Unpretty.
From In The Loop:
Simon: It’ll be easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.
Toby: No, it won’t. It’ll be difficult-difficult-lemon-difficult. That is what it will be.
Nothing’s coming easy to the Yankees just now, even when they score 12 runs. So this wasn’t one of your cleaner games, and it didn’t restore massive amounts of confidence — but the bottom line is, they didn’t blow a 7-0 lead. They came as close as you possibly can without actually doing so, but the Tigers never did quite catch up, and New York won 12-8. Of course, just because it could have been much worse, doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been better.
CC Sabathia didn’t have the stuff he had Friday night, when I was at the Stadium and watched him pitch a strong, controlled complete game against the Mariners. The Tigers are also not the Mariners, though. That’s a serious lineup that can do a lot of damage if given half a chance, and they got plenty of chances in this one. On top of Detroit’s bloops, dings, and other weird sound effects, the Yankees threw in some errors (Robinson Cano, Casey McGehee) and sloppy play for good measure.
Sabathia made it into the seventh before things started to seriously unravel. He had given up three runs going into the inning, and when he was pulled his line was 6.2 IP, eight hits, five runs — though even here he maintained a sterling ratio of one walk to seven strikeouts. When he left, things became even less raveled under unlucky reliever David Robertson.
But Rafael Soriano continues to be way more reliable than I would have dreamed back when Rivera went down, and the lineup never rested on its laurels. Every Yankee batter had at least one hit; Curtis Granderson knocked in four runs, and Mark Teixeira and Eric Chavez (again!) claimed two each. Anibal Sanchez was cooked after three innings, and the Detroit pen lost the war of attrition.
The Yankees are 64-46, so there’s no need to panic, and never was. They do need to sharpen their game back up, though, or that record — like Tony Janiro post-Jake LaMotta— won’t be pretty no more.
Some really nice long at bats for the Yanks too. Especially Chavez late in the game with an RBI ground out. But he fouled off, what, six or seven pitches?
Tough game to watch but really good job by the offense. The fielding...not so slick.
Yanks record w/ Pettitte: 27-14 .659
Yanks record w/o Pettitte: 37-32 .536
Of course Pettitte didn't pitch all those games, but he improved the rotation by replacing the weakest link w/ a good pitcher and, for whatever reason, both Nova and Hughes responded to his presence with their best performances. And they played the National League.
[2] Never discount the awesome advantage of getting to play the National League. I think this is just the typical August dry spell, and in a week it will be over and mostly forgotten.
[0] Emma! How lovely to see a recap from you.
[2] You're on to something there, especially the Nova and Hughes part.
In the Loop is a treat, and if you like it, check out the sort-of-related but sort-of-separate series The Thick of It. It's on BBC America and may be on their on-demand menu.