hasty. A few
horrible outings have bloated this kids ERA, but he does poses a 5 and
1 record, which means, generally, that the Nationals are scoring for
him in his starts…in fact they score an average of 5.4 runs per start
for him…not too shabby…but will be a much harder feat to accomplish
when facing Sabathia. And, actually, in his past 2 starts or 12 innings
pitched Martis has only given up 3 earned…a very respectable
accomplishment (wow, I hate repeating words). Butttttttt he didn’t
really face a lineup like the Yankees, but he did pitch at home in his
own bandbox. I still think his recent trend will be no problem for the
Yankee batters, I know they have never seen this kid pitch before, but
he is young, and isn’t really having that great of a year. I truly
don’t see how the Yankees can lose this game…they have to attack this
kid when he is in the zone and let him get into his own trouble….DON’T
HELP HIM OUT AT ALL…TAKE PITCHES, FOUL PITCHES OFF, GET THIS KID
NERVOUS!!!!!! Yankees win tonite on route to a series win…LET’S GO
YANKEES!!!

Other Notes:

Cowboys: Roy Williams…SHUT UP!!! Play your game…that’s what you are on the team for…not to criticize your quarterback.

Indians/Brewers: How scary is Prince? And how great must that game
have been to be at or watch live? I saw the highlights and couldn’t
turn away….what a great game by two offensive juggernauts.

That’s it…I think…late!

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