Everything’s Different Now
Posted on Aug 7, 2009 5:38 pm
By Cliff Corcoran
Last night’s series opener was the most important game the Yankees have played all season. With the pitching match-up firmly in their favor, a loss, which would have pushed them to 0-9 against Boston on the season, could well have set the tone for the remainder of the series, opening up the possibility of yet another Red Sox sweep. With the win, however, they got of the schnide and reinforced their belief that they’re a different and better team than they were during those first eight games. And they didn’t just win, they crushed the Sox, 13-6.
The Red Sox are too good a team to let one lop-sided win get in their heads, but one could just as easily see a Yankee sweep today as one could see a Red Sox sweep yesterday. After all, the Yankees just keep rolling. Last night’s win extended their current winning streak to four games and also put first place out of reach for the Sox in this series (even if the Sox take the last three, they’ll leave town a half game behind the Yankees in the AL East).
The catch is A.J. Burnett, who has exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations thus far this year with one glaring exception: he’s been awful in his two starts against Boston. One of the selling points for Burnett over the winter was the fact that he’d dominated the Red Sox in four starts last year (2-0, 2.60 ERA). This year has been a different story. Staked to a 6-0 lead at Fenway Park on April 25, he coughed up eight runs. Then, on June 9, he failed to get out of the third inning, allowing five runs on five hits and five walks in just 2 2/3 innings. The Red Sox hit .382/.512/.765 against Burnett in those two starts, and though he followed the last with a string of eight quality starts (6-1, 1.68 ERA), he seems to have run out of magic just in time to rematch with Boston, having allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings to the White Sox in his last start.
Curiously, both of Burnett’s starts against Boston matched him up against his former Marlins’ teammate Josh Beckett, who is once again his mound opponent tonight. Beckett was equally awful on April 24, but pitched well in his two starts against the Yankees since, combining for this line: 12 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 13 K, 1 HR. Beckett had a rough April, but since then has gone 11-2 with a 2.28 ERA and a 4.39 K/BB over his last 16 starts.
The Yanks have their work cut out for them tonight, but thanks to last night’s win, a loss today would only mean the battle’s on, not that the battle’s over.
Ramiro Peña replaces Anthony Claggett on the Yankee roster while the Yankees run out their standard lineup. The Red Sox have designated Billy Traber and, get this, John Smoltz for assignment. They’ve been replaced by 23-year-old Japanese rookie right-hander Junichi Tazawa and former Yankee camper Chris Woodward, the latter claimed off waivers from the Mariners. Josh Reddick, who was recalled yesterday when Rocco Baldelli hit the DL, is in left tonight with Victor Martinez at first base, Kevin Youkilis at third, and Mike Lowell on the bench.
The Yankees acquired 26-year-old Louisianan righty Chad Gaudin from the Padres yesterday for a player to be named later. Given the Yankees’ lack of fifth-starter candidates, Gaudin’s a good guy to have on hand as something of a Darrell Rasner-type. He throws in the low-90s with a strong slider, which has been enough for him to overcome some of the game’s biases against short-right-handers (Gaudin is listed at 5-foot-10). That said, there may not be much there. Gaudin was rushed to the majors by the then-Devil Rays at age 20, then traded twice before he turned 23. He seemed to finally find a home with the A’s (4.00 ERA in 22 starts and 18 relief appearances), but proved just valuable enough to get shipped to the Cubs in the Rich Harden deal. In his year plus in the NL with the Cubs and Padres, he’s really struggled (5.36 ERA in 19 starts and 25 relief appearances). He gets his strikeouts, but he also walks too many guys (4.3 BB/9 career) and gives up a lot of hits, leading to an ugly 1.52 career WHIP, which, combined with the fact that he’s pitched in some pitching-friendly ballparks in Oakland and San Diego, belies what otherwise looks like a roughly league-average career ERA. I’d rather have a 26-year-old like Gaudin around than a decade-older retread like Brett Tomko, but for the remainder of this season, there may not be much difference between the two. Gaudin will arrive on Sunday and start his Yankee career in the bullpen. Here’s hoping Sergio Mitre can pitch well enough to keep him there.
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Here’s the lowdown on Smoltz being DFAed ….
http://tinyurl.com/l2d3wm
[0] Welcome back Ramiro! Let’s see some stellar play from you again so this time thay really can’t send you back down!
[1] I’m wondering if Smoltz would have been better served pitching out of the bullpen exclusively. His stuff wasn’t that horrid, but he did get gassed relatively easily. It seemed to me he just lacked a bit of arm strength because he could pump them in there on occasion…
Too bad really. He was my favorite of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz if I had to pick one.
: )
Meanwhile, the Jays placed Alex Rios on waivers, and another team put a claim in on him …. hmmm
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4384253
Good Morning, Banter Land! Another hot and humid weekend here, and unfortunately I will miss most of the game!! I faith in AJ though, he’s been a killer in the past against the BoSox…but just in case, let’s hope he can channel some of the energy that Herbie and the boys bring here and put the team on his back!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy0qsrny58I
Looking forward to catching up on 700+ likely comments later tonight!!
[3] Fascinating. The Jays would do well to let him go given the ridiculous contract he’s under. With Lind and Snider around to man the corners, they should move one of Rios or Wells anyway, but both have what seemed to be prohibitively expensive contracts that bore little relation to their actual production. Now they have a real chance to clear some of that money and try to build something quickly around Lind, Snider, Hill, Halladay, and Romero.
schadenfreude
[3] I think you’re confusing Rios with Wells. Rios’ contract isn’t that bad. Especially when compared to Wells.
[6] Yes, it appears the sky is falling in Boston
Chris Woodward (47 OPS+), Nick Green (71 OPS+), and Angel Berroa (5 OPS+) found gainful employment, I don’t know what the big deal was with Cody Ransom wearing pinstripes…
[7] They’re both bad for what they contribute on the field. And I agree on Ransom.
Speaking of the sky falling, I haven’t checked out Boston Dirt Dogs in, well, a dog’s age, but taking a look today felt like old times. Uberchadenfreude.
It does feel good to see them struggling but they’re still leading in the WC and can be a very dangerous team in the playoffs with Beckett and Lester. The heart of the lineup continues to send shivers with pedroia, martinez, and youkilis, and even though he’s struggling, Ortiz is very dangerous.
The yanks should take advantage of these games (although the match-ups favor the red sox in 2 of the next 3 games), and gain some more games.
looking ahead before their next series, the schedule is better for the yanks. they should take some distance
well melky followed up his cycle with hitting the shot that helped contribute to smoltzie being dfa’d.
i also think it might have made sense to pitch smoltz out of the pen. and yeah i really like him a lot too.
rios’ contract is too much for what he does, but it is not obscene like wells’. i think rios is better than his nosedive this season suggests. though i am an alex rios fan, partially for reasons that have nothing to do with baseball.
anyhow – let’s get to beckett early and often and hope that douche doesn’t plunk somebody defending the honor of dusty
[10] If the Yankees were smart, which they are not, Burnett should get the first plunk in very early to get the bench warnings out of the way, protect his lineup, and tighten the zone for Beckett.
I’m just sayin’…
: )
yeah why wasn’t that melky’s ball?
Hey, Team. Listening to Ma and Pa. Did Swisher botch that popup?
Also, it’s sad to see Smoltz go out like that.
aj please walk fewer people tonight than joba – okay, thanks.
[13] nah – the ball was sort of in no man’s land
Here we go
good – needed that dp
Wow @ Yankees and the strike zone!
Uncanny, really…
i don’t think i can take this again
k hv.cj j c juchc v
thank the lord big fatty is so slow
Good thing Tubby never hustles
Plate Tectonics are faster…
what is it with the walks!! they seem to be trying to break a record.
now, let’s get some offense
generous zone there
[25] Disgusting, that. I’m sick of other teams getting calls at The Stadium!
it was generous, nasty pitches though.
c’mon aj, strikes
I almost strangled Cano just then. I mean in the top of the first. I think had they not gotten the out at first, trouble would be afoot. Though it may be anyway. Burnett seems to be having trouble with the strike zone … I think these righty Yankee pitchers are all scared of The NEW Yankee Stadium …
This might be my least favorite player in baseball.
It’s funny how these two pitchers’ pitches reflect each’s delivery.
Parse that and get back to me.
who c-tek or this goofy (yet fast) kid reddick?
[31] is for [29] mattpat
[30] hard to say – but i got you – nice observation
The thing about Burnett is it’s actually somewhat likely that he could match or even do better than Beckett. When he’s on, he’s untouchable. It’s just a question of which AJ we get.
[29] I hate that chicken shit, mask wearin’ while he’s fightin’, non-catchin’, non-throwin’, non hittin’, strike beggin’, million time mound visitin’, schlub of a “Captain,” too Mattpat!
: )
[32] Captain Facemask
[33] To clarify: There are three Burnetts. Dominant Burnett, Meltdown Burnett and the mysterious Gritty Burnett.
[32] Thanks
ARod needs a day off… badly.
Beckett’s gonna throw a perfect game
It’s nice to see an ace on his game. : ( grrrrrrrrrrrr
[34] [35] he really is an epic ass of an douchenozzle
never fear melky is up next inning :}
beckett looks good but I like the approach by the yanks. at least they are not helping him swinging at balls
thankfully nick green came back to earth – him being good just didn’t seem right
[36] and you can get the three of them during the course of one game…
damnit why are you walking dusty?
Trying to throw strikes is like when Bill Veeck hired the midget
way out! woo!
Out by alot
Eat some dirt, Dustbin.
scamper back to the dugout dusty!!
wait a minute – mk indicated the only red sock that really steals is ellsbury – but i thought they were young and athletic, not like the yankees