So much for that pitchers’ duel.
In 13 starts this season prior to Tuesday night, Roy Halladay had allowed more than two earned runs in just two of them and allowed a total of three home runs on the entire season. Tuesday night, he matched his season worst six earned runs allowed with four of those runs scoring in a trio of Yankee homers that doubled his season total.
I’d like to know who saw that coming.
Halladay cruised through the first on ten pitches, eight of them strikes, then got Robinson Cano to ground out on an 0-1 count to start the third, but Nick Swisher followed with a single and everything went to pot for the Phillies’ ace after that.
Jorge Posada drew a four pitch walk and Brett Gardner tattooed a hanging slider into the right-center-field gap for a two-RBI triple (aided slightly by Shane Victorino bobbling the ball at the wall). In the third, Curtis Granderson led off with a solo homer, and after Mark Teixeira flew out, Robinson Cano doubled to right-center on the first pitch he saw. That brought Swisher back around and on a 2-0 count, he cracked a two-run homer to give the Yankees a shocking 5-0 lead over Halladay with one out in the bottom of the third.
Halladay settled down a bit with a 1-2-3 fourth, but with one out in the fifth, Teixeira snuck a 1-2 pitch just inside the foul pole down the right-field line, hitting a ducking YES cameraman in the back with a solo home run of his own. The Yankees made some noise against Halladay in the sixth as well, loading the bases with two outs but failing to push across another run.
CC Sabathia, meanwhile, didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning, though things got dicey at that point. Utley led off the fourth with a bouncer that Sabathia stabbed at with both hands, deflecting the ball enough to give Utley a hit. Placido Polanco followed with another single and on a 1-2 count, Sabathia hit Ryan Howard to load the bases. Jayson Werth and Raul Ibañez followed with RBI singles.
With the bases still loaded, two runs in, and no one out, Ben Francisco hit a would-be double play ball to a far-ranging Mark Teixeira in the second-base hole. Teixeira could have come home with his throw to try to get the slow-footed Howard on what still might have been a close play, but he opted instead to start a 3-6-1 double play, trading Howard’s run for a pair of outs. Only Sabathia never broke for first base and the Yankees had to settle for a single out as Howard scored to cut the Yankee lead to 5-3.
Sabathia picked himself up by getting the next two men out, but then got into more trouble in the fifth when with one out, Utley singled, was replaced by a Polanco fielder’s choice, Ryan Howard drew a five-pitch walk, and both runners move up on a wild pitch. That last might have been a blessing as it allowed Sabathia to turn a 2-0 count on Werth into an intentional walk, after which he got Ibañez to ground out to leave the bases loaded.
That was the end of the excitement. Sabathia retired the last seven men he faced and David Robertson and Chan Ho Park each tossed a scoreless inning, a Robertson walk to Ibañez being the only blip, as the Yankees padded their lead against the Philadelphia bullpen by plating a pair of hit-batsmen on a two-out Francisco Cervelli single in the seventh.
Yankees win 8-3 as the Phillies drop the one game in this series they had to have. With the pitching matchups favoring the Bombers the next two nights, suddenly a sweep is not out of the question. Then again, as Halladay proved on Tuesday night, anything can happen.
Man, that was a most satisfying win. Yeah, CC wasn't great, but lighting up Halladay...man, that's always sweet.
Banterites seem to be down on Sabathia, but this outing was a good example of why he means so much to this team. Most times, whether he is "on" on not, he finds a way to maximize the win potential of every start. IMHO, he is still the Money, Must Win arm in the rotation. Andy has been phenomenal, and I think he will still be the guy we want when the series is on the line and a win is imperative. But please stop throwing darts at CC. He is the one guy on the staff with the cocksure, fear inducing mound presence, zen composure and raw "stuff" that can intimidate and shut down any opponent.
I won't say I saw the beating Halladay took coming, but for some reason before the game I was thinking about that game last year when the Yanks slapped Santana around.
As for CC, [2] what bothered me last night was a lack of zen composure and possibly cockassuredness.
If he had, say, had his first rough inning in the fifth or sixth, I may have chalked it up to just having a rough inning, but something about the fact that he nearly melted down directly following his team getting to Halladay was off-putting. It seemed like mentally he wasn't right, like other times in the past where he was too hot to trot in a big spot. But it may just have been that getting his bare hand on that ball up the middle had some ill effects. In retrospect, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
[3] Ah, but Santana was hurt then, as it turned out.
Please, no rain out tonight. Please, please, please, no rain out.
Brother-in-law is treating me and my pops to his corporate muckety-muck, hoity-toity, all expenses paid, highfalutin, fancy pants, la-di-da la-di-luxury box tonight.
I ain't bragging, just saying yours truly will be proudly representing the Bronx Banter in the rattle yer Rolex, and yap on yer smartphone seats.
If they show our lux-box on TV: me, dad, and bro-in-law will be the 3 guys watching the game. Be hard to miss us.
Nice gig, Sliced.
Happy Bloomsday, everyone!
A very satisfying win. CC pitched well enough, and was not hit hard. His fourth inning was a combination of bad luck and mental lapse. Why the Phils didn't send the second runner home on the singles with bases loaded seemed a mystery to me, especially on the first hit, with Polanco staying at third. Why CC did not even move an inch to the direction of first base on the Teixeira fielded ground ball is a complete breakdown in fundamental play. It kind of made Tex look bad, because if only one out was to be recorded, the force at the plate would have easily been made. Hey, CC is only human and a lot was going. I'm sure he will be the first to admit to that brain freeze.
Halladay left too many pitches over the plate, and the Yankees were not intimidated by the name of the pitcher...and hit. Gardner's triple was exciting, and with the fielding bobble, could have been an inside the park HR if Posada wasn't running in front of him. Swish's HR was powered, and he is hitting on a higher level this year. And Tex's homer was just far enough and fair enough, as close to a "Pesky Pole" HR you can see in Yankee Stadium. Dare we say it...is he finally breaking out? Cervelli continues to hit (it was a lucky one) with men in scoring position. Love this team (even with Boone Logan coming back) as they are winning in unexpected ways. If the starting pitching remains as reliable, and if Arod gets right, and Tex hits to career average can the Yankees be closer to .700 baseball?
5) NOICE! I'm supposed to be in the house tonight too. In the Todd Drew box seats behind home plate way up in the sky.
[4] Beating up an ace, though, for whatever reason. I'm psychic, deal with it.
I was talking with a couple of my friends before the game. It certainly seems like every time we have one of these "two of the best pitchers in baseball" battles, our pitcher gets shelled.
It was nice to see it go the other way.
[1] From the prevailing comments in the game thread, one would think CC threw batting practice for an inning, then ripped off his jock and threw it into the crowd while flipping them the bird. Harsh. But I thought the Yanks had Halladay's number last season at some point; didn't the light him up like this once? Or maybe the National League exposure has dulled his AL instincts? Or not...
[11] I think it's that expectations are so high for CC that we're all extra frustrated that he is only pitching ok for his skill set. And we start to exaggerate how bad he is doing. I mean, his numbers are ok but we also see that much of his good numbers are against the lowly Orioles.
[2] Some of my frustration with Sabathia this season has not been about his performance, but some real lapses in concentration on the mound. In several games this year, CC has been rolling along, but then something seems to knock him off course. That's completely out of character for him.
Also, to be fair, Tex has finally started to receive some real criticism, but his OPS+ of 104 is right in line with Sabathia's ERA+ of 103. In many ways, both have had similar seasons. Judged by their lofty expectations, they have been disappointments, which when you think about it, bodes well for the second half.
If Tex and CC rebound, Arod is healthy (just healthy, forget about up to his usual standards) and Cano/Gardner/Swisher do not regress too much, the Yankees could be looking at another 100 win season. That's the rosy picture, but not necessarily a far fetched one.
[14] not at all far-fetched to think Tex and CC will rebound. Look at their career splits, they're both better 2nd half performers.
Tex's pre All Star OPS - .868
Tex's post All Star OPS - .968
CC's statistical improvement isn't as dramatic, but he's generally better in the late months.
pre All Star ERA - 3.90
post All Star ERA - 3.32
[8] Noice, indeed. Enjoy the views! Hope we get this one in. Looks like we will right now.