The Yankees have been off since Sunday, and tonight was A.J. Burnett’s first start since July 8th. Perhaps as a result it was a little reminiscent of the Tin Man’s first scene in The Wizard of Oz (“He said ‘oil can’!”)*. Given that his stuff was a bit on the fuzzy side, and that he allowed six hits and five walks while striking out just one batter, it’s some combination of impressive and lucky that he got through six innings and kept the Yankees right in the game. New York started off the second half of the season with another comeback win and beat the Tigers 5-3.
Lucas French tossed a nice five innings for Detroit and held the Yankees to just one earned run – Hideki Matsui’s RBI single in the first, which tied the game at 1-1. But the Tigers kept chipping away at Burnett. New York added another run in the fifth, when Johnny Damon scored after a Mark Teixeira single and an error by left fielder Josh Anderson, but they still trailed 3-2.
It wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Bombers broke through, off of Joel Zumaya (a player whose career I’ve followed with interest, not only because he’s fun to watch but because he suffered one of the oddest injuries in baseball history… I mean, injuries are not generally funny, of course, but come on). As rain started to come down hard, Jeter singled with one of those classic inside-out swings of his, and Damon doubled. Then Teixeira, with his third big hit of the night, took a remarkably graceful swing at a 99 mph 3-1 fastball and knocked it into the second deck in right field.
That gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead, and that’s how things would stay, as Phil Hughes was decidedly un–rusty. He pitched two full innings, and though he allowed three hits he also struck out six Tigers – and reached 97 mph (on the YES radar gun, anyway) for the first time anyone can remember.
Mariano Rivera came in to pitch the ninth and it went pretty much like you’d expect.
Boston won, too, so the Yankees remain three games out of first, but they’ve also got a 3.5-game lead over Texas and Tampa Bay for the Wild Card. More importantly, regular baseball is back. Whose idea was it to schedule an off-day right after the All-Star break, anyway? The person or persons responsible should be led to a basement room and forced to listen to a loop of Chris Berman’s Home Run Derby calls until they’re prepared to offer a heartfelt apology.
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*Please note that I am in no way trying to imply that the tinsmith forgot to give Burnett a heart.
Great victory, Go Go CC tomorrow!
Hot and humid here, nothing to do but watch the summer Sumo on tv..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkJKL332qk4
remember fellows, it's not the size, it's the technique..
This is a bit nuts. Albert Pujols numbers: .334 34 89 .458 .740
[1] Speaking of which, I worked on the Harrison Ford movie that's filming in and around New York right now, and guess who was in one of the scenes? Manny Yarbrough. Dude is HUGE!!! And, as you can imagine, he sent his poor co-star in that scene to the hospital (you wouldn't believe me if I told you who it was, and it wasn't Han Solo, my friend). Suffice to say, you'll have to wait and see the movie when it comes out (hope that scene actually makes it into the movie). I'll give you a hint: look in Variety or Hollywood Reporter to see what Dr. Indiana Jones is filming at the moment... >;)
It would be great if Clete Thomas would change his name to Clete Flanderson. Now that would be an outfield.
[0]
Apparently Zumaya hurt himself during the game ...
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-tigers-zumaya&prov=ap&type=lgns
[4]
Classic! LOL ....well-played!
I'm just reimagining a scene in "The Matrix"
Agent Smith : As you can see, we've had our eye on you for some time now, Mr. Anderson. It seems you have been living..two lives. In
one life, you're Josh Anderson, outfielder for a respectable baseball team ....you have a social security number, you pay your taxes, and you help your landlady carry out her garbage. The other life is lived in computers, where you go by the hacker alias 'Neo', and are guilty of virtually every computer crime we have a law for.
One of these lives has a future....the other does not...
Neo: I'm not Mr. Anderson . . . I'm Granderson . . . or perhaps you meant a friend of mine, Mr. Flanderson. We all happen to work for the same company, so I could see how you could make that mistake . . . And as far as my future goes, I've been an All-Star and have a long-term contract, so . . .
[5] He should have left the guitars in the Yankee Stadium Hard Rock Cafe alone!
All your relievers are belong to us. Rookie pitchers, not as much. But relievers, all are belong to us.
Pete Abe linked to this cool Costas/Obama interview: http://mlbnetwork.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=5573765
[1] Great bout OK Jazz!
It just goes to show, the bigger they are, the slower they spin!
: )
*throws pillow*
Okay Burnett, you've proven you can "gut it out" ... twice in a row, in fact. Now go back to dominating, please.
That was Teix's second HR in July after only 4 in June (none since June 12th). I hope he is about to go on a HR tear. With their starting pitching so suspect beyond CC and AJ, they really need it.
No Yankees on extra innings today. Day games seem to be blacked out really often. Anyone know why? This is frustrating...
FOX blacks out all the games on extra innings on Saturdays that start before 7 PM, so you have to watch their games (or listen online).