Robbie Cano hit a three-run homer which was enough to give the Yanks a lead and on a night where every player wore the number 42. Mariano Rivera recorded the save and the final score was 4-2.
Works for me.
Rivera worked a perfect ninth and watching him perform like this is the thing of beauty that we’ve come to cherish, never more than now, this being Mo’s final season and all.
This is a time to appreciate.
[Photo Credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images]
The Diamondbacks? In April? Oh, very well.
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Kevin Youkils 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Vernon Wells LF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Lyle Overbay 1B
Chris Stewart C
Never mind the weirdness:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Bags]
Over at Lo-Hud I found a link to a two-hour BBC radio documentary on the Yankees.
Worth checking out.
Hiroki Kuroda worked quickly tonight, the Oriole hitters swung early to a most pleasing result: ground balls to Yankee infielders. Robinson Cano made several graceful plays, especially a double play to end the eighth inning. Kuroda had his back-door slider going, the splitter splitting, and, of course, his sinker sinking. Gave up five hits and didn’t walk a batter.
Staked to a 3-0 lead highlighted by a 2-run home run by Brett Gardner that hit high off the right field foul pole, Kuroda took a shutout into the ninth inning. Jason Nix made a one-our error and in the bullpen the TV cameras showed Mariano Rivera roll his eyes and give a little smile. Then Adam Jones tapped out to Kevin Youkilis at third and the hot-hitting Chris Jones, who’d already struck out twice, whiffed to end the game.
Tidy, efficient, satisfying.
[Photo Credit: Virginia Woods-Jack]
Yanks look to win the weekend series tonight.
Brett Gardner CF
Vernon Wells LF
Robinson Cano 2B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Ben Francisco DH
Brennan Boesch RF
Francisco Cervelli C
Lyle Overbay 1B
Jayson Nix SS
Our man, Hiroki…
Never mind yesterday’s hiccup:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Via: Kingman Photo]
Ah, you know what? I missed the whole damn thing so I don’t have much on what went down yesterday. I checked the box score, saw that each team had a bunch of hits, so I guess the Yanks had their chances just couldn’t get her done.
They lost, 5-3, and the modest but promising, four-game winning streak is over.
Phil Huges didn’t get bombed but he wasn’t good, either:
“I can’t remember the last time I was as bad as that,” Hughes said. “Just not being able to locate the fastball, or any offspeed pitch for that matter. Any time I did have to come in for a strike, it was out over the middle of the plate and just got hammered somewhere.”
Unless of course, a better assessment is this one…
“The fastball command wasn’t there,” Francisco Cervelli said. “We get behind all the time, and especially when you can’t throw strike one, that’s a problem. … When we miss location, this is the big leagues, you pay. Sometimes they hit a base hit, sometimes a homer. Today was three bombs.”
(Via Chad Jennings)
And here’s some more weirdness.
Hiroki Kuroda will get the start tonight as Andy Pettitte’s got some back pain and will skip a start. Yanks and O’s make like The Game of the Week tonightski on ESPN.
In the meantime, it’s sunny here in the Bronx. Hope everyone has a fine day. We’ll be back tonight with a game thread.
For now, dig the Andrew Wyeth picture above and listen to this:
It’ll be Phil Hughes this afternoon.
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Vernon Wells LF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Francisco Cervelli C
Lyle Overbay 1B
Jayson Nix SS
Never mind last night’s good fortune, time to win another:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Via: This Isn’t Happiness]
A cold, rainy night in April does not equal much baseball fun, for the players or the fans in the seats. Such was the scene tonight in the Bronx but any discomfort was eased by a quick pace. The game zipped along, lots of strikeouts, and the Yanks held a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. With a man on first, CC Sabathia was called for a balk by the first base ump. It was hard to detect, even after looking at a couple of replays. The pitcher certainly didn’t think it was a good call and when Sabathia gave up a single that tied the game, his frustration grew. He had a chance to turn a double play soon after–after already starting two earlier–and botched the throw to second. He got out of the inning without giving up another run and as he walked off the field the camera showed him saying that most fragrant of baseball words: “Horseshit.”
That was just the start of the real horseshit but the Yanks were on the good side of the stink. In the bottom of the seventh, they scored three runs on no hits–three walks and an error by Adam Jones. With two outs, the O’s center fielder went back on a well hit ball by Vernon Wells, tracked it down, and began to blow a bubble as the ball arrived and clanged off the heel of his glove.
The cycle of horseshit was complete in the eighth when the O’s put the first two men on base and then hit into a triple play. Cano fielded a ball on a short hop–it looked at first as if he’d caught it on a line–flipped to Nix at short for the first out. Nix and Youkilis ran down the lead runner for the second out and then the trail runner was caught between first and second. Youk threw to Overbay who then threw the ball to second for the triple play. The infielders jumped in the air and smiled as they ran back to the dugout. Rich men overcome with spontaneous, childlike joy.
A few hours after learning that Jonathan Winters is dead, the was appropriately knutty.
Mariano got the save as the Yanks steal one from the Boids. A fine way to beat the cold.
Final Score: Yanks 5, O’s 2.
C.C. goes first. Be curious to see if the Yanks and O’s pick up where they left off last season. Man, they had some spirited games last year.
1. Gardner CF
2. Cano 2B
3. Youkilis 3B
4. Hafner DH
5. Wells LF
6. Suzuki RF
7. Nunez SS
8. Overbay 1B
9. Cervelli C
Never mind the raindrops:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Hermann Hirsch]
Yanks finish their visit to Cleveland tonight.
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Vernon Wells LF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Lyle Overbay 1B
Francisco Cervelli C
Never mind the dampness:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Sorin Petculescu]
Ivan Nova, take two. After winning the first couple of games in Cleveland it’d be a drag if the Yanks left with a split, so here’s hoping they win tonight or tomorrow.
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Vernon Wells LF
Brennan Boesch RF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Lyle Overbay 1B
Chris Stewart C
Never mind getting a swell-head:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Via: This Isn’t Happiness]
On the way to lunch this afternoon I spotted a shiny new Frito Lay delivery truck, adorned with navy blue pinstripes and a giant interlocking NY on the back door. I tried to maneuver to get a picture for tonight, but a baked potato cart was blocking the good stuff. Ah well, I thought, the Yanks probably won’t hit enough to warrant a score truck picture anyway.
If you didn’t see the game and are reading this for the first time on Wednesday morning, the good news is you had two hits last night and one of them was a homer that went about 420 feet. The Yankees reached .500 with a 14-1 victory over the Indians with an offensive explosion that overshadowed a second fine performance from Andy Pettitte.
The hit parade featured every Yankee starter but Hafner. They pounded out five homers (Cano, Ichiro, Youkilis, Boesch and Overbay) and six doubles. Around those bases the Yankees shall roam.
Speaking of parades, this weekend was the opening ceremony for the Inwood Little League. It’s over-the-top in all the right ways and the kids felt 100 feet tall walking up Broadway.
Google maps tells me the parade route was 1.25 miles. If I asked my kids to walk a quarter mile to get an ice cream soda and meet Spiderman, they’d fall down on their knees in tears accusing me of child abuse. They did this walk without complaint with pants drooping down around their ankles, hats falling over their eyes and carrying a banner designed specifically to make them trip over like the Keystone Cops.
If there are further notable items from our family’s first foray into organized baseball, I’ll let you know.
It’s Old Man Andy tonight in Cleveland.
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Vernon Wells LF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Lyle Overbay 1B
Francisco Cervelli C
Never mind the winning streak:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
The Yanks beat up the Indians today to the tune of 11-6, upsetting Cleveland’s home opener. There was lots of fun to be had for the visitors–Travis Hafner’s 4-RBI, Robbie Cano’s two solo homers, Vernon Wells had three more hits. Hiroki Kuroda gave up three in the first and then calmed himself.
Course I missed the whole damn thing. But was thrilled and delighted upon seeing what went downski.
[Photo Via: R2-D2]
Yanks in Cleveland to see their old pals Nick Swisher and Jason Giambi this afternoon.
Hiroki gets the start.
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Vernon Wells LF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Lyle Overbay 1B
Chris Stewart C
Never mind the nostalgia:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images]
We may have to take our pleasure in small doses this year, $200 million payroll be damned, and today offered plenty of things to make us happy. Like Francisco Cervelli and Jayson Nix touching Justin Verlander early, staking the Yanks to a 3-0 to lead that was never in peril. And Kevin Youkilis irritating Verlander in the first inning when Youk hit a double. He’d just missed a home run on the first pitch of the at bat (long foul ball), and then doubled to left center field. He yelled something as he ran to first and when he reached second, Verlander stepped to him and screamed, “What did you say?” I don’t know if Youk was talking trash or just yelling at himself but the man has a talent for pissing people off.
Or how about CC Sabathia, still only throwing his fastball around 90 mph, handling the Tigers’ impressive hitters and throwing seven scoreless innings? Yeah, that was best of all. Some late insurance runs put the game out of reach. Hell, even watching the Great Mariano work out of a jam in the ninth, striking out Torii Hunter–man, that dude has never done well against Mo–to end the game was pleasing.
Final Score: Yanks 7, Tigers 0.
“I don’t care who they got missing, that’s the Yankees,” Verlander told The Associated Press. “They have a winning mentality about them, and they’re going to find a way to win this year. You don’t ever take anything for granted. As you saw, it was the bottom of the lineup that did the damage.”
(Via Lo-Hud)
We’ll take it.
Photo Credit: Carlos Osorio/AP]
Welp, the Yanks need to beat Justin Verlander today in order to avoid being swept by the Tigers.
[Insert remark: here]
The good news is that they’ve got CC Sabathia on the hill. Be nice to see a decent start from someone other than Andy Pettitte, huh?
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Vernon Wells LF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Francisco Cervelli C
Lyle Overbay 1B
Jayson Nix SS
Never mind the odds: Let’s Go Yank-ees!
It’s the one that goes, the Yanks are 1-4 to start the season just like they were in 1998.
That’s a gag, son: joke, that is.
Phil Hughes and the Yankee bullpen got knocked around again today (each pitcher gave up at least one run), the hitters ran into some bad luck–a few well-struck balls went for outs–and our boys lost again, this time by the tune of 8-4.
And tomorrow gives Verlander.
Got any good jokes about that?
[Photo Credit: Mr. Freakz]
Phil Hughes comes off the DL to pitch this afternoon.
Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Vernon Wells LF
Brennan Boesch RF
Francisco Cervelli C
Lyle Overbay 1B
Jayson Nix SS
Never mind the bad vibes:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Picture by Klaus Nordling]
