Daily Archives: August 9, 2009

It didn’t rain on Sunday but it got progressively hotter as day turned into night. And a whole lot more humid.

The Red Sox, in desperate need of  a win, had their second-best pitcher on the mound–Ace 1B–in Jon Lester. The Yanks countered with Andy Pettitte, who has been throwing the ball well of late. Pettitte wasn’t dynamite early, but he escaped trouble in the first five innings, giving up five hits and a couple of walks (93 pitches), and then retired the Sox 1-2-3 (striking out Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay) in the sixth, extending Boston’s scoreless inning streak to 30 innings. He set them down in order again in the seventh on just seven pitches.

Lester was sharper and more efficient, busting the right-handed hitters in on the hands with the fastball and mixing in his breaking stuff nicely. Through the first six, he struck out seven, five-looking, painting the outisde black with the heater. Derek Jeter reached second in the first inning, and Mark Teixeira made it to third in the fourth, but the Yanks could not bring them home. After Teixiera’s base hit, Lester retired the next nine batters.

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A lot was made in the last national election of the Democrats’ ultimately successful pursuit of a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. In a way, what the Yankees are in pursuit of tonight is similar. Having taken the first three games of this weekend’s series against the Red Sox, the Yanks are 5 1/2 games up in the AL East, but they have more to play for tonight than just a spirit-crushing sweep of their rivals. The Yanks and Sox have just six more head-to-head games left this season. If the Yankees win tonight, they’ll be up 6 1/2 games in the division, meaning if they simply match the Red Sox against third-party opponents, the Sox could sweep those last six head-to-head games and still finish behind the Yanks in the division.

Of course, they have to win tonight first. The Sunday night ESPN game brings a battle of lefties on the opposite ends of their careers. Twenty-five-year-old Jon Lester goes for the Sox. He’s 3-0 with a 3.43 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, and 10.3 K/9 in six career starts against the Yankees and has two quality starts against them already this year (13 IP, 13 H, 5 R, 2 HR, 5 BB, 17 K). In his last dozen starts, Lester is 6-2 with a 2.12 ERA and a 10.7 K/9. The Sox are 9-3 in those games.

Pettitte, 37, has a 2.36 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and 9.8 K/9 and 4.14 K/BB in his four starts since the All-Star break. His one start against Boston this year came on April 26 and saw the Yankees loose 4-1 with the Sox scoring three runs in the fifth off Pettitte, all by runners who reached base on walks, and one on Jacoby Ellsbury’s straight steal of home.

Sounds like a great way to wrap up what’s been a typically compelling showdown between these two teams.

It is overcast and breezy in the Bronx today. Rain is the the forecast. It’s the kind of day that makes me nostalgic for the summers I spent with my mother’s family in Belgium as a kid.

Good day for a cup of tea.

Yanks and Sox don’t go until tonight, so hopefully, the rain will be done by then.

In the meantime, check out this article in today’s New York Times magazine by Ron Berler about young pitchers and arm injuries. My question is this: Do young pitchers–high school, college, minor leagues–have TJ surgery on purpose? Do they take the risk hoping that they can add 5 mph on their fastball? I wonder.