Manager: Fredi Gonzalez General Manager: Michael Hill
Home Ballpark (Park Factors): Dolphin Stadium (99/99)
Who’s Replacing Whom:
Emilio Bonifacio replaces Mike Jacobs
Chris Coughlan replaces Josh Willingham
Ross Gload and Brett Carroll replace Luis Gonzalez
Ronny Paulino replaces Matt Treanor
Alejandro De Aza is filling in for Alfredo Amezaga (DL)
Josh Johnson and Chris Volstad inherit the starts of Scott Olsen
Sean West is filling in for Anibal Sanchez (DL), who inherits the starts of Mark Hendrickson
Leo Nuñez replaces Kevin Gregg
Dan Meyer, Kiko Calero, and Brian Sanches replace Doug Waechter, Joe Nelson, and Logan Kensing
Cristhian Martinez is filling in for Renyel Pinto (DL)
25-man Roster:
1B – Jorge Cantu (R)
2B – Dan Uggla (R)
SS – Hanley Ramirez (R)
3B – Emilio Bonifacio (S)
C – John Baker (L)
RF – Jeremy Hermida (L)
CF – Cody Ross (R)
LF – Chris Coughlan (L)
Bench:
L – Ross Gload (1B)
R – Wes Helms (3B)
L – Alejadro De Aza (OF)
R – Ronny Paulino (C)
R – Brett Carroll (OF)
Rotation:
R – Josh Johnson
R – Chris Volstad
L – Andrew Miller
R – Ricky Nolasco
L – Sean West
Bullpen:
R – Matthew Lindstrom
R – Leo Nuñez
L – Dan Meyer
R – Kiko Calero
R – Burke Badenhop
R – Brian Sanches
R – Cristhian Martinez
60-day DL: RHP – Scott Proctor (Joe Torre surgery), LHP – Dave Davidson (shoulder)
Typical Lineup:
L – Chris Coghlan (LF)
S – Emilio Bonifacio (3B)
R – Hanley Ramirez (SS)
R – Jorge Cantu (1B)
L – Jeremy Hermida (RF)
R – Dan Uggla (2B)
L – John Baker (C)
R – Cody Ross (CF)
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 18, 2009 10:36 pm |
73 Comments
How embarraskin’.
The Nationals arrived in the Bronx having won just 16 games all season, in large part because they were allowing 5.81 runs per game. Over the past two nights, the Nats increased their win total by 12.5 percent by holding the Yankees to a total of two runs over two games. That the Yankees and their fans had to wait through a nearly five-and-a-half-hour rain delay for the capper on that embarrassment only made it all the more painful.
Despite switching catchers, Joba Chamberlain wasn’t sharp again last night, but he wasn’t awful. Despite four walks, he escaped with a quality start (6 IP, 3 R) and six Ks. Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke, and David Robertson each added a scoreless inning. Unfortunately the offense failed to show up.
Perhaps showing their frustration from the long delay, the Yankees came up hacking against rookie righty Craig Stammen. Stammen needed just 82 pitches to get into the seventh inning, didn’t issue a single walk, and just one of the six hits he allowed went for extra bases, that being the last he allowed, a double by Nick Swisher with one out in the seventh. Swisher’s double also gave the Yankees two men on base at the same time for the first time in the game as it followed a Robinson Cano single and drove Stammen from the game.
Manny Acta brought in ex-Yank Ron Villone to face Hideki Matsui with one out and two men in scoring position. Needing only a productive out to get the Yankees on the board, Matsui struck out. Joe Girardi sent Jorge Posada up to hit for Francisco Cervelli; Villone stayed away from Jorge and walked him on five pitches. Girardi then sent up Derek Jeter, who hadn’t played since the opening game of the series, to hit for Ramiro Peña. Acta countered with Julian Tavarez. On the 1-1 pitch to Jeter, Tavarez pulled a full Luis Tiant, turning his back on Jeter in his delivery. Jeter was badly fooled on the ensuing pitch, but managed to foul it and the next one off before grounding to short to end the inning.
If there was a turning point in the game, that was it. The Yanks got the leadoff man on in the eighth and ninth, but failed to advance him either time, going down meekly by a final score of 3-0.
Blame the offense. The pitching and defense did their jobs, even if Chamberlain’s outing wasn’t pretty. The organization also came through for the fans who stuck out the third-longest rain delay in major league history by opening up the rattle-your-jewelry seats to those who remained in the park after the top of the first and giving all ticket holders a rain check for another game later this season or next. Good on them for that. Waiting five and a half hours to see the home nine get shut out by a historically bad team has to rank among the worst fan experiences of all time.
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 18, 2009 12:52 pm |
464 Comments
The Yankees are going to try to get today’s game in despite the rain. I don’t much like their chances, but just in case, here’s a quick look at the pitching matchup.
The Nats are starting Craig Stammen, a 25-year-old rookie righty out of the University of Dayton. He’s nothing special. Though he posted a 1.80 ERA across seven triple-A starts before being called up a few weeks ago, he was doing it with a 3.2 K/9. He’s made five major league starts since and has yet to turn in a quility start (though he’s not had any real disasters either, lasting a minimum of five innings each time and never allowing more than five runs). His best outing was his last, 5 1/3 innings, 3 runs (2 earned) and a whopping five strikeouts against Tampa Bay.
The Yankees counter with Joba Chamberlain, who has been frustratingly inconsistent since leaving his May 21 start after being hit with a comebacker. Joba walked four and lasted just four innings his next time out, then dominated the Indians over eight innings the turn after that. He followed that with a quality start against the Rays, but his last time out he again lasted just four innings and walked five Mets while struggling to get in rhythm and in synch with Jorge Posada.
Chamberlain will throw to Francisco Cervelli if they play today. That’s a day-game-after-night-game thing, and also a protect-the-fragile-veteran-in-bad-weather thing, but given the meme about Posada’s game calling and Cervelli’s success with A.J. Burnett the last time out, it will only feed the fire if Joba has a good game this afternoon. Of course, the flip side to that is a series loss to the historically awful Nationals. Sometimes you just can’t win.
Speaking of protecting fragile veterans, Derek Jeter (ankle) will sit again in favor of Ramiro Peña at shortstop. Brett Gardner gets the draw in center and leads off in Jeter’s place.
Manager: Manny Acta (for now) General Manager: Mike Rizzo (acting GM)
Home Ballpark (Park Factors): Nationals Park (101/102)
Who’s Replacing Whom:
Adam Dunn replaces Lastings Milledge (minors)
Corey Patterson is filling in for Josh Willingham (bereavement list), who replaces Wily Mo Peña
Nick Johnson reclaims his playing time from Aaron Boone
Josh Bard is filling in for Jesus Flores (DL)
Anderson Hernandez replaces Felipe Lopez
Alberto Gonzalez replaces Emilio Bonifacio
Jordan Zimmermann replcaes Tim Redding
Shairon Martis replaces Odalis Perez
Ross Detwiler replaces Shawn Hill and Collin Balester (minors)
Craig Stammen is filling in for Scott Olsen (DL), who replaces Jason Bergmann (minors) and Matt Chico (DL)
Joe Beimel, Ron Villone, Kip Wells, Julian Tavarez, and Mike MacDougal replace Jon Rauch, Luis Ayala, Saul Rivera (minors), Garrett Mock (minors), Steven Shell, and Charlie Manning
25-man Roster:
1B – Nick Johnson (L)
2B – Anderson Hernandez (S)
SS – Cristian Guzman (S)
3B – Ryan Zimmerman (R)
C – Josh Bard (S)
RF – Austin Kearns (R)
CF – Elijah Dukes (R)
LF – Adam Dunn (L)
Bench:
L – Willie Harris (UT)
R – Ron Belliard (IF)
R – Alberto Gonzalez (IF)
R – Wil Nieves (C)
L – Corey Patterson (OF)
Rotation:
L – John Lannan
R – Craig Stammen
R – Jordan Zimmermann
L – Ross Detwiler
R – Shairon Martis
Bullpen:
R – Joel Hanrahan
L – Joe Beimel
R – Julian Tavarez
L – Ron Villone
R – Jesus Colome
R – Kip Wells
R – Mike MacDougal
Bereavement List: OF – Josh Willingham (R)
15-day DL:
LHP – Scott Olsen (shoulder tendonitis)
RHP – Kip Wells (strained adductor)
C – Jesus Flores (fractured shoulder)
1B – Dmitri Young (back)
OF – Rogearvin Bernadina (broken ankle)
60-day DL:
LHP – Matt Chico (elbow soreness)
RHP – Terrell Young (shoulder inflammation)
Typical Lineup:
S – Cristian Guzman (SS)
L – Nick Johnson (1B)
R – Ryan Zimmerman (3B)
L – Adam Dunn (LF)
R – Elijah Dukes (CF)
R – Austin Kearns (RF)
S – Josh Bard (C)
S – Anderson Hernandez (2B)
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 15, 2009 12:00 am |
23 Comments
The Yankees should have lost to the Mets on Friday night and did lose to them on Saturday afternoon. With Johan Santana taking the mound for the Metropolitans Sunday against A.J. Burnett, who kicked off the Yankees’ sweep at the hands of the Red Sox with a stinker in Boston on Tuesday, things looked bleak.
Even after the Yankees put up a four-spot on Santana in the bottom of the second, things continued to teeter as Burnett opened the top of the third by loading the bases. With the bags juiced and none out, Burnett started out 2-0 on Mets’ leadoff hitter Alex Cora, but battled back to 2-2 then got a very generous call on what looked to be a sufficiently checked swing by Cora for strike three. Burnett then struck out rookie Fernando Martinez on four pitches, exposing the phenom’s inexperience with a curve that Martinez missed by several feet for strike three. Carlos Beltran then creamed an 0-1 fastball, but hit it directly at Derek Jeter, who squeezed it for the third out, preserving the Yankees’ 4-0 lead.
Then came the bottom of the fourth. Nick Swisher led off with a walk. Hideki Matsui, DHing over Jorge Posada because of strong career numbers against Santana, drilled fastball into the right-field box seats for a two-run homer that made it 6-0. Melky Cabrera huslted a ball cut off in the right field gap into a double. Francisco Cervelli, catching Burnett to try to get him back on track, beat out an infield single when first baseman Dan Murphy ranged too far to his right, cutting off a grounder that should have gone to the second baseman, then lobbed the ball underhand to Santana preventing him from beating Cervelli to the bag. Derek Jeter reached on another infield single that tipped off Cora’s glove in the shortstop hole, plating Melky and making it 7-0.
At that point Jerry Manuel took Santana out of the game . . .
. . . in the fourth inning . . .
. . . with no one out . . .
. . . and the Mets trailing 7-0.
With Brian Stokes on in relief, the Yankees just kept on hitting. Johnny Damon doubled into the left field corner. Mark Teixeira reached on yet another infield single when Stokes slipped making a play to the third base side of the mound. Alex Rodriguez hit into a near triple-play when Damon made a bad read on Alex’s sinking liner to Cora, but beat out the throw at first, thus allowing Robinson Cano to come to the plate and deliver a rain-maker of a two-run homer. Swisher walked for the second time in the inning. Matsui walked on four pitches. Both scored on Cabrera’s second double of the inning, though Melky finally brought the inning to a close by trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
When the dust cleared, the Yankees were up 13-0 and Santana had allowed a career-high nine earned runs in just three official innings of work. After the game, Santana claimed he just couldn’t find his rhythm and that the Yankees agressiveness at the plate helped keep him off balance. Never mind that the average Yankee batter saw 5.4 pitches in Santana’s 38-pitch second inning, that Santana threw less than 60 percent of his pitches for strikes, or that Santana’s fastball was sitting around 90 miles per hour and toping out at 91.
Whatever the reason, the game was over by the time Santana came out. A.J. Burnett shut the Mets down for seven innings, striking out eight. David Robertson struck out two men in a perfect, 12-pitch eighth, and Phil Hughes struck out two more in a scoreless ninth. Meanwhile, the Yankee subs added two runs in the seventh (Angel Berroa was hit by a pitch, Damon walked, Brett Gardner walked, Ramiro Peña reached on still another infield single plating Berroa, and Cano plated Damon with a sac fly of Ken Takahashi) to set the final score at 15-0.
Just like that, the Yankees won the series in perhaps the most improbable manner possible. They’ll spend Monday taking it easy (Burnett implied that he’ll take his kids to the zoo), then welcome the worst team in baseball, the 16-45 Nationals, for a three-game set starting on Tuesday.
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 14, 2009 11:40 am |
320 Comments
The Yankees should have lost Friday’s game to the Mets, did lose Saturday’s game, and now look to save face by sending A.J. Burnett to the mound against Johan Santana. This is the same A.J. Burnett who failed to get out of the third inning against the Red Sox in his last start.
If there’s good news, it’s that after posting a 0.78 ERA over his first seven starts, Santana has been human over his last five, posting a 4.64 and giving up eight home runs, including four to the Phillies his last time out.
Nick Swisher’s back in the lineup today. Francisco Cervelli will catch Burnett while Jorge Posada rides pine. Cervelli has never caught Burnett before, but opposing batters have hit .330/.406/.591 off Burnett in the four games Posada has caught him. Hideki Matsui starts at DH against the lefty Santana because Matsui has hit .333/.368/.556 in 19 plate appearances against Santana in his career. The small-sample caveat applies in both cases.
Manager: Jerry Manuel General Manager: Omar Minaya
Home Ballpark (Park Factors): CitiField (100/99)
Who’s Replacing Whom:
Fernando Martinez is filling in for Carlos Delgado (DL)
Alex Cora is filling in for Jose Reyes (DL)
Wilson Valdez is filling in for Alex Cora, who actually replaces Damion Easley
Omir Santos replaces Ramon Castro
Dan Murphy replaces Endy Chavez
Gary Sheffield replaces Marlon Anderson
Jeremy Reed replaces Nick Evans (minors)
Tim Redding is filling in for Oliver Perez (DL)
Fernando Nieve is filling in for John Maine (DL)
Livan Hernandez replaces Pedro Martinez
Francisco Rodriguez replaces Billy Wagner (DL)
Robert Parnell replaces Joe Smith
Sean Green replaces Duaner Sanchez
Ken Takashi replaces Scott Schoeneweis
Jon Switzer is filling in for J.J. Putz, who replaces Aaron Heilman
25-man Roster:
1B – Dan Murphy (L)
2B – Luis Castilla (S)
SS – Alex Cora (L)
3B – David Wright (R)
C – Omir Santos (R)
RF – Ryan Church (L)
CF – Carlos Beltran (S)
RF – Fernando Martinez (L)
Bench:
R – Gary Sheffield (OF)
R – Fernando Tatis (UT)
L – Brian Schneider (C)
L – Jeremy Reed (OF)
L – Wilson Valdez (IF)
Rotation:
L – Johan Santana
R – Mike Pelfrey
R – Tim Redding
R – Livan Hernandez
R – Fernando Nieve
Bullpen:
R – Francisco Rodriguez
L – Pedro Feliciano
R – Robert Parnell
R – Sean Green
R – Brian Stokes
L – Ken Takahashi
L – Jon Switzer
15-day DL:
SS – Jose Reyes (hamstring)
OF – Angel Pagan (groin)
IF – Ramon Martinez (dislocated finger)
RHP – John Maine (shoulder fatigue)
LHP – Oliver Perez (patellar tendonitis)
RHP – J.J. Putz (bone spur in elbow)
60-day DL:
1B – Carlos Delgado (torn hip labrum)
LHP – Billy Wagner (TJ)
Typical Lineup:
L – Alex Cora (SS)
S – Luis Castillo (2B)
S – Carlos Beltran (CF)
R – David Wright (3B)
L – Dan Murphy (1B)
L – Ryan Church (RF)
L – Fernando Martinez (LF)
R – Omir Santos (C)
Notes: Fernando Tatis is platooning with Murphy at first base. Santos and Brian Schneider are splitting the catching duties. Gary Sheffield has been spelling Martinez and Church in the outfield corners, but will more likely DH for all three games at Yankee Stadium.
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 12, 2009 10:28 am |
No Comments
I called in to Mets fan Kenrick Thomas’s “Real Sports Talk” on Blog Talk Radio last night to talk about the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, and a variety of other topics, including Joba Chamberlain, CC Sabathia’s shot at 300 wins, and Manny Ramirez’s All-Star candidacy. Check it out (I enter at the 3:25 mark):
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 10, 2009 11:59 pm |
20 Comments
Chien-Ming Wang’s start in Boston Wednesday night was a set-back for both the pitcher and the team. Wang had velocity, frequently hitting 95 miles per hour on the YES gun, and movement, but much like A.J. Burnett the night before, he had no control. It was almost as if the Red Sox had ball-repelling magnets installed under home plate.
Wang look good striking out Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay to end the second inning, but by then he’d already given up three runs on three hits and three walks and thrown 58 pitches. He tried to start the third with a gimme strike to Mike Lowell, but Lowell parked it on top of the Green Monster to give the Red Sox a 4-1 lead (the Yankee run came on a Jorge Posada homer off Tim Wakefield leading off the second). David Ortiz followed by lifting a 400-foot fly out to center, and Mark Kotsay hit a hard single up the middle on Wang’s next pitch. A batter later, Wang was out of the game having thrown just 57 percent of his 69 pitches for strikes.
Phil Hughes pitched admirably over 3 2/3 innings in relief of Wang, striking out five men along the way, but he got into some bad counts in the fourth and wound up throwing two very hittable fastballs to J.D. Drew and Kevin Youkilis, resulting in a triple and an opposite-field homer, giving the Sox two crucial insurance runs.
The Yankee offense chipped away. A pair of walks set up a Melky Cabrera RBI single in the fourth. Mark Teixeira hit right-handed against Wakefield and went 3-for-3 against the knuckleballer with a single and a double off the Monster and another double down the left field line. That last came leading off the fifth and two groundouts plated Tex with the third Yankee run. Switched back to the left side against Ramon Ramirez in the seventh, Teixeira followed a Johnny Damon lead-off homer with a solo shot of his own to bring the Yankees within 6-5.
Unfortunately, that’s as close as they’d get. Nick Swisher worked a walk off Hideki Okajima to start the eighth, Brett Gardner ran for him, and Melky Cabrera bunted Gardner to second, but Derek Jeter (an ugly 0-for-5) struck out, as did Damon, stranding Gardner, who never attempted a steal.
In the ninth, Alex Rodriguez ignored the Fenway crowd’s “You Did Ste-Roids!” chant to work a one-out walk against Jonathan Papelbon, and pinch-runner Ramiro Peña stole second in his place, but Robinson Cano struck out and Jorge Posada flied out to the warning track in left to end the game.
After the game, Posada seemed more fed up with Wang’s struggles than frustrated by them, Wang said he would understand if the Yankees wanted to move him back into the bullpen, and Joe Girardi uncharacteristically refused to say that Wang would make his next start, or even to say “he’s in the rotation right now” (his typical code for “but won’t be five days from now”). Given how well Hughes pitched by comparison, I’d expect the two to swap roles next time around.
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 10, 2009 6:15 pm |
697 Comments
Barring injury, last night’s series opener couldn’t have gone much worse for the Yankees. Now their remaining hopes of winning this series rest on tonight’s starter, Chien-Ming Wang, who hasn’t thrown more than 4 2/3 innings in a major league game this year and hasn’t been good for more than three frames in a single outing.
Wang returned to the rotation on Thursday and looked great for two innings, showing the velocity and drop on his sinker the Yankees had been waiting to see, but things flattened out after that, and he left with two outs in the fifth having surrendered five runs to the Rangers. Still, he got all but one of his 14 outs via groundball or strikeout, which was encouraging. Wang will be on a 90-pitch limit tonight, which could mean another short outing even if he pitches well (though Wang at his best could make those 90 pitches last into the eighth).
Also encouraging is that, after a strong April, Tim Wakefield, who starts tonight for Boston, has posted a 6.37 ERA over his last seven starts with opponents hitting .307/.393/.452 against him. Wakefield is 5-2 over that stretch as the Sox have scored an average of 7.14 runs per game for him. As much as I’m thinking good thoughts for Wang, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a slugfest like that break out again tonight. At the very least, the Yankees should do better than the two measly singles they managed last night.
The lineup returns to normal tonight (Damon in left, Swisher in right, Matsui to DH, though Matsui has hit just .170/.264/.319 lifetime against Wakefield), while rookie George Kottaras catches Wakefield for Boston.
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 9, 2009 5:37 pm |
422 Comments
The Yankees look to reboot their season series with the Red Sox with three games in Boston starting tonight. They’re 0-5 against the Bosox entering the series, but hold a one-game lead over Boston in the American League East and have played their best baseball in the month since the two team’s last met. Dig:
April 6 to May 7
Red Sox 18-11 (.621)
Yankees 13-15 (.464)
May 8 to June 8
Yankees 21-8 (.724)
Red Sox 15-13 (.536)
Take out their five head-to-head games, and the Yankees outplayed the Sox against neutral opponents during the season’s first month as well (13-10 to 13-11). Having taken series from all of the league’s other winning teams (the Rays, Jays, Rangers, Tigers, and Angels), all the Yankees have left to prove in the first half of this season is that they can beat the Red Sox head-to-head.
Not that it is likely to matter in the short run. As I wrote in my initial Red Sox preview in April, since the implementation of the unbalanced schedule in 2001, the season series between these two teams hasn’t put one team in the playoffs while keeping the other out, and all signs point to both making it to the postseason again this year. Still, bragging rights are fun, and despite the Yankees’ dominance of the league over the past month, the Red Sox still hold them.
The big news in Boston is that David Ortiz seems to have gone from hero to zero for realsies, forcing Terry Francona to drop him to sixth in the order. Ortiz actually enters this series on a six-game hitting streak and hit his second homer of the year on Saturday, but he’s still hitting just .197/.288/.308 on the season. I had figured Ortiz for a quick decline following his wrist injury last year, but I never thought he’d just vanish like this, which probably means he’ll pull out of it. Just look at Jason Varitek. The Red Sox’s catcher looked washed up last year when he hit .220/.313/.359 at age 36, but he has rebounded this year, hitting a solid .247/.337/.519 with ten homers.
Despite Ortiz’s vanishing act, what the Sox have done well this season is hit (fourth in the majors in runs scored per game) and pitch out of the bullpen (major league best 2.76 pen ERA). What they have not done well is field (second-worst defensive efficiency in the AL) and start games (fifth-worst starters ERA in baseball at 5.02).
Tonight’s starter, Josh Beckett, leads the Sox rotation with a 4.09 ERA and is the only Boston start to have an ERA below league average. Beckett had a terrible April, including allowing eight runs in five innings to the Yankees at Fenway on April 25, but he’s been awesome in May, going 4-0 with a 1.94 ERA in six starts and posting a 0.40 ERA across 22 2/3 innings over his last three starts.
A.J. Burnett, who helped turned that April Beckett blow-up into a Red Sox win by also allowing eight runs in five innings, again starts against his former Marlins rotationmate. In his six starts from that first match-up against Beckett through his return to Toronto on May 12, Burnett went 0-2 with a 6.34 ERA, but he rebounded nicely in his last two starts, both wins over Texas. In those two games, he posted a combined line of 13 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 1 HR, 5 BB, 15 K. Some more of that would help get the Yankees’ reboot off this series off on the right foot.
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 6, 2009 10:49 pm |
19 Comments
Despite the 9-7 final score, Saturday afternoon’s game between the Rays and Yankees actually started out as the pitchers’ duel everyone expected given the starting matchup of lefties CC Sabathia and David Price.
Through four innings, each starter had allowed just one hit, and the Yankees held a slim 2-0 lead. The Bombers’ one hit was an Alex Rodriguez home run that bounced off the top of the right-center field wall and into the waiting hands of bullpen coach Mike Harkey. Their other run came when Rodriguez led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk, stole second, moved to third on catcher Dioner Navaro’s throwing error on the steal attempt, and scored by taking a chance on a grounder in on the grass at third off the bat of Robinson Cano.
Ben Zobrist tied the game in the fifth by parking a 1-2 cutter in the left field box seats. Joe Dillon then hit a shot down the left field line that Johnny Damon collected in time to hold Dillon to a single only to airmail his throw over the entire infield, allowing Dillon to reach third base with no outs. A subsequent sac fly by Navarro tied the game.
The Yankees took the lead back in the bottom of the inning when Melky Cabrera led off with a double, was bunted to third by Francisco Cervelli, and scored when Navarro tried to pick him off and threw the ball past third baseman Willy Aybar. The error was Navarro’s third of the game, and the second that led to a Yankee run.
So it was 3-2 heading into the sixth. The Rays had three hits, the Yankees two. Then Sabathia walked B.J. Upton to start the sixth, and gave up a well-placed single to left by Carl Crawford on his next pitch. His very next pitch was a changeup to Willy Aybar, that Aybar deposited in the visiting bullpen for what appeared to be a game-breaking three-run homer.
Of course, these are the Comeback Kids. No game is ever over ’til it’s over, not even with David Price on the mound. The Yankees ran Price’s pitch count up quickly, working five walks and bouncing him after 107 pitches in 5 2/3 innings. With Grant Balfour on the mound in the eighth, Mark Teixeira led off with a booming home run that grazed the suite level in deep right field to bring the Yankees within one run. After an Alex Rodriguez fly out, Jorge Posada walked and Joe Maddon brought in lefty J.P. Howell to face Robinson Cano. Cano singled, Nick Swisher walked, and that man again, Melky Cabrera, tied the game by beating out a double-play ball to plate Posada.
Of course, it wasn’t quite that clear cut. Ball four from Balfour to Posada came on a full count and could have rightly been called a strike as it was at most a pitch off the inside corner, and a frame-by-frame replay on Melky showed that he was actually out by a few inches at first base. In other words, the Rays wuz robbed. Really.
Veteran crew chief Tim McClelland must have noticed this, because with the go-ahead run on third and two outs, he called pinch-hitter Hideki Matusi out on a checked swing that was clearly checked. Nonetheless, the Yankees had tied the game and, after a 29-pitch inning that included a pitching change, Joe Girardi decided to relieve CC Sabathia, who had thrown 101 pitches over the first eight frames, and give the ball to Mariano Rivera in the ninth.
Being the huge Sabathia fan that I am, and given his 112-pitch average over his last six starts, I wanted to see CC throw the ninth, but I never expected what followed: Rivera blew it, big time.
Ben Zobrist led off the ninth by splitting the left-field gap for a triple. Rivera then fell behind 2-0 on Joe Dillon before giving up a single that gave the Rays the lead once again. After that, Rivera got a groundout and a fly out, but with two out and major league RBI leader Evan Longoria pinch-hitting, Joe Girardi ordered Rivera to put Longoria on and pitch to B.J. Upton instead. Upton singled home Dillon to make it 7-5, and Rivera was out of the game after 21 pitches, just ten of them strikes.
Phil Coke came on and gave up two more runs, both charged to Rivera, one of which scored on a ball that skipped off the heal of Alex Rodriguez’s glove and was ruled an error. It was those last two runs that would be the difference in the game.
Facing Dan Wheeler, Derek Jeter led off the bottom of the ninth with a single. Johnny Damon followed with a double over B.J. Upton’s head in center that pushed Jeter to third. Mark Teixeira then hit an 0-2 pitch for a double to right that scored both men and brought Alex Rodriguez to the plate as the potential tying run with no outs, but despite working a seven-pitch at-bat, Rodriguez grounded out to third, freezing Teixeira. Jorge Posada followed with an eight-pitch at-bat that culminated in a fly out right at Upton, who was by then playing very deep. Maddon then called sidewinding lefty and former Yankee Randy Choate to pitch to Robinson Cano. Cano got ahead 3-1, fouled off a pitch, then drove one to the warning track in center, but Upton was again playing deep after being caught short on Damon’s double, and made a leaping catch at the wall to end the game.
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 6, 2009 11:47 am |
293 Comments
Coming off their World Series appearance last year, the Rays were expected to be one of the best teams in baseball yet again in 2009, but two months into the season, they have yet to be a factor in the AL East race. It’s not for lack of trying. The Rays have the second-best Pythagorean record in all of baseball (behind the Dodgers). They are second only to the Yankees with 5.57 runs scored per game, and have been better than average at keeping runs off the board, ranking sixth in the AL in least runs allowed per game.
What’s gone wrong is some bad luck in one-run games (they’re 6-11 in such contests), and some bad luck in April. Since the beginning of May, the Rays gone 19-14, winning at a .576 clip. That despite the litany of other things that have gone wrong for them.
Expected to be a boon to the offense, designated hitter Pat Burrell landed on the DL in early May with a neck problem having hit just one home run and slugged .315 to that point. Second baseman Akinori Iwamura was lost for the season two weeks ago after tearing his anterior and medial collateral ligaments on a collision at the keystone. Slick-fielding shortstop Jason Bartlett was off to a fluky start, hitting .373/.418/.596, but he sprained his ankle in the same game, landing on the DL.
The Rays new and improved right-field platoon of lefty Matt Joyce, acquired from the Tigers in the offseason, and righty Fernando Perez never got off the ground when Perez dislocated his wrist in spring training, ending his season. The Rays then inexplicably kept Joyce in Triple-A for most of the first two months of the season while persisting with the unexceptional Gabe Gross (.256/.362/.400) as the strong side of that platoon.
The Rays have finally called up Joyce, who hit .315/.408/.530 for Durham, as well as his Triple-A teammate David Price, who was supposed to fill the rotation spot vacated by the man the Rays traded for Joyce, Edwin Jackson. Price was kept down because of arbitration and innings limit concerns, but now that he’s here, he’s replacing the injured Scott Kazmir (quad), not Jackson or Jackson’s early-season replacement, rookie Jeff Niemann. Then again, maybe that’s just as well. Kazmir posted a 7.69 ERA before hitting the DL, and Andy Sonnanstine, who will start Monday, has posted a 7.07 mark.
As for Price, after a shaky, abbreviated first outing, he dominated the Twins for 5 2/3 innings his last time out, striking out 11 against just two walks while allowing just one run on five hits. He takes on CC Sabathia this afternoon in what should be a thrilling pitchers duel. Over his last five starts, Sabathia has gone 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA. In those five starts he’s averaged nearly eight innings per start, and held opponents to a .187/.242/.259 line.
Francisco Cervelli will continue to catch Sabathia this afternoon. Jorge Posada will DH. Evan Longoria, who leads the majors with 55 RBIs, is expected to return to the Rays lineup after missing a couple of games with a tight left hamstring.
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 4, 2009 11:35 pm |
27 Comments
Chien-Ming Wang looked like his old self over the first couple of innings Thursday afternoon. His sinker was clocking in at 94 miles per hour on the YES gun and showing good drop, and after striking out two men in his perfect first inning, his second frame went groundout, groundout, strikeout.
Things started to flatten out in the third, however, when Chris Davis led off with a ground rule double. The Rangers eeked out two runs in that frame, then added two more in the fourth when Davis again doubled, this time with two on and none out. In the fifth, Nelson Cruz crushed a pitch up in the zone into the visiting bullpen, driving Wang from the game 11 pitches shy of his intended limit of 80. Wang’s final line was 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 5 K, but that more than halved his season ERA (to 14.46), and 13 of his 14 outs came by strikeout or groundout. Those first two innings were worth building on, and he’ll take his next turn in Boston on Tuesday.
As for the Yankees, Johnny Damon led off the bottom of the first with a home run off Brandon McCarthy, but the Yanks couldn’t get much going for the next few innings while the Rangers were running up the tally on Wang.
After failing to plate a leadoff double by Mark Teixeira in the fourth, the Yankees entered the bottom of the fifth down 5-1 with Francisco Cervelli and Ramiro Peña due up. Surprisingly both rookie singled after which McCarthy walked Johnny Damon and Nick Swisher to give the Yankees their second run. Teixeira then hit a cue shot down the third base line that skipped under Michael Young’s glove and rattled around in foul territory near where the stands bend, giving all three runners time to score and tie the game on what looks like a ringing bases-clearing double in the box score. With Teixeira on second and still none out in the inning, Alex Rodriguez silenced the boo birds that had begun to chirp by singling Tex home with the go-ahead run.
Unfortunately, that lead only lasted a few minutes, as Ian Kinsler homered off Alfredo Aceves (and the left field foul pole) in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 6-6. Aceves, Phil Coke, David Robertson, and Texas’s Jason Jennings combined to keep the score there until the bottom of the eighth, when Ron Washington brought in lefty C.J. Wilson. Wilson had been throwing high-90s cheese in his scoreless 1 2/3 innings Wednesday night, but didn’t have the same snap on his pitches less than 24 hours later. Wilson walked Robinson Cano on four pitches to start the eighth, then after getting Hideki Matsui to fly out, floated a changeup to Melky Cabrera.
Melky deposited the pitch in the left field box seats for yet another big late-inning hit, and Mariano Rivera nailed down the 8-6 win in the ninth. The Yankees are now tied with the Red Sox, who also won on Thursday, atop the AL East with the best record in the American League. They’ll be in Boston next week, with Wang opening the series.
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 4, 2009 12:24 pm |
264 Comments
Late spring mid-week matinee against the Rangers, not so terribly exciting, right? Wrong. Not only is this afternoon’s game the rubber game of the series, but the Yankees enter the day tied with the Red Sox atop the AL East and a half game behind Texas for the best record in the American League. Though it would surely be a temporary condition, a win today could put them alone in first place with the best record in the league. A loss could drop them to second place with the league’s third-best record.
That’s fun, but even more important is the return of Chien-Ming Wang to the rotation. To recap quickly, Wang broke his foot running the bases in Houston last June, missed the rest of the season, then opened 2009 by giving up 23 runs in six innings across his first three starts (34.50 ERA). He was placed on the disabled list with what the Yankees claimed was weakness in his hips stemming from the foot injury. After working out in Tampa, Wang threw 13 scoreless innings across two rehab starts for Triple-A Tampa, but the Yankees weren’t thrilled with the velocity or drop on his sinker and decided to keep him on the farm. Then, on May 21, Joba Chamberlain got hit with a comebacker and had to leave his start in the first inning. The resultant strain on the bullpen motivated the Yankees to activate Wang immediately and stick him in the pen. He pitched three moderately effective innings the next day, but in his two outings since then, he’s been excellent, throwing two perfect frames against the Rangers on May 27 and three scoreless against the Indians on Sunday, striking out five in those five innings.
With Phil Hughes having stumbled in his last start, the Yankees have swapped the two, starting Wang today and putting Hughes in the bullpen (count me among those glad to see them keep Hughes in the majors). The Rangers bats will tell us all we need to know about how well Wang is pitching, but I also go back to this great video analysis from the MLB Network’s Dan Plesac for a an idea of what to look for in Wang’s mechanics: balance on that right foot, a high leg kick, hands in close to the body, getting on top of his pitches, particularly the sinker, and throwing on that downward plain.
The Rangers counter Wang with former White Sox prospect Brandon McCarthy, who is finally healthy and pitching well. McCarthy has allowed more than four runs in a start just once this year and pitched fewer than five frames only in that same start. Last week, he shut out the Astros. In his last start, he held the A’s to one run on three hits over six innings.
Mark Teixeira, who sat out last night’s game having bruised his ankle on that take-out slide on Tuesday night, is back in the lineup. Francisco Cervelli gets the start behind the plate after Jorge Posada got hit with a variety of bats and balls in last night’s game. Derek Jeter also gets a game off, with slick-fielding Ramiro Peña starting behind the groundballer Wang and Nick Swisher moving up to bat behind Johnny Damon in the two-hole.
In other news, A.J. Burnett was suspended six games for throwing at Nelson Cruz the other night, so maybe Hughes will get another start anyway. Vicente Padilla, who has reportedly been placed on waivers by the Rangers, was merely fined.
by Cliff Corcoran |
June 2, 2009 5:48 pm |
385 Comments
The Yankees and Rangers enter this week’s three game series in the Bronx separated by a half game for the best record in the American League. Since the Yankees took two of three from the Rangers in Arlington last week, both teams won three games of a four-game series against a lesser opponent. Beating up on losing teams has been the Rangers’ m.o. thus far this season, but they’re just 5-10 against teams currently over .500, including last week’s series loss to the Yankees.
The Yanks, meanwhile, are flat-out rollin’, beating all comers. Dating back to May 8, they’re 16-6 (.727) and 6-1 in series. Their one series loss came at home against the NL East-leading Phillies, but their current run also includes series wins against the then-AL best Blue Jays and still-AL best Rangers. Since May 13, the Yankees are 14-4 (.778) and have not made a single error, setting a major league record with 18-straight errorless games. Just three American League teams have turned balls in play into outs at a higher rate than the Yankees (Texas is one of them), and no team in the majors is scoring runs more often than the Bronx Bombers.
The Yankees current run began after they were swept at home in consecutive two-game series by the Red Sox and Rays. After this week’s three-game set against Texas, the Rays return to the Bronx for four games after which the Yankees travel to Boston for three. That will be the real test, of course, but by taking two of three from the Rangers now, they could enter that gauntlet with the league’s best record.
As for the Rangers, they haven’t changed much since we last saw them save for tonight’s starter, Vicente Padilla, who returns from the disabled list to reclaim his rotation spot from the now-injured Matt Harrison (sore shoulder). Padilla ran off three impressive starts (23 IP, 4 ER) before landing on the DL with a strained shoulder two weeks ago, but had a 7.42 ERA entering that stretch, so who knows what to expect from him tonight. Last year, he faced the Yankees just once, allowing four runs in six innings in Arlington in early August.
Padilla will be opposed by A.J. Burnett, who ten starts into his Yankee career looks an awful lot like the same old A.J. Burnett. He’s struck out 21 men in 18 2/3 innings across his last three starts, but also walked 12 in that span and allowed three home runs in a loss to the Phillies two starts ago. Last time out, he held Texas scoreless on three hits (and four walks) over six innings to earn the win. Here’s hoping for a repeat of that tonight.
by Cliff Corcoran |
May 29, 2009 6:14 pm |
205 Comments
The Indians helped open the new Yankee Stadium last month, and while their 22-run outburst in the third game of that inaugural series (most of the runs coming off Chien-Ming Wang and Anthony Claggett) is what sticks in the mind, they only managed a split of the series. In fact, the Indians had not won more than two games in a row prior to their just-completed four-game sweep of the Rays in Cleveland. When the week started, they were 17-28 and 8.5 games out of first place in the American League Central.
Things just aren’t going well for the Tribe. Travis Hafner is back on the disabled list. Grady Sizemore his hitting just .223/.313/.411 and is now DHing due to a sore right elbow that could soon land him on the DL. Since leaving the Bronx, they’ve turned over more than half of their bullpen, restocking with veteran retreads including Matt Herges, Tomo Ohka, and former Yankee Luis Vizcaino, and two fifths of their starting rotation has landed on the DL, with Anthony Reyes possibly out for the year.
Still, that sweep of the Rays was encouraging, and despite the injuries to Hafner and Sizemore and Jhonny Peralta’s power outage (.342 slugging, one homer), they’re third in the AL in runs scored per game. That’s due in large part to a tremendous comeback season from Victor Martinez (.359/.434/.557), a nice rebound by Asdrubal Cabrera (.321/.385/.439, seven steals in eight attempts), and a strong showing from right fielder Shin-Soo Choo (.289/.408/.457). They’re also benefiting from the fact that their non-stars (including Cabrera) are performing at or around league average, preventing any drains on the lineup beyond those being created by Sizemore, Hafner, and Peralta, the last of whom is at least getting on base more than a third of the time.
Their real problem has been pitching. Their starting rotation has a 5.70 ERA, better than only the Phillies’ among the thirty major league teams. Their bullpen as been a bit better, but still ranks ahead of the relief units of just four American League teams. Amazingly, Carl Pavano, who will face Phil Hughes on Sunday, is one of the three Cleveland starters who hasn’t hit the disabled list. After a rough start, Pavano has pitched well over his last six starts (5-1, 3.58 ERA), and Cliff Lee, who faces Andy Pettitte tonight, is leading the staff with a 3.04 ERA, but Fausto Carmona, who faces CC Sabathia tomorrow, is pitching like 2008 all over again (6.42 ERA, more walks than strikeouts), and the back-end of the rotation is halfway between a mystery and a horrorshow. Meanwhile, Kerry Wood is closing like Joe Borowski, converting eight of ten save opportunities, but with a scary 6.35 ERA, and the team’s sub-par defense isn’t helping matters.
Getting back to tonight’s starters. Lee is also pitching like it’s 2008, posting a 1.86 ERA with a 4.33 K/BB ratio over his last eight starts. However, he’s not getting any run support. The Indians have scored zero or one runs in five of his ten starts, are averaging 2.87 runs per game for him, and have gone just 2-8 in his starts, though one of those wins came at Yankee Stadium in the only game this season in which Lee has received more than five runs of support. The Yankees, meanwhile, are 7-2 in Andy Pettitte’s stars despite his comparitively inflated 4.30 ERA. Over his last five starts, Pettitte has compiled a 5.46 ERA, but the Yanks and their AL-leading offense have still gone 4-1 in those games and scored six runs in the one they lost.
Meanwhile, Jorge Posada’s back, catching, and batting sixth, making the league’s best offense that much better. Kevin Cash is in Scranton. Brett Gardner is in center for the still achy Melky Cabrera, and the bottom third of the order is now Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher, and Gardner. Not bad at all.
by Cliff Corcoran |
May 28, 2009 10:05 pm |
36 Comments
Amelia Louise Corcoran
Born at 6:10 pm on May 26
6 lbs, 11.8 oz, 19 1/2 inches long
She rocks, as does her mom, both of whom are doing great.
I’ll be a bit preoccupied in the short term, but I’ll do my best to continue to pull my weight around these parts while adjusting to my new lifestyle. If I come up a bit short, at least you know I’ve got a good excuse.
by Cliff Corcoran |
May 26, 2009 2:34 am |
40 Comments
Phil Hughes likes pitching in Arlington, Texas. Hughes made his second major league start in Arlington on May 1, 2007 and threw 6 1/3 hitless innings before tearing his left hamstring and being forced to leave the game. Yesterday, he returned to Arlington to pitch a Memorial Day matinee and once again dominated a powerful Rangers’ lineup.
The Yankees spotted Hughes two runs in the top of the first on doubles by Derek Jeter (taking a half-day off at DH) and Mark Teixeira and infield singles by Johnny Damon and Alex Rodriguez. Hughes responded with a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning. If there was a turning point in the game, which ended in an 11-1 Yankee route, it came in the bottom of the second. Nelson Cruz led off with a first-pitch double, after which Hughes hit Hank Blalock with a 1-1- pitch to put two men on with none out. Hughes then fell behind Marlon Byrd 3-0, but rallied to strike him out on a generous call on a fastball low and away. He followed that by striking out Chris Davis and Taylor Teagarden on curveballs to strand both runners. The Yankees responded in the top of the third by pushing across four more runs against Texas starter Matt Harrison (the key hits being doubles by Damon and Rodriguez and a two-RBI triple by Robinson Cano). That was the ball game.
Hughes got through the bottom of the third on seven pitches, stranded a lead-off double in the fourth, needing just nine tosses in that frame, and pitched around another double in the fifth. The only walk he issued was to Michael Young leading off the sixth, but Young never got past first base. Hughes got through the seventh on just nine pitches, striking out Chris Davis on three of them, and needed just nine more to work a 1-2-3 eighth.
Hughes had shown considerable improvement in his previous two games, proving he could work out of jams against the Twins, then correcting his problematic strikeout-to-walk ratio against the Orioles. The only things he had left to fix were his inefficiency with his pitches and his tendency to give up home runs. Neither was a problem yesterday, as he held the Rangers scoreless for eight frames needing just 101 pitches to do it. His final line: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K.
Over his last two starts, Hughes has struck out 15 in 13 innings against just two walks, and he’s now been legitimately dominant twice in six starts since being recalled. After featuring his fastball against the Orioles his last time out, he rode the effectiveness of his curveball yesterday. He has done everything the Yankees could ask for in terms of learning on the job and making strides toward being the pitcher the team has long hoped he’d be. Though no official announcement has been made, it now seems that Hughes’ rotation spot is his to lose and Chien-Ming Wang will hang out in the bullpen until a spot opens up or he shows the Yankees that he’s completely over his early-season struggles, which he has yet to do. Hughes will have to continue to build on his success, stay healthy, and eventually may have to deal with innings-limit concerns (his career high was 146 in 2006, he threw just 110 1/3 in 2007 and a mere 69 2/3 last year), but thus far he’s shown himself to be up to the challenge.
After Hughes’ strong eighth-inning yesterday, Joe Girardi extended his hand to the young right-hander to offer him congratulations for a job well done. Hughes looked at his manager’s hand and grimaced. He didn’t want to come out of the game, though he relented after some quick cajoling from the skipper.
Alfredo Aceves pitched the ninth, giving up a solo home run to Nelson Cruz, but nothing more. As for all those Yankee runs, four of them were driven in by Alex Rodriguez, who went 5-for-5 with a pair of doubles, raising his average 70 points in the process. Nick Swisher drove in three on a groundout, a single, and a sac fly. Collectively, the Yankees picked up 19 hits, beating up on both Harrison and long reliever Kris Benson. With the win, the Yankees slipped past the Blue Jays into second place in the AL East, one game behind the Red Sox.
Manager: Ron Washington General Manager: Jon Daniels
Home Ballpark: Rangers Ballpark (100/101)
Who’s Replaced Whom:
Chris Davis and Hank Blalock split up Milton Bradley’s at-bats
Elvis Andrus replaces Ramon Vazquez
Omar Vizquel replaces German Duran (minors)
Nelson Cruz inherits the playing time of Brandon Boggs (minors)
Andruw Jones replaces Frank Catalanotto
Jarrod Saltalamacchia inherits Gerald Laird’s playing time
Taylor Teagarden replaces Saltalamacchia as the backup catcher
Derek Holland is filling in for Vicente Padilla (DL)
Matt Harrison takes over Kason Gabbard’s starts
Brandon McCarthy takes over the starts of Sidney Ponson and Luis Mendoza (minors)
Darren O’Day replaces Josh Rupe
Jason Jennings takes over Jamey Wright’s innings
Kris Benson is filling in for Dustin Nippert (DL)
Warner Madrigal is filling in for Joaquin Benoit (DL)
25-man Roster:
1B – Chris Davis (L)
2B – Ian Kinsler (R)
SS – Elvis Andrus (R)
3B – Michael Young (R)
C – Jarrod Saltalamacchia (S)
RF – Nelson Cruz (R)
CF – Josh Hamilton (L)
LF – David Murphy (L)
DH – Hank Blalock (L)
Bench:
R – Andruw Jones (OF)
R – Marlon Byrd (OF)
R – Taylor Teagarden (C)
S – Omar Vizquel (SS)
Rotation:
R – Kevin Millwood
L – Derek Holland
R – Scott Feldman
R – Brandon McCarthy
L – Matt Harrison
Bullpen:
R – Frank Francisco
L – C.J. Wilson
L – Eddie Guardado
R – Darren O’Day
R – Jason Jennings
R – Kris Benson
R – Warner Madrigal
R – Ian Kinsler (2B)
R – Michael Young (3B)
L – Josh Hamilton (CF)
L – Hank Blalock (3B)
R – Nelson Cruz (RF)
L – David Murphy (LF)
L – Chris Davis (1B)
S – Jarrod Saltalamacchia (C)
R – Elvis Andrus (SS)
