Sorry, it's a Monday afternoon and I just can't muster that much enthusiasm.
The Yankees kept up their winning ways, taking care of business against shitty teams, by beating Toronto 5-4 in a chippy game.
Jays' starter Jesse Litsch threw a ball behind Alex Rodriguez in an apparent attempt to "avenge" the "Ha!" game more than two months ago. Wow...real ballsy move, Toronto, sending your 11th best starter out there to send a message.
ARod responded with an aggressive slide breaking up a double play, and Johnny Damon threw in with a collision, something he knows a little something about.
The Yankees' pitching continued to struggle, as Andy Pettitte was mediocre at best. Joe Torre calls his performance "gutsy," but I call it "not very good pitching." Jim Brower made his pinstriped debut, retiring Reed Johnson to end the 6th. Luis Vizcaino allowed one run in two innings, and we were mercifully spared an appearance by Farnsy McPsycho. Mariano Rivera struck out the side in the ninth.
The Yankees are now tied with slumping Detroit for the Wild Card lead, with Seattle and Cleveland both in the mix. I'm not worried about Seattle. Another win tomorrow gives the Yankees yet another series win.
Showing posts with label winning ugly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winning ugly. Show all posts
Monday, August 6, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Smells Like a Sweep
The Yankees salvaged a win last night after blowing a strong outing by Roger the Rocket, beating Toronto 6-1 behind a four-run seventh-inning rally.
The Yankees creep to 7 games behind Boston, and 6 games behind Wild Card-leading Cleveland. I still think the playoffs are a bridge too far, but this is the Yankees' smallest divisional deficit since approximately 1998.
Tonight, it's the ace on the hill, as Chien-Ming Wang goes against Dustin McGowan. Advantage, pinstripes. But the Yankees have been lucky to beat Toronto the last two games, and need to start playing legitimately good baseball, which hasn't really happened yet. The bullpen is still being mishandled, and the offense hasn't caught fire the way it's capable of. If the Yankees are going to be a serious threat down the stretch, they need to play better than they have against Toronto and Tampa Bay. They're winning now because they're facing weak opponents, and they need to absolutely dominate this 28-game stretch against sub-.500 teams. 6-1 is a good start.
Meanwhile, the boobirds are preparing an overture for Johnny Damon and Kyle Farnsworth tonight, and they both deserve it immensely.
The Yankees creep to 7 games behind Boston, and 6 games behind Wild Card-leading Cleveland. I still think the playoffs are a bridge too far, but this is the Yankees' smallest divisional deficit since approximately 1998.
Tonight, it's the ace on the hill, as Chien-Ming Wang goes against Dustin McGowan. Advantage, pinstripes. But the Yankees have been lucky to beat Toronto the last two games, and need to start playing legitimately good baseball, which hasn't really happened yet. The bullpen is still being mishandled, and the offense hasn't caught fire the way it's capable of. If the Yankees are going to be a serious threat down the stretch, they need to play better than they have against Toronto and Tampa Bay. They're winning now because they're facing weak opponents, and they need to absolutely dominate this 28-game stretch against sub-.500 teams. 6-1 is a good start.
Meanwhile, the boobirds are preparing an overture for Johnny Damon and Kyle Farnsworth tonight, and they both deserve it immensely.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Yankees Win a Weird One
The Yankees continue to survive and move on after the All-Star Break, as they beat Toronto 3-2 in a strange ten-inning affair to move three games over .500.
For the second straight night, the Yankees won a game in which the pitching patchup seemed to favor Toronto. Roy Halladay got through a wild first inning to pitch a seven-inning gem, and Andy Pettitte matched him in results if not performance. Pettitte allowed 10 baserunners in seven innings, but struck out a season-high seven Blue Jays to counteract his high WHIP.
The useless (except to his opponents) Kyle Farnsworth gave Toronto a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, setting the stage for one of the strangest half-innings of the season.
Nice Guy Andy led off with a bloop single to left, and was pinch-run for by Miguel Cairo. Cairo stole second on a hit-and-run that Melky Cabrera swung through. Then, after failing to get down a sac bunt, Melky hit a grounder to the right side. Aaron Hill couldn't come up with it, and it leaked through to right field.
At that point, third base coach Larry Bowa made the asinine decision to send Cairo home, even though there was no one out and Alex Rios has a gun in right. Cairo was out by about ten feet, and made a bizarre slide directly into the catcher's shinguards, even though Greg Zaun was standing wide of home plate. I have absolutely no problems with Larry Bowa as a third base coach, but he blew that call.
Cabrera, who had advanced to second on the throw, stole third off a sleeping Jeremy Accardo. Clearly rattled, Accardo walked the inept Johnny Damon and then balked home the tying run.
So, to sum up, the bottom of the ninth featured a stolen base on a failed hit-and-run, a failed sacrifice bunt, a dribbler through the infield, an awful send by a third base coach, another steal, and a balked-in run.
The Yankees went on to win in the 10th when Robinson Cano knocked in ARod (who reached on a HBP) with a solid single to left. Larry Bowa owes Cano a few drinks.
Also of note, Brian Bruney and Luis Vizcaino pitched two scoreless innings after the arsonist allowed the go-ahead run. And Edwar Ramirez has apparently died, and no one told us, because he's getting about as many innings as Chris Britton on the big league club.
The Yankees should now be thinking sweep, with Halladay out of the way and Clemens and Wang waiting in the queue.
For the second straight night, the Yankees won a game in which the pitching patchup seemed to favor Toronto. Roy Halladay got through a wild first inning to pitch a seven-inning gem, and Andy Pettitte matched him in results if not performance. Pettitte allowed 10 baserunners in seven innings, but struck out a season-high seven Blue Jays to counteract his high WHIP.
The useless (except to his opponents) Kyle Farnsworth gave Toronto a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, setting the stage for one of the strangest half-innings of the season.
Nice Guy Andy led off with a bloop single to left, and was pinch-run for by Miguel Cairo. Cairo stole second on a hit-and-run that Melky Cabrera swung through. Then, after failing to get down a sac bunt, Melky hit a grounder to the right side. Aaron Hill couldn't come up with it, and it leaked through to right field.
At that point, third base coach Larry Bowa made the asinine decision to send Cairo home, even though there was no one out and Alex Rios has a gun in right. Cairo was out by about ten feet, and made a bizarre slide directly into the catcher's shinguards, even though Greg Zaun was standing wide of home plate. I have absolutely no problems with Larry Bowa as a third base coach, but he blew that call.
Cabrera, who had advanced to second on the throw, stole third off a sleeping Jeremy Accardo. Clearly rattled, Accardo walked the inept Johnny Damon and then balked home the tying run.
So, to sum up, the bottom of the ninth featured a stolen base on a failed hit-and-run, a failed sacrifice bunt, a dribbler through the infield, an awful send by a third base coach, another steal, and a balked-in run.
The Yankees went on to win in the 10th when Robinson Cano knocked in ARod (who reached on a HBP) with a solid single to left. Larry Bowa owes Cano a few drinks.
Also of note, Brian Bruney and Luis Vizcaino pitched two scoreless innings after the arsonist allowed the go-ahead run. And Edwar Ramirez has apparently died, and no one told us, because he's getting about as many innings as Chris Britton on the big league club.
The Yankees should now be thinking sweep, with Halladay out of the way and Clemens and Wang waiting in the queue.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Yankees 14, Angels 9
The Yankees won a rather disgusting game against the erstwhile California Angels yesterday, beating up on Bartolo Colon and the vaunted Angels bullpen 14-9. In a game marred by base-running and fielding mistakes, the possible A.L. MVP proved the difference.
Alex Rodriguez continued his personal vendetta against Colon, collecting two hits off him before crushing a home run to left field off Chris Bootcheck. ARod is now OPS-ing an asinine 1.630 vs. Chubby Colon. The rest of the offense looked solid for once, as even the Purple Rose of Miguel Cairo got in on the action with a suicide squeeze and an RBI triple (that was turned into a single when Robinson Cano was called out for failing to touch third base en route to scoring.)
For a while in the middle innings, this looked like a classic 2007 Yankees game, one in which the pitching was just bad enough to let down the offense, or vice versa. Andy Pettitte was dreadful for a second consecutive start, as his ERA continues to regress, falling more in line with his middling peripherals. Edwar Ramirez fell from grace, allowing two hits and a walk in an inning and a third (And whether or not he's for real, Ramirez needs a good nickname. Any suggestions?), as he appeared to rely too heavily on his "Bugs Bunny change-up", as Michael Kay incessantly called it.
Luckily, Scott Proctor and Big Mo bailed him and Pettitte out, and the Yanks got a much-needed win against their five-year-long nemesis. Two more wins this weekend will get them over .500 at the break...still out of reach of the playoffs, but a moral victory perhaps.
Good pitching match-up today: Lackey against the Rocket.
Alex Rodriguez continued his personal vendetta against Colon, collecting two hits off him before crushing a home run to left field off Chris Bootcheck. ARod is now OPS-ing an asinine 1.630 vs. Chubby Colon. The rest of the offense looked solid for once, as even the Purple Rose of Miguel Cairo got in on the action with a suicide squeeze and an RBI triple (that was turned into a single when Robinson Cano was called out for failing to touch third base en route to scoring.)
For a while in the middle innings, this looked like a classic 2007 Yankees game, one in which the pitching was just bad enough to let down the offense, or vice versa. Andy Pettitte was dreadful for a second consecutive start, as his ERA continues to regress, falling more in line with his middling peripherals. Edwar Ramirez fell from grace, allowing two hits and a walk in an inning and a third (And whether or not he's for real, Ramirez needs a good nickname. Any suggestions?), as he appeared to rely too heavily on his "Bugs Bunny change-up", as Michael Kay incessantly called it.
Luckily, Scott Proctor and Big Mo bailed him and Pettitte out, and the Yanks got a much-needed win against their five-year-long nemesis. Two more wins this weekend will get them over .500 at the break...still out of reach of the playoffs, but a moral victory perhaps.
Good pitching match-up today: Lackey against the Rocket.
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