Results tagged ‘ Damon ’

Yanks Hold Off Twins, Win 4-3

Despite
control issues, A.J. Burnett got his third straight win and continued
his streak of dominate performances, dominate would be a stretch for
last night, but he definitely did have his moments. Although A.J. did
put on 11 batters in 6.1 innings, he worked in and out of trouble and
escaped last night’s game only giving up 2 earned. The key moment for
A.J. was in the bottom of the 5th, after loading the bases Cuddyer came
up to the plate and Burnett struck him out swinging with a series of
horrible pitches that showed how anxious Cuddyer was, and how much
pressure he put on himself. Burnett’s wildness is just a key to how
good of a pitcher he is, even with his control issues he still put
batters away and kept them guessing all night and more importantly
didn’t make mistakes trying to correct those problems. The
Yankee bats, lead by the unlikely Brett Gardner, got to Swarzak early
and gave a cushion to Burnett. The lineup is molding and connecting at
a very high level right now and, besides Damon, every starter had at
least one hit again last night, Jeter and Posada were the only two with
multi-hit games. The Yankees were cruising going into the 5th inning
putting 9 runners on (8 hits, 1 walk) and scoring 4 of those runners by
the end of that inning, taking a 4-2 lead.

Arod provided an insurance run in the 5th to put the Yanks up by 2
and give them a little more room to work with, a run that ended up
being a necessity more than a luxury.

Burnett only had 2 ks last night but they came in very tight spots
where a strike out was needed desperately.  One I talked about earlier
with Cuddyer and the other came in the bottom half of the 6th when A.J.
struck out a scrappy hitter in Denard Span with his best curve ball of
the night that if even hit would’ve been a weak grounder to Teixeira.

Bobby Keppel would come in for the last 2 outs in the 5th, after
loading the bases by way of a walk to Posada (he did inherit 2 runners)
he got the Twins biggest out of the night when Cano flied out to left,
a collective sigh of relief swept over the place as Keppel has not had
much success in the majors, but that was as a starter.

Arod’s insurance RBI came into play in the bottom of the 7th when
Phil Coke was summoned to face M&M (Mauer and Morneau). Coke, who
has been one of the reasons this Yankee bullpen has been so great
lately, left the ball hanging on the outside portion of the plate to
Mauer and he drilled it over the left field wall, cutting the Yankee
lead to one run. Coke did half of his job and struck out Morneau on a
nasty breaking ball. Hughes followed and got a pop out to right on one
pitch to Cuddyer to end the inning. Side Track/Hughes Watch: Phil
Hughes has not allowed an earned run in his last 9 appearances or 11
innings pitched over that span his ERA has dropped 1.02 runs from 5.13
to 4.11 and has only allowed a staggering 6 runners on base. Hughes has
been almost mistake free out of the bullpen and has continued to
confuse and stifle batters, he is quickly becoming one of the best
relievers in the game right now.

Another note that might not make people happy, but might make them
understand how often an ump calls a guy out when the ball just beats
them to the bag happened again last night. Nick Swisher, who is not the
swiftest or fastest runner in the world, attempted to stretch a single
into a double in the top of the 8th. Although he was clearly out, at
least in terms of the ball getting there, the Twins short stop Brendan
Harris may have missed the tag. Of course factoring in all the angles
an ump has to fight with it would be hard to tell from his perspective,
but when reviewed and slowed down it appeared that Swisher foot was in
before the tag. My point being that, not as bad as Jeter’s mind you,
umps often call players out when the ball beats them to the bag, and
last night was another example, so even though Jeter had a point to
argue, the ump wasn’t that far off when he made his argument. I am not
saying that it is right, but it is something that happens every now and
then, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens once a night around the
MLB, and will continue to happen, just think of the neighborhood rule
at 2nd base, it’s almost the same principle.

Back to the game, Mo came in to close it out and shut the top of the
Twins order down 1,2,3 to record his 22nd save of the year and
solidifying another series win for the Yanks.

The Yankees are on a roll right now winning 6 out of 8 games in July
so far and winning their last 5 series, they are 1 game out of the AL
East lead and are waiting to pounce on an opportunity to jump into at
least the share of first place.

W: Burnett (8-4 3.77 ERA)

L: Swarzak (2-3 4.50 ERA)

S: Rivera (22)

Tonight’s Game: Aceves (5-1 2.02 ERA [first major league start]) vs Liriano (4-8 5.49 ERA)

A very interesting match-up that puts Aceves on the mound, replacing
the injured Wang, as a starter for the first time in his Major League
Career. Aceves has been great for the Yankees coming out of the pen
this year and was the deemed the right pitcher to run out there for the
start. He faces a very talented but struggling pitcher in Francisco
Liriano who pitched very well his first start against the Yankees
earlier this year. The Yankees want Aceves to do to the Twins that
first time starters do to them and keep them guessing. I would be
surprised to see him going past 5 innings tonight so it is good that
only 2 pitchers were used out of the pen last night. This game is a
coin toss that obviously can go either way, if the Yankee bats keep it
up they win but if they are stifled I can see them losing. I think
Aceves will be fine but do think he will give up a few runs, hopefully
the Yankee bats back him up…LET’S GO YANKEES!

If I made mistakes I will correct them…I am running out to lunch lol ;-)

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, Joba Win!

WOOOOOOOOO WHOOOOOOOO!!!! WOW!!! What a great victory!!! And if it
wasn’t for Joba hitting a ball up the middle, and taking out Kawakami
who knows…the Yanks might have gotten “Perfect Gamed”…as my friend John
Sterling put it many times last night. And just when I start to have my
doubts about Joba being a starter…”He goes and does something like
this…and TOTALLY redeems himself.”…sorry Dumb and Dumber moment. Well
maybe not completely…the fact that he couldn’t get out of the bottom of
the 7th hurts him a little bit…but everyone has to admit he did look
great yesterday…even with him facing two pitchers combining for a
perfect game gone no hitter after a Brett Gardner walk in the 6th…I’ll
get back to that soon. But I was impressed with Joba’s poise and
confidence on the mound yesterday…most young
pitchers try too hard, which has been his problem in my opinion, when
they aren’t getting runs or their offense is struggling, but he stayed
calm and pitched his game. The more impressive point is that Joba
didn’t strike out a batter until the bottom of the 4th…and still didn’t
try too hard…he trusted his ability to get outs and he did…he pitched
great into the 7th inning, when they took him out, and I was very
impressed with his performance…he did what he had to do to keep the
Yankees in the game and didn’t try to put too much on his back…Joba
loves making people sway back and forth on whether he should be in the
pen or in the rotation.

I guess the Yankee bats were sick of getting torn apart because they
WENT OFF yesterday…but only after 5 innings of perfect pitching between
Kawakami and Medlen that kept the Yankee bats guessing and looking as
sluggish as they ever have…Let’s forget about the porous performance of
the Yankee bats in the first 5 innings…because there is nothing to be
said…sometimes a pitcher just has it…and it only makes the chances of
him “having it” that much better  when the Yankees have never seen him
before…point and case….THE WHOLE YEAR!!! But maybe Joba hitting
Kawakami with a line drive was a blessing in disguise…I’m not an
advocate of people getting hurt so don’t assume I am saying that…but
the Bronx Bombers eventually got to the Braves bullpen after he was out
of the game. I want to start this off by saying…”when it rains it
pours”…the Yankees couldn’t get a guy on base if they were paid to…oh
wait, that’s what they areeeeeee paid for…then when Gardner finally
gets on, by way of walk, he gets called out on a terrible call during a
pick off attempt at first! Just when things can’t get worse…THEY
DO!!!…Side Track: Gotta give it up for Girardi here…he came firing out
of the dugout and stood up for his player…this team needed some kind of
spark to get them going and Joe gave it to them…he was later quoted as
saying he wanted to get kicked out…which means he knew this would give
the Yanks a kick and a spark to get them fired up…AND IT WORKED!! Good
job Joe!…the batter after his tyraid it paid off, when Francisco
Cervelli hit his first Major League homerun and it couldn’t come at a
better time…just when the offense was at it’s worst he gets a hold of
one and sets off the offense and set up the Yanks for a HUGE inning…one
that us, as fans, have been waiting patiently for over these past few
games….who woulda thunk it would be the bat of “Cisco the Kid” (Sorry,
John Sterlingism again) getting a rally started. My heart-pounding
moment came with Arod at bat…Side Track: Wow, it’s been a while since
I’ve had two!!! Side Track: WOW, a side track inside a side track!!! I
feel like I have kinda pulled the fun out of the blog…I am working on
fixing that..I apologize if it has been too serious lately…back to the
original Side Track I have always pulled for Arod and it’s been more
now than ever before, he gets a bad wrap all of the time, even when he
comes through sometimes…listen its gunna be a while until he gets
better…I don’t like it either and am waiting for him to perform…I
expressed my concerns yesterday
so I am kinda being hypocritical now…but we have to be patient and his
hit yesterday just might be the catalyst to him turning it around…With
Arod at bat and in a 0-2 count I truly expected a strike out…but my
dream came true and I almost crashed my car when he got that hit…not
only that but it was a single to the opposite field!!! HE DIDN’T TRY TO
DO TOO MUCH!!!!!!! THAT’S NOT A SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE…IT’S A SIGN OF
AROD TURNING THINGS AROUND!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

At the Middle of the 6th the Yanks finally had a lead in a game
again…they didn’t have a lead for 19 innings up to that point…and Joba
had the lead and just coasted through the bottom half…Swisher lead off
the 7th with a homer giving the Yanks a 4-1 lead that would come in
handy as the Braves put up a 2 spot on Joba in the bottom half…he came
out and the bullpen did what they do best and shut Atlanta down. The
Yankees offensive onslaught continued as they put up 2 runs in each the
8th and 9th innings…with Damon and Tex being right in the middle of
both those innings…that’s big people…showing that when Arod gets hits
the rest of the team comes through too…showing how important he is just
being in the lineup when he is performing…on that point…the two guys
batting in front of him Damon and Teixeira were the only two Yankees to
have a multi-hit game…anddd if Arod breaks out of his miserable
slump…Damon and Tex’s numbers will only get better!! Me and every other
Yankee fan out there is hoping this game is what breaks the Yanks out
of this mini-slump and has them gaining on the Saux…ohhh and Mo finally
got back in a game and looked great striking out all 3 batters…and he
looked semi-impressive at the plate too…wow, I wonder how many closers
have batted this year…hahahaha…I am very excited from this game and
hope they can carry the momentum into tonite.

A great veteran matchup tonite…Lowe vs. Pettitte…two guys who are
coming off good performances…I would call Pettitte’s great actually…and
guys who are facing off in very interesting circumstances…both guys
aren’t really having great years…but Pettitte is pitching well on the
road and Lowe is pitching great at home…so all signs point to this game
being a pitchers duel…but it will probably be a slugfest lol…It should
be a very interesting game either way tonite…with Pettitte having the
edge in the “career numbers” category…he has had great success against
the Braves, 3.13 ERA along with a 5-1 record…and Lowe has struggled
against the Yanks, 6.07 ERA with a 8-10 record…but this of course is a
different year, with much different players…and most of Lowe’s numbers
are when he was with the Saux…so the career numbers really don’t mean
anything…but they are fun to talk about. But the key to this matchup is
Lowe in my opinion…when he is on he is unhittalbe (well…you get the
point) and if the Yankees bats are too eager than he will definitely
have the advantage…but if they can build off of yesterday’s game and
get to Lowe early they can put a lot of damage on him and walk away
with this game…Pettitte has been great on the road, so there is no
reason to think he won’t perform tonite against a “decent”
lineup…especially in that ballpark…when the long-ball has been
Pettitte’s biggest problem…if the Yankees get guys on base…and actually
can play some small ball…they can get Lowe out early and attack their
bullpen…remember kids A LOT of this Yankee lineup has seen Lowe before
so they might have the Advantage in this one and take A TONNNNNNN of
momentum in to Bailout Ballpark this weekend…LET’S GO YANKEES!!

Other Notes:

Cavaliers: Hmmmmmmmmmm…very interesting….now that LeBron has a big
man will this team actually make waves in the playoffs? Are the Celtics
worried?

That’s it…I think…late

Yanks Handle Marlins, Win 5-1

WOOOOOO
HOOOOOOO!!!! WOW….the Yankees handled a young pitcher!!! It’s almost
unbelievable that could happen, especially after that horrible
performance against the Nationals! They got to this kid West early and
didn’t look back scoring 5 runs off him in the first 3 innings and
holding on for the win. Now I have to keep this short and sweet because
I am on my way out…sorry!Have to give praise
to Pettitte, most importantly…he was clearly the Player of the game in
my book and he continued his dominance on the road. Andy went 7 strong
and struck out the same amount, while only giving up 1 run (off a Cody
Ross homerun) and only putting on 3 hitters…NO WALKS!!! He was flat out
dominant, and took advantage of a young upstart team, and he looked
like the Pettitte of old. Andy clearly still has it in him to be a
great starter for this Yankee team, and has backed it up with his
performances on the road, but what about him at home? There is
something wrong there…I don’t know if it’s just that he is pressing too
hard, or trying to over compensate for the fact that he has lost a
little off his ability due to age, but it is something that needs to be
addressed. He hasn’t been horrible at home, but he can’t keep giving up
4 – 5 runs every start he has in Yankee Stadium. Now maybe he is just
trying to be too cute with his pitches, and thus giving up runs, and
mostly homeruns, because of the rate at which balls are flying out of
the stadium, but he just has to trust his stuff and Pettitte can have a
very, very great year this year, probably one that no one would expect
out of him at his age. He may be getting old but he is still
performing, and if he figures it out at home, the Yankee rotation will
be feared.

Let’s give it up for the Yankee batters!!!! Every starter got at
least 1 hit, with Jeter, Damon, Teixeira and Posada each getting two
hits…who said Tex needed Arod in the line up to hit? What a great
performance by the Yankee hitter, very impressive and a great bounce
back victory against another team that they should take 2 out of 3
from. The Yankee bats were so hot, that EVEN PETTITTE got into the
action with an RBI double in the 2nd. The Yankees were clicking last
night, and it’s good to see that, from what I saw they were having fun,
and they looked more relaxed, probably thanks to an RBI single by
Posada in the first. If the Yankees get on the board early they relax
and have fun…GUYS PLEASE!!! WE NEED THAT FIRE BACK!!! I know I am being
ridiculous but it’s true, look at earlier this season they were just
having fun and enjoying the game and in return they were WINNING!!! We
need that back boys, let’s get it going!!! Side Track: Has anyone
noticed how hot Cano is right now? He has raised his average 19 points,
from 291 to 310, over the last 5 games, going 11 for 20 in that stretch
with 3 of those games being multi-hit….and he is a second half
hitter…pretty scary….needless to say the game last night was great, and
something the Yanks should take advantage of.

Short and sweet…Burnett vs Johnson…aka the Marquette matchup of this
series. Very interesting matchup as Johnson is the Marlins ace and one
of the better pitchers right now in the NL. Burnett is coming off a
great pitching performance against the Mets and hopefully can bring
that to his old team. Key to the game is how Burnett pitches, if he
pitches well the Yankee bats usually come around, hopefully he can hold
the Marlins to only 2 or less runs, considering that Johnson can, and
probably will hold the Yankees to only 3…very interesting game, that I
have figured to be a pitchers duel….if the Yankees are patient and can
play small ball behind Burnett, they can take this game…LET’S GO
YANKEES!!!

That’s it…Late

Yankees Handle Nationals, Win 5-3

Well I must say that I did predict the Yankees to win last night,
buttttt I thought it would be a much more impressive win than what we
were witness to last night…To my utter surprise Martis showed up last
night and actually pitched a semi-impressive game,
and the only reason for that is that the Yankee bats couldn’t figure
him out when men were on base, even though they did score 2 runs (1
earned) off of him. You can almost, kind of, give the Yankees some sort
of break if the kid was pitching a great game…BUTTTTTTT putting 9 men
on, by way of walk (5!!!!) and hits (4), and not coming through and
bringing them in is pathetic. This kids control was clearly all over
the place, which can actually be a hindrance to batters, I UNDERSTAND,
but he wasn’t that crazy, he was giving up hits. The Yankees MUST be
able to hit young struggling pitchers, especially those not getting any
run support!!!When a young pitcher is
pitching good and his team isn’t scoring for him, they start to press
and try to take the workload on their own back…therefore make mistakes
more frequently…that’s when a team like the Yankees must pounce and
take advantage of it, which they didn’t do last night…I don’t want to
sound like a crazy “end of the world” fan but, this is a sign of
concern to me and a trend that CANNOT continue…I know the Yankees won,
WHO CARES IF THEY DIDN’T HIT!!! but to be honest this has happened in
the past, I KNOW, AGAIN, DIFFERENT TEAM, DIFFERENT YEAR…but they
should’ve been all over Martis and they weren’t…just a point I am
trying to make. Now I know I am being hard on the Yankees, and that is
the point, but Martis
has been pitching well as of late and this is actually his 3rd
consecutive start where he has pitched well. Also he has only given up
4 earned in his last 18 innings, so maybe, just maybe this kid is
showing promise and has the ability to pitch good in the Majors…Side
Track: I am weary of calling this kid good, or saying that he pitched
great last night, the truth of the matter is that he did put 9 men on
base last night, the other thing is that the Yankees didn’t take
advantage of this…This game was probably 1 or 2 base hits away from
being a 6 run, 4 inning outing…but I will pat myself on the back
because I did say the Yankees must take advantage of the Nationals
terrible bullpen…AND THEY DID!!!

The weird thing about this is that they did it off of the former Yankee, Ron Villone…Noooooooo…That’s
not why it is weird though, it’s weird because he is clearly their best
pitcher in the bullpen and the Yankees got to him, despite his great
numbers to date. Going into last night Villone owned a .96 ERA, only
giving up 2 earned in 18.2 innings pitched…the weirder thing is that he
posses a 3-4 record despite his great pitching…however his losing
efforts have come in games where he has given up an earned run
(well….all but 1)…andddddd Villone has been charged with a loss in each
of his last 4 appearances….so the Yankees got him at a perfect time…and
after giving up 2 earned last night he still has a very respectable
1.83 ERA. But enough praising the former Yankee, and lets hear it for
the Yankee batters!!! Despite getting shut down, some what, by Martis,
the Yanks came out strong against Villone…right away Damon jumped on him singling to right, followed by a deep shot by Teixeira
that missed a homerun by about 4 feet…but it bounced off the wall,
allowing Damon to score the tying run. And after an Arod strikeout…Side
Track: I am a huge proponent of leaving Arod alone, not because he is
sensitive but because he is under a microscope in every at bat, but I
am getting scared now. I don’t know how long the recovery time is for
this injury but he just isn’t performing and he needs to start coming
through…IN A BAD WAY!!!…Cano, who had an outstanding night going 4 for 4, bashed a double to deep center, mostly in part to a horrible play by Elijah Dukes
who misplayed the ball, scoring Tex and giving the Yanks a 4-3 lead,
which they held on to…actually scoring one more run…and winning the
game 5-3, with Mo getting the save….BTW Bruney is back…and that makes me very happy…as long as he stays healthy!!!

Sabathia
pitched GREAT last night…despite giving up a 3 run FLUKE!! of a homerun
to a kid who hasn’t hit one in 3 years!!!! HOW LUCKY IS THAT!!! Despite
putting 7 men on base last night CC was on his game…creating ground
ball outs, double plays, and fooling batters into making horrible
contact on his pitches. He didn’t have many Ks, but that happens from
time to time…however against this team it is kind of interesting…I
expected at least 5, but I’ll take 2 anytime if that means there will
be a win attached. CC was unlucky with the runs he gave up…but he did
shut down all the power in the lineup, the 2 through 5 hitters were 2
for 15 off of him, and gave up a homerun on a hanging slider that the
#9 hitter, Anderson Hernandez,
was lucky enough to pull into the left field seats, do balls fly out of
the stadium or no? Side Track: How did that ball carry out? And Tex’s
didn’t? Baseball is a craaaaaaaazy game! But overall you have to
applaud CC and his effort, he pitched great and showed how much of an
asset he truly is to this team, eating up 7.2 innings and coming back
after a less than steller outing against the Saux and getting a BIG win
against a weak team, hopefully he is the catalyst to a winning
series…maybe a sweep? Well that depends on our good friend CMW.

The most intriguing matchup of this series bar none! I am not going
to even go into depth about this game and who’s gunna win and all
that….because bottom line the ONLY key to the game is how Wang pitches
and what it means to his future with the Yankees. I lied a little…Wang
is facing a very respectable opponent tonite in John
Lannan, the Nationals ace who, if he was on another team, could be one
of the games better pitchers. He is a product of pitching in a bandbox
on a sub-par team, which will wear on anyone eventually. He has been
pitching well as of late and definitely has the ability to pitch well
against this Yankee team, which is why Wang’s start is so important.
Wang cannot have another bad start otherwise, I truly believe, this is
the last stop for him in the rotation, at least for this year. He has
been horrible in every start this year and doesn’t seem to have the
confidence of years past, and, according to Dave Eiland, isn’t taking
his bullpen sessions out on the mound with him. I don’t need to go into
specifics but the bottom line is that if Wang wants to stay in the
rotation,  which I can’t imagine him not wanting, he has to show up
tonite, against a really bad opposing team. The Yankee bats need to
help him, however this might be more of a pitchers duel than expected…Duel
is a BIG OPPERATIVE WORD in this sense…because that means Wang has to
show up too. I believe Wang will have success against this team, but he
has to be careful with the powerful lefties in this lineup, especially
with the way the balls have been flying out in right field. If he keeps
the ball down, gets his leg kick back to where it belongs, and has more
confidence in his stuff, he can pitch a great game. If he doesn’t fix
his mechanics on the mound…he might be bullpen bound (didn’t mean for
it to rhyme it just happened) or possibly put on the DL…I don’t see him
getting traded or optioned to the minors…he can still be an asset out
of the bullpen and has proved it. Very interesting game with Wang being
the key to success for the Yankees, and going toe to toe with
Lannan…LET’S GO YANKEES!!!

Other Notes:

Stallworth: I hate to bring negativity to this blog but…It is
absolutely pathetic that he is only getting 24 days in prison…it is an
embarrassment to our countries justice department and a travesty to the
family of the man who was killed…they settled a $5 million civil suit
outside of court to avoid the pain of the dragging process…but that
works in his favor in criminal court…HE WAS DRUNK AND WAS DRIVING!!!
Does that not mean anything???…way to set an example for younger
players and kids across the country…PATHETIC…this guy should be in jail
for years…he killed a person…WHILE DRUNK DRIVING!!! C’MON USE YOUR
HEADS!!! I am embarrassed for the justice department and what it has
become, celebrity buys you freedom apparently…OH and it’s fair that he
gets to play football, right? He gets 24 days while Vick gets 2 1/2
years…tell me how that is justified.

Bryce Harper: Leaving High School 2 years early to further his
professional career. The kid is a beast and if he stays on the same
track this won’t mean anything. He can only grow from this experience
and I think he is gunna be a MONSTER when he makes it to the MLB.

Mal Hall: Former Yankee great gets arrested and thrown in jail for
Child Molestation…what a moron…the arraignment only took 90-minutes…not
looking good for ol’ Mel…what a piece of garbage…he deserves to get
life.

Yanks Hand Mets, Santana a 13-0 Beating

Well now that I am officially back from my trip to A/C I can make my triumphant long awaited return to my blog…don’t act like you didn’t miss me…and boyyyyy howdy do I have a lot to talk about…Just a heads up there is no game tomorrow so I am saving my preview of he first game in the Nationals series for tomorrow. Wow, what a weekend! Not just for me but the Yankees and Mets as well…A whole lot of ups and downs but WHO CARES the Yankees take the series 2 to 1 and after a quick nap yesterday (only scoring two runs off of who? oh right Nieve) the Yankee bats were alive and ON FIRE!!! Scoring 15….yeah that’s right 1-5…15 runs today!! I’m gunna get back to today’s extremely impressive performance in a few but…I of course have to talk about Friday and Yesterday’s game…of course no one cares about either BUT I DO!!! So I am just gunna go over a few quick notes about each game…really brief I promise.

 

Friday:

What a great game…well it had to be b/c I had tickets to it but couldn’t go (inside joke)…The Yankee bats did what they had to do…they attacked Livan Hernandez and took him for 6 earned over 5.1 innings pitched. Too bad Joba, who gave up 2 earned by way of a bases loaded HBP and Walk) couldn’t hold up his end of the bargain and only pitched for 4 innings (throwing 100 pitches by that time…not good) Brett Tomko blew up giving up 4 earned over 2/3 of a inning and leaving the Yankees in a 6 to 3 hole after the top of the 5th. The Yankees took the lead 7 – 6 in the bottom of the 6th by way of a 3 run Matsui bomb and that’s where the real fun started. The Mets seemed to be on a role…Side Track: Wow, in the middle of a sentence….anywho the game was no where to be found in atlantic city so I am piecing this together off of recollection of my oft-praised MLB.com App on my Iphone…and they took back the lead in the top of the 8th on a David Wright double…Oh wait…this is where the fun begins!!! After a one out single by Jeter, he steals 2nd when Damon strikes out, followed by an IBB to Teixeira, Arod comes up to bat and pops up a fastball right down the middle and Castillo makes the out to win the game….OHHHHH NOOOOO!!!! That was supposed to happen but didn’t…Castillo tracked the ball wrong and it ended up hitting the heel of his glove and dropping to the ground…ummmm what do you call that a walk off error? That was too good!!!! 

 

Saturday:

Real real short…I hate praising the Mets…this guy (I called him a kid the other day and was clearly wrong) Nieve pitched a great game and showed the Yankees of years past…They usually have a history of not being able to hit horrible pitchers…but w/e….Mets clearly out played the Yankees in this one and exploited Pettitte and his continuing woes at home…I don’t know what is wrong with him…it’s really scaring me but it doesn’t seem to matter to anyone else…including the Yankee announcers….In my opinion they need to do something with Pettitte….Have him pitch batting practice or something along those lines to see what he can get away with at home…because he is clearly not pitching to his potential when the Yankees are in the Bronx…I just checked his YTD (year to date) stats for this year at home and he has only had 2 starts where he has given up less than 3 runs….Something needs to be done or it can be a LONGGGG season for Pettitte at home.

 

Today :-) :

One of those rare “PERFECT” days for the Yankees today…I think everyone and their brother…including me…figured the Yankees would have had a hard time against Santana today…but WOW were we wrong…the Yanks took 9 earned off of Santana before knocking him out in the 4th before he got an out…The Yankees woke up today and scored 4 runs in the second inning then were at full steam in the 4th when they knocked in 9, yes 9 runs!!! What a great day to be a Yankee fan but an even better day to be a Yankee batter…it must’ve seemed like batting practice to them….Side Track: I wonder how the Mets fans are gunna take this two game skid from Santana…I can only imagine the sports talk shows tomorrow…but they might have a point this is the only time in Santana’s career when he has given up 9 earned…by the way that’s 14 earned over his past two starts…it happens Mets fans don’t go crazy and kill yourselves it’s one game…too bad Philly won today too LOL…I want to go over the bats first…with a brief synopsis b/c dinner is almost here but I will hit on Burnett very soon…There is really no complaints from me about the Yankee bats AT ALL…I am a little concerned about Arod though…he is not getting into the swing
of things…and it’s gunna kill me to say this butttt Susan Waldman (ewwwwww) actually said something worth while and made a great point that we kind of have to be patient with Arod…he is coming off major surgery and probably doesn’t trust his hip yet…but we shouldn’t fret on that what a great hitter performance overall…7 of the 9 starting hitters got a hit in this game with 5 of them having multi-hit games..and Jeter going 4 for 4…what a great day..I am very happy…and more importantly Damon got his swing back and this game will hopefully completely snap him out of his slump. Oh by the way Matsui hit another one and if he stays healthy that just makes our line up even more dangerous….sorry for being brief…

 

Player of the game has to be Burnett in my mind…he not only set the pace by getting out of a no out bases loaded situation without giving up a run but struck out 2 of those batters….he flat out dominated the Mets hitters today and showed the Yankees why they went out and got him….He has been teasing the media by saying once he is “on” he is never gunna stop…let’s hope this game is a sign of the future with him on this team….Burnett pitched a great game and hopefully now he can calm down…this just might be his “Yankee Moment”….although not the biggest rival of the Yankees this matchup always stirs up emotions and is a HUGE deal to the Yankee fans…ALWAYS…so hopefully if he was feeling the pressure of pitching against Boston as a Yankee this game will be a huge step in the right direction for him. Again Burnett showed his real stuff today and how dominate he can be, yes the Mets are dinged up but they still have great bats in the lineup…he worked out of tight situations and kept his composure the whole way through…The Yankees were fired up today and the swagger was back…let’s keep the Mojo working boys…don’t lose that desire and become flat again, like you did in Boston PLEASE!!!! Interesting series coming up starting Tuesday…will be back tomorrow to preview it…LET’S GO YANKEES!!!

Another Bad Start for Wang

Even though I
hate to admit it, it seems like maybe the Yankees experiment with Wang
is coming to an end, and he has one more start to prove he should be in
the rotation. The start will come against the Nationals and it will
have huge implications upon where he will spend the rest of the year.
In my opinion, he should be sent to the minors to work out the kinks
and make all the necessary starts, unlike being rushed back this time
in fear that Joba was hurt for an extended period of time. This means
Hughes is back into the rotation again, figuring in that Wang wouldn’t
perform, he has pitched well coming out of the pen and showed again he
is a HUGE asset…he also performed and proved to be very effective last
night when he relieved Wang in the 3rd. Hughes had one blemish, an
opposite field homerun to Youkilis on a pitch that might have been a
little high but wasn’t that bad and was more impressive hitting than it
was bad pitching.Back to Wang…it is really
sad to see what this guy is going through, our ace for the past 3 years
is now the laughing stock of all Major League Baseball…over the first 5
starts of the season he has the highest ERA in HISTORY!!! This guy won
54 games in his first 4 seasons, he was the most consistent Yankee
pitcher for years and was usually the stop gap if the Yanks were on a
slide for an extended period of time…I’m really hoping this guy can
come back because it is truly sad to see someone so talented perform so
poorly. My true feeling is that Wang should go to the minors…and
everything else I said earlier…and then get put as long relief in the
bullpen for the rest of the year, unless an injury or struggles occur,
and start over from spring training next season…Maybe some winter ball
to get his confidence back…he is far too good and talented to just give
up on him…I have faith that he will return to be a great asset to this
team but we almost have to give up on him being a starter this
year…Side Track: Now wait a minute…it is only what? 60 games into the
season? I know I am being rash and possibly overreacting…but isn’t that
what being a Yankee fan is all about?…Just Kidding…but for real
everyone growing up in New York expects perfection 100% of the time…it
doesn’t happen like that…we are killing Wang and the Yankee front
office for putting him out there…but don’t forget he was the ACE of
this staff for 3 years, they don’t owe it to him but they should show
confidence in him…so before we kill them…it’s still early in the
season…if this happens down the stretch we take the protest to the
streets…but the season is only 1/3 over let’s not get too hasty…I KNOW
A LITTLE HYPOCRITICAL…but it’s the truth.

Hmmmmmmmmm….tough to find a bright spot in last nights game…..but
you almost have to say the bats and bullpen were what kept us in
it…before I praise the bats I have to bash them a little bit though.
Not that it’s a BIG number but still not good…the Yankee batters
stranded 6 runners in scoring position last night…that’s 6 potential
runs with 5 of those runs not getting in with 1 out or less in the
inning…my small ball rant from the other day fits perfectly here…that’s
just not acceptable especially against a guy like Wakefield…I
understand the game and I know how hard it is to hit a Knuckleballer,
especially when he is on his game, BUT 6 runners left in scoring
position with 5 of them with 1 out or less? that’s INSANE!!!
UNEXPLAINABLE!!! UNACCEPTABLE!!! C’mon guys this is Wakefield not
Beckett! I am so dejected and upset by this that I decided to outline
each inning they left runners on:

1st: Tex single, Arod Walk, Cano pop out to 3rd = 1 risp

2nd: Posada Homerun…Matsui Double, Swisher bunt to pitcher – Mastsui
to Third, Melky lines into double play (tough to swallow but you can’t
really get mad about that one), Jeter pop out to catcher = 1 risp

3rd: Tex Double, Arod and Cano fly out to center = 1 risp

see a trend yet? By the way Wakefield is still in and at this point it is 3 to 1 turns 4 to 1 after bottom of inning

4th: Matsui singles, Swisher walks, MELKY DRIVES IN MATSUI!!!!
YAY!!! (so after stranding 3 we finally come through) Swisher to
second, Jeter and Damon both fly out to….THE CATCHER!!! At least get
the ball on the field boys! = 1 Risp

5th: NONE!!  WOW!!!! Cano grounds out to 3rd to drive in Tex

Wakefield still in…6-3 Red Sox

6th: NONE!!! – Matsui did single in inning…rest of hitters down in order

7th: NONE!!! – Wakefield out..YAY!!! Back to back homers by Damon and Tex

6-5 Red Sox

8th: Swisher single, pinch runner Gardner comes in, Melky Sacrifies
him to 2nd then back to back Strikeouts by Jeter and Damon…PUT THE BALL
IN PLAY!!!! = 1 risp

9th: Rodriguez draws walk, pinch runner Pena comes in, Pena steals second, Cano strikes out, Posada fly out = 1 risp

That’s all 6 runners in scoring position…pretty bad Yankees,
pretty bad. SOOO Bad that I’m writing right now in bold to make a
stronger point…I know I’m pathetic thank you…two pop outs to the
catcher and back to back strike outs???? That’s horrible and
unacceptable guys, come on!!! The bullpen gave you a chance…you did
fight back…but we had sooo many opportunities to tie/win the game it’s
nauseating.

Well sorry for that, but I was frustrated by the shear lack of
effort last night and the flat, lackluster performance. There were two
bright spots in last night’s game Teixeira went 4 for 5, with his one
out coming off Papelbon, and Matsui going 2 for 3 and breaking out of a
horrible slump and hopefully this will be the catalyst to him turning
his season around. Three other decent bright spots were the Homeruns by
Posada, Tex and Damon, all put a charge back into the game and made it
interesting but unfortunately the team couldn’t pull it out in the end.
On to the bullpen…what a great performance by these guys last
night…Wang left the game giving up 4 runs and Hughes gave up 2 but that
was in the first 4 innings and the rest of the night the potent Saux
offense was shut down and dominated. Red Sox batters only got 6 guys on
by way of walk and hit and were struck out 5 times…all by Hughes…this
Yankee bullpen is showing up big and responding to the call…My main
concern is that they are being used too much right now…With Sabathia on
the hill tonite they should get a rest…but if they get worn out by the
end of the year it is very, very worrisome…our starters neeeeed to go
longer!

Tonite!!!! Sabathia vs Penny…the Marquee Matchup…the creme de la
creme of pitching excellence…oh wait…Penny not Peavy…sorry…ummmm not
much to say here if Sabathia keeps pitching the way he has…and gets
over his performance against the Rays the advantage is definitely on
the Yankees side. Sabathia has handled the Sox well over his tenure as
an MLB pitcher, despite his losing record at 2-4, but his ERA is a
respectable 3.91 over 7 starts. The Yankees NEED this game to prevent
falling 2 games behind in the East and still staying ahead of a hot
Blue Jays team, remember they fell apart a few weeks ago…well their
back! and playing very well (but how long will that last?). Yankees
will be fired up…Sabathia knows how big this game is for the Yankees
psyche going into this weekend against the Mets. This is a must win for
the Yanks and I think they should win easily with Penny on the
mound…perfect matchup for the struggling Yankees and it couldn’t come
at a better time…LET’S GO YANKEES!

Other Notes:
Mets: You thought the Yankees stranding 6 RISP is bad? How bout them
Mets leaving 16!!! that’s right 16 runners left on base last
night…direct reason for their loss..DON’T BLAME PARNELL!

Verlander: He’s back…simple as pie…performing at his best…he can’t
be touched and has his confidence back…dare I say Cy Young contender?

Lakers/Magic/Kobe: This is a MUST WIN for the Magic…if they don’t
put up an effort tonite they are done and there is no way they can win
in LA they must even the series…Kobe was offended that he was asked if
he was tired and responded in a weird way to me…the right way, but
weird in my opinion, WE KNOW YOUR TOUGH KOBE, DON’T WORRY!

That’s it…Late!

p.s.: Look for a joint blog entry previewing this weekend’s BIG
MATCHUP in the eyes of a Yankee fan (River Ave Rant) and a Met Fan (4th
Quarter Punts)

Weird Win by the Yanks

First I would
like to start off by thanking Mike Carver, 1240am and his show Sports
Radio New York for inviting me to call into to talk Yankees last night!
Mike you have a great show and thanks for letting me come on to talk
and give my thoughts on the New York Yankees!…even though I was in some
hot water when I got back to the wedding :-/…LOL…anywho what a wacky,
wild and overall GREAT win by the Yanks yesterday…I can’t remember the
last time, actually any time for that matter, when a team won a game by
way of a bases loaded walk, followed by an error at 3rd, with the bases
loaded, and a fielder’s choice…in which Matsui must’ve ran his butt off
because he got down the line pretty quickly! What a great and exciting
win, and one that proves that this year is a whole lot different…calls
are going the Yankees way and they are making sure to take advantage of
them…I am very impressed by yesterday’s win and it just goes to show
you that you don’t always need the longball to win games. I would also
like to say that my prediction was right this
game ended up being, for the most part, a pitchers duel with both
starters pitching beyond their years…getting into tight situations and
working their way out of them by way of outsmarting the hitter. Joba
showed some fatigue and loss of command in the 6th and got nicked up a
little bit…but the truth of the matter is that those hits fell in the
perfect places, just out of the reach of Cano both times…Gross came
up….Yeah that’s right Gabe Gross, hit a 2 run single that if Cano
wasn’t shaded in the hole probably would have still been a hit but
Robinson might have got to it before it reached the outfield…but that’s
neither here nor there and what happened, happened…back to the point.
Joba had a very good quality start yesterday and like I said worked out
of tough situations and had his slider working amazingly. People might
be yelling that he gave up 3 earned…hey guys, he’s Joba, he’s still
young and actually didn’t pitch bad in that inning it was just a
product of perfectly placed balls.  I was impressed by his poise and
confidence as well, especially when he was shaking off Posada to go to
the slider in situations where he knew it would work…AND IT DID!! That
slider spun for, what seemed to be, 63 ft then fell off the
table…hitter’s were fooled and didn’t know what to expect from
him…hmmmm I guess they haven’t realized that his fastball is going to
set up that devastating slider…but that’s even better, make the batters
keep guessing! I’ll get back to Joba in a second…

Matt Garza pitched an equally good game…he made only one mistake…AND
IT WAS A BIG ONE!!! Swisher…or Swishalicious…REALLY STERLING???
REALLY??? Side Track: I have shown my distaste for John Sterling in
posts past but really man? You invented “A Bomb for A Rod!”…sorry that
was sarcasm…you really couldn’t think of something better for Swisher?
Better yet maybe you should drop those stttttttttuuuuuppppppiiiiidddd
calls!!!…I’m sorry but it had to be said Swishalicious is the WORST!!!
nickname I have ever heard! Sorry about that…a little angry
hahahaha…but I don’t like to praise opposing pitching but I do have a
mini man crush on Garza…yes for real..the kid is good!! But he did
pitch good yesterday…getting ground balls and getting his first pitches
over for strikes…the Yankees tried to rattle him by calling time…he was
taking extremely long between pitches yesterday…and taking him deep
into counts…but it didn’t phase him whatsoever. The only good thing
about Garza…for the Yankees…was the fact that they knocked him out in
the 6th and got to that abysmal bullpen. Wait, there is something
wrong…they are pitching good today!! Ummmmm what’s going on? That’s
what most Yankee fans…at least the avid fan…was thinking…but don’t
worry the showed up in the 8th…PHEW!!! Side Track: Two quick
points…both teams only got 6 hits yesterday…these guys pitched
extremely well…sorry was just counting the Yankees hit and were
surprised they didn’t get a few more…back on track…The dominating Grant
Balfour…what? that was last year?…just isn’t where he was last year
when he busted onto the scene to head the great Rays bullpen of
2008…but wait? this year is really more like his career path…he has a
4.28 career ERA so last year is seeming to be more of a
fluke…anyway…Balfour has struggled for 2 straight days, yesterday he
came in to relieve Joe Nelson and trouble started right away…after a
quick put away of Jeter the wheels fell off the bus…after 2 singles, by
Damon and Tex, Balfour walked A Rod to load the bases…putting 3 batters
on is inexcusable…The dominate J.P. Howell comes in, probably the
bright part of this horrible Rays bullpen, and walks Cano!!! with the
score being 3-2 the rays fell apart with an error by Aybar, allowing
Tex to score, then he got what seemed to be a double play ball by the
lumbering Matsui but he beat out the throw to first to allow A Rod to
score and give the Yanks the lead at 4-3. Mo came in and shut the door,
maybe the day before was a fluke but I still think we should explore
other people in non-save situations, but he did prove why he is still a
dominate closer and will be for a few more years to come.

I really think Joba is proving more and more why he is a reliable
starter and why he needs to be in the rotation…I have the feeling that
people are going to point to yesterday’s game as a reason why he should
be in the pen…but really? he had a quality start and showed poise in
tight situations along with not allowing many baserunners and walking
only 1 batter…to me it’s NO CONTEST! I don’t see why you would want to
keep him in for 1 inning when you can get 6 – 7 innings of dominate
pitching…HE’S ONLY GUNNA GET BETTER!!! He’s 23 and shaking off Posada
because he knows he can get people out…it’s not young cockiness it’s
his skill level and trust in command that is allowing him to do that…I
know I’m some people are sooo against him starting but I really don’t
see why…our bullpen isn’t bad and if Veras learned how to pitch he can
be a great 8th inning guy or for now Aceves has been great and we
should give him some looks as well…JOBA should be a starter no doubt
about it.

On to tonite…”The battle of the Andy’s”…or atleast that’s what
Michael Kay called it yesterday…I had to slap my head for that one too.
Sonnanstine vs. Pettitte two guys who are having less than stellar
years right now…well Pettitte is a product of pitching poorly at home
on the road he is flat out pitching great. This matchup is really one
sided in my opinion and the Yankees shouldn’t have a problem with a
struggling Sonnanstine, who has to go at least 7 innings for the
bullpens sake. Sonnanstine, who is an average at best pitcher, has
posted a robust 7.07 ERA this year over 11 starts and needs to get back
on track if the Rays want to make a run for any type of playoff hopes.
Like I said the Yanks should handle him fine, after yesterdays loss the
Rays might be fired up but I don’t think it will last long, the Yanks
have been jumping on horrible pitching all year and with their bats
right now they should jump all over Sonnanstine…case closed…Key to the
game is definitely Pettitte…if he pitches well and keeps the Rays at
bay the Yanks should run away with this one and take the series. Over
his last 3 home starts Pettitte has given up 4 earned in each one…he
MUST pitch better today and get back on track…the Yankees score a ton
but Pettitte has to start pitching better for his own sake…yes I said
‘sake’ twice…like I said I can’t see the Yankees losing this game, I’m
sure the bookies can’t either…LET’S GO YANKEES!!!

Other Notes:

Red Wings: They win tomorrow…can’t see how they don’t, at home with the cup on the line…no doubt about it in my mind.

Lakers vs Magic: Not a surprise…wish I could’ve seen more of the
game…but I thought the Lakers would win this series in 5 and it’s
looking like it might not even get that far.

That’s it!! late!

Yanks lose in 9th

A very, very
disappointing game today…one with many peaks and valleys but at the end
of the day the Yanks put themselves in a 4 run hole that they can only
half way dig out of. I, and probably every other Yankee fan, thought
that with the way they battled back there was noooooo shot they would
lose, especially with Mo coming in. Side Track: Hey Joe!!! Maybe it’s
time you realize that Mo can’t come in, in non save situations!!!! He
doesn’t have the same intensity and doesn’t have the same focus.
Please!!! we have other guys in the bullpen, definitely not as good or
with even close to the same track record but maybe Mo should only be in
during save situations…it has been said by many closers and many
pitching experts that when a closer comes in in a tie game they don’t
have that same fire or adrenaline rush…Joe, we have some talent in the
bullpen, including Phil Hughes lets give them a try too…Sorry Mo lovers
I am one too but you have to admit there is something wrong there.
Anyway the Yanks in the top of the 9th looked horrible, really can’t
blame them I guess…they got beat by the bats of the Rays and by Mo
getting just a bit too much of the plate. Although disappointing it is
just one loss, and the Sox still have to play a powerful offense today,
but as of right now we are tied for 1st.In
the long run the ONLY bad thing about this game was the
pitching…Sabathia’s performance was lackluster, although he did eat up
a ton of innings, 8 to be exact…but he kept the team in the game
despite giving up 5 earned on 2 homeruns. Price pitched extremely well,
he gave up 3 runs but only 1 of them was earned and the other 2 runs
were either caused or set up by Navarro who had 3 errors in the
game…OUCH! Without these errors the Yanks really had no shot, but
because of them it kept them in the game and the crowd was pumping, and
kept their adrenaline running…Side Track: Now you have to understand I
am a huge fan of Michael Kay’s radio show, I think it’s great but today
he really really made me mad. Jeter smacked a ball to right field in
the bottom of the 7th, and if it was a homerun it would have tied the
game but it wasn’t really that close, and Michael called it the whole
way like it was 20 rows deep and it was a no doubter…I understand the
job of the commentator is the keep the game entertaining but…Stop being
a superfan Michael….and you’ve been around this game long enough to
know when it is a no doubter…C’mon man I know people make mistakes but
that was a Sterling mistake.

Sorry…so like i said the pitching was the Achilles heel of the
Yankees today and it wasn’t from their inexperienced bullpen or their
journeymen pitchers but from two pitchers who you wouldn’t expect it
from. It really is just one loss, and everyone has their bad  days but
you just wish, with the way this team fought back, that both wouldn’t
come across bad performances today. O well, chalk it up to bad luck.
The Rays bats were on fire today and they took advantage of every bad
pitch they got, especially their position players and three guys you
really wouldn’t expect it from. One is Ben Zobrist, taking over for the
injured Bartlett, he went 2 for 3 today, with a solo homerun and the
most important hit of the game a triple in the 9th, followed by scoring
a run on a single by Joe Dillon…another unsung hero…Joe went 3 for 3
today and got key hits off of two really great pitchers and more
importantly the go ahead RBI off of Mo. The thrid player is Willie
Aybar, who hit a bomb in the top of the 6th to give the Rays a 5-3 lead
which they would eventually blow. But let’s not dwell and praise the
Rays, this is a Yankee blog hahaha.
YANKEE HITTERS!!! My prediction was right from the other day, in that
the Yanks MUST get Price out of the game early and get to this depleted
bullpen, who struggled ALL OVER today including the bottom of the 9th.
Until the bottom of the 8th the Rays bullpen actually showed up and I
thought the Yanks couldn’t come back with the way they were
pitching…but then Balfour decided to throw Tex a fastball down the
middle of the plate, btw he had him in either a 0-2 or 1-2 count,
Navarro wanted to the ball higher but Balfour made a HUGE mistake and
Tex hit the longest ball in Yankee Stadium so far…NOTE: I JUST MADE
THAT UP BUT IT WAS A BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMBBBBB!!!!!…After a couple of
close calls going the Yankees way the bases were loaded for Melky…seems
to be a theme Melky in clutch situations…anywho, he grounds a weak ball
to short and there is a very close play at first that could’ve went
either way…My opinion he was out…but it doesn’t matter the Ump said
safe…YES!!! the Yanks are tied…Matsui struck out swinging on a call
that went to Rays way…my opinion he checked his swing. After the worst
top of the 9th inning I have ever seen, Tex does it again, after a
single by Jeter and a misplayed double by Damon, Teixeira hits a double
in the gap to bring the Yankees within 2 runs…but to no avail Randy
Choate comes in and gets Cano to hit a long fly ball to Center…which
almost went over the head of Upton…but didn’t.

So if there is something positive to take away from this game it is
that the Yankees will show fight in every game, and even though they
were battling back into the game, it seems like they always have
enthusiasm and the desire to win…I’m liking this team this year, the
kids are showing the Vets how to have fun and enjoy the game again…our
pitchers are showing up…most of the time…and the bats are on fire and
seem like they will never stop…let’s forget this loss….even though it
is a tough one to swallow…and take the next 2.

Tomorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrow! Chamberlain against Garza….Great matchup of
two perennial all stars and two pitchers who in 2 or 3 years will be
among the ELITE in the game. This matchup does intrigue me ALOT…it can
really go either way…can I be more vague? I thought today’s game would
be a pitchers duel…I was half right (Price did pitch great)….but
tomorrow I don’t see much offense coming through…both pitchers do have
the ability to get knocked around but this game determines the series.
Chamberlain proved over his last start why he is an asset to the
starting rotation and why he really wants to be here…if he can keep his
pitch count out of his mind, and let his ability and skill take over he
will dominate this matchup…Garza is a head case who usually throws
first ball fastballs to get ahead in the count…I don’t like over
aggressiveness but tomorrow the hitters might have to be. I’m gunna
call this game being a coin toss with either teams having to take
advantage of first pitch strikes and having the runners, those who do
get on, making the pitcher pay too much attention to them…if the
pitchers aren’t challenged and taken into late counts this game could
be a 1 – 0 victory by either team. The Yankees have to be aggressive
tomorrow in both pitching and hitting…the Rays strike out a lot but
don’t throw too many fastball because they have a lot of power. If the
bats get to Garza he gets flustered…swing early in counts if the pitch
is there…but if he is a little wild take him deep into counts and
rattle him a little…Gunna be a good game tomorrow…LET’S GO YANKEES!!!

No notes…can’t really think of any….late

| back to blog home |
Theme: MLB “modern” | Get a free blog at WordPress.com
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.