The Yanks not only got smoked by the Rays tonight, they used up six pitchers in the process. Moose was terrible and Edwar Ramirez wasn’t much better and when it was all over, the Rays won 14-4. To make matters worse, the Sox rolled tonight, and just like that, the Yanks are eight games out again. With a killer double header tomorrow. Who is gunna pitch if things get dicey? Oh man, it could be a long weekend.
You may commiserate in the comments section below.
The Yankees have done exactly what they’ve needed to thus far in the second half, taking three of four from both the Devil Rays and Blue Jays. Along the way they won five games in a row prior to yesterday’s loss, but the only one of those games that was decided by more than two runs (Wednesday’s 6-1 win), saw the Yanks trailing 1-0 in the seventh. Perhaps these close games are helping the team maintain its focus and avoid any bad habits that might emerge in garbage time at-bats, but I’d think they could use the emotional respite that a nice blowout win could provide (certainly Luis Vizcaino and Mariano Rivera could use an extra day of rest having pitched in six and five of the last eight games respectively).
The pressure won’t ease up until the Yankees either clinch a playoff spot or get eliminated, and it’s right back on them tonight. Having taken three of four from the Devil Rays last weekend, they need to do the same this weekend, and with Matt DeSalvo and Kei Igawa getting the starts in a double header tomorrow that’s sure also see Wil Nieves get a start behind the plate, there’s extra pressure to win tonight behind Mike Mussina, who will be caught by Jorge Posada for the first time since he gave up seven runs in 6 2/3 innings to the Red Sox on May 22. (For the curious, Mussina has posted a 3.40 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 11 starts with Nieves behind the plate and a 9.00 ERA and 1.89 WHIP in four starts with Posada behind the plate, one of them being his injury-shortened outing in Minneapolis in April).
As for the Devil Rays, after losing three of four to the Yankees, they took two of three at home from the scuffling Angels by a combined score of 15-8. The Rays have also made a trio of roster moves since the Yankees were in town. Most importantly, they’ve activated closer Al Reyes from the DL, farming out lefty Jon Switzer in the process. They also just tipped their roster from 11 to 13 pitchers in preparation for the four games they’ll play over the next three days in the Bronx. Specifically, they optioned out infielder Jorge Cantu and designated outfielder Dustan Mohr for assignment while calling up righties Jae Kuk Ryu and Scott Dohmann. Word is the Rays will make yet another move to bring up J.P. Howell for a spot start in the second game of Saturday’s double header, while Ryu could get the start in the day game if Jason Hammel is needed to eat innings for Edwin Jackson tonight.
They Yankees, have made a roster move of their own, calling up Shelley Duncan and optioning Kevin Thompson back to Scranton, while moving Doug Mientkiewicz to the 60-day DL to make room for Duncan on the 40-man roster. Duncan has been raking at Scranton, hitting .295/.380/.577 with 25 homers and 79 RBIs, but also 88 strikeouts. A big (6’5″) outfielder/first baseman who’s not particularly adept at either position, he’s got the Adam Dunn skill set, but from the right-hand side of the plate. Duncan is no Dunn, however. He’s 40 days older than Dunn, was a career .251/.334/.468 hitter prior to this year, and didn’t crack triple-A until late last year on the verge of his 27th birthday. Duncan has 128 home runs in his minor league career. Dunn has 224 in his major league career. That Duncan went to college (University of Arizona), but Dunn didn’t is not enough to explain even a fraction of that discrepancy. Still, it’s worth a shot to see if Duncan can keep his bat hot (he’s hitting .367 with four homers since the break) as the Yankee DH, which is where he’ll start tonight (Johnny Damon will play center as Melky Cabrera’s sitting due to the abdominal strain he suffered in yesterday’s game).
Tonight’s mound match-up of Mussina and Jackson is a rematch of Sunday’s finale in Tampa, which the Yankees won 7-6 after some shoddy work by both bullpens. In that game, Jackson, who sports a season ERA of 7.14, held the Yankees scoreless for four frames before coughing up a four spot in the fifth. He finished after six innings having allowed just those four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out six. Mussina got the better of Jackson by allowing just three runs over six innings, but he also allowed five more hits and struck out none. Jackson has been a significantly better pitcher on the road this year, while Mussina has been a touch worse at home, so tonight is no given for the Yanks. They’ll have to keep on fighting.
Chris Chambliss—Topps Company—1977 (No. 220)
With two episodes of The Bronx Is Burning in the books, I can safely say I’m a big fan of the ESPN miniseries. Though it has received mixed reviews, I think the adaptation of Jonathan Mahler’s book is exceedingly well done, full of both entertainment and educational value for someone like me who actually lived through 1977 in the greater metropolitan region of New York. (The interpretations of Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner by John Turturro and Oliver Platt, respectively, have been wonderful. And Leonard Armond Robinson has been appropriately hysterical as Mickey Rivers.) There are some smaller quibbles, such as the lack of a muscular frame or convincing home swing on the part of Daniel Sunjata as Reggie Jackson, but in a film like this, I’m less concerned with the on-field realism as I am the off-field by-play between Jackson and the other major characters.
As with any good historical film, The Bronx Is Burning has shed some light on otherwise little-known facts associated with that tumultous 1977 season. I’ve already learned two tidbits that I wasn’t previously aware of: that Bobby Grich claimed Steinbrenner "threatened" him during failed contract negotiations and that Steinbrenner dropped a hint to Billy Martin that he would pursue Frank Robinson if Martin failed as manager. Of course, The Boss would have needed to work out a deal with the Indians, who had F. Robby under contract as their manager at the time. I wonder if Steinbrenner would have tried to pull off a managerial trade, sending Martin to the Indians for Robinson, a bigger name but one who was less skilled in the area of game management.
In honor of those 1977 Yankees, I thought it might be fitting to pay tribute to perhaps the quietest and least controversial member of that team: Chris Chambliss. Only three seasons earlier, Carroll Christopher Chambliss had joined the Yankees as the centerpiece to one of the most famous "massacres" in the history of the franchise. While Most Yankee fans fondly recall the "Boston Massacre," the memorable four-game sweep of the rival Red Sox in 1978 that helped the New Yorkers claim the pennant, fewer fans likely remember another "massacre"—the "Friday Night Massacre." It took place in 1974, when the Yankees traded away nearly half of their pitching staff in a stunning and controversial deal.
On Friday night, April 26, the Yankees edged the Texas Rangers, 4-3, to remain within a half-game of first place in the AL East. In the meantime, the Yankee braintrust put the finishing touches on a monster seven-player deal with the Cleveland Indians. The Pinstripers surrendered four pitchers—right-handers Fred Beene, Tom Buskey and Steve Kline, and left-hander Fritz Peterson—or 40 per cent of their 10-man staff. In exchange, the Yankees received pitchers Dick Tidrow and Cecil Upshaw and a young first baseman named Chris Chambliss, pictured here in a 1973 Topps card—one of the last times that he would be seen in an Indians uniform.
The trade shocked both Yankee players and fans. "I can’t believe this trade," star outfielder Bobby Murcer told The Sporting News while expressing his belief that the front office had lost confidence in the team’s ability to win. "You don’t trade four pitchers," longtime ace Mel Stottlemyre informed Yankee beat writer Phil Pepe. "You just don’t." Stottlemyre’s batterymate, the often gruff Thurman Munson, offered an even more candid assessment. "They’ve got to be kidding," said a not-so-diplomatic Munson. Yankee fans seemed to agree with the assessment of the team’s veteran players. Hordes of Yankee followers flooded the team’s switchboard with calls of complaint. And when Chambliss, Tidrow, and Upshaw made their first appearances at Yankee Stadium, they received a barrage of boos from the rush-to-judgment contingent in the Bronx.
The media also joined in the criticism—and the questioning. Why did the Yankees give up so many pitchers in one trade, especially someone like Buskey, who had been named the team’s outstanding rookie during the spring? Why did they trade for a first baseman when they really needed a second baseman? (The 1974 version of the Pinstripers struggled to find a pivotman. They started the season with an aging Horace Clarke before making trades for mediocrities Sandy Alomar and Fernando Gonzalez.) What in the world was the front office thinking in making such an unbalanced deal? One Cleveland writer suggested the Indians should send the Yankees a thank-you note for their generous gift of a quartet of pitchers. "Make sure you thank them for me, too," declared ex-Yankee Fritz Peterson in an interview with Cleveland beat writer Russell Schneider.
The barbs didn’t faze Yankee president Gabe Paul, the architect of the blockbuster trade and the man who had created a "Cleveland Connection" with his onetime organization, bringing in former Indians like Sam McDowell, Graig Nettles, Duke Sims, and Walt "No-Neck" Williams over the last two years. Paul maintained that the deal conformed to his general philosophy on making trades. "The way to evaluate a deal is to sit down and look at your club before a deal, and then look at it after a deal," Paul explained to The Sporting News. "If the club looks better after the deal, go ahead and make it. I think we’re a better club with Chambliss…" Paul clearly held a high opinion of Chambliss, whom Yankee pitcher Ken Wright had praised only 10 days earlier by hinting that he would win a batting title. "I think we got an outstanding first baseman in Chambliss," Paul said proudly. "[He’s] a fellow who could be our first baseman for 10 years."
Chambliss didn’t last 10 seasons in Pinstripes, but that was about the only prediction from Paul that proved to be an exaggeration. After flailing away in his first Yankee go-round, hitting only .243 with a mere six home runs in 400 at-bats, Chambliss began to contribute in 1975, hitting .304 and playing an excellent first base. His lack of power (nine home runs) and plate patience (29 walks) remained a concern, but he improved his power output in 1976, accumulating 17 home runs and 96 RBIs and nearly duplicating it in 1977 with 17 home runs and 90 RBIs. All in all, Chambliss solidified the Yankees at first base, which had become a revolving door for one-dimensional players like Mike Hegan (good field, not much hit), Ron Blomberg (good hit, no field, and always injured), and Bill Sudakis (no field, occasional power).
Even if he did little else (and he did plenty), Chambliss forged himself a piece of pinstriped history in 1976, when the Yankees advanced to the postseason for the first time in 14 seasons. In the fifth and final game of a nip-and-tuck American League Championship Series against the Royals, Chambliss deposited a dramatic home run over the right-field wall, victimizing Kansas City relief ace Mark Littell and sealing a New York pennant for the first time since 1964. Providing a calming influence in a turbulent clubhouse, Chambliss then played a key role in helping the Yankees win the World Series in both 1977 and ’78. In the 1977 World Series against the Dodgers, Chambliss hit a solid .292 and slugged .500 in helping the Yankees bring some measure of satisfaction to the Bronx—along with the other troubled boroughs of New York City.
Bruce Markusen is the author of eight books on baseball and also writes the Cooperstown Confidential blog for MLB.com. He, his wife Sue, and their daughter Madeline live in Cooperstown, NY, a short drive from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Offense: Blew hot and cold, scoring six runs in games one and three and a total of five runs in games two and four. In their defense, they faced Roy Halladay in game two.
Studs:
Robinson Cano 6 for 16, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB
Hideki Matsui 7 for 16, HR, BB, SB
Alex Rodriguez 4 for 15, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 4 R, BB, HBP
Derek Jeter 5 for 16, 2B, BB, SB
Duds:
Johnny Damon 0 for 13, 4 BB, 3 K
Wil Nieves 0 for 3, K
Rotation: The worst of the four starts was, predictably, Kei Igawa’s. While he looked pretty awful, the end result wasn’t all that bad (5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 7 K). Indeed, the Yankees won his game. The other three men turned in quality starts, with Pettitte and Clemens allowing just one run each and Pettitte and Wang both finishing seven innings. Overall, a solid performance against a lineup that contains some dangerous hitters.
Bullpen: Allowed just two runs in 11 2/3 innings, but 15 base runners, and both runs resulted in lead changes.
The Good:
Luis Vizcaino pitched three scoreless innings, one hit, no walks. Mike Myers was brought in twice to face a lefty. He retired both to end Blue Jay rallies. The first time he left the bases loaded. The second time he made a great play on a comebacker to turn an inning-ending double play. In total he threw six pitches, four of them strikes, and got three big outs. Mariano Rivera picked up two more saves, one of them a five-out save. He did allow a triple to Troy Glaus in to lead off the ninth in game one, but stranded him on third by striking out the next two batters. Although Joe Torre got fed up when he walked the first batter in the eighth with a 4-1 lead in game three, Bruney retired four of the five batters he faced in the series.
The Bad:
Proctor and Farnsworth again. Proctor allowed eight base runners in 2 2/3 innings including a solo home run by Alex Rios that tied up Monday’s game at 4-4. It was Proctor that loaded the bases for Myers in game three. Farnsworth came into a tied game on Tuesday, gave up a leadoff single, made a wild throw to first with the runner standing on the bag, then gave up a double to plate the go-ahead run.
Defense: Farnsworth’s wild throw was the only Yankee error of the series, though their overall play was less spectacular than in the previous series in Tampa.
Conclusion: Torre seems to be sorting out the bullpen and the rotation seems to be getting on its feet in the second half. The offense is spreading things around (Andy Phillips had some big hits, Bobby Abreu drove in the only runs in the finale, and only Damon didn’t come through in one way or another). Overall, the team is playing well, though the offense is still a bit underwhelming. An offensive outburst could give the team an emotional breather and allow Vizcaino and Rivera to get some real rest and Edwar Ramirez to get some work (though, regrettably, Ramirez will likely be farmed out on Saturday so that Matt DeSlavo can make a spot start in that day’s double header, so I guess it would be too little too late for Edwar for now). Overall, they Yankees are getting the job done, having won their last four series. They’ve also pulled into third place in the Wild Card race, though they still have a long way to go to catch the Indians.
With the Yankees having already taken the series by winning the first three games against the Blue Jays, this afternoon’s finale lacked much punch. Indeed, the game itself was rather listless. Bobby Abreu doubled home a pair of runs against Dustin McGowan in the first inning. Chien-Ming Wang retired the first 11 men he faced before Vernon Wells doubled with two outs in the fourth. There was a brief downpour in the third. Otherwise, nothing much happened until the seventh when the Blue Jays broke through with three runs off Wang on a leadoff double by Matt Stairs, an infield single off Wang’s shin (he was fine), a fly out that moved both runners up, an RBI groundout, RBI triple by Aaron Hill that shot past Melky Cabrera in the right field gap, and an RBI single by Gregg Zaun. The Yankees went down in order in the seventh and eighth against McGowan and reliever Casey Janssen. Alex Rodriguez lead off the bottom of the ninth with a flair single to right, but Hideki Matsui popped out, Melky grounded out, and Robinson Cano flied out to end the game. 3-2 Jays.
Other items of note: Wil Nieves caught the day game after night game, so Posada will catch Mussina tomorrow night. The two catchers will likely split Saturday’s double header. Melky Cabrera appeared to tweak a stomach muscle while at bat in the middle innings, but stayed in the game and showed no further discomfort.
My wife has gotten used to listening to me rant and rave as we watch the Yankees each night. All of my shouting and cursing used to drive her up the wall–she just couldn’t understand why I would let something I have no control over get me so upset. She probably still doesn’t understand but she’s come to accept my neurotic behavior. Last night, I was in good form, gloom and doom from the start. “Honey, I don’t think the Rocket’s got it tonight, he’s going to get pounded.” I screamed like Ed Harris in Glengarry Glen Ross when Alex Rodriguez hit into a double play to end the forth inning. You can imagine how bad it got by the time the bullpen–Proctor, Bruney, Villone–were issuing walks late in the game.
All this on a night the Yankees won. Imagine how infuriated I would have been if I rooted for the Jays? Toronto left runners on base in each inning but the second and the ninth. They left two on in the third, fifth, sixth and eighth and left the bases loaded in the seventh, and were 1-14 with runners in scoring position (they are 3-30 with runners in scoring position since Monday). This allowed the Yankees to come from behind and beat the Jays for the third straight day. Final score: Yanks 6, Jays 1. It was another rousing win the Yanks who have won six of seven since the break.
Roger Clemens allowed nine hits and a walk over six innings (Alex Rios had four hits, three against Clemens), but repeatedly worked his way out of trouble. Shawn Marcum threw twelve pitches to Johnny Damon to start the game, but was remarkably efficient after that. He wasn’t necessarily dynamic, but he was extremely impressive, changing speeds, throwing strikes. He fell behind Rodriguez 3-0 with runners on the corners in the fourth inning and just one out. He then threw Rodriguez two beautiful change-ups, and got the double-play to get out of the inning.
Scott Proctor was an adventure in the seventh, hitting a batter, giving up a single and walking a man to load the bases. He did retire two men and Mike Myers came in to get the final out of a half-inning that took 25 minutes. The long stretch was just what the Yankees needed to drive Marcum from the game. Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu singled to start the bottom of the seventh and Rodriguez came to the plate with men on first and third. He drove a fastball over the head of left fielder Reed Johnson, good enough for a double and two RBI (Abreu got a great jump on the ball). That makes 92 Rib-Eye Steaks for Rodriguez on the season. Later in the inning, Andy Phillips singled home two more. Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano added RBI singles in the eighth.
Bruney and Villone each walked a man in the eighth, bringing the tying run to the plate. Mariano Rivera came in and he retired all five men he faced, lowering his season ERA to 3.18. The Red Sox lost to the Royals and the Yanks are seven back, six in the loss column. While I’m still cautiously optimistic about the Yankees chances of making the playoffs, they are now winning games that they had previously been losing.
So yo, happy 67th boithday, Joe Torre.
It’s all about baby steps for the Bombers who go for the sweep this afternoon with Chien-Ming Wang on the hill.
Having taken the first two games of their four game set against the Blue Jays, the Yankees need only split the remaining two to stay on target and win the series. With Roger Clemens and Chien-Ming Wang set to pitch, that’s a pretty good spot for them to be in. Clemens, of course, had the one dud start in Tampa, but that came after two outstanding eight-inning gems, so one can expect some bounce back tonight. He’ll face 25-year-old Shaun Marcum who is 4-1 with a 3.14 ERA since joining the Jays’ rotation in mid-May. Marcum’s one bugaboo is that he’s a bit homer prone, having surrendered 12 dingers in his 12 starts.
In other news, down in Trenton earlier today, Phil Hughes struck out five in four innings while allowing one run on a pair of hits and a pair of walks. He’ll make one more rehab start for Scranton on Monday and could rejoin major league club after that. The Yankees also think that Jason Giambi, who is working out in Tampa, could rejoin the team in early August, which, combined with Andy Phillips’ solid play at first base, could fill the hole in the Yankee lineup, provided that Joe Torre recognizes that the hole is currently being created by Johnny Damon (.238/.339/.330 and .207/.312/.281 since June 1) not Melky Cabrera (.282/.335/.384 and .333/.382/.453 since June 1) or Phillips (.300/.354/.433 and .375/.419/.500 in July). Of course, if Torre realized that he might have stopped batting Damon leadoff by now seeing as even Robinson Cano has gotten on base more often than Damon since June 1 (Cano since June 1: .288/.333/.474).
Andy Pettitte and Roy Halladay both entered yesterday’s game trying to get on track after a series of ugly outings. After the first inning, it looked like this just wasn’t going to be their night. Pettitte threw 25 pitches in the top of the first, allowed a run on a single, a walk, and a Frank Thomas double, and was fortunate to strand runners on second and third. Halladay threw 28 pitches in the bottom of the first starting with a five-pitch walk to Johnny Damon, who moved to third on a pair of groundouts. With two outs, Alex Rodriguez drove Damon home with a single and the Yankees proceeded to load the bases only to strand all three men when Robinson Cano grounded out.
To recap, that’s 53 pitches, seven base runners, and a 1-1 score after a single frame.
Pettitte threw another 23 pitches in the top of the second, but avoided giving up a run when Reed Johnson’s two-out double near the line in left bound into the stands, forcing Royce Clayton, who had singled, to hold up at third. Pettitte then struck out Alex Rios to preserve the 1-1 tie.
Then everything changed. Halladay retired the Yankees in order in the second. Pettitte did the same to the Blue Jays in the third on just nine pitches, including a three-pitch strikeout of Thomas. Suddenly it was the top of the eighth and the scoreboard still read 1-1.
Halladay and Pettitte matched each other almost exactly:
Halladay – 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 112 pitches
Pettitte – 7 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K, 116 pitches
With Pettitte staring down 120 pitches, however, Joe Torre needed to bring in someone else to pitch the eighth. Luis Vizcaino would have been the obvious choice based on recent performance, but he had pitched in each of the last two games and in four of the last five. Scott Proctor pitched two innings on Monday and has allowed eight base runners in his last 2 2/3 innings. Ron Villone’s last outing was a blown save. Edwar Ramirez hadn’t pitched since before the All-Star break and remains an unknown quantity. Mariano Rivera, having closed each of the last three games and four of the last five, was not a candidate to go two innings. Mike Myers is a specialty guy whom Torre is now refusing to use even for that purpose (more on that below). That left supposed “eighth-inning guy” Kyle Farnsworth and Brian Bruney, both of whom were fully rested. Torre chose the wrong guy.
I doubt there was a Yankee fan watching who didn’t assume the Blue Jays would take the lead when they saw Farnsworth taking his warmups in the top of the eighth. Indeed, Frank Thomas led off with a single. Toronto manager John Gibbons pinch-ran with Howie Clark, and Aaron Hill doubled Clark home to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.
It was actually a bit more interesting than that. Farnsworth, who made a wild throw to first in the 11th inning of a 1-1 game against the Angels just before the All-Star Break, yanked a pickoff throw past Andy Phillips to send Clark to second base. The best part is that Clark was standing on first base when Farnsworth threw over; he hadn’t even taken his lead yet. Curiously, Lyle Overbay then lined out directly to Phillips, who was playing back because he didn’t have to hold on Clark, but it was all rendered meaningless by Hill’s RBI double.
The Yankees staged another two-out rally in the eighth against lefty reliever Scott Downs. Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada both singled to put the tying run on second base with two outs, but Downs threw Robinson Cano six straight looping curve balls, and Robinson missed badly at the first two and the last to end the inning.
Having burned through Farnsworth, Joe Torre then called on Brian Bruney in the ninth. Bruney retired the heart of the Blue Jay order (Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, and Troy Glaus) in order on 11 pitches, seven of them strikes. Here’s hoping Joe noticed.
Andy Phillips, who had the game-winning hit in each of the previous two games, lead off the bottom of the ninth with a single against Jays closer Jeremy Accardo. Torre then pinch-ran for Phillips with Miguel Cairo, and Cairo stole second on a 1-0 count to Melky Cabrera to put the tying run in scoring position. Melky then attempted to bunt Cairo to third (as he should have), but bunted foul for strike two (he had purposely swung through the pitch on which Cairo stole second). Melky then followed that failed bunt attempt with a single through the hole into right field. Larry Bowa sent Cairo home as Alex Rios fired to the plate. Cairo slid to the outside of the plate as Gregg Zaun lept for Rios’s throw. As Zaun came down with the ball, he collided with Cairo, who was reaching in for the bag. Having received a hip-check to the head, Cairo was stopped cold and tagged out. Had Cairo headed directly for the plate, he would have been safe easily, but there was no way for him to anticipate that the play would unfold as it did.
Fortunately, Melky moved to second on the play, so, after all of that, the Yankees still had the tying run in scoring position with one out. With a 2-1 count on Johnny Damon, Cabrera stole third as Accardo appeared to have forgotten about him. Accardo then walked Damon and, as Cabrera and Damon danced of third and first respectively, Accardo came set, bent his back knee, and stepped off the rubber, balking home the tying run. Suddenly the Yankees had the winning run on second with one out, but Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu, who were a combined 0-for-10 in the game, both grounded out to push the game into extra innings.
Called in for emergency duty, Luis Vizcaino, despite missing a few miles per hour off his fastball, pitched around a one-out single to send the 2-2 tie to the bottom of the tenth. Casey Janssen, in for Accardo, opened the inning by plunking Alex Rodriguez on the elbow pad with a 0-1 pitch. Janssen then threw a 2-2 pitch to Hideki Matsui in the dirt and Rodriguez alertly moved to second as the ball squirted into fair territory and Zaun stumbled attempting to corral it. Earlier in that at-bat, Matsui missed a game-winning home run by mere feet, pulling a ball about three seats foul into the front row of the upper deck in left. Janssen rallied to strike out Matsui on a bad pitch up in the zone that was such a miss that it fooled Matsui completely. With first base open, the Gibbons then walked Jorge Posada to pitch to Robinson Cano, who had twice failed to deliver the hit that could have made the difference in the game, leaving five men on base in the process. This time, Cano laced Janssen’s first pitch into the corner in deep left, plating Rodriguez and winning the game, 3-2 in ten innings.
It was a great win for the Yankees, and puts them in a great position as most had assumed that with Kei Igawa starting for the Yankees on Monday and Roy Halladay starting for the Blue Jays last night, the Yankees would lose at least one of those games. The game also comes with a lesson.
The Yankees have won 9 of their last 12 games and the last four games they’ve lost have been started by Scott Kazmir, John Lackey, Johan Santana, and Dan Haren. You really can’t complain about that, though it is cause for concern heading into tonight’s game against another big name pitcher, Toronto’s Roy Halladay. Here’s the good news: after a fantastic April (4-0, 2.28 ERA), Halladay’s been something of a mess, posting a 6.35 ERA over his last eleven starts and a 6.85 ERA over his last four. The bad news is that it seems a significant part of that has been bad luck. Halladay has allowed 92 hits in his last 66 2/3 innings, which can be traced to his inflated .323 opponents average on balls in play. That cannot, however, be traced to the Toronto defense, which is fifth in the majors at turning balls in play into outs and puts a solid in field quartet behind the groundballing Halladay.
More bad news is that Andy Pettitte’s recent history is actually worse than Halladay’s. He’s posted a 6.99 ERA over his last eight starts, a 9.00 mark in his last five, and a whopping 13.14 in his last three. More encouraging signs are that Pettitte fell just one out short of a quality start in Tampa last week, and handled the Blue Jays expertly in a hard-luck loss back in late May when he was undone by poor defense and run support and Aaron Hill’s steal of home. Halladay last faced the Yankees in September of last year, leaving the game after 3 1/3 innings with a forearm strain.
By Will Weiss
At the Winter Meetings in 2003 in New Orleans, not long after news broke that Gary Sheffield—then a free agent—would sign with the Yankees, I asked his former manager at the time, Bobby Cox, the kind of player he was, how he would fit in the Yankee clubhouse and most importantly, and how he would get along with Joe Torre.
“Joe’s gonna love him. He never gave me a problem,” was Cox’s response.
While Sheff was in uniform for the Yankees—for the first two years at least—he was arguably the most important hitter in the lineup. He provided protection for Derek Jeter in the three slot and for Alex Rodriguez or Jason Giambi if he batted fifth, got on base and drove in runs. His right-handed bat gave Torre the option to alternate lefty-righty from one through nine, which he loved. And he had a competitive, angry edge from an everyday player not seen since Paul O’Neill’s retirement. He played hurt and he played hard. His teammates respected him.
That reputation, at least among his former Yankee teammates, is likely gone.
The Yankees won the kind of game last night that they’ve been losing all year. Kei Igawa was doo doo, getting killed by the long ball (after being ahead in the counts, no less). But he escaped trouble in both the first and second inning, a turn of events that would prove costly for Toronto. Scott Proctor later gave up a game-tying homer, still the Yanks prevailed, thanks to a two-out, two-run single in the seventh by Andy Phillips.
“It’s a lot of joy to see what he’s doing, especially with what he’s been through,” said Jorge Posada, who singled to start the two-out, tie-breaking rally against Josh Towers. “He’s come out here and getting a chance to play, and he’s doing everything we ask for. It’s a lot of fun to see.”
(Tyler Kepner, N.Y.Times)
Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez all homered as the Yanks beat the Blue Jays, 6-4. Mariano Rivera gave up a lead-off triple to Troy Glaus in the top of the ninth–Glaus narrowly missed hitting his third dinger of the night–but then struck out The Big Hurt swinging, Lyle Overbay looking, and got Aaron Hill to ground out to third to end it.
It was Mo’s third save in as many games. The Bombers have won four of the first five games since the break. It’s nice to see them playing better but I’m not letting myself get too excited yet. Let’s see how they fare tonight against Doc Halladay.
The Yankees did what they needed to do by taking three of four from the Devil Rays over the weekend. They’ll now need to do the same against the Blue Jays at home this week. The Jays are the toughest opponent the Yankees will face until they head to Cleveland on August 10 and they’ll face them seven times prior to that date, adding a three-game set in Toronto to wrap up the cupcake portion of their schedule in the first week of August.
The Blue Jays, who have gotten Roy Halladay, Greg Zaun and Reed Johnson back from the DL since the Yankees last saw them in late May, have played well of late. They opened the second half by splitting a four-game set in Boston and concluded the first half by taking four of six from the Indians and A’s. That said, the Jays are the definition of a .500 team (a game below in reality, a game above according to Pythagoras), while the Yankees are desperately trying to prove that they’re more than that. In that way, this could prove to be a huge series for the Bombers.
The Blue Jays hold a 3-1 advantage in the season series entering tonight having beaten Phil Hughes in his major league debut in a rain-shortened one-game series in the Bronx in April and taken two of three in the “Rod Said ‘Ha!'” series in late May. Of course, the Yankees’ starting pitchers in those four games were Hughes in his debut, Matt DeSalvo, Andy Pettitte, and Tyler Clippard, so the Blue Jays have yet to really face the Yankees’ best.
Not that they will tonight either. Kei Igawa takes the mound in his fourth start since returning from the minors. In his first three he’s posted a 6.19 ERA while walking nine and allowing three home runs in 16 innings (all three dingers coming in the middle start against the A’s). The Yanks will have to outhit whatever Igawa gives them tonight and will look to do so against Josh Towers. Towers’ last start (on July 8) was far and away his best of the season as he held the Indians scoreless on three hits and no walks over eight innings. He was nearly as good against the Tigers back on April 15, but otherwise has been more of a five-inning, four-run starter. He won’t walk very many, but he’ll give up his share of hits and homers. The Yankees have only faced Towers in relief this year, plating a run against him in 2 2/3 innings in their only win over the Jays on the season.
Man, guess who is playing for the Long Island Ducks of the Independent League these days? Welp, the roster includes Jose Offerman, Ed Yarnall, John Halama, Edgardo Alfonzo, Carl Everett and Pete Rose Jr.
With the Yankees needing to win every series for the next month (and, really, beyond), I though I’d start a new feature here that takes a look at the individual performances of each just-completed series. It goes a little something like this:
Offense The Yankees scored an average of six runs per game against the Devil Rays, which sounds impressive when you consider the fact that the Tigers lead the majors by scoring 5.94 runs per game on the season. However, the Rays allowed an average of 6.17 runs per game over the first half of the season, which means the Yankees’ performance was actually close to average. I say close, because the Rays tend to give up a lot more runs on the road, so the Yankees were actually above average for a visitor at Tropicana Field, but it still wasn’t as impressive a showing as it might appear at first glance.
Offensive Studs:
Bobby Abreu: 6 for 16, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI
Hideki Matsui: 6 for 18, 2 2B, 2 HR
Jorge Posada: 4 for 9, 2 2B, HR, 4 BB, SB
Derek Jeter: 5 for 18, 2B, 2 HR, SB
Offensive Duds:
Robinson Cano: 2 for 12, IBB, RBI
Melky Cabrera: 3 for 12, 3 K, CS
Kevin Thompson: 1 for 8, 2B, 3 K
Johnny Damon: 3 for 14, 5 BB, SB, CS
Rotation Two of the four starters turned in bare-minimum quality starts, Chien-Ming Wang doing so while striking out six and walking none, and Mike Mussina doing so by gutting out six innings with bad stuff. Andy Pettitte missed a quality start by one out, leaving with two on and two out in the sixth. Roger Clemens had the only truly poor outing of the series, though it wasn’t a total disaster (5 1/3 IP, 5 R). Overall a poor showing by the rotation against a team batting Brendan Harris third.
Bullpen Allowed five runs in 12 innings, but only blew a lead once, that coming in the finale when Ron Villone entered a 4-3 game and gave up a two-run home run.
The Good:
Mariano Rivera collected two saves and closed a third game with a four-run lead. Altogether, he allowed a pair of singles and struck out four in three innings. Luis Vizcaino was perfect for 2 2/3 innings, striking out three and closing the door for Pettitte in the opener. Brian Bruney finished the sixth for Clemens on Friday, retiring his two batters on nine pitches, six of them strikes.
The Bad:
Kyle Farnsworth pitched three times, allowing two runs on a home run and a pair of doubles. In his three innings, he allowed six base runners and struck out one. Mike Myers and Scott Proctor teamed up to allow a run in their only work of the weekend on Friday. Myers faced two batters, striking out Akinori Iwamura, then allowing a double to Carl Crawford. Crawford is a career .333/.368/.722 hitter against Myers in 19 plate appearances. Proctor came on and, in the process of getting the last two outs, allowed Crawford to steal third, walked two, and gave up a single that plated Crawford. Ron Villone pitched a perfect inning striking out two on Saturday, but undid that good work by blowing a one-run lead on Sunday by surrendering a two-run homer. This after another base runner had been erased on a double play. Vizcaino had to finish his inning as well. Carlos Peña was the terror who hit both home runs against the Yankee pen. Edwar Ramirez was not used.
Defense The Yankees played fantastic defense all weekend. Their only error was Jorge Posada’s catcher’s interference in ninth-inning on Sunday. Melky Cabrera, Alex Rodriguez, and Andy Phillips, who made a game-saving play in the finale, earn special mention for their play in the field.
Conclusion The offense needs to build some momentum. The pitching staff needs to shape up. Joe Torre needs to switch Farnsworth and Vizcaino on his bullpen depth chart and give Edwar Ramirez a fair shake.
Just as they did on Saturday night, the Yankees fell behind 3-0 early yesterday as Mike Mussina showed his usual long-rest rust and spent as much time arguing with home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor as he did actually getting hitters out during the first three innings. Moose locked it down, however, and the Yankees rallied against Edwin Jackson in the fifth to take the lead, hitting for the cycle with a Robinson Cano single, an Andy Phillips triple that was badly misplayed by B.J. Upton in center (payback for Upton robbing him of a 400-foot extra-base hit on Saturday), a Wil Nieves double (his first extra-base hit of the year), and a two-run Derek Jeter home run.
Mussina fought his way through six innings with the help of some great defense, starting with his own, as he snagged a comebacker from the first batter he faced. Later in the first inning, with Carl Crawford on second and Brendan Harris on first, Carlos Peña singled to center to plate Crawford, but Melky Cabrera threw behind Harris to catch him rounding second base too far for the second out. The third inning came to a scoreless close when Hideki Matsui threw out B.J. Upton trying to score from second on a single to left thanks in part to Upton’s sore quadriceps and a great swipe tag by Wil Nieves. In the fourth, Carl Crawford ground to Andy Phillips deep at first, and Phillips beat Crawford in a footrace to the bag, colliding dramatically with the Tampa center fielder (thankfully, neither player was injured). The fifth ended on a 4-6-3 double play, and Melky again gunned out a runner at second base in the sixth as he caught Ty Wigginton trying to stretch a single.
Ron Villone came on in the seventh and promptly coughed up the lead by surrendering a two-run homer to Peña, but the Yankees quickly fought back in the eighth. Alex Rodriguez led off with a double to drive reliever Brian Stokes from the game. Hideki Matsui greeted Casey Fossum with a single that put runners on the corners. After Melky struck out, Robinson Cano plated Rodriguez with a sac fly on which Matsui alertly took second. Gary Glover then came on to face Phillips, who singled home Matsui to regain the lead and took second on the throw home. After pinch-hitter Jorge Posada was intentionally walked and Johnny Damon was unintentionally walked, Derek Jeter ground to third baseman Akinori Iwamura, but Iwamura couldn’t find the handle on the ball and all hands were safe, with Phillips scoring what proved to be a crucial insurance run.
I say crucial because Kyle Farnsworth opened the eighth by giving up a ground-rule double to Upton that missed being a home run by all of three feet. Wigginton then singled Upton home to pull the Rays within one. Rays manager Joe Maddon then pinch-ran for Wigginton with Josh Wilson with Dioner Navarro at the plate and one out. Navarro hit a hot shot to the left of Phillips at first, which Phillips snared on a full dive, then clamored to one knee and doubled Wilson off second for what would prove to be not only an inning-ending play, but a game-saving one.
Mariano Rivera wrapped things up with a heart attack ninth that started with a single by Iwamura, followed by catcher’s interference as Posada came out of his crouch to try to throw out Iwamura stealing second and tipped Carl Crawford’s bat with his glove in mid-swing. That put runners on first and second with no outs in a game the Yankees lead by just one run, but Brendan Harris ground into a 5-5-3 double play and Carlos Peña, who had driven in three of the six Devil Ray runs to that point, popped out to give the Yankees a 7-6 victory.
So, while it wasn’t a dominating performance, the Yankees did what they needed to do in taking three of four from the Devil Rays. They’ll have to play better ball to do the same against Toronto this week, however. Meanwhile, Andy Phillips, who is hitting .302/.362/.453 this season, is the story of the day. Pete Abraham kicks things off.
Chien-Ming Wang allowed three runs in the first inning last night, but quickly adjusted, mixing in more sliders and changeups to hold the Devil Rays to a lone single over the next four innings. Meanwhile, the Yankees chipped away with a run in the third, a Hideki Matsui solo homer in the fourth, and a two-run homer by Bobby Abreu in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead. Wang got into trouble again in the sixth, loading the bases with two outs, but struck out Jonny Gomes to end the inning and his evening. The Yanks tagged on an insurance run in the seventh thanks to some aggressive base running by Johnny Damon, who went from first to third on a single to left and scored on a groundout. That run was crucial, as, after Ron Villone pitched a perfect seventh, Kyle Farnsworth gave up a solo home run to Carlos Pena in the eighth, an inning he escaped only when Jorge Posada gunned out B. J. Upton stealing second. The Yanks got that run back in the top of the ninth, however, again thanks to Damon’s legs as Johnny walked, stole second, and scored on a Bobby Abreu double. Incidentally, speed made the first Yankee run happen as well, as, with the bases loaded and one out in the third, Bobby Abreu (there’s that man again) hit into what looked like a sure inning-ending double play, but burned up the first-base line to beat the pivot throw as Andy Phillips scored from third. Mariano Rivera shut the door in the ninth, nailing down the 6-4 win and picking up his 425th career save, which moved him past John Franco into third place on the all-time saves list. The other big numbers on the night were Abreu’s five RBIs and Chien-Ming Wang’s six strikeouts against no walks in six innings.
Today the Yanks look to wrap up the series by taking three of four, which is exactly what they need to do against teams such as the Devil Rays. The bad news is that Mike Mussina will be working on a whole bunch of rest. The good news is that he only has to be better than 23-year-old Edwin Jackson, who is 1-9 with a 7.23 ERA and a 1.89 WHIP on the season and also hasn’t started since July 4, when he gave up 7 runs in five innings against the Red Sox.
The Rocket got kicked around in Tampa Bay on Friday, the 13th as the Yankees lost, 6-4. The Bombers made Scott Kazmir work but had little to show for it (The Devil Rays flashed the leather all night along too). Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui hit back-to-back dingers late, but it wasn’t enough. Phillip Hughes had another successful rehab start–Pete Abraham has the latest (Pete also has a nice little Chien-Ming Wang anecdote).
In other “news,” Jason Giambi, blah, blah, blah, Gary Sheff, fat mouth, blah, blah, blah.
Yanks and Rays play again tonight. Stay cool peoples, it’s another scorcher today…
The Devil Rays send their young left-handed proto-stud to the mound tonight against the Yankees’ old right-handed hoss. It’s a pretty keen matchup that we’ll look back on if Scott Kazmir ever puts it together. Thus far injuries and walks have kept him from building on the potential he showed in 2005 at the tender age of 21. Last year, Kazmir was significantly better than in ’05, but was limited to 24 starts due to reoccurring shoulder problems that ended his season in late August. This year, he’s taken all of his turns, but his rate stats are down across the board. His .347 opponents’ average on balls in play, which is pure bad luck, isn’t helping, but his homer rate is up, his strikeout rate is down, and, most disappointingly, his 4.65 BB/9 has undone all of the progress he had made in that department last year. A significant side effect of that is that he’s not going deep into games because of swollen pitch counts. All of which is good news for the Yankees, as is the fact that Roger Clemens has dominated in his last two outings (2 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in 16 innings), and the fact that the Yankee offense seems to be clicking, following Bobby Abreu’s lead as it has all season.
The Yanks started the second half right with a 7-3 victory over the Devil Rays in Tampa Bay. Stop the presses, they are a .500 team again. I didn’t catch but the last two innings though on the count of I met up with a group of old New York Giant fans up the block (Cait Murphy came and spoke about her new book, Crazy ’08, which looks excellent). But I was thrilled to learn that the Bombers caught James Shields on an off-night. Andy Pettitte wasn’t great, but he was good enough as Bobby Abreu led the offense. Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Abreu hit back-to-back-to-back dingers in the fourth inning. Sweet.
Jeff Karstens had a re-hab start. Be nice to see him back in the bigs, huh?
Entering the second half of the season, the Yankees’ record stands at 42-43, a game below .500. With 77 games left to play, they are tied with Toronto in second place in the AL East, 10 games behind Boston, and tied for fifth in the Wild Card race, 8.5 games behind the Indians (who were recently passed in the Central standings by the defending AL Champion Tigers).
Things look bad, and indeed they are, but 54 of those remaining 77 games will come against teams that currently have equal or worse records than the Yankees themselves. If the Yankees can simply break even in their 23 games against contending teams (say a 12-11 record in their remaining series against the Red Sox, Tigers, Indians, Angels, and Mariners), the fate of their season lies in their ability to take advantage of the cupcake portion of their second half schedule. If they win two of every three games (in other words, just win their series) against those weaker teams, the Yankees will finish the season 90-72. That might not be enough to make the playoffs as the Wild Card-leading Indians are on a 96-win pace, but if they can mix in a few sweeps and a few 3-out-of-4 series wins, they’ll be right in the thick of it.
That said, it has to start tonight. It’s now or never. Any sort of stumble against Tampa, Toronto, Kansas City, Baltimore, or the White Sox will put the final nail in the coffin currently containing the Yankees’ season. Exactly half of those 54 games come in 27-game stretch that begins tonight in Tampa Bay. The only time the Yankees have to leave the eastern time zone during that 27-game stretch is for a four-game series in Kansas City in two weeks. If they can’t play something in the neighborhood of .700 baseball over those 27 games, that last flickering ember of hope for this season will be extinguished.
The good news is that the Yankees ended the first half of the season on a positive note, taking five of seven from the Twins and Angels, a pair of winning teams ahead of them in the standings. What’s more, Phil Hughes is on the comeback trail (he’ll make a rehab start with double-A Trenton on Friday and, if that goes well, another on Wednesday). Hughes could replace Kei Igawa as the fifth starter by the end of the month, which would give him a couple major league starts before the Yankees hit the tough part of their second-half schedule in mid-August. At this point just about everything has to go right for the Yankees to even sniff the playoffs, but the opportunity exists for that to happen.
