Might we see Javy Vazquez in long relief today given that the Yankees are skipping his next turn? The Yanks have put off activating Chan Ho Park until tomorrow to keep Ivan Nova on the roster for today, so probably not.

More good stuff on the Yanks reasons for skipping Vazquez from Joel Sherman here.

[1] interesting.
i can't say i was overly pleased to see they were skipping javy - after a good start it seems you would try to build on that and keep him in as close to a normal routine as possible.
the whole batting in the nl park seems a bit silly to me (i don't think there any of these guys will be as clearly uncomfortable as cmw looked to be if they get on based); wanting andy to be lined up against lefty heavy lineups seems to make some sense - but it is hard not to think these are all convenient reasons to skip javy against the sox.

oh my - we are getting the replacement twinns (thames and winn) today - with pena in the lineup at ss (jeter as dh)

I wish no harm to the Meat-Tray, but even if Ivan "Super" Nova were given a chance to start and proved himself no better than the Tray, I'd still be more excited by the prospect of the Nova start, because he might still become something of "good" value to the Yankees down the road.

A Meat-Tray start is like a Snacks Pontoon start, yeah, the outcome might be adequate from a rational perspective, but the process is just so uninspiring you just can't help but over-react negatively to the prospect of it.

[4] yeah i am in watching the game today and i feel very uninspired

Sigh, the Sergio Mitre Experience.

Wait, a 1-2-3 first inning from Sergio?

Gritner must be messing with the space-time continuum again.

[7] a 12 pitch 1,2,3 inning.
that gritner is an amazing dude.

Meat-tré seems to pitch with more confidence than Javy. I don't know how I'll feel after the first 5 innings, but Javy scares the scrap out of me as soon as he's out there - and I like Javy and thought it was a great trade.

yay, i get the game on tbs, in hd, no less!

More than creating favorable matchups with the other starters (do you really think the Yankees are planning their rotation based on the Indians), I think Javy is being skipped to avoid having him pitch at YS for as long as possible. Under the current arrangement, Javy wont pitch in the Bronx until June 1 against Baltimore. I am sure the Yankees are hoping he'll have three solid starts heading into that game. The fact that it is the Orioles doesn't hurt either.

[9] Well, that was crap. I meant crap not scrap, so scratch that.

Mauer and Morneau are going to have a field day today.

that was unlucky

shocking

Wow, Morneau is just good. That was Serge's fault.

i must admit that I moved a Twin off my fantasy team bench for this game. Can't help but think the worse.

[16] SHIT, SHIT!!! wasn't is what i meant.

[18] meat-tray has you all f'd up :}

jeter woulda had that! ; )

[20] pasta running pena?

[19] yeah he does. I keep having to correct every one of my comments. Let's hope I have it all figured out by now.

nice stab, robbie!

The white flag in this game is less of a Meat-Tray thing, and more of a "half the lineup will be lucky to hit the ball out of the infield" thing.

[24] ironically, i look at Mitre on the mound and think we need our BEST lineup to win. oh well.

blackburn's the dude boBBy hit in the face with a line drive...right? man, that was SCARY! i remember boBBy running to first base w/ his hands over his face...like OMFG!!!! thankfully, dude was okay.

that was pretty hilarious! though the strikeout wasn't...

[24] btw, your research sounds awesome. I love that kind of stuff.

groundzilla : /

Blackburn is on my fantasy team, seeing him do well doesn't hurt quite as much.

[26] yeah - every time he pitches i think of that.

A lot of movement in Blackburn's pitches.

PERFECT GAME OVAH!

po is quietly swinging a good bat the last few games he is played in.

ha mk knows it is biceps.

If Bill O'Reilly were a play-by-play man then he'd be Michael Kay, a highly opinionated douche.

[28] Thanks, glad it sounds interesting to someone outside the field!

[11] good point. i think that's probably right, although i also think he'd have to pitch extraordinarily well in those 3 starts to keep the booing down in june. i was at his first home start, which wasn't even that bad, and he was getting booed early and often.

thames and winn. hell yeah!

YAY!

wow - good for winn!!

nice score truck triple.

Yeah, baby! WINN expectancy!!!

[42] 67%

[24] Your spring with the mosses has left you open to the sins of overstatement!

=)

And with that, I'm off to wash the dogs & mow the lawn.

Yo!
I've been watching, but doing other stuff at the same time. I'm very happy that Cult got the "Winn Expectancy" deal in there. Sweet.

Flipping back and forth to the Sox game, too: Lackey just walked Avilla on twelve pitches. After walking Mig-Cab.

Oh lord. Some kid comes up for his first MLB at bat for the Tiggers, bases juiced and two outs. Taps the ball weakly to the right side of the IF. Youk gets it, tosses to Lackey covering... but Lackey misses the base.
Now Johnny D comes up, bases still loaded...

Randy Winn might only have a handful of moments for the Yanks this year. Nice to appreciate it when he does something good. What a good feeling, watching a cut away shot to the outfield and seeing the ball rolling slowly away from the fielders and knowing two runs were going to score and that Winn would end up with a triple.

[47] that's terrific news. i hope johnny takes javy lackey deep, in a grand fashion!

another walk! good goin' damon.

[48] Yes!
One of the joys of baseball.

Lackey walks Damon! BB RBI. Nice.

Johnny Cakes with the base on balls.

Alex, I'm prepping some meat for grilling souvlaki later. It's making me really hungry. Greek herbs, lemon, yogurt. Onions and peppers separate.

Thelarmis, I know you'd love it too, of course.

Jetah wuz robbed. So it goes when youse slumpin'.

[48] i agree alex. i don't think he is that good anymore and it is tough to be a part-time/fill-in player, but anytime someones makes a solid contribution it is nice to see.

[53] before i saw you call me out, i was thinking about my response to the ICK you're cooking. yuck!

span just slept on jeter's dog.

i love it when Tex is hitting!

Booooo! Choke-Rod. Boooooooo!

Who am I listening to on TBS? Anybody know?

yeah, robbie!

[53] oh, and i just saw the tasters choice (i don't like cherce, jernt, pernt, etc.) for today and - no, i've never had a pop tart in my life. yuchy!

Oh, it's Boomer! That's one of them, anyway.

[60] brian anderson is the main guy. buck martinez and boomer wells.

it's not bad!

We're really lucky to have a guy like Mitre who can step it up for a spot start.

[63] Yeah, they don't suck.

55 pitches thru 4. just got thru most of the heart of the order.

keep it up!

I take it back, these announcers are kind of dumb. I wish Boomer would talk more.

Dammit, Randy ... that pitch should'a REALLY upped the WIIN expectancy.

Just sayin'.

err, WINN expectancy.

i don't watch the tbs game that much - but i kinda always found buck martinez a bit annoying.

[67] well, yeah. but it's better than jon/joe, timmay/fuck, fister caray. boomer is cool. buck is always a moron. the other guy is pleasant enough and easy to ignore...

That's clothing you don't see often near the Yanks dugout and batter's box - the gentleman with his kids all wearing a turban.

Mitre is pitching Javy out of NY.

Or maybe he's pitching Javy to that other NY baseball team.

[71] Oh, it's way better than Fox or ESPN.

That shift was ridiculous. Right to Rob.

that was a nice pitch.

meat-tray has some good movement today.

Racer X !!! Paul Gilbert!!! greatest R'nR guitar shredder - EVER!!! : )

Randy Winn looked more like he was fair catching a punt.

I dunno, I think this is a case of Deli Platter getting a little bit of the luck that he was so unfairly deprived of last year.

Dave Eisland: Stop pitching like Javy.
Meat-tray: Mr. Eisland, the bases aren't loaded, yet.

Come on, Deli Platter! Just get out of this inning.

that's not good.

please get outta this now and be done with it.

i hope the luck is not about to run out...

There you go.

whew!

5 innings, 74 pitches.

think he starts the 6th?

i wish we had Ace around...

Re: Mike and John's discussion of hard-to-hit home runs in New YS:

Here's Tex's home run from yesterday:

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/hrdetail.php?id=2010_997

He hit it into the first row of a deck that is 65 feet off the ground. The upper deck is 85 feet off the ground and is a few feet further from home plate.

FWIW the longest home run hit at the New Yankee Stadium was by Raul Ibanez, off CMW on 5/22/09, traveled 477 feet to right-center.

nice hustle, el nino!

good call, blue!

nicely placed, jeter!

That was pretty.

Tigers up on Sox 5-1.

c'mon Tex!!!

beautiful, all the way around!

great baserunning.

sweet.

let's go A-Rod!!!

Did Span misplay that?

The center fielder was unable to span the distance to the ball.

ah, crap.

[91] no. he actually caught it. the ground caused it to come out.

the sun is tough out there. kubel didn't back it up very well and there was some hesitation on everyone's part, but it was still close and not too terrible...

i was hoping for more runs there...

Afternoon, all.

[94] He did misplay he. He pulled up for a second and then went for it. Had he not pulled up momentarily, he has plenty of time to make a nice catch.

it's still the non-vegan.

[97] then why'd you ask?

[76] What are the criteria exactly?

What's the sub definition of "rock-n-roll shredder"?

You can't let Mitre face Mauer here.

Robertson?

Now*?

Really?

I'd rather see CHoP ...

*if he comes in ...

[99] shit. paul gilbert just rules. i should just tell you about him on the phone one night, or something. i'm actually not that big a racer x fan - it's his solo stuff that i adore. he's just absolutely *amazing*, all the way around, as a musician. highly inspirational to me!

Seems like another case of Girardi being unprepared.

[101] i thought chan ho(mer) wasn't being activated til tomorrow...?

[101] is chop off the dl?

[102] yeah, but what would be the difference between "best rock-n-roll guitarist and best rock-n-roll "shredder" guitarist? That was what I was trying to get at.

i didn't think non-vegan shoulda started that inning. i figured he was done.

no lefty here...

[104] [105] Gah. I think you're right!

[105] He has diarrhea and the fru.

[106] oh. 'shredder', is the ridiculously fast chops w/ guitar histrionics and sweep arpeggios. neo-classical tendencies, as well.

He goes with Robertson?

i have long been a dave robertson fan - but he just doesn't seem to be a good option here - it seems if he doesn't get a bit more *consistent* the yanks should give someone else a shot and let him work it out in aaa

[109] once Chan Ho(mer) comes back (tomorrow, most likely), i am always going to refer to him, simply as: "Pepto" !!!

'cept when he gives up the long ball and i'll go back to Chan Ho(mer).

Let's go David Robertson!!!

[109] lots of diarrhea.

[112] you're only a fan 'coz of his 'bama ties! ; )

In a very similar spot on Monday, Leyland went right to Zumaya. There's no reason why Girardi can't go to Joba here.

David Robertson, where have you gone?

Lackey isn't having a good day.

christ almighty. that's infuriating.

[119] neither are the Muts!

[117] i was thinking the same thing!

[116] only a little - it's more because he is so little and his fastball has/had so much late life.

[110] Hmmm. I guess I'm just unused to hearing that in conjunction with "rock-n-roll" Who else would fall into the category of "rock-n-roll shredder"?

d-rob we need you to be d-nice here.

[117] Is *this* "TEH EIGHTH!"?????

Seriously, are you in favor of dogs and cats living together?!?!??!?!?

Robertson has no idea where the ball is going...is Girardi the only one who doesnt see it?

[123] i should've just said "shredder", left the r'nr out of it...

[124] D-Nice? We need D-Nasty.

whew - nice.

siddown.

Lovely, David, Lovely!

Wow! What a pitch.
Good job, Dave.

Good job, D-Rob. Looked like a strike from where I'm sitting.

[127] I coulda placed that easier ... which isn't to bust yer balls or nuthin', was just curious!

[133] yeah, it looked better to the naked eye. it was definitely outside on the tbs box. but, i'll take it!

Cliff Lee is just dealing.

oh, that is truly wonderful!!! : )

Better ta be lucky than good!

SWEET!!!

Ah yes, it is better to be luck than good.

yeah -i'll take it.

[135] Looked like a strike live to me too, but Gameday agrees with TBS.

I knew D-Rob would make it an easy inning. Easy DP ball, Robertson really makes it all look so easy.

We all love Dave Robertson!

Cy Robertson!

[134] well, you're kinda right. most shredders are heavier players. paul gilbert is more r'nr and commercial than many of the other guys, so that's why i wrote it that way...

that said, there are some other major shredders that have dabbled in straighter r'nr, like - richie kotzen, blues saraceno, marty friedman, jason becker.

tony macalpine and vinnie moore are mostly straight up 'shredders'...

[135] According to PitchFX, the ball was well off the plate, but an earlier ball was actually a strike.

playing the right way pays off again.

didn't look like castilla could see it.

Ye Olde Texas Leaguer!

i am surprise po didn't do something crazy on the basepaths there though.

[145] What would you label someone like Buckethead?

Eh, Winn shoulda had more than he's gotten so far.

Nicely turned DP.

[151] buckethead is one of paul's old students!!! they're close friends.

I'm back. What's this, Mitre pitched well?

Where has that fastball been!

braves beating up on dan haren.

hinske is doing really well with his newfound playing time. i was surprised we didn't even give a thought to retaining him...

why is joba wearing a protective sleeve over his right elbow?

[157] Definitely a mistake...perhaps Hinske wanted more playing time. It does seem as if the Yankees were a little penny foolish this off season.

c'mon d-rob. don't unravel.

Why are the Yankees desperate to only use Joba for one inning (Kay quoting Girardi)?

[159] he wasn't getting a lot of playing time in atlanta. but mclouth and melky have been beyond pathetic. hinske is making the most of it, for sure.

Good deal.

[154] Interesting. I'd be willing to label Buckethead a "rock-n-roll shredder" FWIW. Which is also a blessing AND a curse, FWIW ...

=)

Hi Graeme!
Hi Boomer!

Jeter's ABs are not getting better.

Hi Graeme!

oi! Oi!! OI!!!

Hit 'em where d'ere at ...

Ugh. Not so hot Teix.

[167] You know we have a new Aussie, right?

[166] he has had some good abs in the twins series.

Greg Golson LIDR. Good move.

[172] i think the gob would be a good lidr for thames.

[170] Of course!

[171] Maybe 2 or 3, but that's not encouraging from an entire series.

NO, Mr Kay ... he DIDN'T.

It's like 2008 NEVER happened ... fuck.

[170] who is it?

Put him away. Do it.

And of course, the silliness you BOTH just spewed doesn't explain how this year Hughes is sitting 93-94 through 7 innings after *never* being close to that as a starter before his trip to the bullpen last year ...

Urge. To. Kill. Rising

oh god. i'm soooo sick of hearing about joba starter/bullpen crap. just shut up and let him pitch.

[177] Lindsay.

[177] Shane Lindsay. The pitcher we picked up off the Rockies' scrap heap.

Was that three sliders in a row? Everytime Joba falls in love with the slider, he doesn't pitch as well.

DAMMIT. Had his ass.
Denard Span is pretty good, even if his name does look like an anagram.

whew. got the lead runner.

giambi would've thrown it to left!

I like having a 1B who can throw.

Mauer and Morneau for the tie...this is Joba's biggest test of the season.

Everyone wants to pitch Mauer outside. I'd like to see Joba try to blow an inside heater by him.

Hm, the outside-the-box move would have been to use Mo this inning, Joba next inning! Mauer and Morneau, you want Mo for that.

uh-oh.

Mauer is great, but you can't pitch around him witha two run lead and Morneau on deck.

[189] yes. or even use Mo here and let someone else get the last out or two in the 9th.

(gulp.)

[189] Girardi isn't creative enough for that.

[191] I think that was just Joba's control ...

Please no slider!

[192] Yeah, but that means you have to trust someone untrustworthy.
My way's better.

Joba!
Beautiful.

yeah Joba!!!

1 more. thank you, please!

[193] That's unfair. Ain't NO manager managing right now that would be willing to do THAT, regardless of how much sense it makes.

Is Boomer maybe a little drunk?

Joba!

[196] of course it is. who's the aussie? i can't remember...

[199] Yeah, I was gonna say that. Nobody's that creative.

[200] maybe?!

[202] Dude. I just told you, and so did Cult.
Shane Lindsay.

[199] Why is it unfair? Just because most managers aren't creative enough either doesn't absolve Girardi.

ouchie!

"Shane" is a very Aussie name. Also 'Graeme', for that matter.

If Cuddyer walks, I go to Mo.

[205] ah. i didn't see those posts when i refreshed. i thought i had gone back enough.

i guess no greek herbs, lemon and yogurt for me.

it was all in my grand plan to piss you off! muwahahaha!!!!

OMG.
Where was Joba??? Not covering.

well, that sucks.

Tex should have had that...now is the time for Mo.

it's Mo!!!

Mo time.

Teix should have had that!

Had to be Mo time. No question about it.

But why didn't Joba cover first???

[206] Exactly.

[211] If that was the case, there's no excuse.

ONE of the best all-time? fuck you, buck.

THEEEEEEE BEST!!!! EVER!!!!

Don't know if it was on purpose, but MLB.tv didn't cut to commercial as Mo was coming in, so got to hear some "shredding" Metallica.

This must be one of the highest leverage situations possible.

ooh. i wanted that 2nd pitch.

That 1-0 looked REALLY good.

Where the hell was that pitch?

Gulp.

[221] no shredders in 'tallica!!! just a wanky kirk hammett, with his foot perpetually on the wah-wah pedal.

Cannot lose a game in which Mitre pitched well.

Damn.
Hoo boy. Here we go.

oh no.

Thome got all the close ones in that AB.

TBS zone says it was outside, f/X says it was on the corner of the zone.

[232] I meant ball 4, of course.

[227] Heh. Now we agree. Hammett isn't a shredder! Nothing wrong with good wah work, but Kirk ran out of interesting ideas round about 1986 ...

Oh my god.

Wow, that sucked.

Shocking.

Gaugh!

This sucks

OMG.

shades of cleveland a few years back. : /

Wow.

Holy Ugh!

Huh?!?!?!?

Speechless.

Wow. Annual "What's Wrong With Mo?" column in 5...4...3...

Maybe next time Eiland just let Mariano handle things himself.

Sergio Mitre has pitched better today than Mariano Rivera. Space-time continuum all clusterfucked up.

for some reason, i didn't have a good feeling about this. fuck. this sucks.

who pitches the 9th?

Kay, STFU!

[242] More likely, WTF is still wrong with Joba?

You knew it would take something dramatic for the Twins to finally win a game, but the real goat of the game is really Teixeira. The ball he missed was not a difficult play.

Well, let's score some runs and win the MF!

I smell COMEBACK!

TIME FOR PIE!!!!

we can still pull this out...

I really wonder what Eiland said to Mariano.

[252] Have you seen the bottom of the lineup :(

[253] He said "Mo, try not pitch like Javy here".

Cano is jogging leisurely to 1B again.

[256] I saw Cano spit on the infield too.

[257] It wasn't on the pitcher's mound, was it? That's private property.

[254] well, i was thinking 3 back-to-back solo jobs by a-rod, cano & po. : )

Hey Nick! Good move.

Ah.
I think this is a mistake by Gardenhire.

So ... Miranda's going to hit here ... is he going to play the OF next???

[260] i wish.

but, it's Miranda to make it a 1-run game...

Great job by the Yankees letting it be know that Swisher can't swing left handed.

I need a "Swish-A-Licious" from Sterling here.

Holy cow, what happened? Mo in in the 8th? And gave up a salami?

[266] Yes. He had to be brought in with the bases loaded, two out.
Please don't ask for further elaboration.

By the way, every pitch to Thome but the first was a strike, according to PitchFX.

Oh, god.
He hasn't come NEAR the zone yet. Swish would have an easy walk.

bollocks.

disappointing ballgame.

Unbelievable!
Didn't get close to the strike zone.

The Yankees need to make a move...the bench is non existent.

I wonder if our man Alex Belth brought his glove. He's at the game and could play outfield in the ninth...

Sox lose.

[273] He is?? He commented earlier. iPhone?

[274] rays just tied it up at 1.

el nino in right. jetes at SS. nova on the mound.

Ramiro! Cool. Uh, no DH now. Is that wise?

ugh. i just saw #41 and had flashbacks to jose veras. i think that's what he wore...

[275] Guess I confused it with yesterday's game.

http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2010/05/15/waiting-for-lefty-2/

i hate buck martinez's smoker's cough.

Oh, the DH slot is the Golson/Thames/Swisher/Miranda slot. So, okay.

oh, jesus. damn piranha...

Our season is over, I can't believe we're going to lose this game.

that's quite a lead for punto

[284] fire girardi! hughes for teh eighth!

Sigh. I guess it wasn't the Joba of old today. What a waste of a fairly decent Mitre start.

and the Rays take the lead on cliff lee...

great. so now span can steal now...

shocking.

robbie's gonna win a gold glove.

[288] The Rays are going to be tough if they stay healthy.

So what happened with Joba? Rivera? I mean more how did it look? Did they both look bad or "unlucky" or what?

dwight randolph winn

[293] mo kinda got rattled w/ the thome at-bat. he got squeezed and ended up walking in a run.

joba coulda gotten out of it. weird shot to Tex. joba didn't cover 1st. it perpetuated things...

damn, wish that nino rip stayed fair...

yeah, kid!!!

William, have you seen the bottom of our order??

i can't stand tattoos, but i'll never understand them on the side of the neck.

OUCH!!!!!

c'mon Cap!!!

C'mon, Cap'n.

I have faith.