It’s our man Hiroki against the hot-hitting Blue Jays.
Brett Gardner CF
Jayson Nix SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Ben Francisco DH
Lyle Overbay 1B
David Adams 3B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Austin Romine C
Never mind the band aids:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Melissa Wahler]
David Wells threw a perfect game 15 years ago today. Jay Jaffe remembers…
The Yankees have more injuries? No, it’s true, I swear.
This time it’s Andy Pettitte (minor) and Chris Stewart (troubling). Chad Jennings has the notes. The Mariners beat the Yanks 3-2 last night and it was one of those nights were the Cinderella Bombers looked as if they were morphing back into a pumpkin. Brett Gardner, Ichiro, Jayson Nix all had lousy at bats in big spots.
Bummer. And now they host a Blue Jays team that is hitting the crap out of the ball. Could be a long weekend.
It’s good ol’ Andy.
Brett Gardner CF
Jayson Nix SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Lyle Overbay 1B
Curtis Granderson DH
David Adams 3B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chris Stewart C
Dellin Betances has been called up.
Never mind last night:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Via: Remiel]
Phil Hughes got his tits lit tonight to the tune of seven runs in less than an inning of work. Our old chum, Raul Ibanez, hit a grand slam against him–and later hit another one–as the Mariner’s sailed to a 12-2 beat down in the Boogie Down.
Nothing but hurt feelings for the teetering Hughes.
Let’s just move on, shall we?
[Illustration by Paul Kuczynski]
I’m turning into a sap, but I get bummed when guys are designated for assignment or optioned to the minors. Yesterday, Brennan Boesch was sent down; today, Chris Nelson was cut. And Lyle Overbay might not be long for the Bronx either.
Tonight gives Phil “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t” Hughes.
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells DH
Curtis Granderson LF
Lyle Overbay 1B
David Adams 3B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chris Stewart C
Alberto Gonzalez SS
Eager to see Hisashi Iwakuma pitch.
Never mind the comings and goings:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Featured Image by Jasper James]
When I waited tables in my early twenties I used to fly into a rage near the service bar of the restaurant anytime I got under-tipped. But there was a veteran waiter who would look at me and say, “How many times have you made triple tax?” And that was the end of it. I shaddap.
Let’s keep this mind mind when the Yanks start losing, when things stop going their way. Because right now, they are catching all the breaks. Top of the 8th inning, runners on first and second with one out, and a ball is smoked up the middle. But instead of going into center field and the game being tied, Jayson Nix caught it and stepped on second for the double play. Or say the third strike call that Mariano got against Michael Morse in the 9th. The ball was a foot inside–it wasn’t even close to being a strike–but Mo got the call and his 16th save of the season.
C.C. pitched a decent game, he kept them in it once again, and Robinson Cano got the big game-tying hit in the 7th. Lyle Overbay drove in the go-ahead run a few batters later with an sac fly and the Yanks won again.
Yes, this has been a fun week. Something to remember when things inevitably go south.
Final Score: Yanks 4, M’s 3.
[Image Via: Adara]
It’s C.C. vs. King Felix in what promises to be a good one tonight at the Stadium.
1. Gardner CF
2. Cano 2B
3. Wells DH
4. Granderson LF
5. Overbay 1B
6. Nix SS
7. Suzuki RF
8. Nelson 3B
9. Romine C
Yes, that’s Curtis Granderson! What fun he’ll have against King Felix. And, right on schedule, Joel Sherman reports that Travis Hafner is headed for an MRI.
Never mind the crown:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
The second game saw the tables turned with the Yanks nursing a 1-0 lead for the first six innings. They broke it open with six runs in the seventh inning, good enough to earn the split before heading home (and the daunting task of facing King Felix tomorrow night).
Final Score: Yanks 7, Indians 0.
Chad Jennings has the notes. With more from Mike Axisa over at River Ave Blues.
[Photo Credit: Elliott Erwitt]
Justin Masterson out-dueled David Phelps as the Indians beat the Yanks in about 2 1/2 hours this afternoon in Cleveland. Masterson went the distance and a Jason Kipnis solo home run in the first was all the scoring. Tidy.
Final Score: Indians 1, Yanks 0.
Game 2 will start shortly after 3 p.m.
Never mind the disappointment:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Howhof]
Yanks drop by Cleveland for a make-up doubleheader today.
Game 1
RHP David Phelps (1-1, 5.02)
vs.
RHP Justin Masterson (3-3, 2.63)
12:05 p.m., YES Network
Game 2
LHP Vidal Nuno (0-0, 0.00)
vs.
RHP Trevor Bauer (1-1, 2.70)
Starts approximately 20 minutes after Game 1, YES Network
The first game also gives the big league debut of Corban Joseph.
Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki LF
Robinson Cano 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Brennan Boesch RF
Chris Nelson 3B
Corban Joseph 1B
Chris Stewart C
Alberto Gonzalez SS
Never mind the snooze alarm:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Fabio Ruffet]
Boy, Hiroki Kuroda handled the Royals’ hitters on Sunday. Gave up a run in the first and another in the eighth; otherwise, they didn’t give him much trouble and hit a lot of ground balls. Kuroda is a pro, man. His time in New York will be brief (even if he does return next year which seems unlikely), but we’ll remember him with fondness for his professionalism and effectiveness.
Robinson Cano (10) and Vernon Wells (9?!) wasted flat sliders from Ervin Santana in the third–both were shots–and Wells added an RBI single in the fifth. That was more than enough. Mariano faced three batters in the ninth (a single; ground ball double play..on the first pitch, thank you very much; fly out to right), good for his fifteenth save and the Yankees’ fifth straight win.
Final Score: Yanks 4, Royals 2.
Today gives our man Hiroki.
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Travis Hafner DH
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Jayson Nix SS
Lyle Overbay 1B
Chris Nelson 3B
Chris Stewart C
Never mind the riffin’:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Via: Running Amuck]
I was too young to remember Ali in his prime, or even Dr. J. I watched Bird and Magic and then Jordan, so I know from watching greatness, admiring it, even when–in the case of Magic or Jordan–I rooted against it. But I’ve never rooted for anybody as great as Mariano Rivera. After the game was over last night and Rivera had recorded his 14th save of the season I tried to articulate my feelings when it hit me–I don’t have any idea of what it’s like to watch Rivera as a Yankee-hater. Every time I’ve seen him pitch, I’ve wanted him to succeed.
With Rivera, discussions of the value of a closer compared with the value of a starting pitcher or an everyday player are mind-numbingly boring. And they miss the point. Sure, his numbers provide their own proof and satisfaction (Looking at Rivera’s post-season statistics is like watching a parade of zeroes). But greatness is a singular thing Rivera’s aesthetic brings a touch of myth to the discussion. Mike Francesca was right when he dubbed Mo “The Great Mariano,” a nod to Hemingway and “The Great DiMaggio.” With Rivera, we’re talking a modern myth: The Silver Surfer.
More than any player I’ve ever rooted for, Rivera makes me appreciate the moment, the now. This has something to do with the dramatic nature of his position, coming in a the end of the game, but also his stubborn calm–I’m always reminded of the phrase “mulish imperturbability,” which James Agee used to describe Buster Keaton.
There’s an old sports writer’s cliche that says it is easier to write about the losers than the winners because winning isn’t that compelling. How do you explain what Rivera does? He chalks his gift and success up to the Lord and what can you do with that? We can dream up our own theories but they amount to the same thing: He’s blessed by something deep and profound. We know he works hard and appears to posses humility.
Last week he told reporters:
“When you respect the game of baseball, you respect everything that comes with baseball–the guys that are my peers, the other teams, you have to respect them…You’re not bigger than the game. You’re finished and the game will continue, so take into consideration, you always will keep that line and say humble. Because the game will always be bigger than you. Always. So it’s nothing you can do that will be better than the game.”
He’s said things like this for years and he seems sincere, even though we can never pretend to know a public figure intimately by what they say for print. We do know that opponents flock to him as if he were a Holy Man like this scene a few weeks back against the Blue Jays.
And we know that his pitching motion is as beautiful and fluid as any that we can remember. Dr. J once said, “When you reach a level of greatness, there’s a certain added element that goes into making it look easy.”
What we can do is talk about what it means to watch such a performer, how they give us a sense of assurance and peace in our imperfect and unpredictable lives. For Yankee fans, that feeling goes away at the end of this year. There will be other great players, more artistry to come, but nobody will ever do it quite like this.
[Photo Credit: David Zalubowski/AP]
Yanks face their old friend, the always-tough James Shields, tonight in KC. After a couple of lousy starts in a row, Andy Pettitte looks to regain his early-season form.
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Travis Hafner DH
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Jayson Nix SS
Lyle Overbay 1B
Chris Nelson 3B
Chris Stewart C
Never mind the standings:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: James Kao/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest]
Ah, what to do with Phil Hughes. He was back to his mediocre self last night. Yanks gave him a 4-0 lead and he coughed it up and later gave him a 10-5 lead and he gave up another run. He got the win but the start was a regression for Hughes. He was picked up by Shawn Kelley who was dynamite, facing seven batters and striking out six.
The star of the game was the offense, led by Lyle Overbay who had two doubles and a home run. The Yanks had 16 hits in all–it was one of those “All Too-gether-Now” nights, made even more enjoyable by the announcing team of Ken Singleton and David Cone. A fine Friday night indeed.
Final Score: Yanks 11, Royals 6.
[Image Via: This Isn’t Happiness]
Tonight gives Phil Hughes vs. Wade Davis, the former Tampa Bay Ray. (In fact, there are familiar faces starting for the Royals all weekend: James Shields and Ervin Santana.)
Over at Sports on Earth, Jorge Arangure Jr has a nice piece on Hughes:
“If you pick up on things that hitters were trying to do to you, and you don’t really have anything to combat that, then I guess you start thinking about ways that you can start incorporating new pitches into what you do,” Hughes said.
The easiest solution, and the one that would require the least amount of drastic makeover, would be for Hughes to transform his cutter into a full-fledged slider. The two pitches aren’t so different. They both move sideways. The slider is just a more drastic version of the cutter.
“I think at the time I wasn’t pitching horribly,” Hughes said. “It was just something that I wanted to incorporate. I felt it would be better if I did do that. I felt it would be a good pitch for me because it would be a little bit of a change of pace, just off the slower curveball that I throw, four seam fastball and change up. I felt it was something that came out of my hand like a fastball.”
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Travis Hafner DH
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Jayson Nix SS
Lyle Overbay 1B
Chris Nelson 3B
Chris Stewart C
Never mind the BBQ:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Old One Eye]
Quelle Horreur! Our pal Emma defends Alex Rodriguez:
In the wake of the Biogenesis clinic scandal, Major League Baseball would plainly love to see Alex Rodriguez ride off into the sunset. And lord knows the Yankees would like to get out of the massive payments they owe their injured and PED-tainted albatross. There’s just one small problem: The evidence simply isn’t there, at least not yet. Maybe you believe that’s because it never existed; maybe you believe Rodriguez paid to have it destroyed, as “sources familiar with MLB’s investigation” have told ESPN. Either way, though, that means Rodriguez is probably not going away any time soon. Which means we — me, you, the media, the Yankees, the league — are going to have to make some sort of peace with his continued presence in the game, or risk going completely insane.
Given all that, the battle that Major League Baseball is waging against Alex Rodriguez — its own star, and not so long ago one of its most marketable — is, if not quite unprecedented, still fairly astounding. Some obvious comparisons leap to mind: Pete Rose, of course, and Shoeless Joe Jackson, who were each banned from the game. Yet neither hung around for years being loathed before their sentences were handed down, and both have plenty of defenders, even now. By the end of his career, MLB was none too fond of Barry Bonds, who felt (not without reason) that he was being blacklisted and forced into retirement; other PED users have also gotten a cold shoulder, but some, like Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi, have been forgiven. And Bonds and A-Rod’s fellow Biogenesis-linked bête noir Ryan Braun at least has a home team and fanbase that appreciates and enjoys him.
The same cannot be said of Rodriguez. It has been suggested that he should be banned from baseball, that he should be arrested, that he should be sued — just about everything short of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman killing him and making it look like an accident for the insurance money, and a poll would probably find some fans supporting that, too. There’s so much piling on, it’s almost enough to make you take the unnatural step of defending the guy.
It was grey in Colorado this afternoon when the game started and C.C. looked good. Then came dark skies, rain, and a two-hour delay. When they started again, Robbie Cano hit a solo home run and by the time Mariano earned the save the sun was out and the Yanks were headed out of a town with a series win.
All Praise Mo.
Final Score: Yanks 3, Rockies 1.
