Yankees at Cleveland, game four!

Line up for tonight:

Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez DH
Giambi 1B
Matsui LF
Ensberg 3B
Cano 2B
Molina C

A-Rod’s sore quad will keep him in the DH slot as the temperature is below 50 in Cleveland, Ensberg will play third. Damon gets his rest, and Molina takes the dish and the nine slot.

Cabrera leads off with a base on balls. Its important to note that Aaron Laffey, opposing LHP, has never faced the Yankees and has made only a handful of major league starts. The lead off walk is followed up with an error by second baseman Carroll that killed a possible double play and Jeter is in safely at first, Cabrera in at second. Abreu flies to deep center, Cabrera tags up to third for A-Rod. Foul pop up towards the stands stays in play and he’s the second out. Giambi has come back out of his slump a bit in the past few days with a pair of round trippers this series so far. He rockets it… but caught at the right field track. No damage, Moose takes the hill after this!

Mikey’s 39 years old and its cold outside, so let’s see how tonight goes. He faces David Dellucci to start things off. He gets him to fly out to right. Next up, Carroll… fly out right as well. Hafner in to face Moose now. Hafner’s having a bad start this year, and it continues as he watches strike three sail on the inside corner.

Matsui up to face the youngster Laffey – chopper up the middle but picked off by Laffey and tossed to first, one away. Ensberg next… inside pitch popped to second, two down. Cano’s bat hasn’t heated up yet this season, and this AB isn’t changing that. Hard hit but short to left field, third out, side retired.

Moose on the mound against the catcher Victor Martinez. Martinez is spanking the ball at a .344 clip this season but has struggled against Moose. He can’t break the cycle this time as he flies to right, deep right though it were. Jhonny (sic?) Peralta in now – he gets himself an infield hit as Jeter fields it but can’t fire it to first after lunging to make the grab. Luckily, Garko hits a ball with “Double Play” written all over it and the inning goes down.

Yankees fail to get a ball out of the infield with two ground outs to short and one to third in the top of the third.

Moose gets into a bit of a jam here in the bottom half – error by Jeter at short, single to center, and sac bunt gets runners to second and third with only one out. Moose gets Dellucci to strike out, Carroll battles off about 13 minutes worth of good pitches before grounding an outside pitch to first. Giambi bobbles and scares me, but the quick toss to the charging Moose gets the out and ends the threat. Three down no score!

Nothing to see in the top of the fourth. Laffey’s blazing through the line-up like a knife through buttah.

Moose is dueling well but throwing quite a few pitches. He gets Hafner to fly out but gives up a single to Martinez. Another fly out by Perralta and a ground out by Garko and even though Martinez moved into scoring position on a passed ball, he can’t make it home. Still naught-naught, top fifth comin’ up!

Matsui grounds out, Ensburg strikes out, but Cano gets beaned to give the Yankees their first runner since the first. Molina can’t do anything other than ground out, though and Laffey’s got a no hitter going through 5…

Moose hasn’t been slouching on the hill himself. His last outing was as solid as they come with 7 IP and only 2 ER. He gives up a single to Blake, then a single to Gutierrez moves him to third with none away. Single up the right side, just past Giambi, and the score is now 1-0 Indians. Gutierrez moves to second, still no outs. Another frackin’ base hit, but Gutierrez holds up at third to load up the bases, still zero outs, Carroll coming to the plate. Scratch what I was saying at the top of this paragraph… Eiland comes to visit the Moose, Albaladejo warming in the pen, Girardi standing at the top of the steps. Carroll pops quickly to first, one away and a double play ends the threat. Hafner in with the sacks packed… He’s hit 9 grand slams in his career so far. He doesn’t hit it out of the park, but he gets it far enough to knock in Gutierrez, 2-0 Indians, two away. Moose gives up a walk to the hot hitting Martinez to load ‘em up again. Albaladejo still up in the pen… Line out to short by Perralta, inning over, threat gone but not before two runs score.

Cabrera leads off the sixth with an infield single to bust up the no-no by Laffey. He didn’t really knock the crap out of it, but it was enough. Jeter grounds one to third but Blake has to run up on it and throws from the ground skipping it to first. Jeet beats the throw, two on, none away. Laffey’s still getting the ground balls but the last two have just been bad luck for him. Abreu lines a single to left field and now the Yankees have loaded ‘em up with no outs to bring up A-Rod. The Cleveland pen is showing signs of life now as well. How about a nice grand slam here to put us ahead, eh $275 million man? OUCH… beaned in the vicinity of the groin… Run forced in, which means I don’t think it was intentional. Pitching coach will trot out to try to calm down the unraveling youngster. Giambi will step in with Matsui on deck. Slow bouncer to first puts away the G-man but scores Jeter and the ball game is tied! Go-go-Godzilla in with two in scoring position and one away. Another grounder to first, another infield RBI as the Yankees take the lead! Laffey will take a seat now after giving up the lead.

Jensen Lewis takes over for Laffey to face Ensberg. Another infield hit scores A-Rod from third and the Yankees now lead 4-2. Lewis tried to bare hand the ball but didn’t get a good grab on it as Ensberg flies head first in safe! Cano can’t keep the big inning alive as he grounds to second. Bottom half upcoming!

Albaladejo is a name that rolls off of the tongue, but it doesn’t roll off of the keyboard. I mistyped that one like three times right there. He gets a ground out from Garko to third for the first out. Walk to Blake but a pop out to Gutierrez, two away. Micheals singles into the gap in short right to put two on for Dellucci. The announcers have mentioned many times that Grady Sizemore’s injury is having an effect, so let’s see how this AB pans out as Dellucci is in Sizemore’s lead-off slot. 0-2 plus a few fouls offs before a swing and a miss and the inning is over, no runs, still 4-2 Yankees!

Lewis still on the mound for the Tribe, Molina and Cabrera both fly out. jeter comes in and lines a base hit to right – but its caught! Incredible lay out by Jason Micheals to snag that one! Damn, but that was pretty. Nothin’ doin’ this half…

Farnsworth in now, still waiting to hear about that suspension. Ground out and strike out puts the first two away, but Kyle falls to 3-0 against Martinez. He gets him to fly out, one-two-three for Kyle Withakay.

Abreu strikes out to start the top of the 8th and Joba is warming in the pen. Damon bats for A-Rod – is the quad still bothering him? He did get beaned in the leg and run all the bases for a run… Wow, Lewis’s windup is incredibly quick. Quickly walks Damon, he does, to bring up Giambi. He hits a fly into right field, Damon stays put at first. Looked like he was seriously considering taking second and could have moved to third… Didn’t pan out though, and Matsui steps in. Base hit all the way to the wall in right center, Matsui takes second, Damon takes home plate and its now 5-2! Guess all that talk of stealing doesn’t matter… Pitching change will occur, as will a break in the blogging action!

Julio gets a towering pop out from Ensberg, three gone, top half over, Joba coming up in the bottom? Find out after this!

Jobamania takes the hill and we get an interview about midges. Apparently, midges are repelled by vinegar. Ground out, high flying pop-out, and strike out takes care of the Indians in the bottom of the 8th. I’m fading fast here after a loooooooong weekend, so let’s hope for a quick ninth so I can get some sleep!

Liner, popper, and swinging strike out sends the Yankees back to the field behind Mo.

Mo has still yet to give up a walk or a run this year.  The Yankees will finally head home after this game for nine games in ten days.  Strike out for Gutierrez.  Fly out for Micheals.  Ground out to second, game over!  Yankees win!  Theeeeeeee Yankees win!

I go pass out now.  Good night!

Yankees at Bawmer! Game one!

Sorry for the lack of updates – work was a beast today and I’m getting ready to go away on business, so that didn’t help. I’ll try to keep up on the games while I’m in Kansas, but no promises.

Here’s the line up for tonight!

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Giambi 1B
Cabrera CF
Moeller C

Phil Hughes will face off against Daniel Cabrera. Yankees have beaten up Cabrera in the past, let’s hope it carries on as the quest continues!

Damon flies to center to start the game off. Jeter comes in on a 4 game hitting streak but he grounds to third. Abreu is .302 coming in to this game with 10 RBI. Abreu takes 5 pitches before a grounder to short and reaching on an infield single. Dig it out, Bobby! Scratch that, it was charged as an error on the shortstop Hernandez. A-Rod goes down swinging…

The Phranchise takes the mound and gets an out on a pitch to Roberts, who I thought for sure would have been traded away by now. Melvin Mora grounds right past Hughes but Jeter moves quickly to his left and gets the out. 3-1 pitch goes past Markakis for a walk, but Millar pops out to Moeller for the third out.

Matsui gets pegged on the elbow right away to start the second inning. Cano steps in and takes the count full (‘atta boy, patience) before fouling off a bad pitch, then another, then a beautifully hit line drive up the middle! Unfortunately, its caught by the shortstop and Matsui is tagged out for the double play. Giambi grounds out hard to first and Hughes will take the hill again after the break.

Hughes faces Luke Scott, gets ahead 0-2, falls behind 3-2, then gets Scott to fly out to Bobby in right. Another full count to Huff this time but this time he lets him walk. Hughes gets ahead of Jones 0-2 (Cano tossed a foul that dropped to a fan in a Yankee shirt – Go Robbie) before he takes him up the ladder and strikes him out swinging! Ramon Hernandez comes in with a runner on first and two away. R-Hern has gotten off to a slow start this season, hitting only .152 this season. Hughes gets ahead again 0-2 but gets beat for a single to left. Huff stops at second and Luis Hernandez steps in. Announcer A calls Announcer B “easy.” L-Hern flies out to Melky, two left on and the inning’s over.

Turnabout is fair play, so Melky grounds to L-Hern for the inning’s first out. Moeller fouls out to third. Damon flies out to left, Yanks go down 1-2-3.

Roberts lines to left, Mora flies to right, but Markakis skips one past Giambi and busts on to second as Abreu can’t get the ball to second in time. Score that one an E3… Damn. Hughes again ahead 0-2 with Millar before he flies out to right to end the inning.

Jeter grounds out but Abreu gets aboard with a single. A-Rod moves him over with a ground out of his own before Matsui gets a base hit! Abreu hauls around to try to score but Markakis cuts him down at the plate on a great throw! Damn.

Hughes gives up a run on a double, single, and an RBI GIDP by Scott, Huff, and Jones. R-Hern flies out to left, inning over. Hughes has gotten ahead of about every batter he’s faced so far.

Cano hits to start off the inning, but Giambi doesn’t (strike out). Cabrera hits a long drive to right, off the wall, for a double – Cano holds at third after Abreu got gunned down last inning. Moeller hits one to third – Mora boots it! Cano scores, Moeller reaches, Melky stays at second, only one down for Damon. He reaches on a fielder’s choice which is more of a double play that L-Hern can’t turn. Melky to third, Damon to first for Jeter. He gets jammed inside and grounds to third to end the inning. Tie ball game!

Hughes gets into some trouble after a hit and a ground out puts L-Hern at second, but Moeller gets him out of it by gunning down L-Hern at third when he tried to take third on a passed ball that didn’t pass far. Fly out, half over, still tied!

Yankees make some threats but can’t put any more runs up as Melky strikes out with the bases loaded to end the top of the 6th.

Orioles score another pair off of Hughes after giving up four singles and recording only one out in the bottom half. He gets to take a seat in favor of LaTroy Hawkins after that last one and the Orioles lead 3-1. Hawkins walks R-Hern intentionally to load up the bases so he can give up a two RBI base hit to pinch hitter Payton and leave runners at the corners. Roberts grounds back to Hawkins, R-Hern can’t score. Edwar Ramirez was called up today to replace Albaladejo since Edwar is rested and Albie’s tired. Ball in the dirt allows Payton to take second, Edwar’s up in the pen. Frackin’ Mora hits one to right for two RBI and he’s left standing on second. That’ll do it for LaTroy in favor of Edwar…

Wow, that went badly.  I apologize, but I was A) Bummed and B) Bushed so I C) fell asleep at the wheel.  Or couch.  Back later with updates!

Red Sox – Yanks IV: Live Blog

Wang starts tonight facing Ellsbury with a strike. Coco Crisp is sitting out tonight with a sore hammy. Two pitches, ground out, one away. Wang not as sharp the next batter, though, and Pedroia walks on 4 pitches. That’s the first walk issued by Wang since the 4th inning in Tampa on April 6th. Ortiz check swings a ground out to short to continue his poor start to the season. After sitting in the last game against the Yankees, he doubled his hit total by adding two in the series vs. Cleveland. Wang pitches to Manny with first base open, and that’s a mistake… Double deep to center, off the wall, Pedroia scores. Still two away as Youkilis steps to the plate. Wang gets ahead 0-2 and Youkilis goes around on the 1-2 pitch for the strike out. Yankees to the plate after this!

Nice weather in New York tonight – 59 degrees and mostly sunny. Buchholz faces Cabrera to start of the bottom half, and one broken bat pop-out away he’s back in the dugout. Jeter, facing the Red Sox and Buccholz for the first time, hits one up the right side, off of Casey’s glove to reach safely. Casey did not miss a ball the last series so I guess its finally caught up to him. Scored a hit, though, so tonight will not be a no-no for either team. Abreu in, ball driven deep – way back! Way back! See-ya! Just like that, the Yankees are up 2-1! Let’s hope they can keep Bucky on the run as A-Rod comes on now. The pitch to Abreu was a high fastball – not going to get away with that one too often against Bobby. A-Rod takes it deeeeeeeeeeeeep to left! #522 for Alex Rodriguez is a hard shot to left and lands in the Red Sox bullpen! A-Rod is now all alone in 15th place on the all time home run list, behind Jimmie Foxx. Buchholz had given up a grand total of zero dingers prior to Abreu’s, now his total is at two. Matsui steps in and works a full count before flying out to left. He got good wood on it, but it didn’t have the power to go the distance. Posada grounds to second, inning over, 3-1 Bombers!

First pitch by Wang turns into a single for J.D. Drew. Wang is really not looking too sharp… walk to Varitek puts two on with none away. Jeet comes over to say something in English that Wang probably doesn’t understand. Another walk to Casey… Now Dave Eiland comes out, Giambi comes over, Moeller comes up and we’re having a conference at the mound. Lugo grounds to third, Drew scores, other runners move up, one away. Ellsbury rolls a sinker back to Wang, he throws it to Posada as Varitek was charging and he’s caught in a run down. First and second now, two away, Wang trying to hold a one-run lead. Grounder to second by Pedroia, three outs and only one run scored after a bases loaded no out jam. Wang’s taking a page out of Pettitte’s book from last night.

Giambi steps in for his first AB of the game, .094 this season. Unfortunately, nothing doing – grounder to second. Cano is also suffering this season and also grounds to Peroia, two away. Moeller in – Molina is the back-up for tonight as he can throw but not run. Posada may not be ready to start tomorrow, either. He lines one to Pedroia but Pedroia can only handle 2/3 this inning and it goes past him to right field for a base hit. Melky on now, but he goes down on a check swing strike three.

Ortiz comes in to face Wang and he grounds to short right, exactly where GI Joe placed Robbie Cano for the first out. Manny in now, YES! announcers are making fun of Leiter for getting beat to the tune of a .409 batting average against him. Wang battles him full (not the other way around with a hitter like Manny) before… strike out! Manny thought it was ball four, took off for first but was soon notified of the error of his ways. Manny barks at the home plate ump but goes to sit down. Cabrera catches a fly ball from Youkilis and Wang goes 1-2-3 in the third.

Jeter leads off the bottom of the inning and takes the count full, fouls a few away, then slaps one up the middle – Lugo gets to it and Jeet’s out. Buchholz is to 50 pitches already. Abreu takes a few pitches himself before lining to second. A-Rod only takes four pitches before swing-and-a-miss on a nice curve ball, inning over.

Drew fouls one to right and Matsui goes allllllllll the way to the wall to make the grab! Varitek hits one to right, off of a diving Giambi – Abreu hurls it to second but Varitek beats the throw by milliseconds. Sean Casey hits a single to left center – Melky takes it and hurls it home but the throw is up the first base line and Moeller drops it anyways, Varitek scores, Casey to second on the throw. Grounder to A-Rod and a fly out to Cabrera ends the inning, tie ball game 3-3.

Godzilla rips a single up the middle to start off the bottom of the 4th. Posada flies out to Ellsbury, one away. Giambi steps in – the shift is on. He pulls one to right but it drops into the gap for a base hit! Cano flies to deep center, Matsui tags to third, two down for Chadwick D. Moeller. Fifteen minutes later, he’s still battling at the plate, about 1,500 pitches by Buchholz so far this at bat and a full count on Moeller. Finally a fast ball breaks Moeller’s bat but the ball drops in left for an RBI… double! How’s that for a #9 hitter? Melky takes a 3-1 pitch for a BB and the bases are loaded for Cap’n Clutch! The crowd is on its feet – Line drive base hit! Giambi scores! Moeller scores! Melky stops at third! 6-3 Yankees on that two RBI base hit to right! Bucky gets the hook, Tavarez coming in.

Abreu in, two on and two out. Wild pitch! Cabrera scores! 7-3 Yankees! Abreu goes down swinging, though, to end the inning.

Wang takes the hill in the top of the 5th, Pedroia hacks one up the line to third and it goes to the stands for a ground rule double. Slumpy McSlumperson David Ortiz in. Unfortunately he decides he’s sick of slumping and slaps a single to right scoring Pedroia. Now 7-4 Yankees with Ortiz on and Manny up. Manny singles again and Cabrera almost gets Ortiz with a throw behind him after he rounded second. Youkilis singles to left but Ortiz is holding in case its caught and only makes it to third… Bases loaded, zero outs, J.D. Drew up. Base hit up the middle, Ortiz scores, Manny scores, no outs… Girardi has seen enough and Wang gets the hook, Ohlendorf will take over.

YES camera took forever to cut go to commercial and just hung there on Wang… he did not look happy. Runners on first and second with no outs and Ohlendorf faces Varitek – he goes down looking! Big out for Ross. Casey at the bat now, here’s hoping for a double play. Frack! Casey singles to center on a full count, run scores, tie ball game, J.D. Drew to third. Lugo goes down looking for the second out and now Ellsbury will come on… He takes a walk. Bases loaded now for Pedroia. He singles through a gap and two more runs score… 9-7 Red Sox. Jeter made a nice bid for it but there was no getting to that one. Pedroia started off this inning with a ground rule double and the damage hasn’t gone away. Ohlendorf faces Ortiz.. Strikes him out! A six run inning for the Red Sox, though, and the score is now 9-7.

A-Rod faces Tavarez and a grounder to second base doesn’t do much… one away. Matsui gets something started with a base hit, his second of the night. Posada cranks one to left! Matsui all the way around third! Here comes the throw! Close play… SAFE! Posada to third! Giambi is up with the tying run at third – all you’ve gotta do is pull it, Jason, you can do it! Giambi takes a base on balls… First and third, one away for Cano. You can do it, Robbie! Relax and wait for your pitch. He gets it! Base hit to right! Tie ball game! Go Robbie!! Moeller in now with runners at first and second, still only one away. Moeller takes a walk of his own to bring up Melky…. bases loaded, one away. Grounder to first, throw to second gets Moeller, throw to first… gets away! Moeller slide right at Lugo and the throw sailed left of Tavarez! Two runs score, now 11-9 Yankees! Jeter up, Cabrera just saunters over to third and steals it! Unfortunately, the Cap grounds to third to end the onslaught.

Top of the sixth, Ohlendorf faces Manny. #22 LaTroy Hawkins warms up in the pen… Walk to Manny is probably a smart move at this point, except Ohlendorf is pulled to bring in Hawkins. He’ll face Youkilis. Ouch… hard foul off the toe. He goes down quietly after that. J.D. Drew comes on and singles again. Manny holds at second. Drew is 3-4 tonight. Varitek strikes out looking on the inside corner on a sweet pitch that juuuuust nicks the corner. Casey is down 1-2 in the count and the crowd comes to life for Hawkins! If he strikes out the side, I think he’ll win over the fans. He’ll settle for a pop foul, caught by Matsui at the wall again! Nice night for Godzilla! Still 11-9 Yanks!

David Aardsma out of the bullpen for the Red Sox to face Abreu, A-Rod, and Matsui. Abreu flys out to left on a decent catch by Manny. He’s too lazy to slow down, so he bounces off the wall for no good reason. The game has been on for three hours and we’re still only into the bottom of the sixth. A-Rod gets beaned in the back to take first base. Matsui flies out to center to bring up Posada with two away. Pop out to short, side retired, only six away! I guess I’m not getting any sleep tonight!

Red Sox go quietly (finally) in the top of the 7th as Hawkins gets the job done for the Yanks against Lugo (ground to pitcher), Ellsbury (lined to short), and Pedroia (ground to short).

Giambi flies out to center for the first out, Cano grounds out to second for the second, but Chad Moeller will not go quietly into the night! Single to left with two away brings up Cabrera. Lined up the right field line! The ball caroms off the wall in foul territory right to Drew. Moeller in at third, throw to second and Cabrera is… out! Damn! Strong throw by Drew was close enough for the ump at second… looked safe to me.

Traber takes the mound and gets Ortiz on one pitch to pop out to Moeller behind the plate. Traber out, Bruney in to face Manny. Bruney’s hitting 98 according to the ESPN gun. Manny rails one just over a jumpin’ Jeter’s glove for a base hit. That guy will just not stop hitting. Bruney gets ahead of Youkilis right away 0-2 – Youkilis chases high and comes up empty, strike three! Two away, now the 3-4 J.D. Drew steps in. He takes about a 15 minute at bat before popping out to Matsui.

Jed Lowry has taken over for Youkilis at third and he looks like he’s about fifteen years old. Jeter will take on Mike Timlin (yes!) to start the bottom of the 9th. Giambi is hoping for a crack at him, I’m sure. Mo Rivera starts to warm up in the pen. Jeter draws a walk after 1,074 pitches fouled off. Smilin’ Bobby fouls off a few dozen himself, including one off of his craw, but he swings and misses. A-Rod drives one to left center that bounces over the wall for a ground rule double, holding Jeter at third… That actually cost the Yankees a run. Free pass for Matsui brings up Posada with one away and bases loaded. Blooper in to right field! Jeter scores! A-Rod scores! Damon to third, Posada to second! Giambi steps in and RIPS ONE TO RIGHT… Foul. Wow, he got ahold of ALL of that pitch and I think he put some more on it – there was no doubt about that one if it had stayed fair. Giambi has three hits all season, two of them homers off of Timlin. Can lightning strike thrice? He finally goes the other way! Drops one into left field, Damon scores, Posada scores! I think Rivera is going to cool down in the pen and we’ll see who closes out this game. Francona out to ask Timlin what he’s thinking. The score has ballooned to 15-9. Cano pops out, two away. Moeller finally goes down tonight without making some noise to end the inning.

We’re finally in the 9th here and Bruney will stay on to face Varitek.  He grounds to first, one away.  Casey draws a walk to bring up Lugo.  Brianey is bringing the heat – 96, 97, 98 mph pitches so far tonight.  Lugo singles, but Ellsbury pops to Jeter for the second out.  Pedroia flies out to Damon in left, ballgame over!  Yankees win!  Theeeeee Yankees win!

What a showing by both offenses…  15-9, 14 hits for the Sox, 16 for the Yanks, and one error (forced by Moeller’s slide into second) by the Red Sox.  I’m headed for bed, catch you tomorrow!

Yanks – Rays Deuce: Live, in blog form!

Damon down quickly as Jackson feeds him the heat right away. Jeter’s not fooled by the close ones, though, and he draws a full count walk. Abreu, however, can’t get anything started as he grounds to third, throw to second, then first, double play 5-4-3.

Pettitte starts off with a ball, but the next pitch produces a fly ball, caught by Abreu in first. Aside from Moeller catching, the defense looks the way the Yankees want it. Crawford grabs a hold of the first one and takes it the other way for a base hit to Damon. Pena with a base hit of his own, Crawford digs for third and just beats a strong throw by Bobby. He’s really got quite an arm. Upton pops to Cano and the runners hold – even Crawford is not that fast. Evan Longoria to bat now, but Pettitte sits him down to get out of the jam. Nice job, Andy!

A-Rod grounds to second, Iwamura almost misplays it but gets the out at first. Matsui doesn’t let Jackson’s prior dominance get to him, though. He hits one high, deep, and fair over the center field wall for a solo shot, Yankees lead 1-0! Giambi gets nowhere, so here comes #42 Robinson Cano. All of the TBR players are wearing #42, by the way, in honor of the great Jackie Robinson. Cano works the count full and takes a walk. Cabrera digs in with two away to try and keep the inning going or at least make Jackson work. He makes him work a bit but goes down looking on a ball (called strike) on the inside and low… That’ll do it for this half.

Pettitte gets one down quickly but quickly gives up three singles on three pitches to load the bases. A hard hit ball to Cano from Bartlett saves Pettitte 4-6-3 for the DP. Still 1-0 Yanks, thanks to some nice D and a bit of luck for Andy.

Moeller, Damon, and Jeter go down in order in the third. Pettitte gets two outs quick but walks two and gives up two singles to put the Rays up 2-1.

Abreu gets a leadoff walk in the 4th and A-Rod follows up with a double up the left field line, Abreu holds at third. Matsui grounds softly to first, scores Abreu, and moves A-Rod to third. Passed ball by Difelice and A-Rod comes home! Giambi hits one hard up the first base line but Pena snags it. Giambi can seriously not get a break. Cano can’t start anything back up and the inning ends.

Pettitte has a good inning 1-2-3, but the Yankees give young Edwin Jackson some grief with two outs. A walk to Damon, stolen base, RBI single by Jeter (he takes second on the throw), then another RBI single by Abreu. Abreu caught stealing second, though, to end the inning, 5-2 Yankees!

Petttitte has another quick 1-2-3 inning with some help from Giambi (pulled a throw out of the dirt) and himself, striking out Longoria.

That does it for Jackson as Howe takes over. A-Rod steps back in after his last AB was interrupted by Abreu’s caught stealing but struck out. Matsui, I’m guessing a little upset he didn’t get invited to the hit parade last night, singles to center. Giambi strikes out looking (didn’t see it myself, but that’s not very Giambi-like). Cano hits it hard down the first base line but Pena is there again for the stop and the third out. No damage, still 5-2.

Gomes singles to left to start off the sixth. Pettitte has shown really good control the past two innings, but he slipped a bit on that last pitch. Pop out to Difelice for the first out, then a four pitch walk to Ruggiano. Fielder’s choice by Elliot “Die Catcher Die” Johnson moves Gomes to third who then scores on an infield single by Bartlett to make it 5-3. Pettitte gets out of it by letting Crawford ground out for the third out.

Cabrera grounds out to start off the top of the seventh, but Howe gives up two walks to Moeller and Damon followed by a chuck-and-duck comebacker off of Jeter’s bat loads the bases. Abreu has a battle at the plate but pops out to short center. A-Rod strikes out on three straight breaking pitches. Straight ball, he hit it very much. But curveball… bats are afraaaaaaaid. Inning o’er, 5-3.

Pettitte bounces back himself with a quick 1-2-3 job to even his outing out at 100 pitches.

Another two-out jam for Tampa as a walk to Giambi, single to Cabrera, and walk to Moeller loads the bases in the top of the 8th. Damon flies out on a 3-2 pitch to center to end the threat. In good news, I have my desktop working again! I rule yoo!

Kyle “Grab Another Beer” Farnsworth up from the pen to take over for Pettitte. I know you’ve got the stuff, Kyle, so if you blow this for Andy, I will end you. 1-2-3 inning for Kyle, ending with a K. Good job. You may live.

Single by Jeet and a walk to Smilin’ Bobby brings up A-Rod with none away in the top of the ninth with a RISP – can he take it to the bank? After falling to 0-2, he works the count full before popping out to Elliot Johnson, so no he can’t. Fly out by Matsui to right, Jeter stays put resting his quad at second. Giambi is up and if he misses here his average will drop below .100. Ground out to second and he’s still slumping. Damn. Mo Rivera up for the save next!

Mo strikes out Johnson to start off the 9th, but he gives up a single to Bartlett to bring up Crawford. A fly ball towards the gap is charged on and caught by Damon – nice play! Pena grounds to Cano, Cano to Giambi, ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win!

Back tomorrow for a series preview for the two gamer at home against Boston! See ya!

Yanks – Rays in Tampa, Game one

Now THAT is how you start off a ball game – Johnny Damon goes deeeeeeeep to right field to a lead off home run! I didn’t even get to spout anything off about how the offense had better wake up before Damon clobbered that one. I didn’t even have time to finish that sentence before Jeter gounded out to second, though, and there’s on away. Abreu grounds to short and almost makes it to first on a low throw by Bartlett, but Pena digs it out for the second out. A-Rod in now and quickly down 0-2. It is apparently cow bell night in Tampa, which means it is the most annoying night ever in baseball history. A-Rod is so annoyed he swings and CRUSHES it over the left field wall! The difference between 37 and 72 degrees must mean a whole lot to these guys! Mastui hits one out to left but Crawford makes the grab and the Yankees are down. Sonnanstine didn’t have to throw a lot of pitches that inning, but I bet he wants two of them back.

IPK in to face Iwamura – grounder to second and tough play for Gonzo but a nice throw records the first out. Another ground out from Crawford, again to Gonzalez, and there are two away. Pena steps in leading the Major Leagues with 6 home runs and tied for first with 13 RBI. A-Rod’s homer tied him with Ted Williams and Willy McCovey on the all-time list with 521. IPK gets Pena swinging at the third strike and a good inning for him and the Yankees as they head to the second already up 2-0.

Ensberg steps in and rockets his own solo shot to left field! 3-0 Yankees! Quick, get Cano in there – Sonny-boy’s throwing batting practice! Melky grounds to first – he probably feels bad for Sonny. Chad Moeller steps in… Not really expected to hit that hard but hopefully provide a decent backstop for IPK. He acts a lot like a backstop – stands there and doesn’t do much as the third pitch, all strikes, sails by him. Gonzalez up and down quickly on a grounder to second and we’re 1.5 innings deep and 3-0 Yankees is the score.

BJ Upton pops one up to Melky in center right away. Cabrera takes another pop out from Evan Longoria, who he popped in the head during that infamous Spring Training brawl, two away. Base hit for Hinske up the right side breaks up IPK’s no-hit bid early, but he still hasn’t thrown a lot of pitches. Ground ball from Riggans to Jeter with love and three outs have been recorded.

Damon back up to start off the third, but he grounds to short. Jeter grounds one to short as well but Bartlett can’t handle Jeter’s hotness and bobbles it. Jeter hauls down the line, bad quad and all, and beats the throw for a base hit. Abreu grounds to first on his first pitch but Pena takes the lead runner at second and the ball doesn’t come back in time for the double play, so score it fielder’s choice. A-Rod skips a grounder past Bartlett for a single and Abreu will move to second. Not an easy play on the short hop, especially with the top spin A-Rod’s bat put on it. Matusi grooves another long one but not out of the park as its caught by Haynes in right field. Still 3-0 and that’s the first time the Yankees have left one in scoring position.

Haynes takes IPK to left field for a single right away in the bottom of the third. Haynes takes second on a breaking ball and Moeller’s throw gets there, well, it should be there sometime tomorrow. Bartlett grounds to Jeter but Haynes moves to third with only one away. Kennedy pitches Iwamura to a full count before issuing a walk on a breaking pitch in the dirt to bring up Crawford. He skies one to left, foul, but Damon makes the grab at the wall. Haynes tags and scores but Iwamura holds at first. Pena skies over to Damon again and that’s the inning. 3-1 now, Yankees still leading.

Ensberg goes down swinging to start off the fourth, but Cabrera gets a base hit to keep things interesting. Moeller in now and… chops at a pitch out on a hit and run and sneaks it through the gap! Weird at bat, but he gets aboard and Cabrera gets to third! Alberto Gonzalez will attempt to bring at least one home – only one away. Sonnanstine walks Gonzalez to bring up Damon. Johnny, do me a favor and don’t ground into a double play. He fouls a few away before ripping one up the right field line for a two RBI double! THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! Scott D’oh-mann is up in the pen and Sonnanstine looks like he fell out of the ugly tree and hit every ugly branch on the way down. Jeter singles to left, two more RBI! The bullpen cannot possibly get ready fast enough, but they’ll have to as Sonny-boy gets to sit in the corner and think about what he’s done.

Dohmann has the unenviable task of taking over against Abreu with one on and one out. He gets Abreu to fly out to center for the second out. A-Rod has a little battle at the plate before singling up the middle, Jeter to second. Matsui, unfortunately, can’t plate either and grounds to second to end the top half of the inning.

IPK still in there (yay!) to face BJ Upton, who flies out to Abreu in right. Longoria gets a good swing on one and drives it to the gap in right center for two bases. Hinske gets ahold of another one, this one to left field up the line and Damon can’t get there – bounces over for a ground rule double, scoring Longoria. Now 7-2. Riggans flies out to center to bring up Haynes with two away. IPK fans him to end the fourth and strand Hinske.

Ensberg steps in to start the fifth and I’d like to again point out how annoying those cowbells are. Really, really annoying. Ensberg grounds sharply to third but Longoria handles it and snaps the throw to first for the first out. Cabrera breaks his bat on the first pitch and drops the ball in shallow center for a base hit. Here comes Moeller, batting a huge .500 (1for 2) on the season. Cabrera steals second handily on an off target, late throw from Riggans for the third Yankee steal of the season. Moeller takes the count all the way to 3-2 before swinging at another high and outside pitch and hitting it to the same place as his last AB. This time, though Iwamura’s there and Chad’s out at first. Cabrera to third, one away. Gonzo up and flies out to left, another runner left in scoring position, still 7-2.

Kennedy on now for his fifth inning of work, facing Bartlett. He gets him to go down on strikes for his third K of the night. Iwamura grounds over to Ensberg at first who takes it himself for the second out. Kennedy can’t get Crawford for a 1-2-3 inning, but he’s just a good hitter. Score his a single to center. Carlos Pena up now. He was last year’s comeback player of the year and had 46 home runs. Of course, last year he didn’t have to face Ian Kennedy – he goes down on a grounder right back to IPK, inning over.

A “Let’s Go Yankees” chant actually starts for Damon, but he grounds out to first. Not to be out done, Jeter follow suit. Abreu is no copy cat, so he flies to left. 1-2-3 for the D’oh-mann, bottom 6 coming your way!

IPK faces Upton to start off the inning with a full count followed by a slap single past Kennedy, to Jeter, throw just not in time to catch the speedy Upton. Nice 360 by Jeter, but the throw was low and style doesn’t count for outs. Longoria up now, Upton steals second on a good throw by Moeller and good catch by Gonzo but not good enough to get the speedy Upton. Longoria tries to take a walk, but the home plate ump reminds him that it takes FOUR balls to get a free pass, not three. Whoops. Check swing, he went, full count. Albaladejo warms in the pen as the sixth pitch is inside for the fourth ball and the ump tells Longoria he can go to first this time. Eiland tells Kennedy to give him what he’s got because he’s in trouble and I’m sure Albaladejo is eager to get another crack at the Majors. Upton breaks for third, Moeller fires to third, A-Rod fields it cleanly and this time it is in time to get the speedy Upton! One away, one on. Hinske pops it to Kennedy, two away, and Riggans comes in. The caught-stealing really turned the inning around for Kennedy, let’s see if he can close it out. First fastball is in at 92 for a strike. Blooper into center, though, and Longoria moves to third on the single. Haynes in to face Kennedy and quickly down 0-2. Kennedy has been better getting the first pitch strike this outing and the results have been great. Haynes swings and misses, strike three, no damage, still 7-2.

A-Rod has been perfect tonight, 3-3 with a dinger in the first and two singles on top of that. He’ll face D’oh-mann to start off the seventh. Ground ball through the gap and he’s 4-4 now! Not a great hit but good timing and he gets a base hit to lead off the inning. Matsui hasn’t hit yet, though, and he’s also left 4 on base so far tonight. Grounder to second, 4-6-3 double play but it looks like there’s going to be some discussion about… something. Girardi comes out, voices his concern over, well, I don’t know. Ruling stays, two away for Ensberg. He hits one up the middle for a base hit to bring on Cabrera. He fouls out to Pena at first, time for the stretch.

Kennedy throws a first pitch strike to Bartlett, but gets a line drive to the hip on the next pitch… He recovers and makes the throw to first, not quite in time, and the trainers come out. Kennedy’s going to take a seat and Billy Traber comes out from the pen.

Good work, Ian! Hope that didn’t hurt too bad!

Traber does take the hill and deals to Iwamura. He’ll probably pitch to the top three lefties in the Rays’ lineup. Bruney warming up in the pen to take over if there’s any more trouble. Count goes full on Iwamura before he flies to Abreu. Crawford in and he takes an 0-1 pitch deeeeeeeeep to right, 7-4 now. It was a nice breaking ball, but Crawford got a good read and just hammered it. Pena up now, only one away. He takes a bean ball on the hands, ouch. Girardi comes out to say that it hit the bat and should be a foul ball rather than a free pass, but he only says maybe two words to the ump before heading back to his hole. Traber’s done, here comes Brian Bruney.

Bruney steps on the rubber and the gas right away with two fastball strikes on Upton. Fouled off the 0-2 but got a whole lot of bat on the next one and BELTED to center, over the fence for the second two run homer of the inning. Score is now 7-6 and the Rays are within a run of tying a game that looked like it was in the bag. Brianey, do me a solid and don’t blow this game for Kennedy. One away, full count on Longoria and he clobbers one over the left field fence… FRACK! Tie ball game and the Rays fans (both of them) are going nuts. Curtain call for the rookie on his first major league homer… Good job, kid, now sit down and shut up. Hinske grounds to Gonzalez, two away. GI Joe looks pissed in the dugout. Strike three called on Riggans, inning over, tie ball game.

Al Reyes in to face Moeller, whose average has taken a dive to .333 in just one at bat. Strike out looking and his average sinks to .250. Gonzalez will stay in the dugout and Girardi brings in Robinson Cano off the bench to hit. Cano is hitting .170 and is 0-2 against Reyes, Gonzalez is 0-2 with a walk tonight, so its an interesting call, to say the least, but I have faith in you, Robby… PAY OFF!!!! CANO HOMERS! YES! Let’s see that big smile, Robby! Damon comes on with an 8-7 lead and a big smile on his face, too. He goes down on strikes, but he’s still smiling as he trots back to the dugout. Jeter comes in 2-4 in his first game back after sitting for almost a week. Jeter whacks one over to Longoria and digs for first – Longoria drops the ball on the exchange and Pena boots the throw anyways, so Jeter is on with two away and Abreu up. He and Matsui are the only Yankees who haven’t reached this evening. Jeter takes off on a 3-2 pitch and Abreu knocks it into right for a single as Jeter keeps going for third.

Rays’ manager is going to pull Reyes, who A-Rod has positively killed, for Gary Glover, who he has merely hammered in the past. 5-10 vs. Reyes, 4-9 vs. Glover. Turns out to be a smart move as A-Rod grounds to short for the third out. Damage done, 8-7 New York!

In a move I’m not sure I understand, Brianey is back out to pitch the 8th. He does get two quick outs and it looks like Mariano Rivera will come in to slam the door on this one! He gets Iwamura to fly out to left and the 8th is over.

Matsui threatens to drive one deep off of Glover, but comes up just short. Ensberg up now but down swinging, and Cabrera goes down with a ground out to Bartlett for the third out. Last chance for the Rays will come against Rivera in the form of Crawford, Pena, and Upton.

Crawford goes down swinging on three pitches for the first out.  Mo’s not throwing as fast as he used to, but the movement on his pitches is still staggering.  Pena grounds to Cano, two away, and then Upton swings and misses on a 2-2 pitch to end the game!  Mo, we love you.  Yankees win!  Theeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win!

The Rubber Match: Yanks – Red Sox III

Johnny Damon starts off the evening against Dice-K and takes a ball inside. Damon started off cold but is making a comeback although his average hasn’t shown it just yet. 38 degrees according to ESPN guys with a 14-25 mph wind from the NW (towards home plate). Damon takes a 5 pitch walk to bring up Cano. Cano was 2-4 last night with a well needed RBI double. He swings at a bad pitch and flies to Crisp in center, one down. Damon steals second for the Yankees’ first steal of the year! Smilin’ Bobby with his eagle vision takes four pitches and a stroll down to first to put two on for A-Rod. A-Rod isn’t as selective and swings at the first pitch to ground into a 5-4-3 double play and end the inning. Two BBs and an SB but no RBI this half and GI Joe tells Hughes to take that hill after this!

Hughes starts off with a ball to Ellsbury. He falls behind 3-1 before a few foul offs and a close pitch called ball gives up the walk. Pedroia takes a called strike one before a pitch out – Molina’s throw WAAAAY off and sails into center field allowing Ellsbury to get to third with no outs… Pedroia gets the count full before watching Hughes’s pretty curve ball sail past him for the strikeout! Nice toss there, Phil! Unfortunately, the next four aren’t pretty and J.D. Drew strolls to first to bring up Manny with runners at the corners and only one away. Hughes blows a 93 mph fastball past him for the first strike, then cranks it up to 94 with the 1-1 pitch. Two brush back pitches later and the count is full, bringing the pitch count to 23. Foul ball next but then Manny lobs a curve over Cano’s head for an RBI base hit. Still runners on the corners and still one away but now 1-0 is the score. Youkilis and his beaver pelt goatee fly out to center but with Damon perpetually suffering from dead arm Drew is able to tag from third and score. Casey takes to the plate and Hughes finally gets another first pitch strike. Casey strikes the 2-2 pitch off of his bat and way deep into right field, Abreu can’t get there, so it bounces over the wall for a ground rule double. Manny is forced to hold at third and Varitek steps in. 32 pitches from the Phranchise so far. Ohlendorf is warming in the pen already but Varitek is behind 0-2. Confusion between Hughes and Molina leads to a passed ball and another run as Manny comes home… Next pitch is a strike at least and Varitek goes down backwards K style. 3-0 Red Sox and Hughes has thrown 39 pitches.

Matsui steps in and its Tokyo Giants vs. Seibu Lions. Full count and foul off before a walk on a curve ball in the dirt brings up Posada. He works the count full and fouls one off but this ball is caught by Varitek for the first out. Matsui was running on the pitch. Giambi steps in and the defense shifts to the right side. Giambi pops a 2-2 pitch to left field and the second out. Molina grounds to third and a throw to second ends the inning.

Crisp leads off with a bunt single right away in the bottom of the second. Lugo bluffs a bunt and Crisp steals second, just beating Molina’s throw. Lugo grounds to A-Rod and Crisp moves over to third. Ellsbury pops up behind short but Gonzalez runs back from playing shallow and still makes the grab! Crisp holds at third and Pedroia steps in. 3 pitches strikes out Pedroia who, in a classy move, positively hurls his bat to the ground in frustration. Much better this time, Phil.

Alberto Gonzalez starts off the inning at the plate. He’s 4-11 so far but pops to a sliding Julio Lugo behind second. Johnny Damon walks again after fouling a few away for good measure. Cano steps in and takes a few pitches himself as Damon steals again! Not only do we have our first steal this game, we have our first repeat offender! He fills up the count and fouls one up before popping up to Youkilis. Abreu hits one off the top of the scoreboard to get an RBI and a two bagger (And not the kind of two bagger I usually drag home from the bar!)! Here comes A-Rod with two outs. A-Rod pops out and speaking of popping out, his wife is due to pop out a kid next week so he may be out for a game or two. 3-1 Red Sox as we head into the top of the 3rd!

Hughes gives up a walk to J.D. Drew to start off the inning to bring up Manny. Manny works the count full before grounding sharply off the glove of A-Rod. Drew has to stop at second as Matsui comes in to field it. Youkilis rips it to left to score Drew but Manny holds up as Matsui gets it in quickly. Ohlendorf up again in the pen as Eiland tells Hughes to snap out of it and get the guy at the plate, namely Sean Casey. Casey rockets one to Damon in center for a base hit, Damons throw takes about 15 minutes to get to the plate and even a guy like Manny can score on that. Hughes will get the hook after 6 hits and 5 earned runs. Damn.

Ohlendorf’s first pitch produces a fly out from Varitek to Matsui and another quick throw to third holds the runner. Crisp goes down on a grounder to Giambi up the line – another solid defensive play by Giambi but the runners each take a bag. Another frackin’ passed ball and another run scores before Ohlendorf walks Lugo. Still two out, still two on and Casey has moved to third. Ellsbury hits an RBI single up to the right side and Casey scores. 7 runs total charged to Hughesy in just 2 innings pitched. Luckily Pedroia grounds out to short to finally end the inning…

Go Go Godzilla starts the inning right with a long double over Crisp’s head in center! Posada can’t knock him in, though, as he goes down swinging. Giambi walks, as he is wont to do. Molina in now, hitting in every game he’s started so far. He keeps the streak going with an RBI double! Giambi can’t score, but Posada will be plated on that double to bring the Yankees within… five. Gonzalez in now, and foul after foul after foul! It takes 10 pitches to even fill up the count, but on the 11th he whacks a single to center and Giambi scores! Molina, another base clogger, can’t make it home. One away, two on, and Damon back on. Wild pitch goes all the way back to the backstop and bounces right back to Varitek – Molina sees it and holds at third but Gonzalez moves up to second. Damon flies to left and Molina… tags! Head down, feet pumpin’ and givin’ it all he gots, Molina… scores! Sac fly and RBI for Damon. Dice-K has thrown over 90 pitches so far and we’re only in the top of the 4th. Cano comes in and chokes a pop out to second but the Yankees manage to score three and its 7-4 now as we head to the southern half.

J.D. Drew leads off for the Yankees and Ohlendorf strikes him out. Manny takes the count full on a breaking ball that doesn’t break and Manny has to positively dive out of the way! Slider just misses for the walk… Youkilis gets another hit, Manny to second. Ohlendorf gets ahead of Casey before the count goes full again… and another walk. Luckily the next pitch draws a double play and Ohlendorf gets out unscathed.

Big hitters face Dice-K this half inning in Abreu, A-Rod, and Matsui. Abreu works it 2-2 but goes down looking on a breaking ball outside… Didn’t look like strike three to me or Bobby. A-Rod fouls the first pitch away and Casey chases it into the camera pit but can’t get it. The ball almost hits Peter Gammons! He works the count back full – Yankee hitters really making Dice-K work – but grounds sharply to Youkilis at third, two away. Matsui works a four pitch walk for his second of the night and the sixth issued by Matsuzaka. Posada comes in and gets his first base hit of the night. If Giambi wanted to pick a time to come out of the slump, here it is. Two on, two away, tying run at the plate. Unfortunately, he can’t make it happen as he hits it hard but against the wind and Crisp makes the catch in center.

Bottom of the fifth, Ohlendorf on to face Crisp. Grounder to first, one away. Lugo grounds to short, two down. Ellsbury grounds to Cano and Giambi pulls the throw out of the dirt for the third out. Quick inning, thank God.

Aardsma takes over for Dice-K to kick off the 6th. facing Molina. Molina fouls one off his ankle, then grounds to Youkilis. Gonzalez draws a walk and LaTroy Hawkins is warming in the pen… shudder. Damon steps in and cracks his bat into roughly thirteen pieces on a foul up the first base line. He draws another walk to bring up Cano. Robby, I have faith in you. The whole Yankee Universe has faith in you. Let’s make something happen here, buddy! Here’s a worthwhile observation: Red Sox manager Terry Francona doesn’t want to use Papelbon or Okajima tonight because Papelbon warmed up three times last night and Okajima has pitched three in a row. That leaves Delcarmen, Timlin, and… Lopez, who I think I saw throwing in the pen. Cano grounds to first, but the runners move over and here comes Abreu. He pops up to Ellsbury, two more stranded to bring the total to eight for the night. Frack.

Yankees go to the bullpen and I go to the fridge, Yankees bring out LaTroy Hawkins and I bring out a beer. First pitch is a huge fly to left off the Monster – Matsui plays it off the wall then hurls it in, throw is off line but Pedroia hesitates before sliding allowing Cano to dive at him and make the play! Wonderful play by Cano… Wonderful. J.D. Drew grounds out quickly. Ramirez up now, a quick 3-0 count becomes 3-2 on two strikes taken. A foul off and another taken pitch – strike three! That’s three away and we’re headed to the 7th, 7-4 Boston.

A-Rod looks seriously cold at the plate – his nose is noticeably red. He flies out to right to make it 0-4 for the night. Matsui flies to deep center. Joe Morgan is wearing a pink tie. No reason for that observation, just sayin’. Posada grounds up the center, but Pedroia just gets the throw to the bag for the out. Damn.

Youkilis goes down on a grounder to A-Rod – third baseman to third baseman. Casey at the bat to face Hawkins, and he grounds to Giambi, first baseman to first baseman. Varitek flies to Abreu, catcher to (fly ball) catcher. That’s it for the seventh, Yanks have six outs to catch up. Let’s get it together!

Timlin comes out to face Giambi, who homered the last time he faced him, and he… HOMERS AGAIN! Two run ball game! Jose Molina steps in, let’s hope he can keep it going! He does with a single to left field! Damn, he really needs to drop some weight… Wilson Betemit comes in to run for Molina, taking him out from the behind the plate. Will Ensberg or Posada move back there? Alberto Gonzalez stays on the bench and Melky pinch hits for Gonzalez. He gets a base hit up the right hand side! Lopez has been up in the pen and he will replace Timlin on the mound.

Johnny Damon comes to the plate. I imagine Betemit will take over at short, Posada move behind the plate, and Cabrera will go to the DH spot. Damn, Johnny grounds to Pedroia who gets the tag on Cabrera and the force at first for a double play. That’s the second time Cabrera has run into a tag in a double play. Delcarmen starts to heat up in the pen as Cano steps in, 0-4 and hitting .173. Remember what I said about faith, Robby? Let’s make it happen. Foul ball off the ump… ouch. The cold weather can’t make that feel any better. Posada does have catching gear on as Cano takes the count full before slapping a ball to Pedroia, inning over. 7-5 the score.

Posada stays in as the catcher, Cabrera to center, Betemit to short, and Damon takes a seat. Also, according to Yahoo! Sports, Kyle Farnsworth relieves LaTroy Hawkins and then Kyle Farnsworth relieves Kyle Farnsworth… twice. He comes in to face Crisp and does what he does best – gives up a hit to Crisp. Crisp steals second without a throw on the wounded Jorgie, then Lugo flies to right. Abreu makes a hell of a throw, but Crisp is too fast and takes third on the tag up. One down and Ellsbury digs in. WEB GEM MELKY! Gorgeous catch, but after diving to make the grab he can’t get the throw home to beat Crisp… 8-5 now. Pedroia singles up the middle… Dammit, Farnsworth. Pedroia steals second also, no throw from Posada. J.D. Drew can’t get him home, though, as he flies out to Matsui.

Last licks for the Yankees come in the form of Bobby Abreu, A-Rod, and Hideki Matsui.  They’ll face Javier Lopez.  Abreu is 2-16 off of the lefty.  There is also Tavarez in the bullpen, who I missed earlier.  He slaps it right to Lugo who gets the hustling Abreu at first by a step.  Delcarmen comes in to face A-Rod.  A-Rod takes a few mighty hacks but misses on the last one and goes down swinging.  Two away, and Matsui steps in as the last hope.  He doesn’t go down quietly, fouling off about 38 pitches, but he does ground out to second to end the ballgame.

Red Sox take this one, but there will be a quick turnaround – next meeting later this week in Yankee Stadium.  Final score, 8-5 Red Sox.

Game on! Yanks – Red Sox II!

A little different format for the blog as I’m trying to break it up a bit to cut down on the long posts. First pitch from Beckett to Johnny Damon is a fastball down the middle for a strike. He hits the 1-2 pitch to center and Ellsbury, taking over for Crisp, makes the catch. Melky shows bunt for the first pitch but takes a strike. A defensive swing and a miss sends Melky down on strikes to bring up Abreu. Beckett leads off each AB with a strike this inning and gets Abreu looking to end the inning 1-2-3.

Moose starts off his inning with a strike to Ellsbury. The rookie grounds on through the gap and past a diving Giambi for a base hit. Rookie of the Year 2007 Dustin Pedroia steps in and Ellsbury breaks for second on a slow curve by Moose – Molina’s throw is on the money but just late and Ellsbury gets the swiped bag. Pedroia hits one back to Moose but too hard for a clean grab. Moose fields it behind him but doesn’t have a play. Still no outs as David Ortiz steps in. Count goes 3-1 before Ortiz checks a swing but knocks it back to Moose who throws to Cano who throws to Giambi who completes the double play! Two away, Ellsbury on third for Lazy Manny. Molina is setting up off the plate and Moose nibbles at the corner to get a 2-2 pop up from Ramirez to end the inning. A-Rod vs. Beckett after this!

Grounder to Youkilis on 0-2 from A-Rod sends him down. Giambi flies to Ellsbury for the second out. Posada steps in and kicks dirt at Varitek who kicks some back at him playfully. That was an odd exchange between the catchers. Jorgie flies to Manny and that’s three outs. Back for more after the break!

Moose gives up a base hit to Youkilis to lead off the bottom of the second. J.D. Drew bounces to Cano and the play is 4-6-3 and there are two away! Varitek rips one to right field – Abreu can’t make the catch but knocks it down and rifles it second to put out ‘tek trying to stretch the hit to a double! Nice throw by Bobby!

Cano in now and really looking to bust out of this slump. The weather is taking a turn as clouds start to cover the sky and chill starts to fill the air… Cano bounces to Pedroia who makes the grab but loses the ball in the transfer allowing Cano to reach safely. Ruling is base hit so far as Molina steps in and slowly rolls one to Youk allowing Cano to get to second. Alberto Gonzalez slaps it right up the first base line but Casey lunges and grabs the ball off the ground and staggers into foul territory before firing to Beckett barely in time to get a sliding Gonzalez on the force. Cano to third but a beautiful defensive play by the Red Sox. Damon tries to drop a single into left but Ramirez runs in and makes the grab. His hat comes off, but he’s too lazy to go back and get it and leaves it for Ellsbury instead.

Moose gets Casey to fly to Damon and then Lugo grounds to Cano, followed by an Ellsbury flyout to center and that’s that, lickety-split.

Cabrera fouls out to third quickly. Smilin’ Bobby steps in and flares it into left-center but Lugo is back enough to play it. The clouds are starting to fall slowly as A-Rod steps in and grounds to third. Beckett answers Moose back with his own quick inning.

Pedroia grounds out to Giambi at first and Ortiz flies out off the end of his bat to right field. Girardi talks to the Fox guys and compliments the defense on the three nice plays (two DPs and Bobby’s knock-down throw-out play in right). Moose worked the outside before jamming Manny in last time, but this time Manny gets ahold of the inside pitch and sends it sailing over the monster in right… 1-0 Red Sox. Moose’s curve just hung inside and Manny was looking to give it a ride. No joke, he really knocked the crap out of that one. Moose bounces back, though, as Youkilis bounces back to A-Rod and there are three gone.

The weather has turned dreary as Giambi whacks one to right for a fly out. Beckett has only pitched 15 minutes so far tonight as the Yanks have come up swinging so far. Jorge steps in and quickly goes 0-2 before fouling one off and then going down swinging. Two out. Detroit is now 2-9 as they drop today’s game 7-0 to Chicago… Cano goes down looking on a pitch on the outside corner to end the inning… Come on, Robby…

Moose back to work in the bottom of the 5th and gets J.D. Drew to fly out to left and Varitek to ground out to first right away. Casey flies to Cabrera and another quick inning, score still 1-0 Red Sox.

It’s been all pitching thus far as the Yankees have only one hit… Scratch that as Molina grounds one up the middle for the Yankees’ second hit. Gonzalez steps up and the hit and run is on but Gonzo fouls it off. Bunt shown then pulled back but the breaking ball drops into the zone for strike two. Three balls away brings the count full. Molina takes off and Gonzalez lines a base hit to left! Molina’s too slow to get to third so there are two on and no outs for the top of the order. Damon drops a nice bunt to move both of them over for Melky. He works the count full before hitting a sac fly to a sliding Ellsbury – Molina scores and Gonzalez tags up to third and the game is tied. Abreu in now and a wild pitch gets past Varitek and Gonzalez charges home to score! He was already about half way down the line with the lead off and makes a nice outside slide to avoid the tag from Beckett, 2-1 Yankees! Bobby works the count full as well then slaps a few foul balls to make Beckett work. He doesn’t appreciate it and strikes Bobby out on a breaking ball to end the inning.

Moose takes the hill in the bottom of the sixth to face Lugo. If he can work this inning, we will probably see Joba-Mo-Let’s Go to close out this game. Moose throws a ball on 3-1 but gets a strike called to fill it up. Lugo, probably pissed about that call, grounds to Gonzo behind second. Ellsbury lines a single to left center for Pedroia – he rips one off the Monster in left for a double but Ellsbury can’t make it home and stops at third. “The table is set once again for David Ortiz” say the announcers and they speak the truth. Strike one looking. Brian Bruney warms up in the pen. Strike two looking. Ball one just inside. STRIKE THREE! Foul tip caught by Molina! Unfortunately, that’s only half the battle as Manny steps in. GI Joe marches to the mound and says howdy to Moose. Moose holds his glove over his mouth, cleverly preventing me from reading his lips. Moose stays in to pitch to Ramirez and gets hurt right away… A double to right center scores two and Manny has all three RBI for Boston tonight. Moose gets the hook after a good outing but leaves down a run.

Brian Bruney takes the mound and Moose takes a seat. Youkilis hits a single up the middle and Manny dashes home – Cabrera throws to the plate but Molina rushes up to grab it as Youkilis heads to second. A wide throw by Molina and he reaches safely… J.D. Drew steps in as the Red Sox lead 4-2. He pops to Gonzalez and the inning is over. 4 ER for Moose in 5.2 innings.

A-Rod steps in 0-2 so far against Beckett. A quick 4 pitch walk is the first one handed out in this game. Giambi in as Manny Delcarmen and Okajima both warm up in the pen. The whole left side is open for the G-man but he slaps it 4-5-3 for a double play as Youkilis was playing shortstop in the shift. Damn. Giambi’s struggles continue as Posada in now with the runners erased and two away. Jorgie slaps a 2-2 pitch through the hole for a two out single. Cano could really use a slump buster right here against Beckett. I’ve read people call Jose “Fatlina” but until I saw him take a swing in the on-deck circle I didn’t really notice it. Passed ball / wild pitch moves Jorgie up to second. Strong hit off the monster and Cano gets an RBI double!!!! Go Robby! Finally! He just beat the tag at second and Beckett is chased in favor of Delcarmen. All of the damage off of Beckett was from the bottom of the order tonight as Gonzo steps in with the tying run on second and two away. Gonzalez strikes out and Delcarmen does what Bruney couldn’t and preserves a possible W for Beckett to end the inning.

Bruney gets a grounder to first from Varitek for the first out of the bottom of the seventh. A walk to Casey brings up Lugo. Traber warms up in the pen and Lugo strikes out to bring out the top of the order in Ellsbury. Bruney stays in to face the young lefty who is 2 for 3 today. Bruney gets ahead 0-2 but can’t seal the deal and issues a walk. Eiland and Molina come out to give Bruney a talkin’ to. Pedroia comes to the plate, also 2 for 3. Farnsworth joins Traber warming up and lightning and thunder rip from the heavens ominously. Pop out to right field is caught by Cano despite being waved off by Abreu ends the inning.

Hideki Okajima comes in to face Alberto Gonzalez to start off the 8th. Grounder to short and throw in time gets A-Gon by half a step. Damon comes on to his chorus of boos – let’s shut ‘em up, Johnny! Fly ball to short right field but J.D. Drew make a nice diving catch for out number two… Two bail outs by the defense for Okajima and Melky digs in. Rain does start coming down into Fenway Park. Cabrera takes a 4 pitch walk to bring up Smilin’ Bobby. He takes the first pitch up the middle and almost kills Okajima with a single. A-Rod up with the tying run in scoring position and Okajima will head back to the locker room to change his shorts as Papelbon heads in from the bullpen…

The grounds crew rolls out the tarp and it looks like we’ll see a rain delay before the duel here. Back in hopefully just a few minutes.

The tarp is coming off and we’re getting ready to start this game up again. Scratch that, tarp back on. Papelbon has warmed up and shut down twice – will he be able to stay sharp enough to face A-Rod?

Oh, the waiting is the hardest part, but it looks like the waiting is over! Papelbon will in fact pitch to A-Rod despite having warmed up and cooled down twice tonight. Cabrera and Abreu are on second and first. A-Rod has hurt Papelbon in the past and despite the fact that this is only the 12th game of the season, the atmosphere is as charged as any September match up. Here they come!

A-Rod doesn’t want to wait any longer after the two hour and eleven minute delay as he hacks and fouls the first pitch back. Timlin and Lopez are loosening up in the pen. A-Rod hacks at another pitch and misses, count now 0-2. DAMMIT! A-Rod chases outside and the inning is over…

LaTroy Hawkins takes the hill for the Yankees and pops out Poppy Ortiz on the first pitch. Ramirez is in now, accounting for a part of each run so far with 3 RBI plus he scored the last run himself. Doesn’t get anything done here in the 8th as he grounds to A-Gon at short. Youkilis comes in to a chorus of Youuuuks. Hawkins actually pitched at Fenway not too long ago in the World Series for Colorado last season. He gets Youk to line out to third for a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the inning after the 2-plus hour top half. We’re headed to the 9th!

Papelbon comes out to pitch the 9th against Giambi.  Ellsbury has moved to left and Crisp is in center, taking Ramirez out of the game.  Giambi goes down swinging after taking the first three pitches.  97 mph on that last one.  Posada up now 1-3 on the night with a run scored.  Cano swinging in the on-deck circle.  Posada takes the first pitch for a strike and hacks at a splitter in the dirt to go down 0-2 in the count.  Fouled away, ball high, ball low, fouled away, fouled away, swing and a miss.  Cano will come in as both the tying run and last hope for the Yankees tonight.  He’s brought his average up a few points tonight with two hits already.  First pitch ball, then a hack at the splitter, wild pitch high for a ball, fouled away, ball low and away and the count is full.  Another foul.  Then another.  Then another.  Then – CUT AWAY TO NASCAR?  Whew, game switches to FX.  Change channel just in time to watch Cano foul another one away!  Next pitch is grounded softly to the right side, Pedroia to Casey, three outs and that’s the ball game.

Tough loss for Moose and the Yankees tonight…  Not a dull moment of the game, really.  As much as I wanted to see Cano take Papelbon deep, I think tonight has just set the stage for the next 16 games we’ll play against the Red Sox.  Thoughts and analysis later tonight or tomorrow.  Thanks for reading!

Rivalry ‘08 Kick off!

Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui LF
Posada DH
Giambi 1B
Molina C
Gonzalez SS

That’s the starting line up – more shake ups from GI Joe and some rest for Damon as Matsui takes left and Posada will DH. Giambi’s back in at first, so Ensberg will ride the pine alongside Jeter (hurt), Betemit (can’t hit), Damon (just resting, thanks). Also worth noting is that Coco Crisp is starting in center for the slumping Ellsbury. Ha!

To start the first, The Melkman Cometh! He grounds out to Pedroia at second, one away. Cano will take the two hole tonight, despite the .178 batting average. Cano goes down looking on a high curve ball from Buchholz (two h’s is weird to type). Smilin’ Bobby drives a nice long fly ball but Crisp goes back to the track and makes the grab. We’re half an inning deep and there’s plenty more rivalry to come!

Wang gets Coco Crispies to fly out to Cabrera right away. Pedroia flies out to Matsui on his first pitch, quickly two away as Ortiz steps in. He’s got a whopping 3 hits this season but still has a good eye and can draw a walk. Wang gets him to go gown looking on an inside pitch! Inning over, 8 more to go!

A-Rod faces Buchholz for his first time. Bucky has a very sharp 12-6 curve which he threw for the second strike, except it looked way inside and way low… It is still raining in Boston, by the way. A-Rod shoots one towards right but it gets snagged by Casey on a nice play. A-Rod was hustling but just a step short. Matsui makes Buchholz work, taking the count 3-2 before slapping a sharp single to center. Jorgie steps in as the DH and grounds to first but moves Matsui up to second for Giambi. Giambi may be the only hitter in baseball doing worse than Ortiz. Pitch zone is showing more than a few pitches out of the zone being called strikes. Giambi gave it a ride to right center but was just short. Back for more, after this.

Just in – the suspensions of Jay Gibbons and Jose Guillen have been rescinded by MLB. That’s enforcement!

CMW back to work to face Manny Ramirez. There are many, many things I don’t like about Manny Ramirez, but the lazy bastard can hit. He gives Wang a scare with a loooong fly ball that drifts foul. A few more foul balls and a hard fastball swung on and missed and he lazily walks back to the dugout. Youkilis and the small furry animal he has stapled to his chin come to the plate. He’s playing third for the injured Lowell and he pops out to right, two away. Nancy Drew grounds out to Giambi and another 1-2-3 for Wang.

Molina, Gonzalez, and Cabrera will face Buchholz this inning. Molina grounds to Youkilis at third, then Gonzalez goes down swinging. The NESN announcers refer to the Regular-old Rays as the Devil Rays as Cabrera lines out to second to end the half.

Varitek grounds out to second to start of the inning. Another grounder to Cano by Casey and Wang has two outs quickly. Short stop Julio Lugo grounds to third and Wang makes it all the way through the lineup without giving up a hit. Still nothin’ nothin’, fourth inning ahead!

Cano makes no noise, grounding to Pedroia to start off the inning. Smilin’ Bobby does the same and there are now two away. A-Rod steps in to fly out to center and I’m guessing everyone just wants this game to be over quickly as both sides are going down quickly and quietly.

Coco Crispies pops to Cano, who tracks it through the wind and rain and makes the first out. Wang falls behind Dustin Pedroia 3-0 before ripping one to third – A-Rod makes a great grab but the quick throw pulls Giambi off the bag leaping. Ortiz makes it up, though, by hitting into a double play. 3 more away in order but one hit allowed for CMW.

We’re in the top of the fifth now… Officials change the scoring of Pedroia’s hit to an error on A-Rod… Ooookay, I guess… Matsui steps in with the only hit of the game so far. He works the count full again and fouls off another for good measure before drawing a walk. Posada up again and the rain looks like its REALLY coming down now. Most of the fans are wearing yellow Hefty bags, which are quite in style in Boston. Posada takes his own walk and there are two on and no out. The NESN announcers have the gall to say that the Yankees are copying the Red Sox with their current plan of developing players rather than purchasing them… Do they not remember 1996 through 2000? Giambi has himself an opportunity for redemption with a runner in scoring position, so let’s see what he can do. Hacking at a change up in the dirt he walks back to the dugout unredeemed. Frack. Molina makes up for it right away with an RBI double! Posada stops at third, one down for Alberto Gonzalez. Now’s a great time to make a name for yourself, kid! Another walk issued by Buchholz loads the bases for Melkman! Javier Lopez starts to warm up in the bullpen as the infield steps back to double play depth hoping to bail Bucky out. RIPPED to the right side but Casey makes another great defensive play to snag the line drive and beat Gonzo back to the bag for the DP unassisted. Melky hit that ball HARD but right to Casey. Blast! Oh well, damage is done and the Yankees lead 1-0!

Ramirez leads of the bottom of the 5th for Boston. Apparently the rain can’t wash any of the pine tar off of his helmet… He hits a hard fly ball to right but Abreu’s RIGHT there (get it? ha!), one away. Youkilis hits another one to Abreu, two away. A couple of these fly outs have been hit hard off of Wang, but not quite hard enough. Drew hits ANOTHER one to deep right but this one Abreu can’t catch as it lands in the seats… Tie ball game. Another deep fly, this one to center, and Cabrera makes the catch. Back with more after the break.

Crisp slides to make a grab, robbing Cano of at least a hit… Robby can’t catch a break, I tells ya. From Robby to Bobby we go, and Bobby goes down on a slow grounder back to Buchholz (I still can’t get over typing two h’s in a row…). A-Rod in now with two away. That 12-6 curve is a nasty pitch and fools A-Rod for strike two, but he slaps a single through the gap at short to keep the inning alive. Matsui in again, 1-1 with a walk so far. Mike Timlin is back with the Red Sox as of today and is warming up in the pen. Matsui doubles off the Green Monster but A-Rod has to stop at third as Ramirez is right there to play it off the wall and fire it back in. Posada has a shot for two RBIs but can’t capitalize as he grounds to second to end the half. Frack!

Wang has given up just one hit and has yet to throw more than 12 pitches in any inning thus far. Casey flies to center, Lugo grounds to short, and Crispy pops to short. Another great inning brought to you from the Yankee ACE Chien Ming Wang.

Buchholz is done for the night as Timlin comes in to face Giambi to start the 7th. Giambi works the count full to put some pressure on Timlin right away and then HE BLASTS ONE TO CENTER, HOME RUN! 2-1 Yankees! Molina follows up with a gapper that gets him to second and gets Timlin a visit from Francona. Gonzo bunts Molina over to third, one away and Timlin will take a seat and give way to Okajima.

Cabrera in to face Okajima and sacrifices himself with a fly to right that scores Molina. 2 ER for Timlin in less than an inning. Bases empty and there are two away for Cano. No pressure, feel free to kick off your comeback here. Ugly, ugly hack at a high third strike sends Cano packing and packs up this half of the 7th, time to stretch!

Wang in again having thrown only 56 pitches thus far tonight, 47 for strikes. The domination has come mostly with fastballs and sinkers as his slider hasn’t really found the plate. Pedroia makes Wang throw seven pitches before grounding to A-Rod again, but this time there’s no error on the throw and there is one away. Ortiz grounds to Giambi to continue his paltry start, but I’m not complaining. Javier Lopez is warming up again in the Red Sox pen as Ramirez comes in. Wang punches him out on a 2-2 sinker that Ramirez just looks at! 7 innings of one-hit ball so far for Wang!

Lopez indeed takes the mound – he’s given up a run an inning so far this season. Abreu looks to get things started in the top of the 8th. I am taking my life in my hands blogging this game right now as the storm is really raging here in Atlanta. Abreu hits a tough grounder to second but Casey makes the grab and the toss to Lopez who just beats Abreu to the bag. A-Rod steps in to a chorus of boos, naturally. He shuts them up with a one-out single up the middle and the seventh hit for the Yanks. David Aardsma (n?) up in the BoSox BuPen. Matsui in with a walk, single, and a double already tonight, but a broken bat grounder leaves him sitting on first with a fielder’s choice as there was no chance to turn two. Posada in and I can’t believe what I’m hearing – NESN announcers are defending A-Rod in regards to the spat with Toronto last year when A-Rod was accused of yelling and confusing the Blue Jay third baseman, causing him to drop the ball. “If you’re dumb enough to fall for that, you deserve it!” Posada rips one to center for a single to bring up Giambi. Now the NESN guys are calling Yankee Stadium the Shrine of Baseball… This is bringing a tear to my eye! Giambi draws a walk (Good eye, Jason) and Lopez gets the hook. Aardsma will be in after this!

Jose Molina with two doubles tonight comes in to face the oddly named right hander with the bases loaded and two away. Aardsma pounding the strike zone but Molina fouling off pitches left and right. Seven pitches it takes, but Molina goes down swinging… Good battle but a losing one by Molina. Wang’s only thrown 70 pitches so far – will he be back out for the bottom of the 8th?

Wang indeed starts on the mound and Jobamania is warming up in the pen. Youklilis steps in and lines one hard to right field but Abreu is able to make the grab. Drew steps in with Boston’s only hit so far tonight. The replay shows that the homer actually glanced off of Abreu’s glove… daaaaamn. This time he flies out to center. 10 of Wang’s 23 outs so far have been airborne. Make that 11 as Varitek takes another to center. 78 pitches for Wang so far – can he go the distance?

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez steps in to lead off the top of the ninth. Chamberlain has taken a seat and is no longer warming up – it looks like Wang may go the distance indeed! Gonzalez rips a double to left over Ramirez’s head – not bad production for a back up. Cabrera sacrifices him over to third nicely to give Cano a chance. Easy does it, Robby – see the ball, hit the ball. I have faith in you! Frack! Grounder to third doesn’t allow Gonzo to score and Cano’s out at first. Seriously, Robby? Seriously? Okay, Smilin’ Bobby up now to do some damage. He hits a slooooooooow bouncer off of a broken bat up the middle – Abreu hauls it up the line and beats the throw for the RBI! Excellent hustle by Smilin’ Bobby! A-Rod in now – grounder to left side doesn’t cause any damage and the Red Sox will get their last chance against Wang in the bottom of the 9th, down 4-1.

Chien-Ming Wang takes to the mound – Mariano is warming up just in case, but Casey pops to Cabrera in center for the first out. Lugo in now as I give you CMW slider report: he got on in for the second strike on Lugo and then dumped another “juuuuuuust a bit outside” and in the dirt. Lugo grounds out to short, but Crisp bunts an infield single to become the second base runner of the evening against Wang. Pedroia comes on now. If he gets on, Ortiz steps in as the tying run and I’m guessing Rivera will come on even though Ortiz is hitting .350 lifetime off of Mo. Moot point as Pedroia lines out to Matsui in left field to end the game and what a game by Wang! Yankees win! THEEEEEEEEEEEEE YANKEES WIN!

Seriously, this guy is an ACE. Good pitching by both starters but a sad return for Timlin and a manufactured run off of Aardsma sealed it for the Yanks. One down, seventeen more to go against the Red Sox.

Yanks – Royals III: No Sweep for you?

I’m joining the game in action and after a slight rain delay Pettitte got a quick inning with two groundouts and a pick off at first! Go Andy! The score is now 2-1 Yankees and I’ll give you the scoring report as I can research it. For now, have a lineup!

Damon LF
Cabrera CF
Rodriguez 3B
Posada DH
Matsui RF
Molina C
Cano 2B
Ensberg 1B
Gonzalez SS
Pettitte LHP

Ensberg starts off the top of the… 5th inning (had to check) with a solid single, then Gonzo (starting at short again for the ailing Captain) sac bunts him over to second, one away. Johnny Damon brings the top of the order back up and gets an infield single to short, moving Ensberg to third. John Bale is still on the mound for KC as Cabrera steps in with a solo jack already this game. He gets a nice pitch and a nice single to right which scores Ensberg and moves Damon to third! Second ribby of the night for The Melkman! A-Rod is up as it seems that GI Joe has shuffled the lineup to try and stir up some offense. So far, so good. A-Rod hits a double play ball to third but the Royals only get one as Esteban (at second) drops the ball on the transfer and can’t fire to first. Damon scores, 4-1 Yankees, Posada up in the DH slot. Bale gets Posada looking on an inside pitch to end the half.

Pettitte quickly gets a ground out from Buck to Gonzo with love. Two hops to A-Rod by JR, over to Ensberg and there are two away. Gathright goes down quickly as well on a fly to “short right field” (looked more like left field to me), 1-2-3 go the Royals to end the inning.

Scoring report: Single by Teahen followed by a double by Guillen scored the Royals’ first run in the first. Melky homered in the top of the third, then a pair of singles by Posada and Matusi allowed Posada to score from third on a double play ball by Molina in the 4th.

Matsui grounds out to start off the inning and Molina steps in. He gets himself a nicely hit double that split the outfielders. Cano having some equipment problems as he gets a new set of batting gloves before stepping in. Cano moves Molina over to third with a grounder to the right side, but Ensberg tips it off the end of the bat softly back to Bale and strands Molina at third. We’re headed to the bottom of the 6th!

Pettitte has allowed only 4 hits, 2 BBs, and one earned run through 5. He’ll face Esteban GERMAN (edited) who about kills Pettitte with a line drive but HE’S TOO FAST and snags it! Damn that was a lucky grab! KC Announcer: “All you see is a white flash and you don’t know if its the ball or the end of the line!” Teahen comes up and gets sent packing on strikes then gets Guillen to ground out softly to an infielder not shown on this broadcast. Another 1-2-3 inning for Pettitte and we’ll head to lucky #7!

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez singles right away off of Hideo Nomo. Nomo (complete with wicked sideburns) showed up as a non-roster invitee and tried for a starting spot in the Royal Rotation but accepted a slot in the bullpen instead. He gets Damon to ground into a fielder’s choice that gets Gonzo at second but no double play. The Melkman steps in and swats the ball almost through the gap between first and second. German can’t get Damon at second but settles for the out at first. Damon to second and then quickly to third on a passed ball. Two away for A-Rod. Nomo pitches around him (wisely) and a BB to A-Rod brings up Jorgie. Posada’s not off to a great start this year with struggles at the plate and with his shoulder, but he draws his own walk. Another samurai battle breaks out as Matsui steps in to face Hideo Nomo. Nomo was really the first major Japanese ballplayer to make a splash on this side of the pond and paved the way for some others like Matsui, Ichiro, Dice-K, Okajima, and more. Injuries have plagued him but he’s had a storied career, and the latest chapter gets Matsui to fly out to “right” (left) field, stranding three.

William T. Butler (middle initial made up for dramatization) steps in and squares one right through the gap for a clean single. Alex Gordon check-swings one softly to Pettitte who whirls and fires to Gonzo who whirls and fires to Ensberg – but a wide throw pulls Ensberg off the bag… One away, one on, and Eiland comes out to say hi to Andy and slap his ass before leaving him in. Joba warming up in the pen! Gload flies out to Cabrera for the end of Pettitte’s night and the beginning of Jobamania in Kansas City!

John Buck steps in – he hit the homer last night off of Farnsworth and the KC announcing team has the gall to compare Joba and Farnsey. Sorry, not quite. Gordon, standing on first, played with Joba in college at U of Nebraska. I have a lot of respect for the state of Nebraska after having the pleasure of serving along side of the fine men and women of the Nebraska Army National Guard last year. Buck pops a foul to shallow right, but Cano and Matsui can’t make up their minds who has it and the ball drops. A passed ball allows Gordon to second but a pop up by Buck ends the inning.

Josey Molina flies out to center against Nomo, Cano grounds out, and Ensberg hits another single to bring the Yankee hit total to 10. The Attorney General fouls out to left as one of three Royals trying to occupy the same space makes the grab. Joba back after this!

Rifled shot goes off of Cano’s glove and spins off to right to give Alberto Callaspo a pinch hit hit. Gathright faces Joba now – Joba’s uses a curve to set up the fastball and Gathright grounds into an FC to the AG and AC is out at 2B. Esteban German (whose name I’ve gotten wrong twice so far I think) steps in with one on and one away. Gathright has stolen a crapload against the Yankees so far, but Chamberlain is holding him close. German goes down swinging, two away. Last pitch was 98 mph. Fastball swung on and missed, curve drops into the zone, 98 mph fastball just away, but slider in is ripped to right field and Teahen gets on and moves Gathright to third. Jose Guillen steps as the tying run. Rivera warms his up arm out in the pen but Chamberlain sets up Guillen with a curve and then zips a heater right past the swinging Guillen for the third strike!

Who says baseball is boring?

Damon faces Nomo in the top of the 9th but goes down quietly, as does Cabrera. A-Rod, however, decides that now is the time to make some noise with a deeeeeeeeep blast to left and over the wall! Solo jack makes it 5-1, and that little insurance is always nice. Jorgie doesn’t want A-Rod to have all the fun so he jacks one over the right field wall! Hellllllllo offense! Nomo doesn’t get the hook and now faces Matsui again. Matsui commits the baseball version of seppuku and strikes out to end the Yankee half.

Enter Sandman in a non-save situation to face Billy “William R. (middle initial corrected for accuracy)” Butler.  He grounds to A-Rod who hurls a strong toss off of his back foot and from foul territory to record the first out.  Alex Gordon pops out to Alberto Gonzalez.  Ross Gload steps in with two away.  Five pitches later he lines one left side for a single.  Miguel Olivo pinch hits for Buck – he was suspended for the first four games this year stemming from some trouble at the end of last year when he was with Florida.  He hits it deep – it is high, its is fair, it is… caught by Damon at the track!  Yankees Win!  Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win!

No sweep for you, indeed, and a good showing by the Yankee bats tonight as well as the pitching staff.  I’ll catch you all tomorrow and the Yankees will catch a plane tonight to take them into the lion’s den!  Good night!

Yankees at Royals II

Half an hour until the first pitch, so let’s take a look at the lineup:

Damon DH
Cano 2B
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui LF
Giambi 1B
Molina C
Cabrera CF
Gonzalez SS

If you don’t recognize that last name, that’s hot-shot young prospect (and not Attorney General) Alberto Gonzalez. He played a (very) few games last season in the bigs and has shown a lot of promise, especially defensively. Who knows if he’ll swing the bat well tonight, but I feel a lot better with him patrolling short than Betemit.

Posada is also out, but the MRI came back with good news – just a sprain, probably no DL time. Molina will catch and Jorgie will chill on the bench and not eat candy. Jeter’s MRI on his quad was also negative and he should be back in the lineup by Friday night for the series against Boston.

How did they make room for Gonzo, you ask? It turns out that Morgan Ensberg injured his ankle on Monday. For more info on that injury, I’ll direct you to Peter Abraham’s LoHud Yankee’s Blog. I don’t think I can top that explanation…

Back with the first pitch when it’s thrown!

SAY WHAAAAAAA? Ian Kennedy has apparently been scratched from the start and Brian Bruney will take the mound… Morgan Ensberg is actually fine and Shelley Duncan has been optioned to Triple A (for Gonzo). Yanks are scrambling to get Bruney ready. More in a few…

As Damon steps in, I’ll let you in a Fun Fact – Zack Greinke went to high school in Apopka, FL with my friend Metal Mike. Once I figure out how Greinke links me to Kevin Bacon, I’ll let you know. Damon starts out the night with a walk, much like last night. Here’s hoping the rest of the night goes better than last night. Cano in now – Come on, Robby, let’s start off hot! Speaking of same as last night, Cano grounds into DP. Damn. Technically, Abreu got the GIDP last night, but he goes down 6-3 to end the Yankee half of the first.

Brian Bruney (Brianey?) up to the mound to pitch to Gathright. Brianey’s last start was when he was in single A. No word on why IPK’s been nixed… Bruney gets Gathright to gently hand the ball back to him (off the bat) and he tosses it to Giambi for the first out. Mark G-word bats second, and grounds out to who the KC announcer refers to as “Alberto Castillo” at short. Rain is starting to fall as Teahen (dammit, I spelled it Teahan again!) draws a four pitch walk. Fair warning – if this game is delayed called, I’m going to bed. KC announcer now make fun of the reporter on the field, saying the rain could ruin his makeup. They’re no Flaherty and Kay, but better than Joe Morgan. Jose Guillen, who will start doin’ time for HGH possession on Tuesday, strikes out to end the inning. Bruney gets through one – will there be more? Stick around!

A-Rod up as it really starts coming down – he grounds out. Matsui grounds out on his first pitch, two away quickly. Giambi’s up, I think – I can barely see him through the rain… He takes two pitches before clubbing one to second and Greinke gets through the inning with 8 pitches.

Billy Butler hammers a quick double off of Bruney to start off the inning for Kansas City – juuuuuuuust over a leaping A-Rod’s glove. Alex Gordon goes down on a 97 mph fastball upstairs! Bruney is throwing strikes regularly, and he’s not saving any gas on the fastball. The Ghost of Ross Gload next – down swinging on a slick slider inside on the lefty! Butler’s not doing anything but getting cold and damp out there at second. Here comes Buck – Molina takes a trip to the mound, possibly to discuss post-game shenanigans. BAM! Three pitch strike out to Buck!

Ryan Lefebvre is in the booth for KC and is wearing the Powder Blue! If you’re in KC, they’ll be wearing them and handing them out this weekend. Honestly, the Royals were about the only team that pulled off the powder blue. Greinke back to work against Molina. Molina gets a nice double to center to kick things off and Cabrera comes up with a runner in scoring position and no outs. He bunts one foul to start the AB but does not get the sacrifice down and instead sends a swinging pop up behind second. Molina stays put, one down. It cannot be easy to stare up into the rain and track that ball but G-word makes the play. Alberto Gonzalez has his first AB end in a fly out to right. Molina fakes tagging up, but let’s remember – he’s a catcher (read: slow). Damon up, two away. Apparently, the ump REALLY wants to get out of this inning because he punches Damon out, except it was only strike two… KC announcers make fun of him, too. Unfortunately, I don’t think Umpy liked Damon pointing out that technicality and he punches him out again on the next pitch.

Billy Traber comes on to kick off the lower third and gets a quick out from Pena Jr. Gathright brings the top of the order back up as puddles are starting to form… Umpy counted right that time and punched out Gathright on Traber’s oh-so-pretty, straight down the pipe pitch. G-word breaks his bat, goes the other way, and drops a single in front of Abreu. Teahen (got it right that time!) steps in and gets behind 1-2 before walking on three straight low and away. Two on, two away, and Guillen up. He hits one hard to left, but Matsui hardly has to move and the inning’s over.

Cano grounds out before I can even think of anything to say about him, so let’s talking about Smilin’ Bobby, who is one of the players GI Joe wanted to show up to spring training in better shape than usual. He did, and how has it been paying off? He’s 11-29 with 3 walks, a homer, and 4 RBI. Doesn’t work this time as he flies out to left. A-Rod in now and he zings one up to center which gets through and A-Rod gets two. Matsui up and takes a stroll down to first on ball four to bring up Giambi. He fouls out to the third baseman, stranding two and ending the inning. Or was it the other way around?

Still scoreless, still raining, but not still Traber on the mound – Farnsworth comes in to face Butler. Beer run! Quick ground out to A-Rod from Butler, then Gordon bloops one in and Abreu juuuuuuuuuuuust misses a web gem style sliding catch… Thankfully he trapped it to hold Gordon to a single. Gordon breaks for second and gets gunned down by Molina! Shortly thereafter, Gload goes down swinging at a pitch that was thrown pretty much AT him and Farny’s out of trouble. End of 4th, the next inning will make it official, so let’s go offense!

According to PeteAbe, IPK is fine – GI Joe didn’t want to waste his start on a game that could wind up shortened. Interesting… Will the bullpen be too gassed if IPK can’t recover from his last start?

Molina pops out of short left, then Cabrera pops out to shallow… second. Greinke’s thrown 65 pitches so far – good work for the young starter, but let’s hope he blows it. Alberto Gonzalez in now – he was 1-14 in his major league ABs last year. He’ll start this year off 1-2 as he doubles over Teahen’s head! Here comes Damon to drive him home and put the Yankees up go down swinging and end the inning. Damn.

Hey, speaking of damn, Farnsworth gives up a looooooooong home run to Buck on the first pitch. Its raining and cold and the ball still travelled over 400 feet. In case you didn’t know, damn. JR in with a bunt but A-Rod scoops it up and throws him out. Gathright gets it down right and he’s got an infield hit. G-word up and Gathright threatens to steal. I’ll give you a nickel if you can guess who’s warming up in the bullpen? That’s right, tonight’s starter, Ian Patrick Kennedy. I don’t get it either, but Gathright breaks and Molina fires, but Cano slips a bit on the mud infield and is a hair late with the tag. G-word draws a walk as Gathright breaks for third and gets gunned down, two away. Way to go, Jose! Teahen steps in and I’d like to take this time to let you know I just sustained an injury myself but I’m going to play through the pain. I cut my thumb on the sharp edge of a tuna can. Don’t worry, skip, I’ll be fine. Teahen draws his own full count walk on a pitch that didn’t look all that bad. Guillen has been hitting crappy lately, and he steps in with two away. Let’s hope he continues to hit crappily and Farnsey gets out of here. Damn, not crappily enough as he scores Grudzisomethingorother and moves Teahen to third on a good contact single to center. Butler grounds to Cano, 4-6 and he’s away, but two runs score… 0-2 as we head to the sixth and into the danger-of-calling-the-game zone…

Game continues as Cano steps in against Zack Greinke. He hits a carbon copy of Guillen’s shot except there’s no one on for Cano, so he’ll just take a single to bring up Smilin’ Bobby. Give me something to smile about, man! Note to Abreu – GIDP does not make me smile. It was a hell of a defensive play on the slick surface, though. Bastards. A-Rod steps in 1-2 with a double. The Yankee 3B grounds to the Royal 3B, bottom half up next.

In the “I Swear I’m Not Messing With You” department, Prince’s “Kiss” plays in the background as Ian Kennedy takes the mound. I doubt that was his choice of entrance music. Alex Gordon in to lead off for the Royals. Kennedy goes to 3-2 before walking Gordon inside. Gload rips one to left and Matsui can’t make the play! Gload goes to second, Gordon comes around to just beat the tag from Molina. 3-0. Buck slaps a grounder through the gap that Cano left while holding Gload to second but Abreu gets the ball in to hold the runner at third. First and third, none away for Tony Pena, Jr. JR is 0-fer in his last 18 at bats. He grounds into a fielder’s choice as Cano can’t turn two and Gload comes in to score. Gathright goes down on a liner to Cabrera, then G-word grounds to third to end the inning. 4-0 Royals and now would be as good of a time as any for the Yankee bats to come out of hibernation…

Top of the seventh, Matsui flies out to right. Giambi is up now, 1-16 on the season. Make that 1-17 as he pops to center. Greinke has thrown seven shut out innings as Molina grounds out. Sigh.

Kennedy’s up for the bottom of the seventh against Teahen who has walked all three times tonight. He walks again, but this time back to the dugout as he goes down swinging. Kennedy quickly ahead of Guillen 0-2 before a pop out to left on a 2-2 pitch. Billy Butler walks as the KC announcers again make fun of the field reporter who has retreated to the comfort of the production truck. Weather report from inside the truck is warm, dry, and nice. Gordon takes Kennedy full with two away before being sent packin’ on strikes. Eighth inning ahead, dear readers!

Greinke will remain in the game to face Melky. Melky succeeds in getting something started with a single up the middle. Bullpen is heating up but no action yet. Here’s Gonzo who has hit two long flies so far, but he grounds softly to second. Melky literally runs into the tag to make it a double play. To add insult to injury, Damon follows it up with a big double that would have scored him… Cano grounds to second, Greinke has pitched 8 shutout innings. Damn.

Kennedy back in to get Gload to ground to Cano, one away. Buck grounds to Gonzo quickly and there are two away. Kennedy POUNDS the strike zone against Jr and the Royals go down 1-2-3… Yankee top of the 9th coming up!

Double Y (Yosomething Yabuta) in to pitch for Royals. Have I ever told you that Y is the coolest letter in the alphabet? KC catcher Buck describes trying to catch Yabuta’s change-up – “It’s like it never gets there!” Sorry, Buck-o, but it would have to get there… otherwise the game would never end. Abreu in to get things going for the Yanks. I feeeeeeeeel a rally coming on! Come on, Bobby! Grounder to second. Damn. Okay, here comes A-Rod. I can feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel a rally coming on! Off of Pena Jr’s glove and he’s on first! That’s ruled an infield single because the official scorer felt like it. Matsui up to face his fellow Asian import and draws a walk. Giambi comes up and Jimmy Gobble (hehehe) comes out of the pen. Seriously, Jimmy Gobble? Gobble, Timmy, Gobble gets Giambi to fly out to short. Two on, two out for Jose Molina – this is it, Jose… You can doooooooooooooooo it!

No, I guess you can’t. &%$#. Final score, Royals 4, Yankees… bagel. Good night.