Daily Archives: July 8, 2010

Last week, After Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez became the first pitchers in a decade to toss consecutive complete games against the Yankees, I pointed out the following about their recent performance.

In their last six combined starts, Lee and Hernandez have gone 5-0 with five complete games. In the sixth game, Hernandez allowed just one run in nine innings, but the Mariners lost in 13.

Both pitchers have made one start since then. Lee beat the Tigers, holding them to one run over eight innings, striking out 11 against one walk. Hernandez allowed a whopping two runs in seven innings to the Royals in a game the Mariners’ bullpen blew immediately in the eighth.

The Yankees will have to run the Lee/Hernandez gauntlet again this weekend in the middle two games of a four-game set against the Mariners that will conclude the first half for both teams. That puts the onus on them to make hay against bookend starters Jason Vargas and Ryan Rowland-Smith, the latter of whom held the Yanks to two runs over six innings in the finale of last week’s series only to be out-dueled by CC Sabathia. Rowland-Smith has posted a 4.15 ERA in seven starts since returning to the rotation from a May stint in the bullpen, but he has walked four more men than he has struck out and allowed seven home runs, including one to Robinson Cano, in those seven starts.

Tonight, the Yankees and All-Star Andy Pettitte (10-2, 2.82 ERA) take on Jason Vargas, the former Marlin and Met lefty who came to Seattle in the massive J.J. Putz trade. Vargas, now 27, has proven to be a perfect Mariners pitcher in that he throws strikes (2.3 BB/9) and lets his defense and ballpark take care of the rest. Opponents are hitting .263 on balls in play against Vargas, and the lefty has gone 5-1 with a 2.30 ERA at home (against 1-3, 4.50 on the road), though to his credit he’s also just flat-out nails against lefty batters, holding them to a .173/.204/.288 line this season with 18 strikeouts against just three walks.

Despite Vargas’s dominance of lefthanders, Curtis Granderson starts in center (after sitting to start Wednesday night’s game). Robinson Cano returns to the lineup after a 24-hour Derbyitis bug. Alex Rodriguez will be the DH with Ramiro Peña filling in at third base. Brett Gardner drops to eighth against the lefty, hitting between Gardner and Peña.

Oh, and Nick Swisher won his popularity contest.

(more…)

Morning Sun, By Edward Hopper (1952)

Wonderful version of a classic tune…

Over at SI.com Cliff takes a look at second-half X-factors who could decide playoff chases. First up, that man Joba:

On Tuesday night, Mariano Rivera announced that he’s going to skip the All-Star Game due to some minor injuries. Rivera has been pitching through the pain and doesn’t expect to go on the disabled list, but he’s unable to pitch more than one inning per appearance, and Yankee manager Joe Girardi has to be extra careful with the 40-year-old’s workload. That means Chamberlain, whose frustrating inconsistency has followed him back to the bullpen, will not only have to get out of his own jams, but could be called upon to close at points in the second half (he has already picked up two saves in the first half). While Rivera has been his usual dominant self thus far, the rest of the Yankee pen has been struggling, hurt, or both (see: Park, Chan Ho) for much of the season. Chamberlain dominated out of the pen before the Yankees moved him into the rotation in mid 2008 (1.32 ERA, 12.1 K/9 in 47 2/3 IP). In an AL East race in which the three best teams in baseball are separated by just three games and at least one will miss the playoffs entirely, Chamberlain needs to find that old consistency and fast to help ensure that the reigning world champions will be back in the playoffs to defend their title.

I was cruisin’ around Saveur’s website and saw this:

From a most delicious blog called Joy the Baker.

Check, check it out.

Can someone, anyone, give me just one good reason why LeBron James would choose to come to the Knicks rather than Miami, Chicago or Cleveland.

Just looking for one good reason as we wait for the ESPN stroke-a-thon tonight at 9.

There is an air of playful desperation about Nick Swisher’s campaign to be an All-Star. I don’t know that he deserves it over Paul Konerko or Kevin Youkilis but if Swisher doesn’t get in it sure won’t be for a lack of trying. And if he does make it, man, I assumed he’ll be teased by his fellow All-Stars (not to mention his teammates) to no end. Swisher comes across like a goofball without guile, at least I think his Polly Positive schtick is not an act. Which is probably why he can pull it off. My wife loves him for it; me, I’m not so sure. I’m not as hard on him as I was last year, but I’m still cautious.  But so long as he keeps playing like he’s done for the first half of the season, you won’t hear me bitchin’.

Swisher had three hits last night, including a home run and double, Mark Teixeira also homered and AJ Burnett pitched well for his third straight game as the Yanks completed a nifty, three-game sweep of the Oakland A’s.

Final Score: Yanks 6, A’s 2.

Man, you don’t see that often. The Yanks sweeping on the West Coast. They head off to Seattle in what’ll be their last west coast stop of the year. Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez wait but the Yanks are playing well. Here’s hoping they end the first half with no less than a series split.