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.
robertfpeterson
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