A Stop by the Stopper

After dropping two straight, the Yanks came out ahead yesterday afternoon in a 4-1 game.  As has become customary during his tenure with the Yankees, Andy Pettitte was there with 6 strong innings, allowing only one run, striking out four, and getting out of some jams.  His last pitch came as gale-force winds and driving rain assaulted him, but even the forces of nature were no match for Andy, much less the Cincinnati Reds – swing and a miss, strike three.  A 56 minute rain delay followed, which served as the hook for Dandy Andy.  Edwar Ramirez threw only 9 pitches in the 7th to retire the side, proving that when he’s on his game, he’s a force to be reckoned with as well. Farnsey came out to pitch the 8th (as Yankee fans raced to the fridge for a few cold ones) and got two outs himself before giving up his patented 8th inning solo shot, this time to Ken Griffey Jr.  I guess if you going to be beat, its not as bad being beat by a guy who’s dinged 600.  The next AB, Farnsworth made an ill-fated bare-hand attempt at a ball chopped towards the mound and tore the webbing between his fingers.  He will require stitches, but claims he won’t require a trip to the DL.  Mariano pitched the 9th, and I get the feeling that I don’t even need to tell you how he pitched he’s become so automatic.

On the offensive side, it seems like the rain washed away all the crap that was clogging up the Yankee Run Scoring Machine.  They managed to push one across prior to the break, but once they came back (literally in the bottom of the inning), Cap’n Jeet singled, H-Mats singled, and The Big G drove them both in with a double smashed the other way (!!!), followed up with a Posada double to drive him home.  Final score, 4-1 Yanks.

Also noteworthy – the Reds’ three starters all put up some good numbers against the Yanks.  Voltron and Cueto have been electric this year, and Daryl Thompson shut the Yankees out over five innings.  Keep an eye on these kids – the Reds may be on to something.

Yanks are now at 41-35, 5 games out of first in the AL East and 3.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Regular Rays.  Next up is a trip to PNC Park in Pittsburgh to play the pesky Pie-rats… after an off day today.  Stick around, sports fans, there’s more baseball after the break!

That’s better!

This is Stormrider6, checking in from Topeka, KS! Hopefully y’all are enjoying the victory more than I’m enjoying being in Topeka, KS…

Didn’t catch the game as I had to catch a flight instead. Here’s what I’ve gleaned from Yahoo! sports:

4th inning – a walk, stolen base, and a pair of doubles scores two! That’s some good stuff! A-Rod finally gets a hit with a runner in scoring position! Matsui carries on his rockin’ season – good work, you guys.

Top 6: A-Rod reaches on a fielder’s choice and… gets pulled for a pinch runner. Looks like he has a sore quad, a lot like Jeter had when he missed 6 games. Asked whether he would miss a few days, Alex said “Maybe. We’ll see how I wake up in the morning.” I hate to see a good player injured, doubly so if he’s a Yankee, but hopefully this will coincide with the birth of another child so he can spend some quality family time as well as recover.

Top 7th: Moeller doubles! I love this guy! Damon homers him home for another two runs – good job, Johnny. Keep it up, please.

Bottom 8th: Joba comes in, gives up a single and a double with no outs, and GI Joe sits him down. He doesn’t get a chance to pitch out of a jam? (EDIT:  Ohhhh… rain delay…) Bruney comes in and gives up one on a sac fly but sets the next two down without a run.

Top 9th: Walk (Melky), single (Moeller!), walk (Damon), and a 3 RBI double by Cap’n Jeet! That’s the way you seal up a ballgame!

Bottom 9th: Mariano Rivera. That is all that needs to be said.

Final score, 7-1 Yankees. Cano got a hit to bring his average up to .169, Giambi grounded into a double play and got no hits to drop his average to .109. Seriously, let’s healthy up Posada and keep Moeller or Molina on as DH instead. Oh, naturally, bring back Shelley for 1B. Or trade Betemit for Meinkeizivawerjsetch. Somebody, anybody, play first base. Melky was the only other starter without a base hit but he got a run on a walk. Damon was 2-4 with a BB to go with his 2 RBI dinger – keep it up.

Pettitte pitched 7, then Joba-Bruney-Mo closed the game out. Good rest for (most of) the bullpen. Andy, you da man.

No desk jockeying for me this week, so don’t expect another update for a while. Yankees have (gasp!) a day off tomorrow, then Wang takes the hill on Tuesday in Chicago! Till then, Rock on!

No nothin’ for tonight…

Sorry for the lack of updates – work and other stuff caught up to me and I missed all but the 8th and 9th tonight, and I simply didn’t have the energy to try to recap and blog it all up.  Bottom line, loss for Yanks 7-5, poor outing by Moose (thanks mostly to Manny), some damage to Albaladejo, and scoreless the rest of the way.  Yanks got three off of Beckett and two more off of Papelbon – good work to get that much.

I love you, Moose, for all that you’ve done, but its time to put you in the #4 or #5 slot so you’re not facing an ace like Beckett.  Check back tomorrow for some road trip previews as the Yankees and I are headed out for a stretch on the road!

Near-perfect

What else can be said for Wang’s performance last night? I’ve always loved Wang, but even with two 19 win seasons under his belt, I was worried how he’d perform as the Yankees’ number one starter.

Not anymore.

He set up hitters inside, pounded the strike zone with fastballs, dropped the sinker off the table, slipped in a few sliders just to keep the hitters of their toes and, most of all, got outs. He’s not a strike-out pitcher, but he still managed to strike out Ortiz once and Ramirez twice for his only three strikeouts of the night. Both hitters were .500 or better against Wang coming into the game.

The first hit given up by Wang was a solo home run in the fifth that glanced off of Bobby Abreu’s glove. He could have caught it, he should have caught it, but he didn’t. I know he’s kicking himself after booting that play, so I’m not going to beat up on him too much but it had better not happen again. The second was a bunt single with two outs in the 9th by cereal mascot Coco Crisp to try and get something started. It didn’t work as Matusi caught Pedroia’s line drive to left field and ended the game. A valiant but annoying effort.

The rest of the Yankees played excellent defense behind him. The lone “error” was a questionable ruling by the official scorer – it really could have gone either way as A-Rod’s throw was high and pulled Giambi off of the bag at first. A fine play by Giambi at first, really, and he was quickly erased by Ortiz grounding into a double play. The rest of the game was sparkling and I think everyone picked it up a bit to try to keep Wang’s damn-near-perfect game going.

Lastly, the offense… There were scoring opportunities missed, but the small ball carried the day with the exception of Giambi’s long ball. Cabrera grounded into the double play with the bases loaded and one out to end the fourth, but he also hit a sac fly that scored Molina from third in the 7th. Giambi poked his head out from under his slump with his first long ball of the season. Cano, on the other hand, hit at least one good ball that wound up as an out. He also had a sad grounder to third that failed to score Molina and a pair of strike outs. A sad start to the season, but he will break out of it.

Red Cross Medical Watch: It looks as though Jeter will miss the rest of the series in Boston due to the cold weather. He’s likely to return Monday against Tampa Bay. Posada will again either sit or DH with his dead arm. Molina and Gonzalez will play as their back-ups. I’ve only heard some scuttlebutt on PeteAbe’s comments and haven’t seen anything to confirm this, but Wilson Betemit may be having LASIK eye surgery. Minor League pitching prospect Alan Horne has a tear in his bicep and no nerve damage so is expected to miss only one start.

This afternoon’s game will feature Mussina vs. Beckett. It doesn’t look like an even match up, but Moose has proven that he’s not done pitching and Beckett has shown he has weaknesses, so tune in and find out who will prevail! Let’s go Yanks!

Thoughts on the Mud Bowl

More than the sky was cryin’ last night as the Yankees dropped to 4-5 on a rainy, 8 inning shutout thrown by Zack Greinke.  GI Joe played role-reversal with the bullpen and starting pitcher, figuring that the rain would shut the game down and Kennedy would only throw a few innings.  As it turned out, Kennedy only tossed 3 innings, giving up 2 runs but also striking out three.  His ERA looks more like a shoe size right now, but his control was better and he was throwing the strikes that eluded him in his last start.  He would have gone more than 3 innings had the weather not fouled things up for sure.

The real difficulty last night came from failure by the Yankees to see the ball, hit the ball, and run around the bases.  No Yankee base runner made it past second base and the Yankees grounded into 3 double plays.  They also left seven on base and failed to move Molina from second to third with no outs in the third.  Molina’s no speedster, obviously, but a grounder to the right side is all it takes.

Red Cross Medical Watch:  Jeter appears to still be on track for a Friday return, but Girardi will watch him closely.  “You have to be careful you don’t bring him back too early because you don’t want it to become a six-week injury,” said Joe G.  Posada’s MRI did not show anything more serious than a sprain, which will likely keep him from going on the DL.  Jorgie has never been on the DL in his major league career – quite a feat.  He’ll be available to swing the bat tonight but will probably not return behind the plate until this weekend.

With those two down, Alberto Gonzalez and Jose Molina will likely start tonight’s game – if there is indeed a game.  There’s a flood warning for the Kansas City area and tonight’s forecast doesn’t look promising.  “Scattered thunderstorms, some strong early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Storms may produce large hail and strong winds. Low 43F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 60%,” according to weather.com.

If there is a game, Pettitte will try for his first win of the season after giving a decent if not sparkling effort in his first start.  Check back later for line-up and more good stuff!

Yanks – Rays III Recap!

Victory!  Wang gave up a grand total of zero runs on four hits through six innings.  He gave way to Joba, who pitched his own 2 inning no hitter before Mo did his thing in the 9th.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that even against Shields, whom the Yankees have pounded in the past, they could only muster two runs on three extra base hits.  Matsui’s two run jack after A-Rod’s double in the fourth accounted for the only two runs scored in the game.  When are the bats going to wake up?

Other notes:  Betemit made it though the game without an error, but Cano wasn’t so lucky.  From some reports, I guess it was half wild throw from Jeter and half him trying to turn two.  Shelley Duncan will be out again tomorrow finishing his suspension.  Giambi is day-to-day with his groin issue.  GI Joe was back in the dugout tonight, making the Yankees 3-1 with Girardino at the helm.

The Yankees will play the Rays again tomorrow night, then fly out to Missouri to take on the Royals in a day game less than 24 hours later.  They also don’t have a scheduled day off until the 21st.  Then again, they play baseball for a living and I rot away at a desk for 40 hours a week…

Back tomorrow with more!

Game two!

Game Two: Toronto (Burnett) vs. New York (Mussina)

With the victory in game one, the Yanks were riding high on solid pitching. However, A.J. Burnett brought the Bombers’ bats low in a game two 5-2 loss. Moose gave the Yankees a game – not a great game, but not really a poor one either. Defense which saved the Yanks and Wang last night let down a bit and cost Moose a run right from the start, from which the Yanks never really recovered. Posada strained his shoulder making a throw to second last night and is riding the pine tonight, putting Molina behind the plate. Now, on to the highlights!

-As stated before, Eckstein is a scrappy little bastard. He hit a hard grounder to Giambi, who knocked it down but couldn’t grab it cleanly. Moose stalled a bit then sprinted to cover first before Giambi decided to try to take it himself, but Eckstein legged it out and beat him there. It was charged as an E3, which everyone fears is a scoring we’ll see a lot in the future. Eckschteen came around to score, but Moose worked his way out of a two-on, no-out jam with a 5-4-3 double play and a ground out.

-Moose got tagged in the top of the third with a two run shot by Vernon Wells after a walk to Rios.

-Molina succeded where Posada failed and threw out Scooter-o trying to steal second in the top of the fourth. He’s still fast, but he didn’t get as good a jump on Moose and paid the price.

-Jeter tried to stretch a throwing error by Burnett to a double, but Rios was in from right in a flash, picking up the passed ball and chucking Jeter out by about 89 feet. Kudos to the Cap’n for aggression on the basepath (not Shelley Duncan aggression, but still), but better luck next time.

-Moose made it through 5 2/3 but got the hook after handing out a single to Wells, a HBP to Thomas, and an RBI single to Hill. LaTroy Hawkins took over with two down and got Scooter-o to fly out.

-Top o’ the 7th to ya and Hawkins gave up a double and an RBI single to extend the Jays’ lead to 5-0. The Yankee offense to this point was shut down so completely that no runner had even reached second base. That changed in the bottom of the inning, however, as Abreu walked then trotted past second and all the way home on A-Rod’s first bomb of the season, bringing the Yankees within 3.

-Farnsworth replaced Hawkins in the top of the 8th. He gave up a hit right away, then got a nice 5-4-3 double play. Then he gave up a triple to Overbay but pitched out of it, striking out Hill. All of the balls that were hit off of him were hit hard and his velocity wasn’t the high 90s he’s going to need to be a reliable set up man.

-Ohlendorf gets the ball for the 9th and promptly beans (well, grazes) Scooter-o (I like typing that). He makes up for it with a K and a double play. Last digs for the Yanks looked promising with consecutive singles from Jeter and Abreu, but A-Rod, Giambi, and Cano went down in order without any damage. Giambi’s flyout was to deep center, but not deep enough and Cano popped up the first pitch to left. Game over, Jays over Yanks 5-2.

Post-game analysis time! Moose and Giambi will be the stories of the game. 5.2 IP, 4 runs (3 earned), and 8 hits isn’t a terrible outing from a veteran pitcher who is likely on the decline. He’ll throw better games and he’ll probably throw worse games – what matters is the match up. When pitching against a hardballer like Burnett, he’s not going to get the run support he’ll need to back up his shakier outings. If he’s stacked up against a number 4 or 5 guy however, he can give you a middle of the road outing and the offense can bail him out. Hopefully he can pitch more closer to 7 innings regularly so the bullpen doesn’t get tired and overused.

Giambi had his first error of the season, and I imagine there will be more. The fact that it lead to a run is only concerning because he couldn’t undo the damage with a hit in the 9th. For all the talk about him working on hitting it the other way (not easy, I’m sure, but still), I was pulling for him to hit one into the ENORMOUS gap on the left side. When the defense shifts that much, he needs to be willing and able to slap a single and get an RBI instead of counting on power each and every at bat. If he really can hit the other way, the defense will actually have to start playing real defense instead of Giambi defense and when he does pull the ball, he might get a few more hits out of it. Am I wrong?

That’s all for now – tune in tonight for some thoughts on tonight’s game once I get home tonight for tonight’s game. See you tonight!

Game one!

The first two games of the regular season have come and gone, so here’s the first recap (from my memory)

Game One: Toronto (Roy Hallady) vs. New York (CM Wang)

Wang pitched seven strong innings. He was far from dominant, but less because of his pitching and more because of Toronto’s hitting. The majority of the hits he gave up were on ground balls through the infield, giving Toronto a few key base runners and the Yankees some difficult (and sometimes sweet) plays.

-The Yankees scored in the first on an RBI double by A-Rod after a base hit by Abreu. Abreu hauled ass from first to home and beat the throw by a pretty good margin – props to Girardi for making them run!

-Toronto followed up in the top of the second inning with some ground ball hits and sacrifices / fielder’s choices leading to a one run tie.

-Melky Cabrera made two outstanding grabs in center in the top of the fourth to rob extra base hits from Overbay and Hill.

-More small ball got CMW in trouble (runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out), but solid D by the infield held the Jays to one run, scored by Scutaro from third on a grounder to A-Rod. Rather than taxing the infield any further, Wang decided to just strike Rios out and let the guys rest a bit to end the inning.

-The Melkman homer-eth-ed in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 2. The ball was hit about 315′, just clearing the right field fence (314′) and earning Melky the first curtain call of the last season at (this particular) Yankee Stadium. Halladay was not impressed, nor happy, and hollered at Cabrera to sit down and shut up. The 55,000 in attendance stuck their tongues out in a remarkable show of third-grade level solidarity.

-Melky ALMOST made his third terrific grab in center in the top of the 7th, but ended up just missing the ball and allowing a double to Hill. Giambi followed with cat-like reflexes to grab a HARD liner from Scutaro. After a ground out that moved Hill to third, Girardisimo made the quickest mound visit I’ve seen. He probably said about 5 words to Wang (“Give it all you’ve got,” or something), left him in, and ran back to the dugout. Wang responded with a quick ground ball out and sat down for the night.

-Bottom of the 7th, base hit A-Rod, BB Giambi, and a ground out by Cano (and fancy footwork by Giambi), and a free pass to Posada loads the bases for Matsui with one out. Godzilla hit it hard to third, slightly misplayed by Hill, who threw out Posada at 2nd but allowed A-Rod to score the go-ahead run. Melky strikes out to end the inning.

-Top 8 brings out Joba, much to my delight. Also much to my delight he shut down the Jays with a ground-out, BB, and two strike outs (Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas). Some fist pumping was certainly in order. Noteworthy that Joba didn’t stick to fastball fastball slider – he mixed in the change and the curve with pretty good results.

-A lead off triple by Damon is wasted as Jeter and Abreu can’t produce a fly ball. The intentional walk to A-Rod brings up Giambi, who couldn’t seal the deal.

-Up one run in the top of the ninth, Mo takes the ball and shuts down the Jays for his first save of the season (and his second career opening day save according to PeteAbe) and the Yanks’ first victory! One down, 161 to go.

Melky gave a stellar performance to show why he belongs in center and that you can’t count out his hitting even if he is batting 9th. Wang pitch a solid 7 innings, then the Joba-Mo-Let’s Go 8th and 9th sealed the deal. I was most impressed (mostly due to low expectations) by Giambi, though – he flashed some leather at first to snag a hard line drive, plus fished some tough throws out of the dirt, PLUS he showed that even though he’s closer to slow than fast (much closer, in fact) he can run the bases intelligently. A-Rod was A-Rod and that’s always a good thing in April.

For you Jays fans (do I hear crickets? I think I hear crickets…), Halladay pitched a fine game as well, as he held the Yankees to only 3 runs. The Jays’ bullpen did a great job holding the Bombers to a one run lead as well. Scutaro stole two bags in two tries on two great throws from Posada. That’s speed. Eckstein is a scrappy little bastard of a hitter, which I like.

I’ll be back later with more, so stick around! And if any talking animals try to sell you tacos or beer while I’m away – for God’s sake, do what they tell you!